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Hi Dai, I've only just seen this, sorry about the delay in replying. Here a snippet from the invoice with the parts I ordered: I used www.plasticpipeshop.co.uk but other vendors are available :) Total cost was £16.09 including £5.99 for shipping. Spray bar seems to work well, circulation is...

Latest full tank shot, to track progress.

Sure it’s this one, in the middle, with the long stems and rounder leaves. Available here

I've been meaning to add the full plant list for a while so here it is: Bolbitis heudelotii XL Cryptocoryne usteriana Cryptocoryne balansae Nymphaea stellata Bulb Cryptocoryne undulatus kasselman Cryptocoryne amicorum Cryptocoryne willisii Cryptocoryne undulata Broad Leaves Cryptocoryne albida...

Pretty little flower on the Anubias barteri angustifolia.

Not a great few weeks since my last post, I found two of the original cardinals dead on separate occasions and two of the guppies just vanished without a trace. On top of this, the shrimp keep ending up in the filter sock and the cardinal shoal hides behind the Bolbitis. On the plus side, the...

Last weekend I introduced three honey gourami which settled in fine. Then, this weekend after more clear safety tests for ammonia and nitrite, I added 6 small amano shrimp and a dozen more juvenile (wild) cardinals to take the shoal up to 16. They should all mature with the tank and grow in...

In case anyone is thinking of buying an older second hand iPhone, it’s probably worth checking whether it’s waterproof before dunking it in their tank and asking their tetra to say “cheese”.

It might be a little late for that 🤣

The Simple Planted Tank has run its course. All livestock were successfully transferred to The Roots, unfortunately I had to sacrifice the plants to catch the final Cardinal, a tough decision but the right one: Thank you to everyone that followed and supported the journey.

The remaining two Cardinals were transferred safely over tonight:

The filter media coloured up nicely a while ago now and all the plants remained rooted so after two healthy sets of tests I moved most of the inhabitants over from the Simple Planted Tank (two stubborn Cardinals remain hiding in the undergrowth). I added 3 honey gourami from the LFS and, all...

You might find some inspiration in here

My wife bought our kids a couple of fish and a tank from the local garden centre, which they soon outgrew. During my research into appropriate replacements I discovered Takashi Amano and heard @George Farmer talking on Gardener’s Question Time, this lead me to the UKAPS and a simple planted...

Hope you don’t mind me saying that I’ve tried planting Anubia (Nana I think) in the substrate and even though the rhizome was fully clear it still rotted 😔

Slight rejig: Now, what to put in the bottom left corner… That lovely Crypt Nurii @GHNelson was selling would have been perfect, shame I missed it!

Well spotted 🙂 It is intentional, to provide a bit of cover and for it to sweep over the surface, but now I think about it some more, I’m not sure that the flow from the spray bar will allow that. And it might end up squashed against the glass. I could move it to the back right, behind the...

You can see this spray bar in situ in my journal titled The Roots.

…in no particular order: Bolbitis heudelotii XL Cryptocoryne usteriana Cryptocoryne balansae Nymphaea stellata Bulb Cryptocoryne undulatus kasselman Cryptocoryne amicorum Cryptocoryne willisii Cryptocoryne undulata Broad Leaves Cryptocoryne albida Brown...

After some shenanigans with the delivery, the plants arrived. I drained the tank and roughly laid them out in their pots first: Then just went for it, attaching epiphytes with superglue where I could find suitable nooks and crannies. Here’s the result, I can’t wait to see how it grows in! Full...

I use a drop checker rather than profiling because I run a low tech with added CO2. I do understand that profiling is the best way to go for high tech though. From the figures you’ve given you do seem to be adding too much, maybe others with experience of profiling can offer different advice but...

Dialling in the CO2 injection Rate and CO2 Profiles

Fair enough, if it ain’t broke…!

Based on the old adage that “the best camera is the one you have with you” I’ve moved away from separate cameras and end up using my mobile phone, it’s always in my pocket and on hand. There’s one for most budgets, I stick to iPhones for their ease of use.

Here’s the last entry,

I only get four pages on my mobile if it helps at all:

Me too! Maybe it’s where the inspiration came from 😀

Thanks for the insight @Witcher 👍

I might have got this wrong but something tells me there are some fungi hunters amongst the UKAPS members. And seeing as, in the UK at least, it’s most definitely fungi season, I thought I’d share a few of pics of recent finds to see if anyone else had similar to share.

I did some research on this a while ago and most replies say, it doesn’t matter. UKAPS Google Search

That should have read Fluval Plant 3.0, sorry for any confusion.

A slight change of tack this evening, as one of the larger roots was stubbornly refusing to sink, and also because I was getting feedback that there were too many roots overall - I tried removing the offending root. It won’t provide as many options for attaching epiphytes but it will create more...

Because of the enclosed lid anything you use should be waterproof due to the condensation build up. I have used tube lighting in the past, T8s I think, but I recently replaced them with a Fluval Aquasky Bluetooth which works for me at the moment. It’s much more configurable than the tubes. I use...

Have you considered a method like MDFishtanks uses? He uses mesh filter bags half filled with aquasoil and placed them where they are going to be needed by the plants. He sometimes adds larger grade gravel to build up height. Then tops everything with sand. This means overall less aquasoil is...

Starting to fill out nicely again 😀 Does anyone know what type of crypt that is in the front? Hello Oto!

Late Afternoon Pearling with original music:

It felt like adding some plants was a good idea and given the situation with the floating wood I thought surface plants were the best bet. I didn’t want anything small enough to block or pass through the weir so pond sized Water Lettuce seemed like a good option. They tuck in nicely behind the...

Based on my recent experience of using air pumps to drive a floating media sump I can say they are quite loud. Personally I wouldn’t consider one for a bedroom. Of course you experience may differ and if you already have an air pump then you might want to run it in the room for a while and see...

Maintenance day!

Quick update, the spray bar is in place and works really well. The loop not only provides even flow but also allows the exit holes to be positioned below the surface of the water, this reduces the noise and generates lots of surface agitation. It does get in the way of the lights a bit but no...

It’s also worth noting that evaporation, which was also a real problem with air stones, has dropped to manageable levels.

Meanwhile… The sump is up and running thanks to some excellent advice on this thread. It’s pretty quiet now and importantly is accepted by the rest of the family. Due to the floating wood I’m doing a dark start for now with a view to planting up once it sinks, which could be some weeks away...

Nothing like late afternoon sun.

I haven’t started doing this yet but my plan is to add enough water conditioner to the tank to treat the full volume (not just the added volume). I can’t imagine anyone would add untreated water to a tank as it wouldn’t do the beneficial bacteria any good.

If you’re planning on filling a tank with a long hose from a mixer tap, bear in mind that there might not be enough hot water pressure to push warm water down a hose and unheated mains water is too cold to add directly to a tank (except maybe for top ups).

I should probably add that I’ve been binge watching MD Fish Tanks for additional low tech inspiration 😀

Of course, it’s a simple tank with easy grow plants. In theory they shouldn’t need CO2 and after some previous comments on this thread (that have since been moved to a separate thread) it got me thinking and I decided to try to reduce this tanks dependency on CO2. Partly out of curiosity, to see...

I’ll just leave this here 😀

Good to know, thanks again Darrel

Oh, and of course, thank you for all your input 🙏

Ok, so the Venturi powerhead is in place and it’s so much quieter there’s no competition. I went for an eheim 650 powerhead in the end and glad I paid a bit extra, the ball system makes it really easy to direct the flow where it’s needed. About half the media is now fluidising and it’s not...

Ah, my bad, looks like I misunderstood. I always thought of Flourish as a trace nutrient product. Looking at the bottle it does seem to contain N, P & K just in small amounts.

Hi there, I’m not sure how up to date that list of premixed ferts is. Seachem don’t sell a “comprehensive” product that I can see from their website. They do sell “Flourish” but this is a micro (trace) nutrients product that probably doesn’t include enough NPK (Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium)...

One step forward, two steps back. I was trying to wean my tank off CO2 but reduced it too much and caused a lot of the crypts to develop pin holes or melt. Here’s a shot of the tank after the resulting trim. The remaining anubias are doing okay now they are out of the substrate. Gave the tank a...

I’m not experienced but I can help direct you to the stickies. There’s a section of the site called “Articles” or “Tutorials” it’s a good starting point and I often return there if I’ve been down too many rabbit holes and am feeling overwhelmed. There’s an article on EI in there which might...

Cheers Darrel. Removing the check valves helped boost the output considerably and gives me more confidence that the media will fluidise once it has matured. However, the noise of the air pump is still significant for a living room setup so I’ve ordered a Venturi powerhead to compare the difference.

Out of interest, which air pump will you be using?

No CO2 so no covers, thanks for your input 👍

Thanks @john6, I will.

I must have misunderstood, I assumed that it's the air bubbles coming into contact with the media that make the difference in a fluidised bed, if it's just the oxygen content of the water then, "happy days," I can use a powerhead instead, maybe something like this with a venturi.

I like the suggestion, especially the "quiet" bit :) My research up until now suggested that air pumps are necessary to produce an oxygen rich environment for the bacteria. Makes me think though, would the fluidised media get sufficient oxygen from the air as it tumbles?

Hi there, I'm in the process of setting up a second hand Evolution Aqua ReefPro 900s aquarium for freshwater use, it comes with a sump. I have filled 25% of the main chamber (3.5L) with K+ media and tried using a JBL a300 (300lph) air pump to fluidise the media. The pump size was based on a...

Somewhat predictably, the unsoaked wood floated so it will be a while before my next update...

Have you tried the "Articles" section of this site? There are a few good starting points there.

No need to apologise, I appreciate your opinion, even if I disagree. I like the sharp edges and the contrast with the smooth bark of the Talawa Root and the rounded leaves of the Echinodorus I’m thinking about planting. I did try out some smoother Yangtze River stone originally but I couldn’t...

Looks good Luke, given your viewing angle I would explore a peninsula layout as the valley will be largely hidden from view. Of course if you’re planning on taking lots of front on photos then it might be fine. Others with more experience might offer better advice though. Good luck!

Not a fan @_Maq_ ?

What do you think so far?

For the substrate I chose Ada Malaya Powder for the cap and Tropica Aquasoil Powder for the base layer. Sloping up to the back left corner to increase the sense of depth: Next, the Talawa Root: And finally, the Dragon Stone:

Finding a decent selection of hardscape in Surrey was difficult, the local MA stores were ok but I wanted somewhere with a bit more of a selection and a sandpit to try stuff out in. After some research I eventually found Crowders Aquatics and Pet Supplies in Borden under an hour away with a...

I continue to enjoy the challenge of my 155L Goldfish Cube and the Simple Planted Tank feels like it has run its course so there's only one thing for it, a new project and journal! This one is based on a 900wx600hx500d (267 litre) tank sitting on a wooden cabinet containing a sump. Gratuitous...

Water change done, damaged leaves removed and diatoms cleaned off manually. Really wish I could find a way to get rid of them completely maybe the lighting tweaks will help. Dosed 15ml of TNC with a little extra Seachem Iron after reading a post on here somewhere that suggested the iron in TNC...

Thanks @_Maq_ I’m definitely presenting this tank with warts and all! Another Anubia’s rhizome rotted, they definitely need to stay out of the substrate as far as I can tell, I won’t be trying that again! I wedged the remaining healthy bit in between two rocks, which should do the trick. Some...

So brief update, I should have done some research on the Gourami before I bought them. I assumed they were a dwarf variety but they are Gold Gourami that can grow up to 12cm and need a much larger tank 90cm+. I was told at the time they would be fine in my 54L tank but they became territorial...

I’ve adjusted the lights on half an hour earlier. I plan to do a water change this weekend and will have to clean the diatoms off the leaves manually.

Tried increasing the light intensity from 40% but a couple of days later diatoms came back so I think I’ve found the upper limit for now. Might try increasing the duration instead.

Ok, job done. Just need the rest of the bits and bobs to arrive so I can try it on the aquarium. At the moment I’m concerned about it getting in the way of the lights and casting shadows. Fortunately, I have enough pipe spare to create a centred bar if I need to, I’ll just need a couple of end caps.

Now all I need is a 3mm drill bit…

So far so good!

Wish me luck!

Here's an updated design using the loop, I'll give it a go and let you know how I get on :)

Thanks both, much appreciated.

Hi there, I’m posting a design for a custom spray bar for an Evolution Aqua Reef Pro 900s being used as a freshwater planted tank. The reason for posting this here is to give others with experience of this the opportunity to contribute, leaving a (hopefully) useful resource for others who are...

I gave the tank a good trim with today’s water change. Anubias keep getting uprooted, doesn’t seem to be the Gourami but will keep an eye on them, more likely they are just taking a while to root. And here’s a slightly different angle:

I have used an Ehime 250T on a 54L simple planted tank for a while, it was the largest they made at the time with a built in heater. I use it with inline CO2 and a Ehime spray bar. It’s easy enough to clean with multiple chambers for different media. Flow is sufficient but not strong, the spray...

The Eriocaulon Vietnam arrived today, I split the pot placing most in the back left corner with the piece left over front and centre. Let’s see how it takes. Tank will need a good prune this weekend to tidy up some of the crypts. Also used the ultra-wide lens this time, I think it’s an...

Really useful to know, thank you 🙏

I changed my mind about planting the C. Helferi in the gravel. Keeping this tank clean is going to rely on me being able to remove the hard scape in one piece and I don’t fancy trying to negotiate two fish and plants when I return it to the tank each time. Don’t worry though, the plants haven’t...

I‘m sure I can find room for a pot 😁 Interesting difference of opinion between the two sites though, any tips for successful growth?

Ok, @_Maq_ and @erwin123 there don’t seem to be any obvious supplies of Eriocaulon ‘Vietnam’ or ‘Japan’ in the UK. So I removed the Kyoto and replaced it with some Anubias and C. Helferi I had spare from my other tank. I was careful to keep the rhizomes out of the substrate so hopefully...

Some signs of green algae on the glass (right), not sure where that’s coming from.

Already some signs of diatoms on the leaves so I reduced the photo period to 7am-3pm with a one hour ramp up and down.

You might also be interested in this link about reactors: https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/co2-reactor-uk-sellers.65733/

By the way, @dw1305, they never did breed and when the male died I found out why. The “female” was in fact another male masquerading as a female, he transformed back into a male once the dominant one was no longer on the scene! Fascinating behaviour 😊

I’m no expert but I had mine as: filter->diffuser->reactor I did a fair bit of research on this forum before I did though. Good luck!

Looking forward to seeing this progress, I have my eye on a similar tank myself :) You might find you don’t need a reactor, maybe try the inline diffuser on its own first and see how you get on. If you still need one then I had some success with an All Pond Solutions filter booster. I removed...

Just coming round to updating this after 3.5yrs of no posts! Can’t believe how time has flown by. This tank is still up and running but has had a number of changes over this time. It now houses 3 Cardinal Tetra, 1 Otto, 6 Guppies and a pair of unidentified Gourami types. Probably on the limit...