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Hello, this is mainly aimed @dw1305 and @Zeus. I have been reading up on your posts regarding using Fe EDDHA to add iron to aquariums, particularly where the water is harder. I'm happy to add it to my setup as I already add powdered ferts, so no issue there. My only question is where do you...

I have tried increasing the amount of food and see how that pans out. The tank is very heavily planted but maybe all the shrimps are getting the food scraps first.

Cheers Wookii, I am aware of planaria, but have never seen anything like that in my tank. I shall dig around a bit to see if I can find any.

I change about 50 % of the water every 10 days to two weeks or so. I've never used medication in the tank or any copper. The only things I add are Profito, and ferts. I did think it may be a calcium thing, or the water being too soft but the old shells from the dead snails remain and the local...

I do not, nor do I use liquid carbon. Only ferts for the plants in recommended doses.

Can any of you excellent people shed any light as to why my Ramshorn snails seem to die off before they get big and old? I have countless small ones in my tank, but they all seem to die before they get above the size of a pea. Water quality should be fine as the cherry shrimp are fine, as are...

Just a little update; returned from my holiday to notice a tiny baby shrimp on a piece of broccoli that I dropped in there. Similar in size to the ones in the moss shown above, post #8. Only spotted the one so far but if there is one, I'm sure there will be more. Shrimp are complete ninjas...

Is it normal for pregnant female shrimp to hide? I had two or three pregnant females around the end of July. I'm not sure if they have gone into hiding, had the babies, or dumped the eggs. All the females I see currently are not berried and I can't see any little ones. My tank is very heavily...

Nice I was thinking my babies must have died or been eaten. There were several berried females then they were no longer berried, but no babies. Now I'm hoping they are just hiding. Only have neons for fish so predation is less of an issue.

I have my tank at 22c, according to the thermometer, and the Amano and Cherry shrimp are fine. The temperature went up to over 27c about two weeks ago when we had a mini heatwave, again no issues. I doubt the reason they are hanging around on the thermometer is because they are cold as stated...

I purchased this planter off of the bay for a few quid. Was thinking of putting some pothos in there as well as some more aquatic plants like, rotala and bacopa, both of which I have growing emersed in a propagator. Does anyone else have experience with these? Also what soil or other material...

Thanks zozo, filter wise I just have an internal. An Aquael, so a bit of foam and some ceramic media. Nothing like carbon or Purigen. I was just surprised how quickly the tea colour went and what other people's experiences were with Alder cones.

Thanks Darrell, the tank has a Chihiros A601 on it, currently at level 2, so pretty low light. Doesn't get any direct sunlight but the room has a roof window so has ambient light. Would it photodegrade in 4 days?

Hi, in an attempt to simulate a Blackwater environment for my neons I added around 25 alder cones to my circa 70 litre tank. As expected the water turned a lovely tea colour with a matter of hours. However the staining seemed to magically fade within days, so by the end of the week it was almost...

The BGA was there before I started dosing. I read on here that low nitrates can cause it. Certainly not got any worse since I started dosing. Thought ferts didn't cause algae?

I have one of the above on a 60x38x30 and currently have it at the second lowest setting on a low tech. Problem is my rotala is getting covered in BGA. All the other plants are fine. I'm dosing my tank up to EI levels and keeping it aerated to provide as close to equilibrium levels of gases. So...

Are they leaning towards a window or something?

Just a suggestion, could you not run the cannister using a bucket as the tank? That way the water is still getting cycled through the filter. That should keep the filter bacteria going.

Looks like a good start. Keep up the journal.

Love it. You have a bad case of multiple tank syndrome! Do you have any issues growing the hair grass low tech. The fact Tropica mark it as medium difficulty has always put me off. Been to IKEA and bought my three vase set so will be doing my new 1 gallon tank soon. Thanks for the inspiration.

Welcome. This site is simply the best resource for planted tanks. No matter if you are low, high or I between tech, whatever type of fish or invertebrate;there are people here who can help.

The biggest change this week was the addition of two nerite snails. Unlike the previous times they have taken off straight away and pretty much cleaned the entire glass of diatoms over night. Other changes include the arrival of the spray bar for the Aquael 500. Really impressed with this...

Thank you Edvet. I shall try and adjust my flow and see if that makes a difference.

Thanks Edvet. I don't add Co2. I do add Easy carbo at a double dose on a daily basis. Flow wise I have most of the plants gently swaying in the breeze.

Hello, just after a bit of guidance with my light. It's a chihiros A601. It is set at 40cm above the substrate. It is currently on power level 4 of 7. I have no idea what the par is as I have no meter. Going from the guide on this site, the full power light is 64 par at this depth, so I'm...

Just a short update. No major news since last time. I added a black back drop which I think really makes the colour pop. The most noticeable effect is when the light is off. So much darker even though its only the back drop. Few more signs of diatoms. Mainly on the glass, so easy to clean. I'm...

Marc I think that is awesome, might have to completely steal that idea and get down to IKEA.

. Marc was that just with the Tropica Co2 diffuser in the corner or did you add liquid carbon or go full FE? I have total tank envy BTW.

So after two weeks I'm happy with how the tank is coming along. Everything seems to be OK. The crypts are getting their new leaves. The dwarf sag is still doing nothing. It's not dying but there seems to be no new growth. The rotala seems to be taking off finally as does the wisteria. I got fed...

Are they the RHS alpine gravel and or Potting gravel bags?

Diane, if you go on a website named after a very large South American river, have a look for "CROCI Wave Zen Artist Tank, 30 x 30 cm" that is around £30. Another alternative would be the Dennerle nano cube which is available in 10,20,30 and 60 litre sizes. Has lovely curved edges and can be...

Just a short post to say what a great community this is. This weekend @dw1305 sent me some Limnobium and a huge amount of moss. That is not to mention the great input I have have from all the people on here. There are so many inspiring posts on here and nearly everyone is encouraging and willing...

Thanks Darrel. I've not found Limnobium only Salvinia and the goldfish treat that like a salad bar. I'd be more than happy to pay for some frogbit.

After some research and input from the great people here, I decided to have a major rescape of the tank. I think that the blasting sand, which I thought looked good, was causing heavy metal poisoning of the snails. The blasting sand is a by product from the copper industry and could very well...

I'm glad you started a journal Diane. The tank looks good so far. I agree with Konsa with regards to floating plants. Salvinia is good, good old duck weed is cheap but can take over or amazon frogbit (still haven't found a source of this yet). Another option would be hornwort. Not a floating...

My tap water is as hard as a coffin nail. I'll start switching over to that and see how I get on. Might have to try and change the blasting sand out. Thanks for the help.

The tank was new and I cleaned it with just water prior to use. I've never treated it with any medication. The substrate is aquatic compost with black blasting sand on top. This is a by product from the production of copper so that could be the source, but I throughly washed it and soaked it...

Yes I add macros and micros, magnesium and have a bag of oyster grit in the filter to add some minerals. Also I don't suppose low nutrients would cause quick death, more like a long drawn out one. The rainwater is collected in a plastic rain butt that I cleaned out at the end of summer. The...

Hello, I am after some advice. I have a tank set up since last October. Contains two goldfish and plenty of plants. It's filled with rainwater and there is a 50% water change each week. Recently I bought three nerite snails that refused to move and I fished them out dead a week later. I then...

Diane, do it. You won't regret it. Just do your research and work out what you want (hight/low tech, plants, fish etc). It doesn't have to cost the earth. I'm currently toying with the idea of a Dennerle nano cube for the bedroom. A quality little tank in sizes 10l to 60l.im thinking low tech...

Been a while since the last update. December was crazy buzy but I kept up the tank routine. The goldfish are doing my head in. If they are not eating a plant then they somehow manage to uproot or destroy them. The most annoying trick is to pay no attention to a plant then suddenly completely...

Welcome. People here are very helpful so ask as many questions as you want.

Hope it goes well for you. Here was mine:

Or bag up your spare snails and send them to me!

Still dealing with the diatoms. I just keep cleaning the tank and cracking on. I've kept everything the same; lights, ferts etc. I was tempted to up the light but I read a post by @ceg4048 and decided to keep it low. I've also kept dosing phosphate despite videos advising the use of phosguard...

I've got a journal with all the details on called Two Feet of Joy. Some of the plants have been suffering due to diatoms. It is a fairly recent set up.

Good idea but I already dose everything. Profito for traces plus macros as dry ferts and magnesium

Guys, I have what appears to be an Fe/Mn deficiency in some of my plants. What is strange is that I have been dosing Easy Life Profito as well as using aquatic compost with added red clay balls. Does anyone know if Profito contains iron and if so in what form of chelate? Easy Life are slightly...

Sorry to hear that but it is still a beautiful tank. Incredible when you consider you have 2x 20w lights and Diy Co2. Do you use yeast or citric acid?

That is a beautiful tank. What an inspiration. Hope the fry do well.

Thanks Darrel, really appreciate your input. I've read a lot of your posts and you clearly know your onions. The reason I have been using rainwater and took out the floss from the filter was due to your posts elsewhere. I can get some Fe DPTA from Solufeed, so I'll give that a try. I've been...

The plan is to move them out to the pond come spring but I wanted the pond to mature and thought that kicking them out in winter was harsh.

Thanks for the help. I was hoping that I had avoided the iron problems. Profito has both iron and manganese in it. The rain water should have a pH of no more than 7 and I only dose phosphate on different days to prevent any complexes forming. In addition I added a load of red clay balls to the...

Still deep into diatoms. They are now on the glass as well as the plants. Cleaned them off as best as I can and have kept on doing twice weekly water changes. There are some positive developments with the plants; the ludwigia has some new growth and the java fern is throwing out little clones...

A Hamburg Matten Filter (HMF) is a great air driven option for small tanks. If you shop around you should be able to get one for £20. I would say to consider where this tank is going to be located. Air driven filters can be noisy. Something to think of if its in a bedroom.

I would say, after having a quick look at the pictures, that it is diatoms (brown algae). I've got similar in my tank which only started to appear in week 4.

I found a lot of conflicting advice regarding diatoms. So I decided to carry on doing what I've been doing. I did another 50% water change, cleaned off the rocks, glass and leaves as best as I could and then cracked on with my potassium nitrate, epsom salts and profito. I'll add the potassium...

Week 4 and it's attack of the diatoms. They have broken out all over the rock and several of the plants. I've read through as much as I can and the advice RE diatoms is conflicting from cut light down to boost the light up. Any advice would be appreciated. Else where the bacopa caroliniana...

Cheers guys. The goldies are just overwintering while the pond gets established and will hopefully go in the spring.

Hello people just wanted to pick your brains. Due to a minor leak and taking up space on the worktop, I'm thinking of changing my APS EF-150 for an Aquael Turbo. Being internal it won't leak and will clear the side of a big white cylinder. My tank is 610x380x308 or 24"x15"x12".the volume being...

Hello and welcome. I've just got back into the hobby after years out and have just set up a new tank myself. Couple of questions; have you got any substrate for the plants under the sand? Have you considered water changes? You will probably be doing a lot with a new set up. Guppies are dead...

Finally got the chance to change the water and replant the plants the goldies ripped up. The water still seems to have a haze to it, hopefully that will clear over night. I'm going to order a red amazon sword, some rotala indicia, polysperma rosenvig and ludwigia super red mini to add a bit...

My amazing wife finally gave birth to our son on Monday night. He clearly had non limited nutrients as he weighed in at 10lb1(4.5 kg) and 2 ft long (62cm). However the fish tank suffered as we spent best part of 2 days at the hospital. The goldfish celebrated by ripping the plants out...

The bowl is no more. I moved all the plants into the new tank. Unfortunately the pond weed disintegrated and the vallis doesn't look much better, but thank you.

Another midweek 50% WC. Replanted some ludwigia and bacopa compact. Everything looks OK from what I can tell. The colour on the plants looks OK I think. Still keeping the lights as above. The only change is that 1kg of epsom salts turned up so I dosed a low light weekly amount as per rotala...

I'll have them. I like the natural jungle type look aquarium. Plenty of room for snails. They are harmless.

Why all the snail hate? I'd love the little guys but I never seem to get them, or if I do I think the goldies must eat them. You guys are so lucky.

Right, the baby still hasn't made an appearance so I spent my evening cleaning the tank. Thanks to the rain this week I had a nice rain butt full of fresh water. Did another 50% change, added some dry ferts and gave the fish some food. I would take a picture but it's a bit messy. Hopefully it...

Mine has a slight buzz from the dimmer but not the transformer. Maybe get another one should be fairly cheap.

Following Edvet's advice I did another 50% water change. It was starting to look a little yellow, maybe from the peat in the aquatic compost. Trimmed the bacopa compact and replanted the stems. The goldfish are now busy knocking them out again! Apologies for the phone pic. I shall try and...

Edvet, it is immediately to the right of the sink. However I have been using rainwater collected in a 190L butt and I normally do 50% change. I was going to aim for twice a week rather than once per week for the initial period.

Great tank, you've done a good job there.

Dave, Cheers, I've read most of your journal it is an inspiration. I'm not looking to keep goldfish. I wanted some neon and a few cherry shrimp but the Father in Law done my legs. I can't let the little guys suffer so I've tried to do the best for them I can. I think I'm doing OK. They even...

I started off with some balls of air drying clay. Then added some aquatic compost that I sieved to keep it fine and remove twigs and stuff. There was around an inch of compost and on top of that went 1-1.5 inches of 2-3mm blasting sand. I then added a rock from the garden that I cleaned up...

Hello everyone. I thought I'd post a journal so I can get some advice as I go along and hopefully share the journey. The budget is virtually zero. I also have to deal with a heavily pregnant wife who is hostile to my plant and fish tank antics. I managed to convince her to allow me to set...

Thanks for that Edvet. It has worked wonders in a short space of time.

Apologies for being I the shot. These were taken back in February. Nothing special, just rescues from a supermarket.

Thanks Matt, that is a great help! :p

I'd be totally up to meet up and discuss our tanks. I've really got back into this hobby recently. I could even bring some emersed growth rotala and ludwigia.

Thanks for that Iain, so your tank is slightly shorter than mine (you said shallow so guessing that was the 35 cm). So I should be good to up the lights in a month or so, plus I'm adding easy carbo and dry ferts.

Amazing Edvet, to you dose ferts or just use the substrate?

Iain, What are the dimensions of your shrimp breeder? I'm hoping to up my light levels in a few weeks so would be interested to know how others had got on. Kind regards, Ben

I've just set up a tank with this same light, although my tank is 24"x15"x12" or 610mmx380mmx308mm. I've currently got the light on the second setting. I used the Tropica lighting guide as a reference. So low light is 10-20 lumens per litre, Medium is 20-40 and High is >40. My tank has...

Thanks for getting back to me. I went with this as I like the look, seems like lots of people have used it and it's cheap. Wish you had got back to me sooner but nevermind. I went for the course grained 2-3 mm. I haven't planned to get any substrate shifters so hopefully that won't be an issue.

I've got probably half the ferts required for this. I live in a Thames Water area as well so I might get the rest and give it a try. What results have people had using this?

Thanks, I'm not sure I'd be happy pulling it apart just yet. I got the extension bracket as well so I can control the intensity by the dimmer and/or height adjustment.

Does anyone have any feedback on the Chihiros A series, specifically the A601? My one has just arrived and I shall be putting it on my new tank. Just keen to hear from people who have used it and what they think. Thanks.

Well I've ordered the blasting media and it is due to be delivered tomorrow so I can actually set up my tank. Gonna go with my setup outlined above and I'll take photos and do a journal. Following @dw1305 advice I removed the floss from my cannister, which has improved the flow. Thank you

Hi guys, My Chihiros A601 finally arrived. Box was squished but I've checked the light and it's working. I then went out and bought a 2ft Hugo Kamishi tank. This is the plan: I've got the variable height light bracket. Was going to set it as high as I can with the light on setting 2 of 7...

I doubt it's real lead, it's probably safe. It just caused the rhizome to rot, but thanks for the advice guys.

Hey guys, had a bit of a shock earlier when doing some maintenance. Checked on a small anubia in my 20l bowl. I've never had these plants before as there is no hard scape in my tank. The guy in the shop said just throw it in with the lead weight they had on it. So I did. Went to move it today...

I totally agree with the Otos, nerites and amano approach. When my father got ill his tank got neglected and the algae started to grow. By the time I got around to sorting it the two end glass sides and all the hard scape and quite a few plants were covered. I got 3 Otos, 3 amano and a nerite...

Thanks everyone. Just got back from the hospital and my dad is getting there. Thanks for the advice on the light. I bought the bracket as well to increase the height above the tank and it comes with a dimmer. I will keep it nice and low to start with and take it from there. Still trying to...

Hello everyone. Just recently got back into the hobby when my dad became ill and I got the job of looking after the tank. I hadn't done anything like that since I was living at home and at school in the late 90s. I had a lot of reading up to do. Previously had a moderately successful DIY Co2...