Search results for query: *

Awesome, thanks. I'll have a hunt to find the best price after payday :)

In an effort to finally try and sort out the BBA in my tank, I'm looking at getting a Koralia pump. Although I've got a reasonable amount of flow, I know there's a couple of areas that don't get enough. My question is quite simple - is it just a pump I need or do I need to buy a controller...

Not sure if it's the most descriptive subject line... Me and the other half are currently looking into getting a couple of nano tanks for our office (well, 3rd bedroom, but office sounds much grander). She's after one for having a crowntail betta in and I'm after one for a small shoal of...

Generally every 3 weeks. I've got a canister filter so tend to pop the whole thing in a bowl, take the top off, take out the basket (leaving the water in the canister). I then spend a chunk of time extracting all of the shrimp that are in the sponges before rinsing the bag of ceramic rings and...

Could have been something in the water you poured in with the new shrimp that the amano's didn't like, half a litre of slightly iffy water in a 10 litre is a significant percentage to upset things. Cherry shrimp I believe have a 1 to 2 year life span and as with fish, sometimes the shock of...

Hi, Ok, being a bit thick can you explain what/how you've got as a set up? I'm concious that the sheer amount of water I pump into the sink could help offset any increased cost cheers Pete

I know what you mean, I tend to run around 40 litres of RO a week as my water is quite hard too and my fish prefer it. Would love to get something a bit more efficient in general - I plonk a space saver box in the middle of my (small) kitchen and run the pure there and waste into the sink...

Hi, Sorry I've been massively busy with work and going away and guess you've already been & gone. Shrimp wise, I'm yet to find a place with a good selection locally. In Devizes we have Old Forge Tropicals that normally had what they label as "Algae Shrimp" - not 100% sure what species as some...

I've got 4 in my tank and a number of RCS of various sizes and haven't seen any problems so far (been in there a month or so). I'm finding the sparkling gourami are really interesting fish, quite small and largely keep themselves to themselves but completely different to anything else I've got...

Re: How much time do people spend actually watching their ta Every day the two tanks get inspected by me and the other half as soon as we get in and before we head to bed at night. Generally they get watched a few times during the evening too, we've got young shrimp in the larger tank so...

I'd not necessarily take the water report at face value, it's not going to be redone regularly and isn't reflective of what's out of your tap. It's possible there's a seepage of industrial fertiliser or something between the reservoir and your house. @Lemsip: That report has a range of...

Yes, get your local water supplier to check that out! Legal limit is 50 out of the tap.

Re: Choosing 1st tank - Dennerle Nano 60L vs Juwel Trigon 19 Just spotted your post. For a first test, I'd say you've probably made the right choice as most of the principals you'll see here have been put into practice in "straight" shaped tanks. I have a Trigon 190 and love it, but the shape...

Just looked... Actually something like that would be remarkably easy to kick off... I quite like that idea ;)

Hi All, After some suggestions for a project. I'm a web application developer by trade and most years try to give myself some kind of project or other that I can work on and use it to research the latest technology and such like, and I can work on when the other half is watching stuff on the...

Wish I had a bit of spare money to get one of these now :D On a similar (but different) line, would it be better to put an UP atomiser on the inline tube of any canister filter? Just thinking it might improve the diffusion in my tank - plus allow me to have both lengths of tube the same.

That would explain why I couldn't recall seeing the plant in any scapes online, when we picked it up from an aquatics centre locally. Thanks, at least when it goes manky, I know why now! I'll let you know on the Anubias if that's OK? Added another 4 red cherries to the tank yesterday as there...

In the UK you're looking around a tenner. I've been wanting to get a digital one for a while - what I'd love is one that has a probe that lives in the tank and the display lives in the cupboard but I fear that is completely out of my price range :D

Blimey, where did the last 3 and a bit weeks go! Everything is progressing quite nicely in the new tank, I've transferred the 6 Neon Tetra, added 2 Starlight Pleco's, my existing 5 Endler Livebearers (all male, 2 are pure, 2 are hybrids and 1 well, he could be either), and 7 red cherry shrimp...

Yup, I have to be fair and say that she does enjoy the tanks too, but has that practical streak of not allowing me to fill the whole house with them! Drat! There goes that idea. I've not actually done any research on Betta's as they don't actually inspire me that much (the S.O. desperately...

Title says it all really, but I'm in the process of tidying my office at home and my other half has relented and said that when money is a bit easier, I'm allowed to have a nano tank (or two) in the office. Probably go for P@H cubes with sponge filters and likely only have a Betta in with some...

Ottos and shrimp go together very happily, I've got them in my smaller tank (which has a gravel substrate) - in fact they're probably the safest fish you can have with shrimp of any kind. I can't see the Otto's having an issue with the cat litter but don't have them in the larger tank that uses...

Tropic Re-Mineral (both the regular and discus versions) contains everything you need to re-mineralise RO water including getting the KH level to a specific amount. I believe (and somebody will correct me if I'm talking tripe) that pH buffer just increase the KH of the water. If I were doing...

I've had a few different bikes over the years, going from a little 125 to a GS500 then a 600 bandit and finally a 600 hornet. Last bike I ended up being driven into whilst travelling at 40 and breaking various bits of me so gave up commuting to work on a bike. That was quite a few years ago...

Really annoys me when shops keep fish in poor conditions. There was one pet shop in south wales that did (although the last time I went in there they clearly had been reported as they no longer had tropicals). I need to check my bank balance but might treat myself to some CRS's or RCS this...

Red cherry and crystal reds should be fine in the same GH, red cherry are very resilient little things and quite happy at a range of water qualities. If you've not done already, check out the post Mitchell posted. The water hardness (BOTH GH and KH) are only part of the puzzle, the TDS level...

If you can tell me if you're planning on putting other shrimp into the tank in future I'll tell you how I'd go about it. You need to get the correct GH and KH and this varies depending upon what stock you want now and in the future.

Are you intending to put in different shrimp in time? If so as mentioned red cherries are one of the least fussy! If you're going to put in others what are you thinking of?

Wish I could find a lfs near me that does! There's one that has a tiny tank of A's for £18.99 for two and that's it. In fact the only easily available shrimps are Amano, Bamboo and Mountain :s

They're less than an inch currently so I don't think they're mature enough - but it'd be cool if they were! Yup, Maidenhead Aquatics in Melksham had a few left (probably 3/4). Incorrectly labelled as L059's but most definitely L183's :)

Call me a heathen but I really like grade A & S, I think they have a more pleasing balance of white & red on them - but that's just me :D

Well what would you know, less than twenty minutes after lights off and one of them appears as if by magic! I'll try and put in some "cave like structures" with the luck they'll hide in that so can still be seen. cheers

Slice of cucumber is in, poked onto a bamboo skewer though a gap in one of the pieces of bogwood :p Will see what happens overnight

Thank goodness for that, was really starting to worry for a bit! I'll not start shifting wood around yet. Thinking about it I think the other half bought a cucumber for her lunch the other day...

I added two Ancistrus dolichopterus to my 190 litre on Monday. Both seemed very happy, darting around, eating lots of algae on the glass. Now I can't find them for the second day running. Not a flipping trace. Ammonia and Nitrite levels are fine in the tank and the Neon Tetra are not showing...

I've got RCS and Amano in my smaller tank. New tank is 6.4pH & 4dKh (a touch under) so should be pretty ideal for CRS's - if I can find them at a decent price (£19 for two is the best I've found locally)

Just to say this is brilliant! I'm a huge shrimp fan and trying to find local suppliers to start the population in my newly setup 190... Other half wants CRS's and I'm looking for something that'll show up on the cat litter substrate.

Has anybody got any recommendations on a pump for my tank in a sensible price range. I've always known that my 900 l/h filter wasn't going to be enough for a 190 litre tank, and now that Christmas is out of the way think I should start thinking about getting the flow in the tank right. The...

I just said similar in the "A couple of CO2 system questions" thread. I've read in numerous places that you shouldn't need to use tape on any pressurised gas joints. On a water joint you're trying to make a seal using the tape and thread. In a gas system the o-ring makes the seal as it's...

I do have pressurised CO2 in the tank. It's not doubled in size or anything, but it looking a lot lusher and greener. I suppose it's grown about 1cm since I've put it in (quite a while ago). However I do need to improve the flow in the tank as I'm getting very little surface agitation and...

Ive been using PTFE tape on CO2 bottle thread for 6 years with no problem not sure how you can come to conclusion you shouldn't use it it designed for this use also if applied properly its trapped between two threads and cannot block the pipe never herd this or seen any problem with using PTFE...

On a slight hijack but similar topic... How do people successfully trim Riccia? Reason I ask is that mine's due a trim and I don't really want lots of little cuttings floating around like I had when I originally put it into the tank :s Also I've noticed that some of the Riccia (where it...

The TDS of the RO water going in (after remineralisation) is 95, I'm using TMC powder to remineralise rather than a home brew solution. I did leave a portion (probably 20 litres) of the original water I cycled with in the tank and has had a few doses of ferts in which is how it hit 163 when I...

I'm using an inline Up atomiser (new style) and don't think it alters the flow very much at all as it's all straight bore through. My pressure is set to 2.5 bar off which drops to around 2.1 when it's on. I would also say that on my 190 litre I've only every used the bubble counter as a rough...

Cheers for that Darrel. I'm running a RO setup as when I started out I found that the water out the tap was very high in nitrate - that's before the days when I found out that high nitrate is fine for fish and necessary for plants! The water is currently reading 4 dKH, 9 dGH and 163 TDS with a...

Finally got the new tank cycled and my Neon Tetra in. Was wondering if dosing full Ei affects the hardness of the water in the tank and if so how much is it going to change it by? I'm looking at various fish/inverts that prefer soft water so don't want to push the hardness up drastically.

Touch wood I've not been aware of a click with mine. It is however right at the back of the cupboard so might not depending on the noise level.

How much surface agitation do you have in your tank? Sounds like you're loosing CO2 overnight.

Re: Relationship between amount of gravel/volume of filt. me I would have thought that if the filter is quoted for your tank size that the amount of media in it would be enough regardless. As I understand, the nitrifying bacteria lives on any surface. Biological filter media is "sponge' like...

Bubble rates seem to be dependant upon a number of factors, including the diffuser/atomiser, bubble counter and the length of pipe between the injection point and the actual pipe outlet. What I do find is that when the CO2 kicks in the bubble rate seems very fast until the tubing and atomiser...

I suppose that it might be some strange reaction between the cat litter and your soil? Can't imagine why this would do this. I did a lot of research on using cat litter before I went for it and the impression I got was that it was normally used on its own, or with another inert substrate. Put...

Is your tank open topped and how close to the wall is it - just following on from the above thought that the tank is causing damp in your room...

CO2 kicks in at 1.30pm with the lights coming on at 3.30pm. CO2 off is 7.30pm and lights are 10.30pm. What I have found is that the pressure of the CO2 (2.5) means that CO2 tends to carry on feeding into the tank for another 20 minutes after it switches off. I've got one of the new style UP...

The tank has been up and running for two and a half weeks now and is starting to come together so I'd best post an update. I've got some of the plants that were originally on my shopping list which are now in and I'm letting them get established. I'm hoping that over the Christmas break I'll...

I've not really played with mine but it doesn't drop towards blue at all. Nice lime green at lights on and emerald most of the rest of the time.

One of my tanks is a 37 litre with a 350 l/h internal, I personally have found that with a tank that small a spray bar seems to provide the most even flow, pointed to the front of the tank and positioned a fraction under the water line. pete

Your cat litter will settle within a week or so although it will be lighter than gravel so if your water flow is quite powerful then it may shift around the tank. Also be careful when changing pipes round (i.e. turn off and don't point directly at the substrate!) I believe that any igneous...

Lol, doesn't sound dense. The bottom of my filter pipe is a clear 90-degree "joint" that has a flange on it that makes it act like a lily pipe :) I've left one of the "polishing pads" (the white sponge that looks like toy stuffing) in my external which seems to be doing the job OK (though...

I'm using that too in my new tank. I've noticed today that it's pretty much cleared/settled - that's a full 7 1/2 days in 190 litres. What I think happens is that the cat litter contains dust within it (which just needs to be soaked out), once this goes it'll settle a bit better (as the dust...

I've purely used marine grade SS screws, but I was securing some quite chunky pieces of wood so wanted very secure, hidden fixing. I pilot-holed the screws first as I discovered (to my cost) that they're not very strong so when the wood bites the head tends to snap off.

Really interesting topic and quite nice to see the 50% water change concept discussed as I've been curious on the same subject. I think the most confusing thing I found is that other (more fish orientated) forums tell you to do smaller/less regular changes and the large changes that go...

HMA's don't produce waste water so would provide a really good benefit for what you're after doing, plus it would filter out quite a bit of junk from your water :) You've already covered the biggest one - water costs! I also think that a lot of people have their tank away from the water...

I've been doing similar research but the other way round - looking for fish that work OK with shrimp for my new tank ;) Dwarf Gourami's apparently hassle and eat fully grown dwarf shrimp so make sure you have plenty of cover for any you get. If you've not looked at it, check out Planet Inverts...

I would have thought that this would prove really costly to run. I think you'd have to work out the amount of fertiliser you put in as you'll constantly be loosing some down the drain so would need more to get to the same level as a traditional Ei setup. I'd also be concerned that if the water...

I've got an aquastart 320t, and I imagine that you're using the little connector to plumb the co2 straight into the filter flow? The spraybar should be about 1cm under the surface of the water, pointing towards the front of the tank, once I did this the surface agitation was significantly less...

Are we talking an LED type light unit or a T5/T8 tube type light unit. If it's the later then it's highly unlikely to be a step-down transformer. However if it doesn't have an earth in the wire then I'd just get EU to UK plug adapter. You can generally tell because unearthed cable is "flat"...

I did it on Saturday - really intimidating but actually a bit of an anti-climax. Just be sensible and point things away from you when you press the handle.

Viv, Phoenix Moss is the common name for Fissidens :) A lovely moss in my opinion! --- Right, last night saw a load of work done on the tank and although it's far from complete it's a huge step in the right direction. For anybody who's interested I have only used a single 10 litre bag of...

Sounds almost as hard as the tap water here... Having injected CO2 will bring your pH level down a bit. Personally - get your tank planted and growing before you put in any fish as they'll not be very chuffed with you keep disturbing the substrate etc if you have to replant any bits or move...

Thanks, the credit has to go to my other half who has spent hours looking on the internet and travelling around the local shops for those bits that work (found another bit yesterday too...). It's not a stupid question, and the answer is yes, I do intend to have some plants on at least part of...

Fossilised wood makes sense. The tiered idea is great, won't do it this time, but will keep an eye out for bits to do it if I'm allowed another tank or ever rescape this one.

It certainly pays to do a lot of planning (and buying it in one go is damned pricey!) The internal filter is just huge and fugly. I'm going to see what the flow is like using the regular outlet pipe and can upgrade to a spray if I want - the spraybar in my small tank is brilliant for flow...

Have just washed out a load of cat litter and actually really like the colouring so thinking of cancelling the order for the gravel and sticking with kitty litter for the whole lot ;) My short list was: Ludwigia arcuata Utricularia graminifolia Vesicularia ferriei 'Weeping' Hemianthus...

Cheers. Love seeing what other people have done in what is actually quite a peculiar shaped tank!

What time period have you got the lights on for?

I used a large black bucket when I did this to my small tank. Made sure that it was nice and dark in there so that they weren't too stressed. Amano's were a bit troublesome but it'll be less stressful catching them than leaving them in there.

After a couple of months thinking, purchasing and planning I can finally start the journal of my new tank. The beginning of October I managed to get a second-hand Juwel Trigon 190, they're not everybodies cup of tea as its a 190 litre corner tank that's 2ft tall. This tend to cause a bit of...

I think it would provide some level of water hardness (KH & GH) so ought to be OK. Personally I'd just use something like Tropica ReMineral (regular or discus would be fine)

RO water should be 0dKH as the process (3 or 4 stage) removes everything from the water. The pH level isn't stable and will vary massively depending on the amount of CO2 within it. My 4-stage RO system gives me a TDS of 2 at the very most.

Or get hold of a cheap internal heater? My biggest problem is finding somewhere in the house to store 100 litres of water in the first place :D

I'd always heard that water from the hot tap collected a load of impurities when it went through the boiler?

Cool thanks both - wasn't looking for "pressure resistant" ;) Want to do a TGM order tonight for some plants so will pop a metre of it on with that order.

Been reading up on here about CO2 diffusers (specifically inline ones) and noticed a number of people recommend high pressure CO2 tubing as the regular stuff stretches a bit until enough pressure has been achieved to get the diffuser working. Have done a bit of searching but can't seem to find...

Just re-read through the whole of the thread which is really interesting, but equally confusing too :D I guess that each person's re-mineralisation method is specific to what else they do in their tank and what their main focus is (plants, inverts, fish, etc). So dosing full Ei (with possibly...

I know they're not everybodies cup of tea, but I've got a 190 litre corner tank for the living room and am finally pulling together a bit of cash to buy the last few bits for it (you got to love eBay). I'm going to be running a external canister filter (rated at 900 l/h), inline heater and...

If you have your heart set on changing your gravel to something else (I'd suggest a nice coloured micro gravel) it's not too horrible to do. I changed my 37 litre tank mid-year and had no problems with it at all (after getting some advice here). I did the following: You will need a bucket...

Don't bother with using hozelock on the RO, the back pressure is too much for them (I've found this out too). Basically the water in an RO unit get's forced through the various filters and membranes which is why the higher pressure your water the quicker you get your RO water. A normal hose...

I've brought fish back to Wiltshire from Bridgend - 2 hours(ish) without any problems. Make sure that they're in a dark bag (e.g. brown paper) to minimise the amount of light they get else it could stress them out. I nearly always introduce new fish with the light off and wait for at least 30...

Hehe, cheers for the reply. I ended up using razor blades, lots of elbow grease and water - lots and lots of water... The new tank is now dry and random bits of gravel that has wedged under the top surround have now fallen out. Aiming to fill it up in the next week with tap water, check for...

I'm hoping to try breeding Amano's at some point as I now have a female who fairly regularly berries. Just need to find some cash to buy the marine salt to set up the growing "tank" :) I've various articles bookmarked at home if you're looking to do the same

I've never heard of bacteria killing shrimp before - ammonia spikes (from disturbing sand/substrate) and diseases can be brought into a tank on hardscape & plants through. I've only heard it recommended to clean new plants under a running tap. What shrimps have you lost?

Was just sat at work pondering (as you do), how do you know how much light your plants need in a tank? I know there isn't a going to be a scientific rule but was just curious how people gauged it :)

I think it depends upon the type and size of your filter and your bio load. I do the internal on my 37 litre every week.

Looking to get a T5 fitting for my Trigon 190 and wondering if any companies produce a third party version or do I need to find the £70 for a genuine Juwel one?

Thanks for that! Will look into an external reactor rather than diffuser then ;)

(slight thread hijack). So for visibility a CO2 reactor provides clearer water than an inline diffuser?

For the tank I'm about to set up I'm planning on getting the plants established for a week+ before adding any fish - basically rather than adding ammonia, I'm adding in plants & fertiliser ;) This will also allow me to play with getting my CO2 and light levels running properly.

Thanks for the clear explanation. Sorry I was going over old ground (and slightly hijacking the thread too). Probably like a lot of other people I've mooched around on various forums and sites and only ever come across articles and comments emphasising the importance of fishless cycling a tank...

Quite an interesting read and does throw a question or two to my mind. Pretty much every fish-orientated forum heavily pushes running a fishless cycle with pure ammonia (or BioMature) - I did this with my last tank. From the comments above, adding ammonia into a planted tank could be...

Would be interested to know where you found some too, really want some when the new tank is up and running!