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Dry salt dosing is not for me. I prefer dosing the solution plus I have already invested in dosing pumps. First time I've heard of the DIY salt mix having to be used in 4-6 weeks, that's disappointing. Is there no way to avoid the mould and have the mix last longer? I know with the TNC Complete...

Yeah, I get that. The 'All in one solution' I was on about is still mixing DIY salts but mixing them all together instead of separate macro and micro nutrients so you only have to dose one solution. You could still adjust each of the nutrients up/down individually within the mix. See here for...

Hey all! Looking for advice on how I can best change my dosing over from TNC Complete to DIY Salts for my low light/low tech tank. I know EI was designed with high light/high tech tanks in mind so I want to figure out what I would need to dose to roughly equal what I am dosing now with TNC...

Can you make it an option so not everyone has to have it? That might be best.

I assume you made the font bigger. It looks better but there’s still a lot of space between the left and right side of listings. I can live with it though.

I can't see any difference? Note: my screenshot is from a 4K screen shrunk down to 1080p.

The only problem with doing that is that the font size, etc. doesn't get any bigger and you just end up with more space between things, which makes things harder to read/connect together. Maybe you can see what I mean from this screenshot? It's harder now to match the left thread title to the...

Exactly! :lol:

I've got the EasyCarbo. I just got this one as it's the cheapest option I could find. Use whichever you like, they all do the same thing.

Liquid carbon is not a replacement for CO2 injection, no matter what the advertising says. It is a source of Carbon but not a very good one. It is a good algaecide, which is what a lot of aquarists use it for - to get rid of algae. If you have high light, or even medium light, you would be...

I never said that my experience disproved anything and if you look you’ll see I took note of the recommendations and made some changes. I didn’t change things entirely to what was recommended because I don’t totally agree with the recommendations, which is my prerogative. I appreciate any...

No, I understand what you were saying. My point is that what we consider thriving is really our own personal perspective. I can only go off my experiences watching the fish and judge by their behaviour whether I think they are thriving or not. I have had a lot of past experience keeping fish, I...

Agreed. I’ve seen them swimming free in rivers, even those 3 meter zoo tanks are nothing compared to hundreds of miles of rivers. If we were to consider them swimming free thriving then we shouldn’t keep them in aquariums at all. It’s all a matter of perspective and definition.

Indeed there is. My 20 tetras would be thriving though, so it’s not really relevant to the discussion.

Just wondering what the aquarium gardens water change method is all about? Why would you need to change 50% of the water every day?

I'm going to be dosing TNC Complete and EasyCarbo, would it be best to start dosing either / both as soon as I have planted? I'll be dosing daily with dosing pumps if it makes any difference.

I’ll be posting some pics of the hardscape later this week! :D

After some discussion in this thread I just ordered the majority of the plants! :D They should be with me either next Friday or Saturday. Can't wait to get planting!

Yeah, the one LED strip that the Flex 123L comes supplied with is perfect for low light. If you want medium light then there is the option to add a second LED strip. With the smaller Flex tanks the LED lighting supplied is already meant to be enough for medium light. This is so that those who...

The plants I am looking at ordering are from a guy running a Facebook group “World of Mosses”, he gets very good comments and seems to give good value and healthy plants. The fish I am looking at getting from www.tropco.co.uk they seem legit and have all the fish I am after. The tank was on...

Guess I’m just not that old fashioned. Economical to me is trying to do something the least wasteful way. In answer to your question - both. It’s a symbiotic relationship.

Neither am I! :lol: Not sure what that has to do with being economical though?

I’m using black sand with root fertiliser added. I don’t have any other fish tanks. Water changes are not a problem. I will be doing 50% weekly anyway to reset the nutrients in the water but more is no problem. The tank is 32.5 gallon. It’s 32.5” x 15.75” x 15.35”. These are the plants I...

I’m used to adding them all at once as I normally do a fishless cycle. Another reason for wanting to add them all at once is because I have to order them online. I don’t have transport to get to an LFS. With the expensive delivery costs when ordering livestock online it makes economic sense...

Thanks for the reply. I understand the nitrification process and that plants take up ammonia, it’s just that I’ve never not cycled a tank before adding fish. This relying on the plants bit is what I’m not clear on and whether they would support a full fish load, like fishless cycling does.

I have had a few people tell me that you don't need to cycle a planted tank if you plant heavily. I have a question about this - if I plant heavily should I be able to add all my fish at once? ...and they won't suffer any ammonia / nitrite poisoning?

No, I don't mean the water quality report says there is no PO4. I mean that the level of PO4 is not in the report at all. So what you're saying is it doesn't matter if there is too much PO4? ...and I can just dose the TNC Complete and not worry about the extra PO4?

I already checked the water quality report. I have one from 01/01/2018 to 31/12/2018 but it doesn't have PO4 on it at all. I've attached the report.

Hey all, I am currently cycling my tank and whilst I was testing the tank water for ammonia I figured I'd test my tap water for Nitrate and Phosphate. Nitrate is almost zero (maybe 1) but Phosphate is 2.5 possibly slightly more. I was planning to dose TNC Complete once the tank is setup but now...

I used to have my last one go to blue for a while but the red and blue looks better! Will try that when I get the tank I’m just setting up sorted.

So annoyed right now. The place that was due to deliver the tank tomorrow has just rang to say the tank was cracked when they went to get it to ship. It was the last one they had so they offered to order one in for next week for me, which I accepted. They rang back shortly after to say they...

The tank is 32.5 gallon. It’s 32.5” x 15.75” x 15.35”. True, if the tank is lightly stocked with fish as most tanks are nowadays. With a heavier fish load the biological filtration is still important. I have seen multiple low tech/low light tanks that are growing these fine. I do a lot of...

I appreciate the feedback but I disagree. I have had over 400 fish in a 5 foot tank without issue, never mind 80. Whether they are okay or not depends on which fish and the maintenance employed.

48 of those fish are Cardinal tetras, smaller fish don’t impact the bioload as much as larger fish. I’m fairly confident the tank will be fine with this stocking level. Manacapuru Angelfish are indeed a proper breed, see below.

After planning a large 4x2x2 planted tank with sump system I have now had a change of mind. I’m going to have multiple smaller planted tanks instead! :D This has also meant that I can setup the first one straight away. I have already started ordering everything with a couple of things arriving...

Hmmm those responses are pretty much echoing what I’ve found online. Some say it lasts and some say it won’t. I guess the only way to know for sure is to try it.

Thanks Tim. Yeah, with regards the Anubias, I will be. I've had a lot of Anubias before and it will be low down/shaded. They will be mostly around the outer edges of the scape and across the bottom.

Thanks, good to know. Never tried it before. There's plenty more to choose from though! ;)

During my research I have seen conflicting reports on whether or not Tropica Aquarium Soil will break down over time. The reason I'm trying to find out is I'm thinking of using it in my planned planted tank but I'm not your usual aquascaper. I want to get the aquarium setup and scaped and then...

Yeah, I can see how that could be annoying. Fertiliser is fertiliser as far as I know, they're all pretty much the same thing whether it's a commercial product or DIY. The only difference to me is convenience, which you are paying quite heavily for with the commercial products compared to DIY...

Okay. I am aware. Never had anyone tell me different but good to know. :thumbup:

Two of my favourites: George Farmer https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC210QPUiYoCjm9IEuu5SHLQ Corvus Oscen https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYLva0o1Ndz8xatJuUxbzpg

Impressive growth there Geoffrey! :wideyed:

I'm going to try my best! :) The recommended dose of TNC Complete for low light tanks is 1ml per day per 50 litres. I can get 5 litres of TNC Complete for £49.99. 5 litres will last 5000/10 -> 500 days. Even if I double the dose to 2ml per day, to make sure enough nutrients are being dosed...

I will be trying it without the fast growing stems. I have some ideas on the light, see below reply to Tim. Good to know that some fast growing stems would be possible if I do end up having to add some. I do plan on not adding them though and will be trying my hardest not to add them! I...

Thanks for the advice everyone! :) I'll have a look at the links/guides but I think I'm less doubtful now that it would be a problem, which is much appreciated. I'm sure I'll have something else to pick your brains about soon though! ;)

Thinking about it... I'm sure I can remember, in the dim and distant past of my early days of planted tank keeping, having tanks without CO2 and stems that still grew okay, if not particularly fast. Pretty sure I didn't have any bad algae issues either. I just did weekly 50% water changes. We...

Thanks! :)

That is certainly a possibility I had thought of, they could be kept permanently down there if they were needed. It's the part about whether they will be needed or not that I'm not sure about. I think it may be fine without fast growing plants, I'm just not sure. I know it seems a daft thing to...

Agreed. I'm fine with a small showing of some algae, so long as nothing gets a hold. I'm just not sure if large, regular water changes along with plenty of nutrients will be enough to keep the algae at bay.

Hey all, I have a good amount of experience and knowledge of planted tanks but I have a query about my plans for my next planted tank which I am not sure of the answer to, so I figured I'd pick your brains and see if I can get a definitive answer. First off I'll explain what I'm wanting to do...

I know a lot do. Not me though, I like to get the scape how I want it and then keep it, enjoy it as long as possible.

Thanks. Just my age and I intend to keep it for a long time.

Hello all, my name is Mark and I'm from Northumberland in the north east of the UK. I have been keeping planted tanks since I was 8 years old and I'm now 50. I don't have one at the minute but I am planning my next and probably last planted tank. I shut down my previous tank 2 years ago when I...