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Disagreed.

Just in case you don't know (I see you said you're not so new newbie): a Java fern's leaf that is growing will normally be transparent at the tip. Only old leaf that has stopped growing will be all opaque green. And if you've just put the fern into the tank. Old leaves will often deteriorate if...

I used to do that because of the same reason (varied chlorine level). Now I use a chlorine test kit (OTO type, not the DPD) with dechlorinators and haven't got a bad surprise ever since. PS. I specifically use the OTO type because it's fast, simple, cheap, and no "bleaching out" effect. Some...

I've never used one because of lacking space. But I would hope it will not release water like this one. The shape looks right but the flow does not.

Mine is still working fine after 3 years.

Algae eaters (Amano shrimp and Oto's) don't help much for this type of diatom. Trimming HG while it's just starting? You should not have done that. They are trying hard to build up biomass and you just destroy it. Well, I know there is this info about "cut it, it will grow faster", that's not...

They said it's normal. http://www.seachem.com/support/forums/forum/general-discussion/252-prime-question

Do you still use the same bubble counter? If not, the bubble size may not be the same as the old one and you will have to "re-establish" your bubble rate.

Should not be the cause of the problem. Since the diffuser is the one which dictates the output pressure at the very end. If you keep bubble rate the same and are using the same diffuser, the amount of CO2 entering the tank is the same. We need to increase the reg's working pressure only when...

Light 14:00-22:00 CO2 13:00-21:00 Air pump 22:00-13:00

Jatujak is a market for wholesale and retail. Fish in the bags are normally available from Wednesday's night to Thursday's noon. They're generally bought by LFS's from other areas/regions.

ADA said years ago that quartz could be found in their soil. I would not worry about it. "Pebbles contained in AQUA SOIL AMAZONIA" http://www.adana.co.jp/en/release/detail?id=79

May be trim frequency, age of the plant, and light level. I have some wendtii brown. When the conditions (light, ferts) suit them, they will gradually grow newer leaves that are bigger than the old ones. 15-20 cm long leaves are normal if unattended. For the ones that I trim often, the max sized...

Mosses (and also ferns) will only actively attach themselves to a surface when light is adequate. So leaving them overgrown or tying them too thick (in ADA's videos, they always trim the excess after tying) will discourage them to do that. Frequent trimming (to let light through) will help...

EI is to oversupply the ferts but still within safely level. So that you don't have to test to check if something is short. Initially, curious people (me too) still tested, then they stopped after a while. For me it was because levels (hobby grade NO3, PO4 test kits) were as expected.

You mean ST? If so, it will neutralise the chlorine part in chloramine and do nothing to the ammonia. So ST is not suitable for tap containing chloramine.

I used this calculator. http://www.koiphen.com/forums/koicalcs.php?do=calcst The calculator's default of 1 PPM Chlorine was OK. Until one day it seemed chlorine level was unusually high that the amount for 1 PPM was inadequate. After that I always use a chlorine test kit and have found that...

When you do regular water changes, the ferts do not keep rising forever. There is always a capped limit. For example, if you dose 20 PPM of NO3 a week and do 50% water change every week and the plants use none of it. The NO3 in your tank will never exceed 40 PPM (2X), regardless how long you run...

BTW, the post in the link above was posted by Greg Watson but Tom wrote it. Hence the word "Copyright Tom Barr 2005" at the end. And who else would use "where" in place of "were" (and "CMS" in place of CSM). :angelic:

It seems he used Hach and Lamotte test kits in developing EI. Then, around 2005, he used a colormetric multiparameter spectrophotometer. https://barrreport.com/threads/the-estimative-index-of-dosing-or-no-need-for-test-kits.52/

1 hr. for me.

I'm afraid no. It's varied too much to have an "average" BPS. There are at least two factors involved. The bubble counter's opening, i.e., faster smaller bubbles vs slower bigger bubbles. And the much more important one: pressure. CO2 can be compressed very well that it becomes meaningless to...

Every pump has its head height limit. What is the height the pump will have to push water up to? Measure the height from the pump to the hose opening of your setup and look at the pump's Hmax (Head Max) or pump head specs. Then you can roughly guess how much flow is left. For example, an...

I see my Otos bully through Amano's a few time while feeding. Cories are normally the most shy. But Amano's would give way to the approaching Cories. I think Amano's are not without weak spots. Their legs can be broken when being hit. Though they can regrow it but it's certainly not fun for...

Cories are cute, no doubt. But if I'm to start a new tank. I will not add them. I think they're not suitable for planted tanks. Balancing their needs and the tank's cleanliness is a challenge (algae, especially BBA). They need a lot of food to do well and they don't eat algae. More frequent...

Yeah, algae is normal and adding algae eaters does work. People who are disappointed by them are either not adding enough of them by thinking that adding less only means they just have to wait longer, which is not the case. Because algae are not sitting still waiting to be eaten. They are...

Of course, who else? :lol:

Yeah, I wish they made it smaller because I've to crush them to little pieces unless the shrimp will snatch the whole pieces and swim away.

Specifically, I would like to feed mine at 2 cories a wafer (Hikari Sinking Wafers) per day but there are also shrimp and Otos sharing the food. So I end up 1 cory a wafer a day.

Yeah and the thought of expired GH test kit pops up every time when I come across this story. An expired GH test kit is just like that. I mean I don't doubt his water is very hard. But it should not be that hard. Just saying.

Relatively small and intense light source(s) + water's ripple = underwater shimmer. The small light sources are easy to focus and water's ripple acts like lenses. Spectrum doesn't play a part in it. Before the popularity of LED's, metal halide was the choice to get the shimmering effect.

But if I remember correctly, Tom Barr lives in soft water areas most of the time, except Davis and Santa Barbara (USA). Now he is in SF with 0-1 dGH and dKH soft water. Yeah, I see the problem here. The Seachem's would precipitate too easily in hard water while Cu level in Microplex would be...

Stagghorn algae.

The list exists but it's in Chinese and probably uses local names. http://showcase.aquatic-gardeners.org/2015/show261.html

You can look at Salt Index (SI). The higher SI, the higher chance to damage plant. There are other charts out there with different fertilisers list. This one is from...

Move the wood to somewhere else until the moss grows.

The "too high stacking", you meant "staggnated" or something about having too much oxygen in the water?

I've just seen this thread. As far as I can remember. The quoted sentence above is not from Tom Barr's site (barrreport.com). Equilibrium is never considered to be used as a "Trace Elements" or "Micros" in Tom's EI. Because it doesn't contain chelated nutrients. The recipes in Tom Barr's...

Yeah, two bulbs without reflectors is not very much light for this sized tank. Sure you can lower the amount of light or shorten the lighting period if your plants are low-light demanding. But for a tank having problem with this light level, there probably are things that can be improved...

I only see that with ill fish, especially ones with skin disease. The rotting wound smell might attract them while other healthy fish are ignored. Occasionally my Oto's even chase them away while eating. But yeah, in this vid, there are more than one Oto being chased so unlikely the sick fish...

This eBay shop ships worldwide with very reasonable shipping cost, I also bought mine from them. A 250g can last me almost 5 years. It is the powder form of Prime...

Please tell me this is mistyped. Please show a reference about that. Yes, Ascorbic Acid will react to water hardness. But, it doesn't seem to "drastically" reduce the effectiveness of it dechlorination capacity. All that I could find is when using it with chloramine, the pH will defy chance of...

To make it more complete, actually it takes about 0.45 gram for 165 litres, I just add another 0.45 to cover any error. And if 0.90 gram is needed to neutralise the chlorine according to my test kit, I will add another 0.45 g. NH3 (occurs in higher pH, not in acidic condition) which is the...

Although I believe vitamin C is better than Sodium Thiosulphate, both release ammonia after neutralizing chloramine. If your tap contains chloramine, you should use a dechlorinator that can lock ammonia as well as neutralise chorine. Because ammonia is harmful to animals in the tank. Seachem...

Yes, and this document shows how it's better than sulphur based dechlorinators: https://www.fs.fed.us/t-d/pubs/html/05231301/05231301.html I've been using it for yeas now. Because: 1. I think it's better for my Cory's than Sodium Thiosulfate because they often acted like chewing something but...

Yeah it can be good or bad and that's difficult to prove without proper tools and effort. And it happens to almost every tank if not all. Because of that, I just ignore it as long as there is nothing bad happens. Here is an ADA tank in Niigata. [Images from...

Here is a tip to prune this plant to make it compact. https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/hygro-pinatifidia.37051/#post-399638

It was growing on soil. He put soil on Unzan stones.

That's IAPLC 2015 Grand Prize scape "Longing by" by Takayuki Fukada. If I remember it right, the plant was Hemianthus callitrichoides Cuba.

The colour looks off, may be because of the light, so it's hard to say what it is. It could be diatom, BBA covered with detritus, cyanobacteria or biofilm, etc. I would try adding some shrimp and I recommend reading this guide: http://tropica.com/en/guide/algae-control/ "All tested zero"...

That's OK then. But when you introduce fish later. There will be more waste and more chance of algae. Anyway, I would wait and see because Amano Shrimp are not cheap.

Potassium Sorbate needs low pH to be effective. That is one of the Ascorbic Acid's jobs. But as I've said the combo didn't work for me in Macros. I'm curious if it will work for you.

Yes. :)

Right. I do that sometimes.

If you have liquid carbon (1.5-2% Glutaraldehyde) at hand, try adding it at 40ml per litre. I've not used this but 20ml per 500ml is a popular ratio that people use to preserve their ferts. Then you may wonder if you can use liquid carbon (Seachem Excel here) in place of water in the mix. So...

I wonder if steel fishing wires and sleeves are OK for this application?

I've tried using Potassium Sorbate and Ascorbic Acid in Macros solution (KNO3+KH2PO4) many times. But it has never worked. The solution will turn pink and another form of mould or bacteria will appear. I think this is probably the reason: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potassium_sorbate "Some...

JBL Ferropol contains only Potassium and Traces which is probably adequate for a fish tank with some plants and no CO2 injection. For a CO2 injected planted tank, you also need Nitrogen and Phosphorus.

Ludwigia repens.

So the chelator problem is not limited to some DTPA, but EDDHA as well, which is good to know. I'm glad your DTPA works. :)

It happened randomly but seems OK now.

I get redirected to some ad pages as well.

Tap water parameters that ADA used as a reference in one of their old articles or news which still can be found here: https://en.roslinyakwariowe.pl/articles/subsoil/585-difference-between-podoami-ada-aqua-soil-amazonia-africana-malaya.html pH: 7.6 KH: 2 NH4: <0.01 NO3: 0 PO4: 0.5 The chart in...

Ah, that's why people claim they see more pearling when they reduce the (water) flow.

Or old leaves that come with the plants when you got them. If that is the case, the plants are relocating useable (mobile) nutrients from them to help feed newer leaves that are more suitable to the new environment of your tank.

OK, that should be fine for now then. You don't "need" to add ferts at this stage. But you "can" add some. The ferts you will need will be NPK and trace elements. The Profito contains only K and trace elements.

What is your Caribsea substrate? If it's Eco-complete, that's an inert substrate in my book. You need to dose ferts right away. Liquid carbon is more like an anti-algae agent and supplies some CO2, there is no other nutrients for plants. If the substrate is soil based, there are nutrients in it...

He uses BPM (bubble per minute), not PPM. The BPM should stay quite stable. I use CO2 reactors, the BPM will be a bit faster at the start and will get a bit slower and stays there after a few hours. But it seems he uses a diffuser. I don't know what would be the culprit for his problem.

This could explain why some of Mark Evans tanks worked so well (some stems plants showed elongate growth though) with very low light. He didn't use heaters on any tanks.

It seems much. But only 9.86% of Epsom salt is magnesium, most of the rest is water and SO4. According to https://rotalabutterfly.com/nutrient-calculator.php, if you dump the whole 6 tsps of Epsom salt into you 125l tank at once, it will add 5.57 dGH, which is probably not much in reality if you...

OK, that's good since it adds oxygen in dark hours. It's just an educated guess, things I would try in this situation, I couldn't guarantee it. And for a 27 litres tank in this condition, I would have 5-6 Amano shrimp in it too.

During the first month, it's best to do 25-50% (Tropica said), 33% (ADA said) or 50% (EI method) water change two times a week. Even though it's more than a month old now, I would up the water change to help clean it up. And the spray bar should be under the surface for CO2 injected tank to...

But after taking apart my regulator which is diaphragm based design (have no idea about other designs). I saw it's a very simple equipment. I had been wanting to have a professional two stages regulator such as Victor, Linde, etc. Now, after having added an air regulator to act as the second...

If it's not the light. The tank looks a bit dirty. How often is your water-change? If the soil leaches ammonia, some plants will melt and ethylene from dying plant signals other plants to reach surface to survive. Dirty/rotting environment can cause plants dying as well. It also may be CO2...

This is what manufacturers say about how long they last: http://www.scottecatalog.com/dsguide.nsf/74923c9ec562a6fb85256825006eb87d/dab60763c15a8267852568f2005ca6a0?OpenDocument IME, my cheap Azoo regulator last 7 years before having to replace the seal-seat. I might have just replaced it with a...

Difficult plants can be easy if their needs are met. I've CO2. I could grow a carpet of it in an outdoor tub with just gravel. I think I just need to move my butt and add light to that spot in my tank. How long have you had it? Is it getting worse?

In my experience, even the mini is very tolerant to low light. But it seems to need more light to spread. Well, wait for others who have experience with parvula.

Sorry for the second pic, the owner said it was Eleocharis acicularis, not parvula. :crazy: http://www.barrreport.com/forum/barr-report/general-plant-topics/12136-what-causes-leaves-to-grow-like-this?p=167416#post167416

When you say "dwarf" HG, there are two types of them: the mini HG (Eleocharis Belem); and the real dwarf HG (Eleocharis Parvula). Eleocharis Belem or Eleocharis acicularis 'Mini' (shorter, more arching) (Image from Tropica) Eleocharis Parvula (a bit longer, less arching) What is the...

Occasionally my Rotala green grow three leaves per node for a branch and two leaves per node on another, in the same plant. I also have a few Rotala rotundifolia. Some are two leaved, some three, not in the same plant but I believe it's possible. I might see it if I had enough number of them.

At that level of light, even algae might be dead by photoinhibition. But if you can afford to have that light, well, there must be a way. :lol:

I agree on increasing the light because it looks like the carpet is on decline compared to the after-trim picture from 4th March. I would carefully monitor the tank because you may be increasing it too much (from the way you describe it). Green algae on rocks indicates that if the light is too...

It's light (and ferts to a lesser degree). IME, those green leaves won't turn red but the new ones will if the factors are right.

https://web-beta.archive.org/web/20161222223332/http://www.aquamazon.com/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=47&Itemid=103 But, seriously, I'm afraid this would be more like a burden for me even with unlimited budget. That said, my perspective might change if I was that...

PPS Pro includes K2SO4, you can cut or even omit this one to lower K.

There are chemicals that will kill algae but I haven't tried them myself, except H2O2. Sorry, feel the need to edit.

Yes, try it and see. But 2 T5HO is not very much light. In my experience, I couldn't control it (green hair algae) using just light. Well, years ago, I used to think I could. After an initial success I posted a comment in the barrreport that it was a success. Little did I knew, 2 months later I...

Well, I know that graph well. I've been making my micro mix for nearly ten years. I have key chemicals for Fe, Mn, B, Mo, Zn, Cu, preservatives and pH adjuster in hand to create my own mix. Anyway, the pH of the solution that the 7% Fe-DTPA got precipitated within minutes was 6. That's why I...

It's not about the type of chelator. It's the quality of it. I had problem with 7% Fe-DTPA powder from a brand, it precipitated within minutes when mixed with KH2PO4. While Fe-EDTA, commonly regarded as inferior to DTPA, didn't have this problem. Lowering the pH, even by using distilled vinegar...

I like the placement of rocks, pebbles, and woods. Viewing from the front (the 1st pic) it looks good and natural (uncontrived). The front substrate is a bit too thick to me.

Only have one input here, your Blyxa looks fine, new growth will look a bit orange/brown when light is good. In case you're worried about that.

If both the first batch (little precipitation) and the second batch (more precipitation) come from the same bag, it could be distribution issue. Since most of these trace mixes, CSM+B for example, are not homogenous. Different areas in the bag may contain different ratios of ingredients. And if...

Yes. Temperature won't help prevent the precipitation, soft water might. But honestly, I would not put high hope on it.

The powder at the bottom looks exactly like iron phosphate. This is why a high quality chelator is needed so that iron and phosphate can both dissolve without binding to each other and precipitate out. I would discard the mix because it's now practically insoluble. The possible causes of this...

From the pic, there is an o-ring. Generally it should do the job. But I've seen some o-ring related problems in Chinese equipments such as an Atman external pump (advertised as can be used out of water) and an air regulator. The problem is about a surface defect that I think it's called "mold...

Still too far and the out-of-water picture is not very useful for ID'ing algae because they don't fluff up showing their character. I still think it's BBA by the way. Cause(s) of BBA? It's still debatable. It has been like a moving target to me. In my case, previously it went crazy when...

Although the last picture the last one is not close enough to be sure but the black outline looks like BBA (black beard algae—welcome to the club).

Mine is needle-leaf type. Old leaves at the top of the tank really stay green except ones buried under the floating tuft of Vivipara that turn distinctly darker green. I know they are old because they no longer have "transparent" tips anymore. Some of them are very old as I intentionally keep...

IME, more light will make old Java Fern's leaves stay bright green.

That sounds like when one of my 2217's impeller is worn out and losing balance. It is dead silent now with a new impeller set. But yours are new and it makes me concerned the next time I buy the part because it seems their QC is getting worse since there are quite a few unhappy first time buyers.