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Thanks! I've ordered 1KG....

Hi all, Looking for a cheap but high quality alternative to Juwel bioflow poly pads / filter floss. This is the white pad that sits on the top of the Bioflow filter. I am hoping to buy in bulk and cut down to size. I bought some cheap floss on eBay a while ago but it just fell apart within a...

Cheers Darrel. Very helpful as always!

I feel like I'm going crazy. Is this Salvinia Natans? It looks slightly different to photos online. Many thanks!

I'm contemplating replacing the old damaged swords at the back with another background plant... Also buying a red tiger lotus for the far left midground (in front of the vallis and behind the crypts).

Beautiful tank. What's your ferts regime?

Hi there, If you read around you'll see that many people run low-tech tanks with no water changes (or water changes only every few months). See these threads: https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/fish-health-in-relation-to-no-water-changes-in-low-tech-tanks.28095/...

Quick update 5 months in - so far so good! The floaters grew like mad and I now realise I was running this tank at very low light for a few weeks. I have removed a large proportion of the floating plants and restored to a moderate lighting level. Some plants are doing better than others (e.g...

It's only 1 watt - is that really enough to grow plants?

Thanks. I should have added that it needs to be cheap!

I'm planning to turn an old glass bowl into a low tech (no fish) setup just with garden soil and plants. Can anyone recommend a good Clip-on light to attach to the rim of the bowl? Preferably relatively high intensity. Many thanks

Thanks Darrel, really helpful. The damage does look just like that photo. I do feed them Courgette but the Amano shrimp make quick work of it before the otos can get a look in... I think I'll add two pieces next time!

I don't have plecs. So is it the otos?

Thanks for the reply. I do have Amano Shrimp and ottos, who have probably been having a nibble. But still the leaves shouldn't be withering and dying. I use the term "duckweed index" loosely as I know any floating plants can be used to diagnose the deficiency... So you think the issue is...

Hi all, I'm having some trouble growing swords in my low-tech. See attached photo - the leaves get lots of little holes in them and eventually die and wither away. This is in contrast to the other plants e.g. crypts which seem to be fairly healthy (see photo). I added some root tabs over the...

If anyone is interested, I'm selling a brand new Eheim Pro 4+ (bought in error): https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/brand-new-eheim-pro-4-600-2275-external-filter-boxed-and-unopened-bought-in-error.60941/

Cheers! I already thinned out around 50% over the weekend - you should have seen it before! Don't suppose anyone wants a big bag of duckweed.......

Thanks for all the quick replies - that's all really helpful. I think it's clear that the external filter is unnecessary as long as I provide sufficient flow and distribution throughout the tank. I agree that the Juwel internal is more than capable of providing sufficient biological filtration...

Hi all, I've had my Juwel Rio 240 running as a successful low-tech since December. Lightly stocked with fish and shrimp - no trace of algae and plants growing slowly but steadily. Lots of floating plants. I'm using the Juwel internal filter with an upgraded 1,000 lph powerhead, and in addition...

Hi all, Some of you have been following my tank log. So far so good except for one annoying problem. My anubias do not seem to be rooting to the rocks, in fact the rhizomes / rosettes / roots are rotting and dying. I have had this problem before but never got to the bottom of it. All other...

Quick update for 2020! Fish all doing well. The plants seem to be settling in OK - they haven't all rooted yet but seem fairly healthy. The S. Repens in particular is growing nicely (slowly but nicely) - see second photo below. I noticed a small amount of thread algae starting to grow on the...

He's done it! Looking forward to seeing the tank!! :clap:

The spray bar won't reduce the speed of the flow as such but it will disperse it significantly. More holes means slower flow. If you are worried about 'too much flow' then just buy a spray bar with lots of holes, and run it all the way along the back of the tank. This is what I meant by a...

Quick update: There was still a bit of empty space in the sand so I bought some red plants today to fill it out - Lagenandra meeboldii red, Alternanthera rosaefolia and red tiger lotus. The red tiger lotus is hiding at the back so I'll get some photos of it once it grows out (if it grows...

+1 for nerite snails. But as they are brackish water snails, they need relatively hard water and high pH to avoid pitted shells. They never tend to do very well in Co2 enriched soft water tanks.

If you don't have other algae (particularly green dust on the tank walls), i'd be very surprised if your problem is too much light. Why not just remove the wood altogether? You could replace it with another type of driftwood, rocks, or just plants. And add some algae eaters, ottos or if your...

Surya, You shouldn't be getting BBA if your Co2 / lighting / ferts are all in balance. Are you sure you have a reasonable concentration of Co2 in the tank? (up to 30PPM). Are you using a drop checker or pH meter to monitor your Co2 levels? What about flow and distribution, is the BBA growing...

Josh - good luck with the scape and look forward to tracking your journey. With regard to tank size my advice would be to go with the largest tank you can afford and that you have space for. Just bear in mind that once everything is set up with fish, a tank that size will be extremely...

Looks really good Gill, I'm sure the critters will love it! :joyful:

Thanks all! :) @Matt @ ScapeEasy: I wish I could. Juwel have helpfully designed the unit so it's impossible to run one bulb on its own. If you disconnect one of the tubes, the whole unit just stops working. They do sell a "Helialux" dimmable LED unit, but it's the best part of £300, and I...

Evening all! Some of you have been following the saga of my low-tech Juwel Rio 240, which has now been reborn! This tank was first set up in 2018, with a soil substrate topped with gravel. No Co2 but liquid carbon and half EI dosing. It was running beautifully for the best part of a year...

Well that was one of the most traumatic experiences of my life. The full tank nuke / rebirth is now complete. Around 8 hours work in total and miraculously all fish are alive and well. The tank is now spotlessly clean and has an inert sand substrate with lots of easy plants (swords, crypts...

Thanks for the replies. I am 99% the problems aren't caused by lack of nutrients. I was dosing a half EI dose every day until just a few weeks ago. I cut the ferts after all the algae problems started. I had played around with lighting duration, flow etc. but the algae still persisted so the...

This guy has the same tank as me (& same lights) and has managed to get stunning results with low-tech: I am going to do my best to just replicate this when I re-build the tank... I reckon I'm going to end up spending over £100 on plants!

No, I added the additional powerhead in response to green hair algae problems that I could only attribute to dead spots. I think I will remove it since it hasn't helped with the algae. Most of the fish are actually really healthy, there are a couple of old ones that I captured in this clip. But...

Thanks Darrel. I only re-planted those crypts a couple of weeks ago - they are cuttings from elsewhere in the tank. The established crypts on the other side of the tank seem to be healthy enough. At this point I'm thinking it must be 'something in the water'. Out of the tap, my water is over...

Hi all, Thanks for the advice, I really appreciate it. Sorry for the slow reply, been a busy week! Here's a full tank video so you can see the extent of my algae problems... I think the video pretty much speaks for itself! Please note that the large space in the middle of the tank used to be...

Thanks a lot for the advice Tim, really appreciate it. I agree that I'm past the 'point of no return' now and my best option is to start again. I'll plant as heavily as humanly possible this time around as you suggest. Re lighting: This is a Juwel Rio 240 and the lights are non-dimmable. So...

P.S. I had to remove the java fern and anubias because it gradually became over-run with algae and then died.

Ok... photos below as promised. The first 2 photos were taken today, and they show green spot algae covering Crypt leaves and preventing the plants from growing; hair algae blanketing the substrate and becoming tangled in plant roots; plant stems rotting and not rooting. The last 2 photos were...

Thanks for the replies... Tim - I'll get some photos this evening when the lights are on. But they won't tell you much. Just that the tank used to be spotless with zero algae and healthy plants, and then suddenly everything went to s**t... It's infuriating because I changed nothing about the...

Hi all, I've reached the end of my tether now and am on the verge of tearing my tank down and starting from scratch (new substrate etc.) but just after some final advice before I do so. My Juwel Rio 240 has been running now for almost 2 years. It has a layer of John Innes soil, topped with...

Thanks for all the replies. So just to confirm - there's no issue leaving the roots to decompose? I had an outbreak of hair algae growing from my substrate and put it down to decaying waste matter and am keen to ensure that doesn't happen again.

Hi all, after some advice please. In my low-tech 240 I have a layer of soil (John Innes) covered by gravel. I have about 8 ugly cryptocoryne wendtii brown in the tank that have been established for about 6 months now. I don't know why I bought these plants. They are just unsightly and don't...

Thanks, good advice. Will do!

Hmm I'm wondering whether a 2200 powerhead may be too much flow for the fish and whether I should have gone with 1600 instead. Any advice?!!

P.S. I've ordered a Koralia Nano 2200 lph which I hope will help with circulation of ferts. When i move the fish over from the old tank, I will also move over my Eheim external filter 1600 lph. So in total I will have 3800 lph turnover (with 1000 lph internal Juwel filter).

Beautiful tank Iain, really nice work. So... a BIG update! I had a busy weekend... There's a layer of aquatic compost under the gravel. I'm hoping that the plants will take quite easily. As you can see I've got Java Fern & Anubias on the wood, Lobelia Mini in the foreground (right)...

Thanks Iain, that's good to know. Another quick question regarding scaping. Should I put my hardscape (rocks, wood) in the tank before adding substrate? Or add all substrate first and then put hardscape in on top?

P.S. will 10KG be enough gravel to cap the 15-20L of soil that's going in there?

This is awful sorry to hear, did you ever find out what they'd done to the supply?! Really helpful advice, thanks. So based on this I think I will go for Unipac Nordic 2-4mm gravel: https://charterhouse-aquatics.com/shop/aquatics/decoration/unipac/unipac-nordic-2-4mm-gravel-10kg What do...

:lol: am I going insane? Wasn't your previous post telling me I had too much light to run a low tech setup? How is doubling my light going to help me achieve my objective as outlined in my first post of setting up a low- maintenance, relatively self-sustaining tank? In the past whenever i...

Update: they are sending a replacement aquarium and letting me keep the old one for spares / parts. Excellent service from Charterhouse Aquatics. Thanks for the advice Alto - very helpful. I have tested my tap water and it is over 400 TDS (around 420-440). I am very wary about using this for...

So my tank arrived! ****ing hopeless.

I thought we just established that neither plants nor fish care about hard water.

P.S. what are the advantages of using peat moss? I just ordered 20L of the Westland Aquatic Compost. I think that will probably be enough for what I need.

Thanks all. In this case I might gradually transition from RO to tap water and closely monitor the fishes' health & activity :) So I think I will go for aquatic compost topped with sand... Does anyone have any favourite compost? And will a thin layer of sand block the roots from reaching the...

I have to disagree that fish don't care about hardness. "It is true that most tetras except for a few can adapt to harder and more alkaline conditions, but they won't show their best colours and may not show natural behaviour as a result. They'll live but they won't thrive." - would you...

Yes I do use RO because my water here is extremely hard. Having read this post: https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/the-soil-substrate-or-dirted-planted-tank-a-how-to-guide.18943/ I am thinking of using aquatic soil / compost topped with a layer of medium sand? Any thoughts on this?

Many thanks for all the replies. ian-m, I will not be using Co2 on this tank. I don't know if the lights are dimmable - I assume they are not. From reading all of the links Darrel provided, I think I will opt for 20-25% water changes, every two weeks. How much substrate would I want in a...

Thanks for the replies... There are countless guides online and threads in the 'low tech' forum explaining how with the low-tech method you 'don't need to do water changes'. For years I have been doing 50% weekly as I have been using EI ferts & liquid carbon. But this guide...

Hi all, I've just ordered a brand new Juwel Rio 240 and intend to set it up as a low-tech. Some of you will remember I owned a high-tech Rio 125 for several years. A couple of years ago I got rid of the Co2 because it wasn't helping my situation at all, and switched to liquid carbon instead...

A couple of years ago I had a Cory apocalypse- about 15 died on me in the space of 6 weeks. I never diagnosed the problem but guessed it was some kind of infection. I've been keeping about 20 Trilineatus very happily for about a year now. I've just had one die on me with the same symptoms as...

Hi all, It's been a while since I posted here! I have a Juwel Rio 125 now moderately planted low tech with very easy plants (swords, anubias, ludwigia, hygrophila). This tank used to be high-tech but it was just way more trouble than it was worth for me. I recently re-scaped the tank and am...

Hi all, I have a well-planted massively filtered Juwel Rio 125. No Co2 anymore but I use a mix of RO and tap water: TDS ranges between 150-250. Current inhabitants: Approximately 20 Cardinal Tetras 5 Corydoras Trilineatus 5 Silvertip Tetras 2 Pentazona Barbs 2 Zebra Danios 2...

Lovely tank Tim, and a great read.

I have a Sera for sale.

I am in the process of converting from a high light, Co2 enriched tank to a low-tech, low light and low maintenance tank. All of the tubes I have seen for the Rio 125 (J5) are 28 watt each, total of 56 watts. Is it possible to get light tubes of a lower intensity? If not, would the lighting unit...

Whenever anybody has any algae problems, they are given the following advice: 'too much light. Cheers,' My experience (and that of many others) directly contradicts this, but those who keep maintaining that light is the root of all evil never seem to be able to respond to experiences like...

When I first got this tank, I didn't have any idea what I was doing. I had a 10 hour photoperiod with no plants. I had minimal algae problems.

No. I'm not prepared to do any kind of DIY. I have a fully functional tank, filter, and lighting setup. I'm not going to mess with it. Is it not possible to get T5 tubes of this length at any less than 28W?

Yeah... The money I have spent on this tank must be running into the thousands now. That's part of the reason for packing up. I am not spending any more money on this tank.

Ian, do you think you could elaborate on how exactly to block out the light? Would floating plants do the job?

Various shots (from oldest to newest):

Thanks for all of the replies. I have removed one of the reflectors (currently have two 28W T5s). I will remove the other reflector in a couple of days. Since this is a fixed lighting unit (Juwel Rio 125), that is the best I can do in terms of reducing light intensity. After that I will...

Well it's been a fun ride but I think it's time that I packed in the Co2 and simplified my set up. At the moment I am using Co2 and RO/DI water re-mineralised to 100PPM. The environment is ideal for the livestock that I keep: Cardinal tetras Silvertip tetras Pentazona barbs Corydoras...

Why are you using both the waste and RO water together? You might as well just be using tap water...

RO/DI

Are the fish alive?

100% water change. Are there fish in this tank or not George?

Don't tear it down, give it to me!

After 320 posts, he still hasn't turned his powerhead around.

LOL George you nutter

Nice one Alex, I look forward to seeing this scape develop. Your last one was stunning.

I still don't see how the numbers in my previous post make any sense.

Tank looks great. I find it hilarious that this guy has 234 watts in 247 litres and is injecting Co2 at 1BPS, while I have 56 watts in 125 litres, and even with 5BPS through a Sera reactor, I still have algae issues. Who said there was any skill to this hobby?

I got a 12/16 TetraTec spray bar and I could attach it to the outlet without any additional modifications.

Farewell!

I have the same tank (Juwel Rio 125). I upgraded to a 1000 lph internal pump which is connected to a spray bar. I also have an external 1400lph filter connected to a second spray bar. In a high-tech tank, you're going to need a spray bar. If an external is out of the question, then upgrade to...

We are all supporting you George, that's why we're still bothering to give advice after 312 posts, even after you ignored all of the advice given to you previously...

Go for the bleach option then if you prefer!

Chlorine isn't the culprit George. The culprit is too much lighting and improper tank maintenance. Chlorine was simply covering up the underlying problems you had, so when you eliminated the chlorine, you could see what was really wrong with your tank. Think about it this way. If you had a dead...

Does George actually have fish?

For a while I thought it was Clive trolling us. Since George Dicker appeared around the same time that Clive went AWOL.

Thanks! Based on concerns about the load on the Ikea cabinet, I am considering buying one of these: http://www.petsathome.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/en/pets/hagen-roma-90-oak-cabinet?gclid=CMW7orrtlsUCFQT4wgodt0YAog More expensive, yes. But it would match my Juwel Rio 125 cabinet...

Highly possible that the chlorine was preventing the spores from developing, but the green water shouldn't be there in the first place unless you're doing something fundamentally wrong with lighting and/or feeding. What's he suggesting anyway? Going back to not using dechlorinator in the hope...

He lives!

Green water algae blooms are not triggered by dechlorinator. Green water is caused primarily by excess light, and excess waste products. This is what I think you should do. Do a large (75%) water change. Black out the tank completely (turn lights off, and cover the tank entirely in a blanket!)...

Man that is one hell of an algae bloom. Impressive. I'm sure this has been asked before, but is your tank in direct sunlight? Or under a 10,000 watt football pitch floodlight? Anything like that that we might have missed up to now?

Looks like aliens to me.