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I have been keeping three red crystal shrimp for a couple of months now, and the largest one has just died, but before it went I could see she was carrying eggs. I am wondering if death immediately after release of eggs is normal for this species - in a sort of Octopus way? Also - how long do...

What is the theory behind soaking soil? I don't think there is any mention of it in Walstad's book, although I could be mistaken. She does say that it takes 6 weeks for the soil to 'activate' - is this something to do with why you want to soak it? I have recently set up an EN tank and I put...

Have you considered going totally El Naturel, as they say? Three weeks ago I set up a small one out of curiosity and am rather excited at what's happening: good growth, very little algae so far (just a tiny bit of tasty green hair), and best of all no dosing, no CO2, no waterchanges, and a real...

Yeah that's them! Thanks Andy. And to nerites eveyrwhere, I apologise for my terrible slander. But these limpets - are they immobile? Do I just leave them to it (if they re-appear) or try to remove them? I don't mind them being in there as long as they are harmless, and won't be a permanent...

So if it lays eggs in your tank you're Kilroy Silked - 'cos they won't hatch and just calcify into eyesores perhaps...

Has anyone had any experience of a zebra nerite (or similar species) leaving little white blobs all over the place? In the previous incarnation of my tank I picked one up and within a few days these blobs appeared, and stopped appearing when the snail was removed. I don't have any pictures I'm...

Well after reading that I am assuaged. If I had a sausage dog I'd probably think there was something wrong with its legs :shock: . The black spots were on the very oldest leaves, which I have now pruned, so no chance of a photo I'm afraid. I am generally improving my overall technique (he...

Hi Mark Does it look happy? I can't really tell! It grows strongly but not always green. I thought I read somewhere that black spots were bad. And I've got staghorn algae all over the place as well, so I guess it's a bit unhappy.

Despite heavy dosing of my 67L tank (TPN + @ 2ml/day) and a substrate with laterite mixed in, my Echinodorus 'rosea' will throw up a brown/yellow/transparent leaf now and again (which slowly turns green), and some of the older leaves have black spots on them. Does this mean that they are still...

Ach you see I don't trust the drop-checker, thinking I must have set it up wrong, but I will creep it up a bit. Diffuser seems to be working okay - mix of mist and tiny bubbles. Okay, I'll crank her up a tiny bit tonight, see what things are like at lights off. Patience needed as ever...

Definitely - got it from AE. It does change colour, just not very much. S Chong was using 2bs for his high-light tank (which mine is not). Do you think it's safe to go that high?

My life (and my fishes') with pressurized CO2 is now about five days old, and I still have yet to see the hallowed lime green drop checker, so am seeking advice on my next step. I started off with the diffuser beneath the internal power filter (rated at 500lph), but this caused a lot of filter...

Aaron - I'm just using Easycarbo at the moment but going to install a proper pressurized kit on Friday. Before I was using a crude aerosol injector and that did cause a lot of surface scum - from what I've read I think the fluctuations inherent in the design of the 'injector' were battering the...

Hi Will I've been trying planted tanks for 8 months now and I still feel I'm on the wrong foot! I've got gravel too, enriched with laterite. According to one theory plants can just use the substrate as an anchoring medium and take all their nutrients through the leaves, so some will go as far...

Now a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but I was reading Walstead's book last night and thought that some sort of allelopathy may be affecting my cardinals, as I can't think of what else it might be. I have noticed in the evening, about two hours before the lights are due to turn off, one...

Here's a recent pic: Play spot the Bolivian Rams and win a prize. Comments welcome!

Hi Ray What do you mean when you say this and is Excel a similar product to Easycarbo? I was surprised when Richard from Aqua Essentials told me that the latter (which I am using) contains an algicide, and James' article recommends 'overdosing with Excel' here and there (so I can see the...

I've got staghorn type II - overfeeding - so I'm cutting back. I was getting the new Bolivian Ram acclimatised and making sure he got some chow, so I think this is easily do-able. So Ray and AC- you say more eh? More pollutants! I mean wonderful nice nutrients. Okay, I'll step it up in a...

Good luck with your experiment AC! Away from theorizing, I've got algae issues again. I have just started dosing with TPN+ (Wednesday morning) @ 1ml/day for my 67 odd litres, so I have only dosed yesterday and today. However since Wednesday I have seen staghorn algae resurging on the older...

Firstly - that is some tank. Thanks for showing. I feel like someone has hit me in the face with that one. Absolutely beautiful - and he's not afraid of a fish or two (a criticism I feel might be levelled at a few planted tanks :shock: ). Okay gents, I am going to go away and think about...

I'm not sure I agree with you on this one. In the wild, the sheer volume of water involved means that dispersion of nutrients must be considered almost instantaneous, no? But I get your general point, and thanks for your input. Have now started dosing 1ml/day with TPN+ (just started this...

Thanks Egmel - I've saved that page and will have a look at it later :) . Although if my wife knows that I'm making concoctions to put in the fish tank she will cuss me out of the game. It was bad enough when she caught me with the test kits! As you said, it is all about balance, isn't it...

Hi Clive Okay okay okay okay! Heh heh. I do get it - the philosophy behind the hi-tech approach, and I think I understand what you're saying. I suppose my reluctance is from a fish viewpoint - perfection for them would be zeros across the board for any sort of nutrient, and I just find it...

Hi Clive (it is Clive, isn't it?) Thanks for your response. You are correct - and sharp eyed - I have green spot algae (GSA) issues, but seeing as I've so far had BGA, hair, staghorn and surface scum green spot is a welcome change! For the moment at least. You may wish to kill me for saying...

As promised here are a couple of pics (I hope. New to photobucket world.). This was day one of setup: And here's how it was looking yesterday: Any comments welcome...

Ed, beeky and AC - thanks for your responses. It's great having some help on this. At the moment the tank is not doing too badly - if I had time to join photobucket right now I'd stick a pic up but I'll try and do that later. I have slashed the lighthing back to 8 hours and the algae has...

Hi Brendan Are you still monitoring this thread I don't know! How is the tank going? I have just ordered Walstead's book but it's going to be ages until it comes from America.

Hi Ed, thanks for your response. Don't worry - no wild anything going anywhere near this tank! I'm using it as a trial run - trying to get the feel of things before committing on something larger. At the moment I have cut the lighting to just the 25w powerglo, 8 hours a day. I have also...

Hi AC - thanks for your response. I am seriously considering going low-tech at this point but your advice (and summary of Sam's advice) is tempting me to stay my hand. The filter I have on the tank is a Tetratec - the second one up from bottom in the range I think rated at about 500lph. There...

Hi Sam Thanks for replying - I was beginning to get lonely! Do you know what? I've just ordered Diana Walstead's book from the USA (at some expense) because I'm getting depressed with this Hi-tech stuff! I've got surface scum, green hair algae, staghorn algae, and even some blue-green that I...

Hi All I am a semi-novice at the planted tank game and need some advice, please! (Here we go again you're probably thinking.) I have set up a 60x38x30 (LxHxW) using (from the bottom up) laterite mixed with 2-4mm gravel, Colombo Fe and general plant substrate capsules, another layer of gravel...