Search results for query: *

Thanks, Matt - it certainly does help I have a 60% covering of some kind of water lettuce which is a) keeping the light from being excessive (was well scared off lights by the US crowd who seemed to think that 2 x 39 W on a 300l tank was *way* too much) so the free floating plants are under the...

WCs - I don't know - I'm checking all parameters daily just now and they seem pretty stable BUT I did add some TPN+ and my understanding is that it's better to do some water changes if you've added anything. I was hoping to get everything stable, but assuming that in the short term, I'd need to...

Thank you - currently dosing TPN+ on the assumption that this covers everything - and on a relatively low light, non-Co2, low-tech tank, hoping not to need too much... off to ebay now hugest thanks m

You're the man... :) so.... where do I find GH Booster? (I'd rather not make my own, but will if I have to)

Thanks, Matt - gH is between 10 and 12 degrees - I'm assuming that's enough? glad I'm not killing them slowly... :) and hadn't realised *at all* that kH was 'free' hardness and gH was total hardness... I need to do more reading. thank you

Dear all my 300 litre tank is swimming along nicely (:)) with the exception of the gH/kH values. I've filled it with 2/3 tap water (which starts off at pH 8, gH and kH about 20) with rainwater from a clean, mature roof, which gives me pH 6.5, gH about 10 - and originally kH about 10 also...

Hi people been off list for a while editing the book and then in the chaos of builders trying to insulate our ancient cottage (aka deep freeze) but have finally flooded the tank. The camera is buried somewhere under mounds of other stuff, but suffice to say that it's crawling with algae, the...

That easy? huh, who'd have thought - being a girl, I do happen to have some spare pairs of tights lying about... :) gosh, life's good when it's easy. mx

Re: question regarding T5 lighting over 80 gallon low tech t What fish do you have (I ask because fish come first for me too, but I'm about a month away from flooding the tanks)

I realise - but it'll have had 3-4 months of emersed growth first, so root system will be well established... mx

Re: question regarding T5 lighting over 80 gallon low tech t Soooo - can you fit T8s in the T5 holders? and where did you get your bulbs? tx m (also going low tech when the dry start is complete)

Stunning - glad I planted some in the corner of my DSM tank - looking forward to it reaching that kind of a size... m

Must be scary when we have 8 weeks without rain... :) m

Gareth - if we wanted 'Czech produced' gouramis, how would we go about finding them? m

If you look up recent threads by NeilW or myself, we're both starting tanks under DSM (Dry Start Method) I use Columbo Florabase from PlantedBox.com as a substrate - I've got plants growing well within it at the moment, but haven't flooded the tank yet... (and my tanks are relatively shallow -...

humph - wrote a long answer to this and it got deleted... /pah so - I used osmocote sparingly in the substrate (which is Columbo Flora Base from Plantedbox.com) Lights on the big tank are 4 x 39W T5, currently on 12-14 hrs daily small tank: 18w that came with the tank, on 12hrs both tanks...

I've got two tanks running under DSM - Dry Start Method - which will eventually be flooded, but currently emersed. This is a 300litre tank, showing the Hc growing out: this is staurogyne, anubias and more Hc and this is an overhead view of a 40l AquaQube with Hc in the central path...

I'm not there yet but have been thinking the same thing - and wondering where I could get a good, healthy pair of dwarf gouramis... [spelling corrected on edit] some folk go for the Chocolate gouramis, which certainly look nice, but are delicate. Honey gouramis are delightful and easier to find...

Since we're here... this is my superfish Aqua Qube, heavily planted, growing out under the Dry Start Method (taken from on top - in the end, there'll be a path of Hc and taller plants on either side - probably a moss wall at the back) light came with it - 18w Got a Tetratex ex600 filter and...

Magic - wonder if it'll take to a Dry Start? looks loverly :) m

Saw this on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/notes/planted-aquarium-central/e-vesuvius-the-story-behind-this-plant/10150212618240246 looks interesting - apparently sold from Holland - anyone seen/got some? m

The clip-on lights from plantedbox.com are pretty good - they do 9w, 11w and 18w - I haven't worked out what your total volume is, but would have thought one of those would be ok? filter - a lot of people go for Hang On Back filter - they have the Azoon Mignon at Aquatic Essentials if you...

HDR is....? m

This is a whole thread of different low-tech tanks... might be useful to look at: http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum/showthread.php/11044-Low-tech-%28non-CO2%29-tanks-post-your-pics!/page11

Dear all I dreamt last night that one of you lot had flooded my 40 liter nano (currently under Dry Start Method - see pic below) and I was panicking about the fact that I hadn't got a sponge yet to cover the filter intake and the shrimp were all going to be minced... :lol: So... The filter...

Re: NeilW's 30cm nano - 'Mono' [Planted 25/05/10] Still looks stunning, tho', Neil.... how much longer are you going to wait before flooding? m

OK - this is fast because I'm half an hour past ETA for leaving (blackpool, library reading, bizarre, but apparently worth the drive...) Lights on the big tank - 4 x 39W T5s - two Grolux and two others that I can't remember just now but were recommended on James' Planted Tank blog - got them...

New pics of tank (s) here: http://ukaps.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=11757&start=30

Re: Magpie's 'Learning Curve' 90 x 75 opti-white New pics - this is 5 weeks into the DSM - hemaianthus is growing out nicely. Sand looks crap and I'm going to reduce it and increase the area of florabase. Staurogyne and Pogotemon doing nicely, as are the anubias and the mosses are in emersed...

nope - but it looks interesting - be interested in a review when you've had it going a month or three... and at the start, of course - how quiet it is. Or isn't... brave man mx

and delightfully silent - I've got it running in a bucket alongside an Eheim 2078, waiting for the DSM to run its course on my big tank - and standing beside them, it's joyfully silent... glad we're together in not knowing what the 'o' rings are for - I have a horrible suspicion we'll find out...

Re: Magpie's 'Learning Curve' 90 x 75 opti-white Pictures after tomorrow night when my partner's daughter brings the camera back from holiday... the hc has almost grown to a complete carpet, the moss is doing interesting things, P.helferi seems happy and Stuarogyne is thriving - sand looks...

Neil - everything you do and say is useful - I am your apprentice in all this - you're blazing the trail... :) (this may be sad and uncomfortable, but it's true - and I am genuinely grateful for your insight) mx

Neil! Good man - your post crossed with mine magical stuff - I can wait 'till Christmas if I have to - this is a long term tank... :) so waiting it is - plus or minus a removal of all or some of the sand ta mx

Thanks, all... and yes, Neil, the sand... I have a bag of ADA Nile sand ready - but I did think that it's taking up 25% of floor area and unless I wrap a lot of stones with HC or something equivalent, that's a lot of floor area with no biological filtration to speak of - at least, not as much as...

That was my plan... what floating plants would you recommend and where do I get them?

I just had one delivered - the ex600, flow rate up to 600l/hr, for my 40 litre nano there are two small 'O' rings left after I assembled it, with no obvious reason for their existence... They're of the same diameter as the inlet/outlet tubes, but there was no indication that they should go in...

Dear all, So.... It's been 5 weeks since I set up the massive DSM project (it feels massive to me) - which is in the 'Learning Curve' journal thread. My step daughter's gone on holiday with the camera, so no recent pictures, but I have a carpet of Hc with roots 2-3 cm down into the substrate...

Re: [IWAGUMI] Project Scree As ever - this is awe inspiring in the truest senses of both words... I have a question - wherever did you find that cracking rock? Every time I go into a garden centre, I look at the rock through scaping eyes now - and have yet to see anything that matches yours...

I've been avidly reading Tom Barr's 'Non CO2 Methods' thread on The Barr Report... http://www.barrreport.com/showthread.php/433-Non-CO2-methods well worth a read on how to manage a tank *without* the hassle of CO2 Saintly also had a nano that did very well indeed without CO2 - the key, I...

At the risk of hijacking OWW's thread - PM - what kind of 'minimal light' have you got - how minimal? And what kind of slow growing plants? I'm still in DSM phase of a tank, and can still change a lot - so keen to know how to minimise the work load and still get something looking good. I...

I'll be fascinated to follow this - partly because I'm lazy and want a low maintenance tank eventually - but also because part of my reason for going to a planted tank was to reduce the maintenance - as I understand it, the combination of (bacteria in the substrate and the filter + well grown...

Re: My first planted tank Trigon 190 corner where did you get your plants? They look lovely - and neatly done... be good to see it in a few weeks. m

Nah... where've you been these past two decades...? Leg razors all come with built-in smoothy bits now, so no foam needed.. men... honestly... :lol: :lol: :lol: still useful stuff. I need to set mine up and listen to it. m

Worth a try... I haven't set mine up yet - will try the 'clean and shaving foam' (question, where do I find that in an all-woman household?) if it makes nasty noises. So many people swore by them - but mine *was* 4 weeks in coming... thanks, Arty mx

Darn, I just bought one of these... /sigh The other one I considered was from Aquatic Essentials - they were out of stock when I was interested, but have them in now, or did the last time I looked. mx

Stunning dog - is he a Viszla? he looks the right colour, but not the right head shape - more like a gsp, but then I've never seen one that pale before... or something completely different? gorgeous, anyway. mx

Thanks Clive... was on my way to get fish food this morning - seemed the best option - have already chucked some plants into the bucket - now sit back and wait.... me hero, as ever ta mx

I know - but this way I"m learning more - like, for instance... part of the point of DSM is to create a bacterial soup in the substrate - for which reason, I should have been using tap water (dechlorinated) from the start - which would have kept pH, GH and KH up. If I hadn't read the links...

So.... I'm doing a DSM start on the 90x75x45 Optiwhite -details in the journal. While researching DMS on Tom Barr's site, I came across this: I don't have filter from another tank and the four closest LFS (Maidenhead Aquatics, PAH, two garden centres) have all refused to give me some. I could...

Not only an encyclopeida, but fast and accurate and to the point - thank you Clive...:)

I thought water changes caused fluctuations in CO2 and could therefore lead to algae - depending on whether one was going low tech or high tech? (cf Tom Barr somewhere, but I'd be hard pressed to find the reference. Or it may have been Clive - clive - was it you?) m

Re: Saintly's 240L 'savannah dreaming' intensive treatment Can we lay bets now that in say... a year's time, you'll look back on pics of 'Savannah Dreaming' and say, 'I wish I'd kept it going?" need more tanks, for more scapes. :)

Re: Saintly's 240L 'savannah dreaming' intensive treatment What *would* you do differently in this set up? looks amazing, stunning and awesome to me... but it's always good to learn from others' learning.... if you've time to teach mx

So.... if I've understood the weight of opinion: Aquamanta>= Tetratect>>Eheim>APS>SunSun yep? mx

Thanks Matt - I was wondering about the little brother of these for my new nano qube - and if it'll fit in my cabinet, then it seems a good deal... it's that or an Eheim ecco Pro 103, and the Aquamanta is certainly cheaper. mx

Chris- what a gorgeous, lush-looking tank... wouldn't worry about the photography, seems spot on to me...I really liked the little scoop of wood with the gravel and the (no idea what) in the middle... welcome to the world of plant infatuation :) mx

Re: Magpie's 'Learning Curve' 90 x 75 opti-white Nope - all over the sand... :( can't wait to get snails in, but it's another 2-3 weeks, at least. pics to follow asap

James - that's a *stunning* tank... will you come and rescape my big one for me? but in the meantime (while I learn) how on *earth* do you manage to keep your substrate and your sand so cleanly delineated? magical stuff - huge congratulations mx

Re: Magpie's 'Learning Curve' 90 x 75 opti-white omygosh... I'm in the midst of a quiet fish forum and someone says the words (whisper) Caesar Milan.... argh :silent: argh :silent: argh :silent: Don't you spend your life trying to tell people he's a raving maniac? We try saying...

Trigonostigma espei are said to school very well, and are beautiful small fish, happy at lower pH. Here:http://www.seriouslyfish.com/profile.php?genus=Trigonostigma&species=espei&id=993

You could still angle sideways, no? but that might not do good things to the deisgn iconology. did you get a quote from TGM on your cabinet?

Is it possible to raise/angle the light so that while the watts stays the same, the PAR becomes less? That way you don't have to fork out on a new light... watching with interest, given that i have a 40 litre (32 after substrate) which comes with an 18w light, plus the only place to put it in...

Thanks all - I"m just about to order one of these from TGM for my 40l nano qube.... good to know it works well tx m

Re: Swamp Creek - established 20/04/2010 Wish I could answer your questions re: flow or photography - but haven't the experience... but wanted to say how impressed I am with your tank - and the fish look stunning - good to know they shoal well thanks for posting. mx

Re: My first planted tank Trigon 190 corner Wow - that's some log.... very impressed - it's always hard to scape these corner tanks and get them looking good... watching progress with interest. nicely done mx

That's gorgeous.... I'm just struggling with a 40l aqua-qube, trying to work out a scape that feels right... so very impressed with what you've done on far greater surface area... what heater do you use? mx

I guess if we were working very long term, we could buy a worm composter, set it up, let it go, feed it household waste and use the residue? not that anyone I know is that long term... but getting into DSM is teaching me a lot of patience, so maybe I"m wrong.. :) m

ah heck... I left the ICU to become a real human being.... I hadn't realised I was slipping back down that slope. Low Tech it is, then... pity about all the money I just spent on fire extinguishers and a regulator/solenoid... :) maybe I'll just give them a go to see. But lots of patience and...

Clive - thank you - see journal in my sig for pics of the tank.... or see here: Front view a week ago, just after planting - by now, by far the happiest and best-growing bits are the HC on the large dragon stone - which are thoroughly thriving and growing fast. The rest isn't dying, which is...

OK - the people I talk to in real life haven't done this, so there's a degree of insecurity - the main problem is that, because I didn't understand what I was doing - I started moss at the same time as the Hemianthus cuba, Pogostomon helferi and Staurogyne sp. - and there's a suggestion that...

In the old days (which is to say 5 years ago, when I last had a tank), we used to soak all incoming plants in a weak solution of potassium permanganate to make sure it killed off all the snails... does nobody do this any more? is there a good reason why not? mx

Thanks, guys.... first rule of aquascaping... 'Learn your method'... and nobody mentions sand, and whether it'll go into some kind of horrible sulphuric mess while we wait and watch the grass grow... /sigh me? Impatient? :) m

Dear all I'm going mildly mad (madder?) trying to find Tom Barr's original article/FAQ/Sticky on DSM (Dry Start Method). I've found his article on fusing DSM and low-tech/low CO2 which is interesting, but nobody, anywhere, gives links to the original thing. I've searched the Barr Report and...

Can you disclose what that matting stuff is under the moss? Would it make a good moss wall, d'you think, if it was hung up at the back of a nano? (loaded question... new nano on the way and thinking of moss walls - need something on the desk while I'm working) :) m

Try AllPondSolutions - That's where I got my Luminaire. Can't remember the price, but it was *way* less than an Arcadia, and they fitted a second plug for me ... And put in nice bulbs... (which I took out, because I hadn't realised and thought they'd left in the marine bulbs. But they're...

Yep - it truly is - off to TGM tomorrow.... a-hunting we will go, ahunting we will gooooo... :mrgreen:

just found that superfish do a 60 litre:http://www.paraquatics.co.uk/en-gb/dept_152.html tho' in the end, I chose the aqua qube 40 which seems a nice cube all round and will fit on the desk... good hunting m

Thanks, Neil... it's 90 minutes each way on a good day and I'm trying to finish the book... that said, I might go up tomorrow on the way to agility training...:) since we're here, how many stem plants did you plant in your dry start? Did they cope? ta muchly mx

What substrate did you use? ta mx

Lo all am lusting after a desktop nano - and saw that Arcadia have a 60litre one due 'sometime in June' so it's June - and nobody seems to have it - wondered if anyone knew when it was due in? Or a good alteranative? ta muchly mx

at least double.... ah well, I'll keep my eyes peeled. well done - lovely tank m

Definitely like that....supergorgeous... can we be rude and ask how much the tank/light/basic setup cost (more or less)? You can PM me if you like... tx m

Columbo flora base is pretty good so far - kind of like Oliver Knott's stuff, but a lot cheaper. I got mine from plantedbox.com - amazingly fast and friendly service. m

Re: Swamp Creek - established 20/04/2010 Definitely time for a picture.... :thumbup: m

Re: Magpie's 'Learning Curve' 90 x 75 opti-white Top left corner will be taller stem plants. Not sure exactly what yet. Maybe rotala sp, maybe hygrophila, maybe something more adventurous. Fancy a clump of Shinnersia rivularis (Weiss-Grün) for contrast somewhere and some java fern on the...

My 'local' is TGM.... who are 90 minutes away - and very happy to share I just thought this way I could learn how to manage the pump in a place where it won't matter if I get water everywhere...:) thanks muchly m

Hi all I'm in the process of dry-starting my tank (see threadhttp://ukaps.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=11757) and wondered if I could mature my filter in tandem by hooking it up to a barrel of water, tipping in some friendly bacteria on a regular basis, adding some household ammonia to keep...

Re: Magpie's 'Learning Curve' 90 x 75 opti-white So.. planted it out last night and this morning bearing in mind I'm trying out the Dry Start Method (partly because I haven't sorted CO2 yet, partly because I haven't got my head round the filter and didn't have time while I was trying to...

Re: Johan's 30 cm cube - Updated with more pics! I'd go for the last layout too... fits the tank nicely, be gorgeous with HC carpet, maybe a little Staurogyne... but that's because it's currently my favourite plant. Not that I've grown any yet - tho' just planted some... :) I, too, need more...

Re: Magpie's 'Learning Curve' 90 x 75 opti-white OK.... so got tired of playing and decided to jump in. We can call this 'Learning Curve, 2.04' or thereabouts... Initial outline: Trial 1: (apologies for crap lighting) Trial 1 side view: Trial 2: Trial 2 side view: In the...

It says it's a solenoid, but I don't see any wires to it on the image... be interesting to know how it works. m

Yay! and then we'll get to see the amazing entries sometime in the late autumn/early winter? that'll do fine... :) thank you m

Hi people Been paging through the entire back-catalogue of the on-line AGA showcase winners for the past few years - much more informative that the Amano ones, partly because they're online and partly because they allow multiple photographs and some of the kinder individuals have labelled the...

Re: Magpie's 'Learning Curve' 90 x 75 opti-white She's a working cocker spaniel. She's a star, I'm just a bad trainer... and I have a new question... will Hemianthus grow on sand? Without a Tropica Substrate? I'm harking back to the Amano image that Samc referred to...

Re: Magpie's 'Learning Curve' 90 x 75 opti-white Cool... but I think I may have been a tad over-ambitious with this idea of a river and an island... I finished the first draft an hour or so ago ( :thumbup: ) and just took out all the rock and wood (and cleaned all the grotty bits of dragon...

when I asked about decorative sand, everyone pointed me to Argos white sand - it's about £3 for a fairly big bag (sorry, can't remember details, but Google is your friend). It's *very* fine, but also very pale... not exactly white, but close. worth remembering tho', that almost all fish feel...

so.... you mean my sheet of diffuser that fell off last night is a goner? And I have to try to wriggle back there and put another one on? rats :) m EDIT: If I'm going to look at a craft shop, what exactly am I asking for?

Interesting...like the Icelandic horses? Thank you - makes me feel a great deal better. Presumably all the horror stories about inbred Gouramis are because nobody bothered with the ruthless removal of offspring, which isn't altogether surprising if you're breeding thousands for a ready market...

Re: Magpie's 'Learning Curve' 90 x 75 opti-white Thanks James/Neil... all... I spent an hour or two moving stones before I read your posts, particularly Neil's, so maybe I'll resort to the plastic lawn edging stuff. Plan A for tonight was to tie/superglue/whatever moss to the slate to...