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Use a polarizing filter. Also don't get too caught up on which camera to buy for aquarium photography. The lens is going to be far more important. If you're using an APS-C size senor (you probably will be) i'd look for something with a focal length of around 35mm (50 if you get up getting a full...

I use the Chihiros A-Series on my 4ft, reasonably priced and works well. https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/james-4ft-rainbow-refuge.48082/

That's fine, i wasn't trying to say they weren't good for some people, just that they're not for me.

I don't really get the drop off tanks, I think the same thing can be achieved with substrate/hardscape supports or extra hardscape. I'd like to be proven wrong, but they're not for me.

I'm inclined to agree with Marcel, I run a 1200lph filter on my 60P (64 litres empty) and i've seen no problems.

Almost certainly, it's likely too much light in most peoples view. What kind of lights are they? T5? T8? LED?

Welcome from a fellow Suffolk boy. I'm only down the road in Kesgrave. Good luck with started your tank.

So, I may have neglected plant maintenance for the last month or so...

Glad you managed to get it sorted. As someone whose primary business is run on eBay i can attest that the customer always comes first. Great 99% of the time, you always get the odd blahblahblahblah trying to scam the system, but overall they're very good. Be aware that APS will have the ability to withdraw...

Oh, hang on, i got confused with the 600 and something else... Good job i wasn't buying one!

Really disappointing, I do have to say that while i don't like a lot of ADA products, their tanks are superb and kind of reasonably priced. That said if i was buying a 60cm tank right now, i'd definitely go with an Aquascaper 600, I have the same hacked IKEA besta and it's a perfect fit.

I doubt A80s would produce enough light, even in a low tech setup.

I realize others have chimed in on this already, but i wouldn't use the polystyrene, you'll be amazed how much weight it takes to hold it down. A better solution is to use this stuff...

I used sketchup to design my DIY cabinet, means you can join all the pieces together and check they fit virtually, before going and paying for the timber. Mines 18 months old now and I've had no problems.

First flower for the hygrophila siamensis hygrophila siamensis 53b hygrophila siamensis 53b flower

Turns out that the fry are still alive and doing well. Here's a couple pictures of the parents, fry are too small for me to photograph even with a 68mm macro tube!

I built a shelf and then hung my (very heavy) panels from that, using a hanging kit and some screw in hooks. It doesn't look great, but it works fairly well. If you have the budget the iQuatics hanging kits are lovely.

Yes, the leak fixed, I just left the clamps on for 3 days before removing them to allow the join to re-seal properly. Tank is really starting to mature. Some above water pics below. Also the Apistogrammas have spawned, Female is working really hard to keep track of the fry, though i fear she...

I give it a quick wipe with a very soft sponge once a day to stop any algae build up. If it did build up i'm sure the scrubbing would scratch the acrylic.

A little Update Came home from work to find water dribbling down the front of the stand. My DiY tank was leaking! I found the source, a very small leak in the back right corner of the tank. I've used bar clamps to hold the seem tight while the acrylic cement does its' work to repair the corner...

The Eheim filter i was running was knackered, I think the impeller was damaged. Rather than get it fixed i purchased a Allpondsolutions EF-150 and I am so impressed. For £30 it's a superb little filter running at 400lph, pipe work that comes with it is also really nice, highly recommended.

Looks like staghorn to me.

Tank is being stripped down today, decided against adding stems and decided to just rescape the tank.

I got lucky when my cat knocked over the extinguisher under one of my tanks only created a tiny leak, which i've since had to tighten. Safe to say all my extinguishers are bolted to the stand/wall now.

Yes, you can mix them. They're basically the same thing.

Received a load of rotalas from @hogan53 last week, gave them a week to bed in then gave it a hard cut today. The macranda doesn't really fit but i'll find somewhere for it in a differant tank. 27 Litre Update

I get this everytime i first submerse manzanita, it's never become BBA, it goes after some time. In my opinion it is some type of fungus growing from nutrients trapped in the wood.

Quite the find! very jelous! i still manage to kill it every time i try to grow this. No idea why, i seem to grow more difficult plants just fine...

Another lovely scape bud.

So, I broke and bought the last 4 (planned) rainbows for the tank. I'm super happy with how this tank has turned out, and I plan to keep it running for as long as possible. Here is a FTS and here are some close ups of the fish, i really need to buy a set of lenses as it's frustrating to only...

all.

Unfortunately 400nm is just the spectrum. For the time being i'd just turn off the moonlight setting all together. The colour of the light is almost entirely personal preferance, so i wouldn't worry about reducing them individually. Is it only plants near the top that are suffering the algae? if...

OK, it sounds as if you're doing all the right things. How bright are the blue LEDs? if they're purely a dim moonlight setting, i wouldn't worry about them, if they're very bright i'd turn them off as you're then having an 11 hour photoperiod (which is a tad on the long side). Definitely...

Don't trust the seneye, i bought one. Rubbish, par ratings seem completely wrong to me. You can pair the apogee sensor with a multimeter, but it's still going to run you around £200 for the sensor.

Sorry, I've just realised how useless we've all been in terms of advice so far! What's your flow like? what kind of filter are you using? When you do your water changes do you give the leaves a quick ruffle with your hand? I would certainly consider changing to the EI method of dosing ferts, as...

I'm not disputing that, i'm just disputing its relevance to us in the hobby, and in particular this topic.

It's rotala 'green'

I've read a number of discussions on this forum where the general consensus is that spectrum has negligible effects on growth and health. It's certianly not the blue lights causing his algae, more likley the intensity of his lights. It has nothing to do with them being blue. This is a great...

As far as I know the colour of the spectrum has no impact on the growth of algae, plants don't really care what the spectrum is.

Eleocharis acicularis 'Mini' is really easy, if you don't have co2 it will be a very slow grower though.

Tank has been planting and running for about 2 weeks. I haven't gone with any epiphytes at this point, although i do plan to in the future. Current plant list is Lilaeopsis Brasiliensis Riccia Fluitans Echinodorus Ozelot Leopard Green Echinodorus Tricolor Hygrophila Siamensis 53B Anubias Nana...

Make sure you use cell-cast acrylic.

You'll be fine, there's a load of excellent youtube videos on how to build acrylic tanks. I'm a total beginner when it comes to DiY and i managed to build mine and i'm really happy with it.

Yes, it gives you the option to go high light in the future. Plus they look really nice, they also have adjustable colour temperature.

Tank is still running really well, i'm starting to get a bit bored however and might introduce some stems at the back, any recommendations?

As promised, here the 'rescape' still very much a work in progress. Yesterday i upgraded to a 20W 6000k floodlight as i wasn't getting the growth i wanted from my (very old) T5s. Also, moved to an inline diffuser. Hoping to get the rotala very thick, i grew this from only a couple of stems so...

I have a Tetra EX1200 on my 60p and i've found it superb, doesn't invalidate other peoples experiences, just offering my opinion.

This is true, but if you're happy to dose EI then it's not really an issue, it's personal choice really.

I do remember reading that some people take a hacksaw to the brace to enlarge the holes.

i Had a Roma 200, the cutouts weren't big enough for a 16/22 filter, so the lids had to balance on top of the pipes.

Long overdue update. Tank is doing really well, about 5 months since planting. The Blyxa got really thick, but unfortunately when i thinned it out it really struggled to grow back, so there's been a bit of a re-jig. There is still some Blyxa, but the back ground is now dominated by a lot of...

If you're not actually planting into the substrate i wouldn't bother, i think sand or gravel is more aesthetically pleasing unless you're carpeting it. I used one of these, not a particularly big fan (considering the price), struggled to grow plants well at the substrate because the angle...

The Chihiros A-Series are an absolute bargain, I have these on my 4ft tank and they only cost £90, only down side is no in-built timer.

If you're acrylic turns out not to be useful, this website is super cheap, it's where i recently purchased acrylic for my tank build. https://plasticonline.co.uk/

Looks great!

Superb! Thanks again Marcel.

Thanks Marcel, I was thinking about throwing in some Echinodorus at the back as well. From what i read and your testimony they do really well planted into the substrate with just the leaves above water. I assume all these plants require regular misting? I don't have a problem doing it, but I...

Can Spathiphyllum be planted into the substrate of the tank, or will the portion of the plant under water struggle? I was thinking of placing it in the corners at the back.

More Light = More Algae = More Snails. It really depends on what kind of snails they are, I have Ramshorns in all my tanks as they only eat dead plant matter and algae. Some snails are destructive however, if you want to get rid of them, buy some assassin snails, which will predate upon them.

Many do, my Satellite Plus Pro has a built in timer. My DSunny panels have a controller/timer which has around 8 steps so you can really make it ramp up to a specific value for only a small period of time. My Chihiros ones don't, but function just fine with a timer socket, although i do miss the...

it tends to come off pretty easily, if you lose some roots it doesn't really matter, as long as you don't damage the rhizome.

Thanks Marcel, I feel i have quite a lot of information to work with now :)

Thanks Marcel! I've been for the epiphytes i had been thinking of ferns mainly, i'd love to try some orchids but doubt the humidity in south east England would suffice. I've just been looking at George's insularium tank, and some of the plants in that look great, however it looks like the...

Here is my diy shallow tank, it has the same dimensions as the ADA 60-F except it's made from acrylic and only cost just over £20 to make. Initial thoughts are that this is going to be low tech with a carpet of lilaeopsis brasiliensis covering most of the tank. Not sure what's going to go up...

So, I was thinking about a scape i'm in the process of setting up, and i suddenly remembered that i had a tupperware box of plants on the windowsil in a room i never go in (spare bedroom/the cat's bedroom). The box has been untouched since i moved into my new house in September. Sans the mould...

Beautiful, what a great mixture of textures.

I agree with what's been said above. Seem to melt when conditions change, but give them time and they'll grow back well.

Filter tubing will be fine as it is standard 12/16mm. To understand tubing sizes the first number is the internal diameter of the pipe and the second is the external diameter. As long as you buy the 12/16mm versions of the diffuser and the heater all should be good to go.

Thanks, but i don't think the arm/bracket that comes preattached is long enough to hang the light at 90 degrees above the tank.

Thinking of swapping the t5s out for an LED floodlight, want to get that shimmer. Any ideas on cheap hanging brackets that will work, I only want to do this if it won't cost a lot. I'm sure cheap arms/brackets that can be bolted to the wall exist but i don't know what to search for, any tips...

I have one of these on my 250l 4ft and it's done a great job growing Monte-Carlo S.Repens and H.C at the substrate, although growth of the monte carlo where it is shaded by wood is much slower. If i'd have been in a rush i'd have gone with 2 of them.

I've never tested it to be honest. I live in Suffolk so it's fairly hard. Used to do water changes about once a month. The tank has now been replanted, though I've kept the same hardscape as I was really happy with it. I've implemented a some co2 this time and i'm using all three bulbs on the...

Was an awesome scape, congrats.

I like the shrimp lab putty, it's moldable so you can just stick it to hardscape or glassware for the shrimp to find.

The chihiors A-Series is superb, running one on my 4ft tant. Only cost around £90 and gives me around 50 par at the substrate.

Yes, only 8w.

So very busy with life at the moment, so it could be a while!

Thanks, I think it's going to get a little rescape soon, the ferns and moss is started to wear on me a bit. Thinking of pulling it all out and then filling the background with grasses.

Beautiful, a true nature aquarium.

Update! Tank has been planted for around 3 months. The algae burnt out as expected, so that's a good thing. I purchased a new far more programmable LED from @Lindy which is bloody lovely. Carpet is pretty much filled out at this point. Excuse the dirty lily pipe please, I wasn't in the mood the...

They're not a big company though. They're a very small company.

I feel that TGM got very jaded when other compaines such as AE/AG/Co2 Art etc came on the scene and started doing everything at a cheaper price and arguably better. When I was first in the hobby (around 4 years ago) I made a 150 mile round trip to Wrexham to see their tanks in person and I too...

You're not necessarily doing anything wrong. The Flex mini produces a hell of a lot of light for a 16L tank (excess light will cause algae). Don't reduce your ferts, if anything increase them. Sounds like your Co2 is on point according to your DC, so I wouldn't worry too much about that.

It doesn't sound like you're dosing a very high level of ferts. Make sure you're dosing enough NPK.

This is a beauty George, very competitively priced compared to the other brands too.

I love when monte carlo spills over the rocks like this, it adds a really natural look to the tank.

Adding the tropica plant growth substrate (effectively dirt) underneath your substrate can help add nutrients. Alternatively if you just want to add to your current substrate you could just add some nutrition capsules.

This is nice to hear, when i set up my 60P for the first time the cost was around £650 all in. I've tried to avoid spending anywhere near this amount of money again, my next tank is going to be almost entirely DiY to save money.

Lovely Hardscape. Wish I'd had an interest aquariums/plants at all when i was in school, i'd probably be a great deal better at it by now.

I did wonder, but the stripes only seem to go accross the middle of the body, where as maccullochi seem to cover the entire fish. I suppose they could be a hybrid of maccullochi and something else as they clearly share some traits.

You might want to look out for Espei Rasboras, they look very similar to the Harlequin Rasbora, but are a little smaller. Galaxy are indeed very nice however they are an increbily shy fish.

Beautiful, I am in complete awe of this tank.

Picked up some more Rainbows from my local LFS today, two differant species. The first are Madagascar Rainbowfish The second were sold to my as Dwarf Australian Rainbowfish, but i'm not so sure, any rainbow experts about? I'd still like to add a few more species to finish off the tank...

You've done a really nice job establishing depth in such a narrow tank. Congrats.

Beautiful tank Jordi. Love the reds!

Wouldn't risk it, I normally put them in after about 3 weeks and this is with a seeded filter.

Superb scapes.

It's just business units at this point really... not very exciting nowadays.

My father and I run a small business selling mainly military surplus, but I've started to branch into aquascaping supplies. Yes we're on Bentwaters Park, building 15 if you ever want to pop in, there's usually someone there in the mornings but it's always a good idea to send me a message on here...

Hi Mike! Welcome to the forum I'm also from Suffolk, I live in Kesgrave and work in Rendlesham! If you're ever after supplies (tropica bits, manzanita) give me a bell, as you're within walking distance of my warehouse!