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Looks like an astrenia starfish, some reefers don't like them but I've never had issues with them.

looks great, I have one of these but slightly shallower that I am struggling to scape, so thanks for some inspiration.

No frags here mate, I'm currently about the same stage as you with my new reef, so frags will be a while off.

The toxin they produce is not something to be messed with, but in all honesty it's not something I even think about, unless you eat them your petty safe. God knows how much saltwater I have drank from tanks full of them, I frag them bare handed etc and it's never been an issue, and 99% in the...

They may need more light, but I would be inclined to leave them be and not alter the light for the time being until they have settled. I don't advise licking them either :p:p☠️, nasty stuff but fascinating at the same time.

Yep, they are Zoa's :) I wouldn't worry about testing, zoa's are hardy little things and regular water changes will be fine Don't remove the zoa's from the frag plug, just glue/jam the plug directly to the rock, they will soon spread onto the rock etc Light levels look ok to me, any changes...

Nice Zoa's Dean, my advice on names is not to bother worrying, it'll just cost you money 😂 The "neck" is called the stalk if you are talking about the long bit under the crown of tentacles. ( the long strands on the head :) ) I'm using the same light and don't bother with the night cycle, I...

I wouldn't use it if it smells rotten. can't help with the rest, sorry.

Your not wrong, the marine trade in the US is massive compared to the UK, Asia/Japan also has a good marine trade, as with everything the trade follows the money. I also agree with you on the look of a lot of tanks, they look like a sweet shop or something with neatly lined up corals, etc, not...

How are you going to be filtering the tap water? As Tim mentions, there are plenty of marine animals that can be kept fine in plain old dechlorinated tap water (with salt of course :) ), most fish won't care and many soft corals, it's only really LPS and SPS that need more specialist care...

There are a couple of pretty successful macroalgae tanks on this forum, @Courtneybst and @shangman both run them and they are just more popular these days. In general, I would say a simple marine setup isn't any more difficult than a planted tank, there are differences of course but nothing...

I would think the numbers are probably about on par with each other, if not slightly in favor of reefs. I do think reefs/marine have a higher turn over with most only keeping the setups a short while before leaving the hobby, but lots of incoming newbies as well. Costs are definitely the...

Your at the same ugly stage as me, but mine has hit quite bad, I just give a quick scrub before a water change and will be leaving it to hopefully burn itself out. For the snails, pick them up and have a sniff :)

Also a fan of MD's vids, I enjoy his scapes. Red plants are possible in low tech tanks, it's just harder to get/keep the colour. The thing to remember with YouTubers etc is they rarely show failures and they don't run most of their tanks for very long.

I would start off with a low dose, the recommendation on the bottle is 1ml per 10 litres a week, so 2ml and 6ml for your tanks and see how that goes, chances are you will be fine at this dosage. The iron I would leave for now unless you see any iron deficiencies appearing.

Yeah, not saying not to dose, just it's unlikely to be a Mg issue. In that case I would be looking at other causes first rather than trying to add more Co2.

Are you using a drop checker as well? I started doing co2 profiles but find a couple of drop checkers work just as well and are easier to use, just a quick look and you have a good indication of co2 levels. The 2hr aquarist ferts contain Mg so I doubt that's your problem, but it could be Ca

I have never bothered worrying about the stingers, I just collect and blanch what will use that day, the rest I leave to dry out and just feed as is after sitting in some water for 10 mins.

A little update on this setup, settled on a scape and the first fish was added. I couldn't get hold of a pair of clowns locally, this may be a blessing as I didn't really want clowns in this tank, but the little one is rather insistent, I'm hoping a can get away with other pretty fish instead...

As above, I would be spot-feeding for the minute, turn pumps off, and either tweezers or small pipette/syringe to feed. Total opposite of what I would normally advise but with the lack of liverock and the myriad of scavengers it brings in its best to avoid too much waste food going in at the...

Can't see a flow chart, which is normal for Jebao. Head height is a killer for all pumps, and that Y piece and elbows on the returns will also reduce the flow a fair bit. Go for a larger pump than you think as you can always turn it down which is better than running one at max.

For the flow just start it low and increase gradually, also once you have corals you can crank it up a bit more. Put it under the inflow and see how it goes, it should be fine there.

I'd be looking at doing around 10-15% WC per week, but smaller, more frequent changes are fine. The biggest difference between freshwater and marine imo is their ability to withstand swings and changes, the ocean is just so stable the inhabitants are used to rock steady parameters.

Good advice above, especially on the corals, stability is key and new tanks rarely have it, this is why I suggested waiting. I have been keeping marine for 15+ years and will still be waiting for a few months before adding corals. Again flow advice is spot on, random flow is great, and no need...

Hey Dean. I would personally be leaving it a while longer before adding corals, while I am sure something like mushrooms would be fine, corals in general like a bit of stability that only time brings. Snails, hermits, and other clean-up crew I would start adding. I would have the Nero on...

I font believe so, don't think it will work without one, but best to get a second opinion.

Yeah same as the one in the link really and operates the same way.

Do you mean one of these eminor? It is used to turn off the booster pump when the water container is full, either via a float switch or with a pressurized container.

It's only a small tank, around 20ltrs, the reason for the large changes is simply because 1 full bucket is around that volume and as no livestock I can pretty much fully reset the nutrient levels. Think I will just leave it to warm up like I normally do.

Yeah your all probs right :) What are peoples thought of hot mains water? My cold water is only around the 50 TDS mark at the minute but the hot is a fair bit more hence why I don't like to use it.

Thanks @castle, yeah I would think heat would be a killer more than a drop in temp, but that's just a guess.

Basic question, but do plants care about temp swings? I keep my tanks at room temp and the tank in question has no livestock apart from hitchhiker snails, when I do a water change I usually leave the water overnight to come up to temp, but it would be easier for me to just mix up my water and do...

Not much to report on this, I'm currently working on the scape. This is going to be a slow build, I don't really want to be dealing with a maturing marine setup with corals over the summer when time is at a premium even more, so I am debating either just filling and leaving for a few months to...

Sorry, can't really help with how it would translate to aquarium plants, but in terrestrial growing, they use different grow light spectrums/colours at different stages of growth and fruiting to increase yield etc.

Haven't used the salifert kits in a while, but think they tell you in the instructions how to view them, just make sure its sunlight as it really helps. I wouldn't cut out lights though, a day/night cycle will be good for the fish, just reduce the overall intensity, I know you are worried about...

Hey Dean. I would be checking ammonia and nitrite to make sure there are no spikes. As for the lighting, it's very easy to get caught up in all the settings and channels etc, but I wouldn't worry about it yet (or at all really), pick a colour spectrum you like and go with that for now, for me...

It will depend on the kind of flow the pipe creates but I wouldn't expect it to be all that different tbh, the vortex they make is more for surface skimming. If you can try placing the diffuser under your filter outlet and see if that helps, it's worked really well for me. Basically using the...

I don't think you'll have any issues with a shorter photoperiod, alternatively, stick some black tape over some of the LEDs to dim it, or you can raise the light unit which will reduce its overall intensity.

Looking good Dean, great start. Bring your salinity down to 35ppt, no need to do anything with the tank while you're waiting to put your bacteria in. I would do a WC if it were me, probs not needed but will help clear up any dust/debris from the sand and rock.

Thanks, @Courtneybst I have had a look at most suppliers and they seem to be chronically OOS, but if I decide on seahorses which I have always wanted to try I may go that way. At the moment I am thinking of a mostly Zoa and LPS dominant setup with lots of little gobies, but I do tend to change...

After not having a marine tank for the last few years I kept promising myself I wouldn't go back to a salty tank, but after over 15 years of having them on and off, I suppose it was inevitable. Anyway, I picked myself up a nice little Red Sea Desktop 70ltr AIO tank, AI prime, and everything...

I've never suffered from a lack of oxygen before, I have good surface movement and surface skimming. Monte Carlo has done this to me before and I never got to the bottom of it. However, saying that it should be easy enough for me to up the oxygen and see.

As I thought, I haven't updated this thread in a while :) Anyway, the tank is coming along through the normal teething issues and overall the plants are healthy and happy, except the Monte Carlo, which is suffering a bit from leaves going transparent. Any help with that would be great. The...

Pretty much as above, no need to go too mad getting it exact, but in answer to your question I wouldn't count the sump in flow calcs (except the return pump), it's only really the flow in the main aquarium you need to address.

Very much agree with you on this, unfortunately, I don't think that we are going to accept that until it's hopeless.

It's always possible. I see it the same as what we try and do in our tanks, encourage an easy-to-manage nutrient hog to outcompete a pest species. It is done more in saltwater with things like chaetomorpha and Caulerpa algae.

Windows open in the summer means less CO2 in the room, which means less of a PH drop which isn't good in a reef tank. Tank is looking great, and you lot have made me buy another reef setup still a few months away from setup but planning an SPS dominant nano :eek:

I know some people do use RO but I would always use a proper calibration fluid.

I've always used a refractometer and never had issues with salinity. You can calibrate a refractometer and I would be doing so periodically. I'm not familiar with that type of anemone, but it's certainly possible it could take a small fish, though i wouldn't think it would be taking many.

Pros and cons to both. The standard inlet skimmers are usually quite big but on the plus side they suck the surface film directly into the filter. The aquario outflow skimmer is fairly small in comparison ( I use the larger 17mm version) but it mixes the surface film into the water to be...

Yeah, it's a leak lol, what I meant is that I believe it is only caused by too much pressure having nowhere to go and the joint is the weakest part so it leaks there eventually. The tubing is on very tight, it takes some force to get it back off again, I actually snapped a diffuser recently...

There is definitely a leak (kind of) when the tubing meets the diffuser, this is with new tubing as well, but I don't think it's a leak as such, just so much pressure builds up in the diffuser and has nowhere to go. I'll get a video later

I'll replace all tubing today and see if that helps. It's an odd one because the diffusers can sometimes work perfectly, then they go off for the evening and then refuse to work the next day.

They are cleaned in bleach, and most of them are brand new. The ones that work consistently are the white ceramic type.

Yeah checked the reg and it works with other diffusers.

Been fiddling all night but still can't get them to work, rather annoying really for such a simple device.

Just reduce the dose of ferts, start by reducing a bit every few weeks, and keep going until you are happy or start seeing deficiency issues.

Hi all. I have a persistent issue with all of my diffusers ( the twinstar type ), they work fine, sometimes for months at a time and then they always randomly just stop allowing CO2 through. This happens whether they are clean or not and also with brand new ones. Just bought a new aquario neo...

If it were hydrogen sulfide you would know, it stinks like rotten eggs and your fish would likely be dead.

Standard aquasoil will be fine, never used pond soil so can't help there. Good thread on substrate here Soil Substrate or Dirted Tank - A How to Guide

Take your pick, most are just as good as one another. If you are going to cap the entire lot with gravel/sand i would go for something like tropica plant growth substrate or similar base layer, or you could but aquasoil in mesh bags.

Sad news indeed, I didn't know filipe but like many others his creations were an inspiration. Such a horrible disease that takes too many. RIP Filipe.

Yep release the handle and make sure you purge any remaining pressure in the reg by opening the needle valve.

As above, if it is for CO2 it's not needed. I inject my CO2 into the intake without a diffuser at all and it works a charm.

In the case of the empty tank yes (but not just the substrate), and with a standard cycle, yes, but adding a matured filter will speed up the process hugely. I'm not going to tell you to flood and move the fish and filter back over and you will have no problems, but plenty of people do this...

This isn't going to be possible, if you remove the water the shrimp will die, and if you don't flood and add the filter back soon, the shrimp will probably die as well.

You want the PH to stay at the 5.6 during the entire photoperiod, and then it should start to rise when CO2 is off gassed when it turns off.

I think a lot of problems people have with snails are in CO2 injected tanks which causes shell erosion. Shrimp shells are made from chitin but calcium is a major compontent in the shell building. My tanks are all very soft water, I feed a lot of calcium based foods and my shrimp seem to do well.

Others may disagree but I would be happy with it and leave it as that. You could try and dial it in so you get a quicker drop to the target 5.6 but i don't see the need.

Thanks Maq, I do have a habit of stuffing in as many plants as possible. Already have some plants to go in, i'm doing a monte carlo carpet and a fair few buce, then some stems for the back corners.

Finally had a sit of time for a play around. This is what I have come up with so far, I am 60% happy with it but always open to ideas. I need to add more small details etc and the plan with this scape over my others is not to go mad with the planting (or at least keep it trimmed) so the...

A twinstar or chihiros LED might give you better coverage with a single light over your dutch island, especially if you could hang it, but the cheapest option is going to be to get another scapers light. (it actually looks a decent light for the price)

The only way you will know is going to be to try it and see. Many people get away with monthly water changes, if you notice issues you can always change it again, or do smaller changes more often if that's easier.

I've used these for years 4 stage 100gpd aquarium system Compact unit so easy to store, and I always connect my units to the cold water feed from the washing machine tap with a Y splitter like this Washing Machine Y Piece | Toolstation

Shrimp can be very good at hiding, but saying that i have given up with amano shrimp, was getting fed up with finding them on the opposite side of the room to the tank 😧. I would have a look around the the tank and down the back.

Thats nice that you don't need help, but not everyone is the same, and if "newbies" stopped asking "trivial" questions this forum would cease to exist in a short time. The OP has asked how much powder he needs to reach a GH of 6 ( a reasonable a number as any), no need to dive into the minutiae...

The point of RO, for me at least is to have more control over water parameters, as well as removing any unknowns that might be in my tap water, using pure RO water is not a good idea, especially if you have shrimp or other inverts that need minerals.

cas04 and mgs04 are fine to use, you just won't be able to mix the cas04 in a 500ml container, it just won't dissolve, add the powders directly to your 50ltrs or RO and you'll be fine. Sorry, my calcs where off, I did 50 gals, not liters, 4.5g of CaSO4 and 5g of MgSO4 will give you around 5.2...

Have you already mixed up the solutions? You may have a hard time dissolving the CaSO4 as it's not very soluble. I would just add the dry powders to your RO water, about 18-20 grams of each will get you roughly there, but it will depend on what ratio of cal to mag you want.

You want the flow to have a nice ripple on the surface but not splashing about to much, usually you can move or adjust the nozzle to the right position (what filter and inlet is it?) An airstone can provide good surface movement but they are not quiet either.

Thanks Maq It's a softwater setup, RO water remineralized to around 80-100ppm (including the weeks ferts), haven't tested in a while but KH would be 0-1 and GH not much more.

About time I started a journal to document my tanks over time. This Journal is going to be for my WIO 60F shallow. It's currently an Epiphyte dominant caradinia shrimp setup but this is being torn down over the weekend to make way for a more "nature style" scape. Anyway, here are a pic of...

What kind of setup are you running? HIgh or low tech?

While true that the idea is to dose in excess, it is also true the full EI is designed specifcally for CO2 injected tanks, the levels are just not practical in a low energy setup and never would they be suggested as such

looks to be an American product, the amazon listing says "US imports may differ from local products" all the sites i can find it on are US based so i would quess it's 120V.

Not the correct way but I don't touch the working pressure or my needle valves when changing a canister. I disconnect the tubing from the solenoid, this will release any small amounts of pressure in the tubing/solenoid, unscrew the old bottle and screw the new one in.

I wouldn't put too much thought into ratios and absolute targets. Go by what the tank and plants are telling you, are they showing any deficiencies, are they healthy, etc? I bit of excess ferts is 99% of the time not going to cause you any issues in an otherwise well-maintained tank.

Either will work (as you say pretty much the same valves) What you want is this piece here 24mm Extension, you attach this to the reg and the attached the solenoid to it, this removes the tube and any risk of it popping, etc

Well that's the thing, IMO the flow is fine strength wise, plants have a nice gentle sway, substrate doesn't shift etc, it is only the behavior of the fish when the filter is off that got me thinking. The tank doesn't look like a washing machine with fish zooming past the glass at 100mph lol

Thanks Ed, this tank runs at around 23/24 most of the time. I have looked at hillstreams before, but i prefer active swimming fish.

Thanks all for the replies. I think i may move the the fish to one of my other tanks with lower flow, the tank is currently doing well and i don't really want to muck about with the setup. Any reconmendations for fish that like higher flow? Cheers

I know that flow is important in most tanks, but I am starting to wonder if I have too much flow in one of mine. The tank is 60x30x22cm (around 40l without displacement ) and runs a 1000LPH external via an aquario spin pipe. The fish are ember tetra's. The reason behind my thinking is their...

Great start mate, if this one turns out like your other one it is going to be a stunner for sure.

Not going to be the same I don't think, a lot of the humor wouldn't fly today. Same with many from that era like only fools etc.

Haven't bought plants for a few months, but not noticed the price increase. For me it is the fish prices that have gone up the most, if i take neons as an example, they were around £1 each, now in my LFS it is 6 for £25 so around £4 each, things like standard bettas at £20+ and cull grade...

Hey all. Can anyone help with my buce, it is looking like an iron or mag deficiency but I am no expert. leaves are yellowing (not showing very well in the pic) Tank is running full 30ppm Co2 but i have reduced the ferts quite a bit as the tank in now only buce and anubius, so maybe that is the...

Looks OK but is a bit bulky, and the tubing is too large. If you want something similar either the Tunze or D-D/Smart ATO.

Any scissors I have to hand for me, be they kids safety ones or my JBL ones, all work the same for hacking back plants, small curved spring scissors for the carpeting plants, and tight spaces. I do think quality tweezers/pinsettes are worth a little extra though, i use these and they are far...

As above, you need the solenoid to be on and open to allow the remaining gas to escape from the reg, likely won't hurt if you were to just unscrew it but i always purge all gas from the system first.

Yep, it can be that easy for some plants. Monstera would be a good choice, and peace lilies can work well.