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A quick update on this one... I built a hood out of 9mm exterior grade plywood, sealed it with the most everything-proof finish I know of (Rustin's Plastic Coating) and installed the 2 x 25W T8 tubes - these fit like they were made for this tank (or, perhaps, the other way round). The hood has...

I had to clean my Eheim Pro 3 350 in a hurry tonight as it seemed to be totally clogged (virtually no flow). The bla5ted thing took me over an hour to get going again; I only managed it by continually pouring water in through the inlet and outlet pipes and then running it; doing the same; again...

I have that same tank, but am currently in the process of upgrading the lights to 2 x 24W T8s in a home-made hood, as the ends and corners of the tank are so dark nothing will grow there. I have tried all sorts of potential carpet plants in various parts of the tank with poor results under the 2...

Mine is diffusing perfectly well at a regulator output pressure of 1.5bar. That's surely not too high? Peter

Re: Help CO2 run out and no chance to get any more until Mon Cheers as always Clive, I may just be starting to get the hang of this ;-) Peter

I moved my cylinder this morning whilst it was still showing about 35 bar. When I came back in again this afternoon it read zero - a leak must have vented it all to the room. Now SWMBO tells me that tomorrow is to be spent shopping in the wrong place, so I won't have a chance to get a new...

All I had available is Tesco Light Weight cat litter. Having read more I guess I should have at least put in a layer of Osmocote and moss-peat in first. I am going to change the filter anyway, so I may well pull out the litter that is in there and put those in first. Peter

I'm starting up my daughter's new tank with the fish-less cycle just now. As she's supposed to look after this one on her own I want it to be as simple as possible. My problem is that I'm now too plugged into Clive's Matrix :oops: Do I have this non CO2/low maintenance method right? I need...

I've got to put in a word here for Porton Aquatics, just to the North of Salisbury. Apart from holding one of the most extensive selections of equipment I've ever seen in any shop (prices are nearly always as good as you find on the Internet too), they maintain their plant holding tanks every...

Just found the Biopower 160 for £26.22 + p&p from Aquatics Online. I'll get it and put in a handful of mature SUBSTRATpro from the Pro3-350 filter on the main tank - that should get the new tank cycle off to a flying start. Cheers for your help. Peter

Thanks for the reply Darrel. You've prompted me to dig into the Eheim range a bit further and I've spotted the "Biopower 160" - an Aquaball of the right size for the Korall but with the bio media used in the externals. Would this be an even better option? Peter

Daughter #1 wants a fish tank and, as she's supposed to look after this one herself, I want to run it as low tech as I can. I have bought a Juwel Korall 60 (I guess about 45-ish litres of water allowing for substrate and not filling to the brim etc). My only concern is that it comes with a very...

Clive! I'm shocked! You blasted me for suggesting H2O2 on plants when I asked about Staghorn here http://ukaps.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=12782 :D Peter

I feel really dumb asking such a basic question, but the pipes of my (relatively) new Eheim look like they need cleaning and I'm sure that there is a right and a wrong way to do this. I have the Eheim brush-on-a-thick-nylon-monofilament. What is the correct way to use this? If it makes any...

Or just one scientist - hereabouts he's known as ceg4048 :wave: Peter

I was advised to mix the carbon with the traces/macros here: http://www.barrreport.com/showthread.php/7655-Can-I-premix-macros-or-traces-with-liquid-carbon?highlight= I only got one reply and that from a non-guru, but have a read and make your own mind up. Peter

I pre-mix ferts at the start of the week into 30ml medical sample pots with the date labelled onto them. Sun, Tue & Thur get my dry macros and 2ml liquid carbon + water to make up to about 25ml. Mon, Wed & Fri get 3ml TPN, Epsom salts, 2ml Flourish Iron and 2ml liquid carbon + water to make up...

But once you've bought some guaranteed 4dKH water you can calibrate your tests kits, at least for the 4dKH setting :roll: Peter

Right, I've got two of those 25W tubes, an external ballast/driver unit and some 9mm exterior plywood. I'll try to get some shed-time tonight to start to build a new hood to hold them. Any advice on how to seal plywood for a hood? Peter

Welcome to the wonderful world of calibrating test kits ;-) Peter

No centre brace on my tank, so I'm stuck with modifying the hood/lid. My current thought is to add three 3W LEDS along each end, although the wire to the existing T8s might get in the way of one of them. I'll have to think hard of how to heat sink them. An alternative is to make a new hood/lid...

My Juwel Rekord 800 is 78cm long, but the two T8 18W tubes are only 55cm long :( The corners are as dark as the hakes (as they say where I was born and bred). Anyone got any relatively simple (read cheap) suggestions for how to lighten my corners? Peter

Hi Clive, I was hoping you'd drop by :wave: The yellowing is all due to colour balance - the rear light tube in there is a Juwel 'Warm-Lite' which seems to show up on the camera as that yellow effect; I guess there's not much green in the spectrum of that tube, so what you see reflecting off...

You should be able to find out a typical Mg content for your water by contacting your water supplier. I sent mine (Bornemouth and West Hants) an email yesterday evening (when I read your first post, actually) and received a reply (2.46ppm) today. My tap-water GH is 240 and KH 210ppm by...

It's certainly a juvenile, as it was the product of a runner off the plant in the background of the following two pictures. The best guess I can make based on these two shots is E. bleheri, but the juvenile is growing with those long thin leaves - do they grow like that to begin with? Peter

...except the one between the Vallis. and the Limnophila. Please could you help identify it? I think it is a sword of some type. Peter

My tank is now doing well with my new external filter. CO2 is injected via an Up-Aqua inline atomiser into the outflow and the flow is returned to the tank via a spraybar along the majority of the back wall of the tank. An obvious circular flow pattern is established and CO2 bubbles can be...

Incidentally, Clive's post here: http://ukaps.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=12656&p=134939&hilit=nitrate#p134896 gives an excellent description of Nitrate toxicity. Based on this analysis, none of the levels we're talking about here are likely to cause trouble to all but the most sensitive...

My gut reaction (I'm a physicist, not a chemist) is that any NO3 ions present should be available to the plants - after all, I suspect that they are mostly derived from all of the ammonium nitrate that our farmers throw on their fields every year. But I'm sure Clive will come back here in a...

I'm in a similar situation. About 25ppm nitrate (measured using a calibrated nitrate test kit before Mr Barr pipes up ;-) ) in the tap water - only dosing KH2PO4, K2SO4 and traces (TPN + Flourish Iron). Mixed results, crypts & vallis growing away well, but Rotala rotundifolia is just sitting...

As they go on whilst I'm at work, I won't be able to answer that until the weekend. That gives me some hope that my new setup will let me succeed where my old one failed then. My thanks as always. Peter

Definitely looked like die-off. The leaves just under the crown went a little brown and sad around the edges, then the stems just seemed to melt. The existing small stems are just sitting there doing nothing. When I uprooted them after, I guess, 8 weeks since planting to shift things around at...

I've tried P. helferi before and it just sat there and slowly died away. That was before I changed from the internal filter to my new shiny Eheim and changed to a single photo period, but the sad remains that are still in the tank refuse to perk up. I've now ordered a new pot and I so much want...

Almost every one I've ever had from the big UK diy giant with the orange theme has continually reset on me - even a mechanical one failed. I'll never buy another from there. My latest digital one is from Comet and is (so far) doing a great job on my solenoid. Peter

The Nutrafix GH/KH test is a titration test. You add a drop and shake and look for a clear colour change (no comparing vague shades on a theme of one colour). The colours are pink changes to blue and blue changes to yellow - do you think you would be able to see these changes? Peter

Previous times I've seen this method described it required you to leave the sample to 'off gas' overnight, rather than shaking for 60s. Try it this way. The other possibility is that your pH test isn't reading properly of course (said that so that Mr Barr wouldn't have to :silent: ). Peter

Just to finish this thread for future generations who can use the 'Search' button ... I did as planned and simply chopped up my old Juwel sponges into the bottom (first) compartment of my new Eheim filter, put in the Eheim bio media and put the lid on. All has been perfect, with Ammonia and...

Something in that feels wrong to me (but I'm not an expert in this ;-)) - surely the method George described here: Relies on a pH change caused by the out-gassing of CO2? Unless these other acids out-gas or are somehow destroyed between measurements, the change will only be caused by release of...

Simple question, but conflicting indications of the correct answer: Into which hose of the filter should the inline diffuser be inserted? Input or output? I notice that the Boyu is designed to replace the inlet strainer, suggesting the answer is 'inlet', with the filter acting as a reactor; but...

Came across this page earlier - may have helped me in my recent search for a new filter: Warning: It's a bit US-centric (what's new!). http://www.petsolutions.com/Info.aspx?id=59 Peter

Ok, I'm now the proud owner of a Eheim 2073 and am planning my changeover in detail. My current thought is to cut up the matured sponges that are currently in the Juwel internal into inch sized cubes (2.5cm cubes if you're not bilingual ;-) and put these into the bottom (first) section of the...

Yep, I did that, and got a read receipt, last Friday, but I haven't received a reply as yet :-( Peter

The messages above explain why I couldn't see the 'For Sale' section. Hopefully after this post I will be able to explore the hidden delights that lay within ;-) Peter

So, you're keeping secrets from me, eh? :wink: Peter

Drat - in between my post and checking back here just now I've ordered a Pro3 model. Hey ho - thanks for the offer. Curious - I've clicked on your link, but it says that I'm not authorised to read that forum. Peter

I dont beleeeve it! I've just got an email from them saying that theyre out of stock and can't get any more. Back on the search again :x Peter

You and me both! Peter

... and then went on to provide a truly superb treatise on Nitrogen toxicity. This remarkable post should be required reading. May I suggest that it is extracted to an article or a sticky somewhere? It would be criminal for it to get lost into the depths of the archive. Peter

The 800 has a sort of raised slot at the back right where the current wires go in. My current theory is to cut out this raised area and bring the pipes in and out through this hole. I have no idea whether or not this will be big enough, and I guess I won't know until I see what fixtures come...

So now those helpful bods on the Algae page have persuaded me that I need an external filter and those equally helpful types on the filters page have persuaded me to order an Eheim 2026, I need to think of how I modify the top of my Rekord 800 to allow the pipes in and out. To assist me in my...

I must admit that I've been looking at this as my only easily available external reactor, but I had feared that it would be noisy. Can it be modified to become a version of a Barr/Grigg reactor? Peter

Alas, too far at too short a notice (I know that's nobody's fault but mine ;-). Now if only it had been next weekend, I'll be in Tonbridge and might have arranged a diversion. Have fun everyone. Peter

Lisa's led me astray :lol: Eheim 2026 from the site that she posted a link to for £105. No media, but I'm first off transferring the old media from my Juwel filter and I have some extra filter sponge and ceramic media etc in the cupboard anyway. My thanks to everyone for your responses. Peter

Here 'tis: http://www.aquatics-warehouse.co.uk/extras/eheim/eheim_info.html Peter

Yes, I found one at about 04:00 this morning with some of them on, but I think that just added to my gonging headache that I had this morning. :crazy: I'll renew my paracetamol dose and have another go looking for it. :wink: Now that's a snippett I'd missed so far in all my discussions on...

I have the Rekord 800 (about 90l if you include substrate and wood displacement). My lights are only 2 x 18W T8, so I guess I'm aiming for medium tech ;-) I've tried looking at Eheims, but to tell the truth I've got so confused with model numbers etc that I've kinda given up on them. I can't...

Thanks - I understand that, I'm just planning my steps once I've sorted my flow and got/produced a better CO2 reactor (I just wish it was easy to get the bits for the many DIY designs in this country). Peter

An excellent argument, well put. I withdraw my proposal immediately. :crazy: What is the current thinking on a safe level of overdose of Excel et al for a tank with Tetras, Cory's, Oto, shrimp (Cherry & Amano) and Nerite snails? Also, for those plants that I will have to uproot to...

I've seen very similar filters from JBL, AquaOne, TetraTec and AquaManta (Maidenhead) recommended on here on multiple occasions, so I assume they all work and they're all (just) in my price range. The key question is which will be quietest for use in the living room? If there's a disturbing...

I'd quite like to add a high pressure gauge to the option port on my DD disposable cylinder regulator, but haven't a clue where to get one and what to specify. Could anyone point me in the right direction please? Peter

You're not a fan of H2O2 then? :wink: I was intending to dilute it heavily (say 1 ml per litre of water). Peter

Luckily I only have it on the plants. My theory, if I can stop it growing, is that I will re-scape the tank give all of the plants an H2O2 dip on the way - hopefully this will clobber it. Peter

I can't accommodate an external filter just now, both from space and cost reasons, so I'm trying to work out how best to improve what I have. From what I've read, the 'best' setup for flow and distribution seems to be CO2 enriched water from the reactor/filter emerging into the tank from a...

The thought has now been sown in my mind that I should transition from my Juwel internal filter to some sort of external filter whenever I can sneak such a purchase past SWMBO. :shifty: :shh: I'm just musing now about how to rapidly mature the new filter. Do I simply squeeze the gunk from...

Yep. My 600g disposable has been on its side since day 1. No obvious problems. Peter

Thanks everyone. My lighting timer has been adjusted (is only 6 hours photo-period enough? Do I increase this once the algae has gone?) and I'm off to the local DIY store with the big orange signs this afternoon for a new timer to control the CO2 and extra flow pump, allowing me to switch these...

I've been fighting Staghorn algae for a couple of months now. The process has taught me lots and I had thought I had it beaten. Now I look in the tank and can see it creeping back onto leaves that were previously clear. It's driven me to the point of wanting to abandon having a nice tank - but I...