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The Sansi LED E27 grow bulbs are some of the best ever developed. They have ceramic heat dissipation and come in a range of wattages, but do check reviews of the model you select because some bulbs get slightly hotter than others. The better models have lenses or donut-shaped light diffusers...

Welcome. Glad that you have joined :)

I have researched the greenhouse gas emissions from green waste composting. Interestingly, under certain conditions biodegradation can produce greenhouse gases that have a far greater global warming potential (GWP) than carbon dioxide. One example is N20, a nitrous oxide that has a global...

Good question. I don't know. Aquatic fungi are often referred to as a "neglected class" that are simply "forgotten". Mariyana Vatova (a key researcher in this field) is quoted as stating: "...many groups of aquatic fungi are poorly studied, and many species are yet to be discovered and...

There are a few aquatic spiders that build webs underwater, including the diving bell spider <Argyroneta aquatica>. They can give a nasty bite. Filamentous bacteria can also form web like structures; I have seen this before in medical treatment tanks where the microbial balance shifts to allow...

Probably a windowsill paludarium filled with carnivorous plants, including the Waterwheel plant Aldrovanda vesiculosa.

I had mine made in Stoke on Trent out of 50mm tubular steel powder-coated white. The chap who does them really knows his stuff. His team specialise in aquarium stands and are metalworkers and aquarists, so they put a lot of detail into perfect levelling and smoothing. They can do just about...

@_Maq_ Peat can go through a lot of processing. Old formula Jack's Magic was heat-treated, sterilised, and stabilised, and I've got a feeling they might have even rinsed it at some point - but I don't think it would give you very much black water. I am guessing that plants living in tropical...

If I remember correctly there are certain enzymes in peat that can harm plant tissue (beta-glucosidase possibly). It would have been during a lecture by somebody like Professor Chris Freeman, so I checked and there is a paper he co-authored <here> that explains the chemistry a bit. Perhaps heat...

You can make a guess based upon the biome where the plants are found and information included in botanical publications, and often experts can provide guidance. It is also possible to buy a PAR meter that is suitable for aquatic submersion and make approximations as you work with the plants. I...

I couldn't even guess... I wouldn't want to pick up a prescription from there.

I think they must have accidentally mislabelled their stock.

The drug store should have an audit trail of documentation. It has not been appropriately packaged and labelled. Nor is it blue. I would treat it as a hazardous substance as a precaution. I would return it if I could.

Welcome, nice to meet you :)

As general tanks, I buy <Begondis 45P> aquariums. They are low iron glass, faultless, and only £52 with free delivery. If I could go back and start again then it would be with some of these. There are also longer low-iron <Lanedn shallow tanks> on Amazon that appear to resemble the "Landen"...

If it's not tempered glass then you have done me/us a massive service in checking - thank you. Perhaps, it's a bit on the thin side, especially considering some of the reviews on Amazon.

Yes - Diversa for example. In fact, the costs become more advantageous because far fewer goods are damaged in production and transport. @UrbanDryad Have you had an opportunity to inspect and compare glass? Have you considered low iron glass like <Pilkington Optiwhite>? The retail prices for...

A lot of the thinner glass aquariums are tempered glass. It's hard to know unless manufacturers make this clear to their customers.

<Cloudy sky> is a journal worth have a quick read through.

These liverworts were found at a depth of 4" in fast flowing water. I believe that they grow permanently submerged because water levels are well-regulated by an adjoining lake. All specimens were returned exactly as found. It would seem that damage to these liverworts is confined predominantly...

Nice tank, great job. I would change the black background.

I have been following this tread, and feel some moral duty to give an honest opinion and try to help. I concur with @Hanuman. There is a solid engineering discussion that we could have over both of these units, but ultimately we are talking about second-hand furniture. Structural failure...

You can check to see whether it is tempered glass by using polarised sunglasses, as shown <here>.

I noticed that there are quite a few Homalomena species that are rheophytic (grow in fast water), as noted: <here>, <here> and <here>. The red variety <photographed by Vasteq> a few years ago seems to be H. Rubescens or H. Humilis. I am not sure? I have not found evidence that either are...

It would distribute your carbon dioxide when turned on. This would automate carbon dioxide enrichment. When turned off any gases will still be able to escape without building up pressure.

There is a certain aroma. I would run the DIY CO2 into the venturi pipe of a <Skim-1> and put it on a timer.

I've got one of these 4" Deepsee Flipper magnifiers, but I haven't tested it yet: I have been planning to get a proper one too. Like recently, I've got some Russian Trichoderma in culture that is staying uniformly white in colour. On YouTube, I saw <this video> which seemed very informative...

CO2Art inline diffusers <also our sponsors> - they are brilliant. Might as well mention too, did you see that CO2Art are doing a <competition> this year.

Totally welcome - ask away :) They are standardised in the UK, so they should have the same fittings and safety features. Have you seen the 5kg one on Amazon, second to the right, below : ...smashing for the price.

Yes. I think they come with a needle valve, but they are very precise. I have showed them to an engineer who designs regulators for hospitals and he was rather impressed. Better than anything industrial-welding in my opinion. Yes, it is very easy. Guidance can be found <here>. Apologies for...

If it is a parasite then possibly check out Digenean trematodes (e.g. Diplostomum) and parasitic copepods (e.g. Lernaea). Other possibilities include damage caused by chemicals, bacterial (e.g. streptococcus) or fungal infection, and congenital deformity. Many aquarium fish shops employ a vet...

I think this one - Steve'n'Seagulls

Toolstation do something rather <similar>, but I think I got mine off Amazon. For the polychromatic ARGB stuff: to get completely perfect diffraction you can shine ARGB light strips up the edge of some acrylic sheeting, this can be either sandblasted or film coated in order to refract the...

Have a look at companies that already produce pink/violet plants - they might want to synergise and create an entirely pink collection of plants to offer customers. When you meet them, feedback might be worth requesting. They might give you an insight as to how unique this mutation is...

Edited: Certain registered cultivars were offered protection as they were transferred between the EU and the UK post-Brexit but I am not sure how things stand now. I think most cultivators would be looking to register in all the jurisdictions where they intend to sell plants. Registering in...

It looks marvellous. In the UK we have the option to register new plant varieties. I'll put the link <here>. I would not imagine that there are any issues if you are overseas, but I'm happy to help. I also presume that there is a similar structure in Europe to distinguish breeders rights...

Welcome :) @edustarling - I wondered which species of fern is growing from the wood in the photograph?

Just about everything in the UK is open to overseas membership. Whatever <hobbies or interests> you have - you will find a club in the UK that will be both welcoming and helpful :thumbup:

@MichaelJ - I saw the four tops live once a few years back, all four of them together. I never really thought how they lived as musicians and kept going for decades, but they were ace.

Vibrations are a hard thing to mitigate. They face exactly the same problem in the speaker market - sound vibrations ruining the quality of music as they transmit to floors. What works well is some rubber balls. It doesn't matter whether you spend £20k on a speaker, you still need cheap rubber...

Big up UK drill crew Pete and Bas:

People say that African filter shrimp are incredibly well protected, although both will be vulnerable when they shed their shells. I have also heard it said that the African filter shrimp can dislodge hardscape and create cave dwellings. I would also consider checking for any burrowing habits of...

I think it looks like a flatworm with a rounded head, like Dugesia polychroa. Totally harmless. A nice oddity.

How about the Vampire shrimp Atya gabonensis ?

Fantastic advice @dw1305 Thank you :thumbup:

Fresh manure piled around the outside of the pond, bagged might work. That is how they used to raise rhubarb and chard, by piling it around the cloches in December.

Hi @dw1305 - sorry to bother you. I noticed that "blue loam" is used in some aquatic composts like Velda Lelite. I suspect that it is very heavily reduced, and probably a gley of some sort. You made an interesting point above: Would you favour a reduced or oxidised substrate? Many thanks, and...

Great advice. Thank you. Please may I ask for a bit more info? My tank about 6 cm deep, and the cloche would be 20 cm tall. I'm guessing it might stand a better chance at reaching the mid 20s, but I'm not sure.

If you decide you do need it... The filter you really should look into is the Jebao 404. To start with it has an 8.1 litre filter capacity with four trays and 1200 LPH flow. The real winner is the adjustable flow taps, which also allow you to shut off and disconnect the whole unit. It is some of...

Stunning images above ;)

Do you mean the small tank, or the small mat please @ScareCrow?

Hi :) Yes. I have been looking seriously at those USB heaters. I'll put the image here, for others to see: Utricularia graminifolia and Cryptocoryne parva. It's to prevent freezing. Typical ambient temperature in the winter would be 8 to 10 degrees Celsius, but we do get cold snaps. The...

I've got one of these shallow Hiro tanks. It's probably about 2 litres volume. What I am wondering about is heating. It's going on the windowsill of a cold unheated room. Probably with a cloche. If I got a reptile heating mat, do I need a variable thermostatic controller? Alternatively, would...

Nope. It's very good. Thank you Tim :thumbup:

@zozo Thank you :thumbup: I've spent much of the morning looking at them. I don't think many of them would cope - windowsill with 3 hours direct sun due to trees. What is really stimulating me right now is the Bog orchid Pogonia ophioglossoides. Has anybody tried it emersed/raised marginal...

I have been looking into Manado, and I am starting to suspect that it is has a relatively poor CEC, based on the degradation to clays caused by fire as mentioned in <this paper>. Leca (expanded clay balls) I would assume could have rather similar chemical properties. Does firing clay have a...

@MichaelJ Epic work topic. Love it. @hypnogogia At least it's not threatening judgement day if you do not accept. It is really kicking butt tonight. I wonder how many people would know which carnivorous plants are likely to be the most shade tolerant. Another 10/10.

I do find myself turning more and more to the Bing chatbot. Sometimes it does quite well, other times not. I asked it a few days ago about the production of diatoms. Firstly it pointed out that most are marine harvested, with some eaten as food, and, when I challenged it to come up with a more...

Perfect :thumbup: I believe they can swim-up breathe from the air too, but with a filter you can also think about including tubifex. Tubifex would do quite well in there if you fed them on something like broccoli or courgette, shoving a leaf under each tangle every few days. People think of them...

It falls under the GDPR, and how we interpret that in the UK (consent etc). I did a course on it last year. I'm sure they won't mind being asked, and they might just appreciate the food for thought :thumbup: I too have often thought it would be nice to know how close people are to me (miles...

https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/privacy-policy-for-uk-aquatic-plant-society.52654/

@Jorge O'Reilly : Would you like to try some of my bee pollen, kale powder and chlorella powder when they arrive later this week, if you have a forwarding address in the UK?

I would check for a leaking electrical current, just to be safe and rule it out.

With relation to diet and breeding... I have found a great <document> and it makes a few interesting points: "Sphaerium corneum is mainly a filter feeder but can also deposit feed. It prefers diatoms but also ingests other types of phytoplankton. Sphaerium corneum is capable of climbing up...

Will what I choose to feed the clams contain too many toxins? I am mindful that spirulina has more copper and sodium than chlorella, and something does make me wonder about lead and mercury. Spirulina vs Chlorella: Pollen seems to be a big winner in terms of proteins, carbohydrates and sugars...

It depends a bit on what kind of copepods you are doing, whether they are <free-floating (planktonic) or surface grazers>. I suppose that a mouth like this one, is more suited to grazing: Assuming it is the grazing type , the food I use is a mixture of spirulina and bee pollen, the latter...

@Dr. White Thank you. I was chatting with Lucas from LBR Aquatics yesterday and he just happened to be looking more closely at their filtration benefits. He mentioned milk, but I seem to recall that it drastically raises the BOD. The good news is that they really do not seem to require...

I was just about to set-up a tank for culturing the blackworm Lumbriculus variegatus - and it has occurred to me that I might consider bivalves. The conditions will be a very good match for bivalve filter-feeders. If I did keep the two together then what springs to mind is: 1. Whether the...

They smartly allowed this woman to spew her bile for a few minutes as her husband made threats, as we all did. Then when the local intelligencia had left, we had a friendly chat and they like many other mates I have had at LFSs' told us exactly the same problem - fish dying due to kids banging...

Amazing. I think they call those a spider swarm web, or something like that. I have only seen it once before and that was near Zaltbommel, near the canals there,.

Well the only time I politely asked with my Mum there too, the woman got her boyfriend and the manager and became thoroughly abusive. It was at roughly the same time that I realised that the problem could be completely overcome if I went for mail delivery fish... and to be honest, I have never...

I'm having one of those late-nights/early-mornings again o_O Managed to get a slug in my tea, then came downstairs and right by the side of my kitchen sink guess who had set up shop...

I tend towards the idea that indigenous fish collectors plan an essential part as custodians of the ecosystems that they manage and collect from. There are already a lot of rotational fishing practices employed, and the emphasis that they put on quality riparian habitat, low sedimentation water...

I like the idea of placing an order with Borneo Aquatics. They have some interesting plants.

Thanks Tim, I thought it looked pretty smashing, but it would potentially need to be turned off if it got sunny all of a sudden, ...and I 've got a feeling that I need a bit more heat. They do 8 degrees-C above ambient, but it's probably just a smidgeon too low for my cold house. I am guessing...

I kind of like the look of this one: <Heated Garland Super 7> It am probably going to put it on the windowsill for the summer to grow-out a few tubs of in-vitro rheophytes (bucephalandra, anubias, crypts etc.). Possibly give it more lighting and heating if I am running it later in the year. I...

I have just gone for 5:3 (100 cm). Thanks for help @Witcher @dw1305

Hi folks :) I am torn between 90 cm-length vs 100 cm-length, for a 60 cm-high by 60 cm-deep aquascaping aquarium: 3:2 vs 5:3. I am broadly interested in the diorama-style, and re-scaping annually, but I want Iwagumi and other options to remain on the table. Hoping to decide tonight, so if...

@adamk87 Thanks for writing this to keep us up to date :thumbup:

@seedoubleyou Thank you. I don't really mind building it if they are too busy.

Interestingly, I have just requested a quote from them. It's a big order. I have done engineering calculations for the stand, but I need a manufacturer that can interpret an engineering specification, and preferably a two-man team that is capable of delivery. I am still looking forwards to the...

Add to the mix the potential for plant growth regulators to be released during trimming, and you can see why algae get it easy sometimes. Check out my older post <here> ;)

Many carnivorous plants do have specialised enzymes for the lysis of dead insects, and they do take up amino-acids, so they are partial heterotrophs. I know that a lot of growth medium gels use amino acids as a source of nitrogen. I would hazard a guess that most plants have a healthy amount of...

Good contributions above. I rather fancy that plants can source their nitrogen from the consumption of nitrogenous organic molecules (e.g. proteins etc.). I would expect that in certain environments these organic molecules constitute the majority of nitrogen uptake, in certain plants. It is...

I used to cut up some old net curtain and cover the intake basket with that. Every few days when I was working in the tank I would just pull it off and replace, or just give it a quick rinse. It was deadly at catching trimmings too. It cost nothing.

I'm not sure, but I have an inkling that it can and probably does replenish. I am guessing that there are lots of carbon molecules for the nitrates to bind with, and probably a few good cation sites. My old soil science lecturers would be killing me now. I've got to dash to another Morris...

That is very much what I was thinking. The Ca:Mg ratio at 3:1. I also think that your observations about EC are rather astute. Quite a few of us, including myself have noticed that amano shrimp will crawl out of tanks, and I often felt that was an EC/TDS related issue. Great advice about diet.

@MichaelJ :thumbup: There is possibly quite a bit of phosphate in there too. I am keeping an eye on this thread. It will be interesting to learn more about keeping shrimp.

The reason that sulphates and conductivity are high around Uxbridge is probably due to agricultural fertilisers entering the drinking water.

Fin infections that have a translucent or opaque colour could be bacterial, and I am guessing in this case it could be something like Aeromonas or Pseudomonas. Fungal fin rot diseases will get a bit more fluffy. Your fish are not in bad shape. Their fins are largely intact. There are no red...

Now is a good time of year for aphids and small caterpillars. They should be infesting the branches of plum trees. I use aphids when I get sick fish and I want to get sugars into them.

They look like caddisfly larvae (order Trichoptera). Some are predatory. Fish with pharyngeal teeth should be fine with them.

I used to get around the short breaks by introducing certain live aquatic foods. California Blackworm can be very useful in circumstances like these because you can hide them around the tank (in the substrate/gravel and under the rocks etc.) for the fish to find at a later date, especially the...

Oh gosh, here it is. I seem to remember at the time I was having a hard time either being on or coming off some pretty hardcore NHS-prescribed benzodiazepines.

What species of shrimp do you have please?

The feature is part of a sustainable urban drainage system (SuDS) and it is used to manage floodwater. One of the problems engineers first faced when they designed and built these large exposed artificial embankments, was that rabbits and other mammals would quickly burrow into the soil...

Eiseniella is a genus within the Lumbricidae family of earthworms that includes the aquatic earthworm Eiseniella tetraedra, commonly found in the UK. I don't know whether it is found in your part of the world, but it does look similar to terrestrial earthworms.

You could check the loading using a "span chart" which you can search for and find online, wherein you might need to know the grade of timber, span, and dimensions. You could include the weight of the stand, hardscape, filters, fittings and persons standing nearby the aquarium in your...

It looks like the infection is in the gut, as opposed to the swim bladder. It is reasonable to presume a parasitic infection and attempt a <suitable treatment programme> because these types of infection appear to be rather common. It is also worth your time considering items outside the...

Please can you let us know the symptoms?