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  1. A

    Plant ID please

    Thanks. That’s the one I couldn’t remember. Couldn’t get a pic as I forgot my phone. Might post a pic if I go back to get it
  2. A

    Plant ID please

    Hi everyone, I have a pea puffer tank I’m trying to plant with asian plants. Went to our local fish shop and saw a plant I’m fairly sure is from the right area. I do know its name but can’t recall what it’s called so I’m hoping someone can help as I’m getting frustrated with myself now...
  3. A

    High, medium or low?

    I grew plants fine including red plants using a 4w led daylight bulb in an IKEA desk lamp over a 12l tank. No CO2 and no filter You won’t need a lot of light as the tank can’t be very deep.
  4. A

    The weekly 50% water change.... why?

    If you look back at some of the older Estimative Index posts you should find your answer. There’s lots of scientific talk that explains it properly When I first joined the forum I was just starting in the hobby. The advice was to overdose fertiliser to ensure that there was enough of...
  5. A

    Gammarus for a planted pea puffer tank?

    I’m thinking of adding a snail colony in an air driven HOB Fluval breeding box on the puffer tank. Will be easier to keep the main tank clean as I can overfeed and siphon off mess easily away from the sand. It should prevent a total massacre if the puffers go on a snail killing rampage and...
  6. A

    Gammarus for a planted pea puffer tank?

    Thanks for all the extra info guys. I have a tank with 10 little ‘murder beans’ so they should be predatory enough control them. Darrel Can you pm me with your paypal info and I’ll send the money over friends and family and send my address. Sorry I didn’t mean to go quiet on you. Have a...
  7. A

    Gammarus for a planted pea puffer tank?

    Thank you so much for all the info. Yes please to some. Let me know cost etc
  8. A

    Gammarus for a planted pea puffer tank?

    Hi I’m hoping for some advice on adding gammarus to my 120l pea puffer tank. Am I crazy to consider adding these to a planted tank? Are they going to destroy the plants? How fast are they? Will puffers be able to keep the population under control? If they are OK to add which type are...
  9. A

    Success growing Hygrophila Pinnatifida low tech in hard water

    Hi everyone. Hope you are all doing OK A while ago I asked about growing Hygrophilia Pinnatifida low tech as I was struggling and several of you gave me advice. I wanted to share my recent success. I’d tried several pots of established plants that just dropped leaves and melted away. I...
  10. A

    Plant ID please

    Apologies for all the typos. Typing with a migraine isn’t my thing it seems
  11. A

    Plant ID please

    Thanks
  12. A

    Plant ID please

    Hi everyone. I’m hoping the plants experts in the group can help me ID plant that has appeared in my pond. The pond was set up this summer and I bought some plants on ebay as stick at pur local shop wasn’t great. I didn’t buy floating plants Aftet I added the plants a couple of floating...
  13. A

    Daphnia population explosion in Ember Tetra tank. Too many?

    I thought the tetras would wipe out the daphnia in a day or two. They do eat some Hoping the constant supply of live food and dense planting gets the tetras spawning
  14. A

    Daphnia population explosion in Ember Tetra tank. Too many?

    I wouldn’t know where to get black worms from. I monitor the number of ramshorn snails that appear when I add an algae wafer. If there are a lot I remove some and add them to the pond. If the numbers are increasing I use a turkey baster and airline to clean the substrate a little
  15. A

    Daphnia population explosion in Ember Tetra tank. Too many?

    Thanks for the advice. I’ve assumed that having a healthy and increasing number of daphnia and shrimp in the tank means the tank is fine. Water tests show no ammonia, nitrite and low nitrate whenever I test. The tank is heavily planted above and below the water. Very little substrate is...
  16. A

    Daphnia population explosion in Ember Tetra tank. Too many?

    Question for those of you who grow your own live foods. I seeded my ember tetra tank with Daphnia and Tubifex long before adding fish and shrimp. I add spirulina powder to the tank every few days to sustain the daphnia. Initially the tetras ignored the daphnia completely as they were...
  17. A

    Bes

    Good afternoon. Lookimg for advice please. Which beginner friendly pond plants are going to grow quickly in a shallow pond without overwhelming it? I will also plant pond baskets in the top of the filter. Hoping there are some evergreen plants other than ivy that are happy to have wet...
  18. A

    Mystery/Apple Snails Eat Plants?

    Seen them back on sale this year. I used to have pink, white and blues and supplied the local shop for a bit in exchange for fish food
  19. A

    Mystery/Apple Snails Eat Plants?

    Apple snails used to destroy my amazon sword plants in days in my big tank. Back when plants were cheap to replace
  20. A

    Are these mosquito larve?

    I have weird mini fish. The pygmy cories and ember tetras in filter less Walstad tank completely ignore the tubifex and daphnia in the tank. The critters have been there for weeks. I blister when I get bitten so growing on mosquitoes isn’t ideal
  21. A

    Are these mosquito larve?

    Possibly. It is all floating giving them room to perch and lay eggs. I pushed the hay down with a weld mesh panel and took the surface water with a jug to remove as many as possible The water itself tests clean and clears within 24 hours. I add some green water from another older water...
  22. A

    Are these mosquito larve?

    I hope so. Just need to find an easy way to separate them from the hay I added on a recommendation from here. Thank you
  23. A

    Are these mosquito larve?

    I was trying to raise daphnia. Just dipped a jar to check if I need to add more green water. The water is full of these things. Photos taken from a video as I don’t know how to add the video. Are these mosquitoes? I assume whatever these are are safe for the bigger fish. Not sure I want...
  24. A

    Getting tank water into hang on the back planters outside the tank?

    Was amazed to find no terrarium plants in the tanks at any of the fish shops. Glad things have changed so newbies don’t get caught out. The ribbon plant came from the garden centre and was potted in soil
  25. A

    Getting tank water into hang on the back planters outside the tank?

    I went with the 1l breeder box supported upturned glass jars. I have a tiny usb air pump running it that has the water just trickling through to stop the awful glugging sound. If I find I need more flow I’ll use a mini usb waterpump instead. Used old IKEA Leca. It sinks if soaked in...
  26. A

    Where to buy EI dry salts?

    Thanks Just found them and was about to update this thread. I mistyped the seller’s nameat first and thought I’d missed the chance to grab some. Got some now
  27. A

    Where to buy EI dry salts?

    Hi everyone. I used to buy EI salts from aquariumplantfood.co.uk. I just went to their site to get the ‘recipe’ I used to use and restock to find they have closed down. Haven’t had to buy any for ages as I scaled back dosing when I moved my big tank to crypts and low light plants. Where’s...
  28. A

    Plant ID please emersed growth

    Thank you
  29. A

    Plant ID please emersed growth

    Please can one of you lovely plant experts in my phone ID a plant for me. I brought it back from a MA shop in Devon where it was growing above the water in their holding tank. Perfect for my little eco tank where I want emersed growth. No label on it. Only delivered a few days before so still...
  30. A

    The Celestial Swamp - A voyage through a flooded forest fringe (Shallow Riparium)

    Sorry to resurrect an old thread but I’m interested in how you got the maidenhair fern to grow emersed on your tank. I’ve had three attempts and the leaves have gone crispy and did each time
  31. A

    Getting tank water into hang on the back planters outside the tank?

    In my greenhouse I used to have trays on the benches with capilary matting and the end of the roll was in a bin full of water when we went away to wick water to the roots. i’m fairly clueless on this subject but was wondering about clay balls or some other absorbent planting medium that won’t...
  32. A

    Getting tank water into hang on the back planters outside the tank?

    It would work but these are very cheap tanks so I’m wary of weight on the glass.. would work on the big tank I’m going to use the ideas on hopefully later this year.
  33. A

    Getting tank water into hang on the back planters outside the tank?

    The tanks are quite small and I’m a little concerned about adding too much weigh to the lass so thinking of something deep enough to rest on the windowsill to reduce weight that has hooks into the tank that can be used to hold a wicking material of some sort in place Those look perfect for my...
  34. A

    Getting tank water into hang on the back planters outside the tank?

    Sorry if this question has already been answered elsewhere and my search skills have failed me. I have two small tanks that run very low tech. Both have emerged plants to help with chemical filtration and daphnia to clean the water. (My fish ignore the daphnia or maybe just keep the...
  35. A

    When to start a daphnia culture outside?

    Brilliant thank you. Have found a second waterbutt free locally so I can set up two cultures and maybe use some of the water too
  36. A

    When to start a daphnia culture outside?

    Thanks for all the good advice again
  37. A

    When to start a daphnia culture outside?

    I’m learning a lot from your advice on live foods but still have questions. Thank you for all the help. I have a open topped waterbutt outside that housed an uninvited but welcome supply of daphnia and other little live foods until Hubby decided to and move it a few weeks ago. I refilled it...
  38. A

    What do you consider required reading?

    I’ve found him already and a few others. Been stuck at hime while the kids had COVID. Been watching a lot of YouTube. Think I found him from a Bentley Pascoe video. Sunscribed to quite a few channels lately
  39. A

    Microworm cultures

    The fish foods I have contain a lot of algae and pong. My beagles come running from everywhere to investigate What are those worms you're feeding / inadvertently culturing? Tubifex. Added a tiny pinch to see if the fish would take them. Thought a few survivors might turn the sand over and...
  40. A

    Microworm cultures

    Thanks for all the advice. I ordered some Walter worms for now. I did find a reasonably priced listing for grindal worms but they sold out so I’ll see how the first lot work out and order some others later. Going to give vinegar eels a go too storing the bottles in the garage. Might be...
  41. A

    What do you consider required reading?

    I’ve had a lot of good advice from this forum over since I started keeping planted tanks. I’m looking to create a low tech, low light, relatively low maintenance tank. I have the latest edition of Diana Walstad’s book and (possibly still have the original hardcopy somewhere too.) I’m also...
  42. A

    Microworm cultures

    I’m thinking of starting a microworm culture for my Pygmy corys and ember tetras but as my husband struggles with the smell of repashy, green and the infusoria culture I started recently I need to find the least smelly option. They really aren’t great at eating anything. They take some micro...
  43. A

    Cloudy water. Too early for a bacterial bloom?

    Apologies for the dumb question but I’m confused. I set up a little tank yesterday morning. Thinking of trying it as a breeding environment to experiment with ember tetras and Pygmy cories. (Yes, I‘ve been watching Mark’s Aquatics) Everything in the tank has come from a mature tank or has...
  44. A

    Amano shrimp sucked into the prefilter, how to prevent?

    Cable tie a sponge or media net over intakes so tiny tank inhabitants are safe.
  45. A

    Scuds and tubifex in shrimp tanks?

    I’m reading ‘An alternative Aquarium: A Robust Habitat‘ by Matt Owens as it is free with my Kindle subscription. The author recommends adding pond snails, tubifex and scuds as the top three invertebrates to add as a natural part of the tank ecosystem. When I first got into the hobby I...
  46. A

    I'm Unsure Which Direction To Go In..

    I have bean experimenting with john innes no3 capped with fine gravel in low tech tanks and have been amazed by the growth. I have two. 1. A nano running a desk lamp with a 5w daylight e14 bulb that has minimal filtration and flow 2. 120l with an Amazon 40w cheap plant led strip that’s...
  47. A

    Shrimp safe filter for 35l tanks

    I have the pat mini filter powerhead with a double sponge air filter attached. The central pipe was a good fit for the opening of the powerhead. I heated and crimped some airline to put on the airline nozzle to block it. The sponges are really dense. You can even buy the double filters...
  48. A

    Frag rack to suspend houseplants at the waterline ?

    I have some of those spare some where. Great idea
  49. A

    Frag rack to suspend houseplants at the waterline ?

    Thinking maidenhair fern above with hydrocotyle hanging down inside the tank from the plant roots
  50. A

    Frag rack to suspend houseplants at the waterline ?

    I have the surface pretty much covered with floating plants already so I was as thinking of having house plants sticking out of the water.
  51. A

    Frag rack to suspend houseplants at the waterline ?

    Has anyone used a frag rack like this or the corner equivalent to suspend bare rooted house plants in the top of a tank? If the holes are a bit wide I would probably wrap the stems in a bit of floss My husband has said he’s arranging a holiday and a friend will be pet sitting for us. They...
  52. A

    Is 120l excessive as a shrimp tank?

    I really want the excuse to have a big group of Pygmy corys but it will be easier to get agreement for a shrimp tank than a second fish tank 😂
  53. A

    No idea what to do - poor plant health and algae

    Cover every other row of leds with maskimg tape for now and remove gradually as the tank settles
  54. A

    No idea what to do - poor plant health and algae

    Those are almost all slow growing plants. I’m growing easy stems and slow growing plants under a 5w daylight bulb in a desk lamp in a 25l tank. Low dose ferts and no co2 and still having to trim stems every other day and remove handfuls of floating plants a few times a week. The plants...
  55. A

    Is 120l excessive as a shrimp tank?

    The 12l is currently my hospital tank. Thinking of settig it up in my garage as a place to grow on tissue culture plants
  56. A

    Is 120l excessive as a shrimp tank?

    Been talking to my husband about my new 4ft tank and the fact that I’ll still need a shrimp tank. My current options are 12l, 25l or 120l. He thinks 120l is excessive but I think a colony of RCS, a few amanos and a filter shrimp with 10-15 pygmy corys and a similar number of ember tetras would...
  57. A

    Walstad Dry Start Method

    I used John Innes No 3 in tanks I started recently. All have had crazy growth. Didn’t bother with DSM. I have a standard daylight bulb in a desk lamp over one of the small tanks and the hairgrass carpet filled in in less than a month. I had no budget for these tanks and used plants rescued...
  58. A

    Frequent small water changes or weekly large?

    I top the tanks up daily after removing any surface scum and so a weekly change on the large tank and sonetimes two on the smaller ones
  59. A

    Multi Micro Baby Fish food

    As it is such a fine power I was able to dip a finger into a small amount of the feed and rub my fingers together in the tank water and put a lot of particles into the water. They stayed in the water column quite well so a little goes a long way. Hopefully I’ll have less wasted food in the...
  60. A

    Pygmy cory question

    When I had them before they were the only fish in a shrimp tank. Maybe that’s why I remember them grazing more Thanks everyone
  61. A

    Multi Micro Baby Fish food

    I have had some very small ember tetras for a few weeks now and they have been really difficult to feed. I’ve tried live, frozen, powdered dried foods, fry foods and crushing commercial fish foods. They must be eating something as they are still here and have grown a little. I have never seen...
  62. A

    Pygmy cory question

    Forgot to say. Tank is cycled Ammonia and nitrite are 0 Nitrates are low Ferts are added with water changes.
  63. A

    Pygmy cory question

    Tank 40l Substrate fine gravel over soil Heavily planted (very little substrate visible) with floating plants too Lighting 7W daylight bulb in a desk lamp Heater 23c Filtered (sort of). Sponge filter on a powerhead to keep water moving without sucking up shrimp Apologies for the newbie...
  64. A

    Talk to me about growing hygrophila pinnatifida low tech?

    We are away too much to go high tech and have the high light, high ferts and CO2 growth and maintenance requirements. I have a friend who will tip premeasured fish food into the tank but isn’t going to start messing with ferts for me
  65. A

    Talk to me about growing hygrophila pinnatifida low tech?

    I have all sorts of hairgrass even the really tiny one growing in a dirted tank under an IKEA desk lamp so I think the water parameters are a huge difference.
  66. A

    Talk to me about growing hygrophila pinnatifida low tech?

    I believe he’s in the Devon where the tap water is very soft. Very different to the liquid limescale they pump through London taps. We have ridiculously hard water here
  67. A

    Talk to me about growing hygrophila pinnatifida low tech?

    I love the look of hygrophila pinnatifida but I really do not want to use co2. I’ve seen a few videos showing people adding it to low tech setups on YouTube but they rarely show the tank again or talk about their failures. Have any of you had success growing it low tech? I have fairly high...
  68. A

    Tissue culture small anubias

    Thank you
  69. A

    Has anyone actually grown Bolbitis heteroclita "difformis"

    I live close to London with rock hard water and I could ‘t make it thrive even with EI Dosing, high light and CO2. I tried it low tech too with liquid co2 and no Co2 with low light and it just melted. Suspect it needs soft water to thrive. Tempted to bring back a big container of super soft...
  70. A

    Tissue culture small anubias

    In vitro Anubias nana petite and smaller. Do such things exist? Please point me to a good place to get healthy plants if they do. I need a lot for a future scape in a large tank I don’t own yet so I’m planting existing tanks with plants I want to use later. I watched a MD fish tanks...
  71. A

    How would I cycle this small aquarium?

    Rinsed soil capped with gravel stuffed full of fast stem plants. Should only take a month to cycle with no additional ammonia. The soil will leach nutrients at first. You can remove with 50% water changes daily for the first week then every other day moving once a week after 3-4 weeks. I...
  72. A

    Tank background film for windowsill tank

    Thanks. I’m going with black. I did a very unscientific experiment. I put a dark covered book against the back from the tank and observed the fish. The embers continued to explore the whole tank. seemingly unphased by the change . Next I tried white polystyrene and they acted...
  73. A

    Tank background film for windowsill tank

    Hi, I’m looking for some advice please from all you knowledgeable people who set up tanks all the time. I have a tank on my windowsill that is heavily planted, dirted low tech tank on a north facing windowsill. The plants are growing well but it with the limited light (a desk lamp) and no...
  74. A

    hydrocotyle leucocephala along wood with slow growing moss

    Thanks. Wasn’t planning on co2 although I have the kit. I was going to use slow growing easy plants and it’s a dirted tank that I lightly does with the EI mix ferts Good to know you are having success without co2
  75. A

    hydrocotyle leucocephala along wood with slow growing moss

    I’m wondering if any of you have trained this to grow on and around wood? thinking of trying it amongst moss on spiderwood. I want to provide shaded areas for my diamond tetra. I have some wood that is curved like an arch. Thinking of planting adding Java fern and anubias along the thicker...
  76. A

    Beautiful fresh plants from Aquarium Gardens

    Been out of the hobby for a while. Had a large tank planted with slow growing plants and had little need to buy new plants for a few years. When I went looking for plants I found places where I used to buy plants locally were gone and the options that replaced them were poor. More recently...
  77. A

    Little 12 litre tank, no filter

    Just been inform that this little tank is being replaced on Tuesday as my husband has decided it is too small. The filter has been added in preparation for the new tank as he rhinks he wants a few tiny fish in the bigger one. Shocked at how well the plants grew as it is less than a month old...
  78. A

    How many assassin snails for a 180L?

    Two will soon multiply if you need more. I bought a couple many years ago for my 500l. They bred enough I was able to send some to people in this forum in the past. My tank lasted 10 years. When I tore it down last week there were 10 live assassin snails and loads of empty snail shells in...
  79. A

    Unhappy plants

    If you go down the soil route there’s an article on here showing how to go about it. I’m sure someone will link for you. Make sure you cap the soil well with gravel or you’ll still have nutrient problems causing algae
  80. A

    Feeding Repashy

    I use a 1 to 2 mix of powder and water. Squeezing some through a garlic press made ‘worms’ for the tetras to chase. Feeding them first helps as they aren’t swarming the food on rocks and wood. You need a rough surface. Rough rocks, wood, the back of a ceramic tile terracotta plant weight...
  81. A

    Feeding Repashy

    Using dipped cholla wood in the shrimp tank today. Shrimps found it and it is less accessible to the snails as the food finds it way into all the little holes
  82. A

    Do you switch filter off when feeding

    We use smart plugs too. All named so we can use them with Alexa or from our phones. I have FX filters and they are set to go off at 8pm so that any maintenance I do doesn’t trigger the auto stop/start when we aren’t around just in case they don’t restart. Also, there’s a sofa bed in the...
  83. A

    Egg Tumbler

    I’ve had corys successfully spawn in a heavily planted established tank that had been running over a year. They survived with at least 8 adults and a few tiny tetras. Only realised when we noticed very small corys on the food. When I tore down my 500l tank we found 12 ottos and I only bought...
  84. A

    Do you switch filter off when feeding

    I turn the filter off for frozen and messy foods that would end up all over the tank. After 10 mins I remove any uneaten food I can see with a turkey baster. I leave the filter on for pellets like Hikari that are easy to clean up. Most of the fish are full grown and swallow pellets immediately.
  85. A

    Otto Help

    Pretty sure the instructions on that one expect you to dose your whole aquarium once a week until the fish is better. Something I wouldn’t want to do. I don’t like the thought crashing the tank if it kills the filter bacteria. Do you have a little isolation tank and air stone you could use to...
  86. A

    Finally taking he plunge on monster tank - Help with kit list please!

    For some reason it came up as new for me. Glad you have a workaround.
  87. A

    The ottos have finally found the Repashy

    I have soilent green for now to see if they’d take it. I intend to get the algae and community versions too when I have spare cash and mix then. (A hole in the roof diverted a lot of spare funds this month). I made some up in cubes in addition to the rocks and pushed it through a garlic press...
  88. A

    The ottos have finally found the Repashy

    Thank you. I have indian almond leaves in there with alder cones and a little bit cholla wood. I had them for my shrimp tank and tucked a few bits away in the fish tank too. The outlet on the filter is fairly fierce. It is an FX4 (the smaller of thr two filters from the old tanks) turned down...
  89. A

    Finally taking he plunge on monster tank - Help with kit list please!

    I had a 60x24x24 500+ litre tank with a wooden lid/hood. One thing to consider is how you get the lid off for maintenance. Ours had a narrow flap at the front that was fine for feeding fish and cleaning the front glass. Cleaning the back glass, filter pipes or working with plants at the...
  90. A

    The ottos have finally found the Repashy

    Mine bred in the last tank. It was low tech and I struggled to reach some of the glass to clean it so it has over ten years of biofilm build up. The tank had to go and I feel guilty for moving them to somewhere so sterile. It will be months before a decent biofilm builds up to sustain them
  91. A

    The ottos have finally found the Repashy

    I used chips of dragon stone. I had huge stones in the 500l and had to break them up to use them in the smaller tanks. They shatter and I kept pebble size bits
  92. A

    The ottos have finally found the Repashy

    Was worried that ottos I found when I tore the down my big tank would starve in the new one as it is too new so I invested in BacterAE and Repashy hoping they’d have something to graze on. Being contrary fussy eaters like all ottos they had been ignoring all the blanched veg that others have...
  93. A

    Fishkeeper or aquascaper?

    Thanks everyone. I’ve managed to restart a thread with a proper poll
  94. A

    Are you a fishkeeper or aquascaper?

    I’ve been a member of the group on and off for a long time. I know a lot of people on here are serious aquascapers who create amazing tanks and choose fish to complement the scape. Some of the tanks are spectacular. There must also be people like me who are fishkeepers that like plants to...
  95. A

    Fishkeeper or aquascaper?

    On my iphone I only see discussion or question. My vision isn’t great so maybe I missed something. If an admin can make this a poll I’d be very grateful 😊
  96. A

    Breeding all types of snails.

    Where are you? I believe it is illegal to sell apple snails in some countries. People may pay for unusual colours of ramshorn snails and maybe MTS but the other snails are a pest that people get with plants and buy assassins snails to eradicate. Can’t imagine many experienced hobbyists...
  97. A

    What type of snails should I get?

    Ramshorns will eat damaged plant growth but won’t damage healthy plants (if I’m wrong someone will correct me.) They eat surplus food and detritus. They only become a problem if your tank is out of balance e.g. overfeeding or too much algae
  98. A

    What type of snails should I get?

    Ramshorn would get my vote in the early days. They are far hardier than nerites. Apple snails are illegal in many countries including the UK. Back when I kept them they’d munch on my sword plants and breed like crazy. I kept pink and purple ones and supplied my lfs and still removed huge egg...
  99. A

    Fishkeeper or aquascaper?

    Don’t know how to post a poll on here or if it is even possible. I’ve been here on and off for a long time and always wondered how the membership is split How many of you are: aquascapers who keep fish to complement your scape? fishkeepers who keep plants to benefit/complement your fish...
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