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Maybe. Different plants are different though and swords are pretty voracious when they get going. If we say your 1/2 tsp is a generous 3g, Equilibrium is 2.41% magnesium so that's 0.0723g per week, which is ~0.3mg/l magnesium per week in a 250 litre tank. JamesC's site suggests adding 5-10mg/l...

Are you adding any magnesium? I believe your water is really soft? http://www.theplantedtank.co.uk/deficiencies.htm

+1 for less light, more CO2 and more ferts. Java Fern can be a bit of a dirt ball as well so it's worth giving it a poke and a prod before a large water change, including vacuuming and perhaps trimming the roots if they get too long. Same goes for moss if you have it. With vacuuming I guess you...

I shall leave the CO2 and ferts question for Clive but I'd add that these plants are quite soft and leaves can show a legacy of damage from transit or planting. Some fish might also like to have a nibble or maybe just a taste of them, which can account for ongoing creases.

I ordered calcium nitrate from Fluidsensor Online. There's a link on the forum home page in the Sponsors section but, as I type, it's not working. If it's not just me I'm sure they'll have it back up soon. http://www.fluidsensoronline.com Hopefully your postman actually knocks before leaving a...

You don't have to clean inline diffusers every week either. :thumbup:

I've failed with CO2 in the past and it's been because of this sort of logic. If the cost per bubble is worrying you, you should get a bigger bottle or find cheaper ways of getting it refilled. Honestly mate, you can't have a mental block that stops you getting the tank to the optimum levels for...

Salt is a good preventative against nitrite poisoning. I don't mean the quantities that used to be ladled into tanks in the past -- a tiny amount like 1/10 tsp per 100 litres is all that is required. It's the chloride ions that do the job -- I don't quite understand the process but they stop the...

Sounds pretty conclusive it's a bad solenoid then. I've got two of the Lunapet ones and they've been good over 4-5 years. I got them because the recommendations were that they were so reliable. Maybe you just have a duff one? Personally I'd get Lunapet to replace it and spend the £60 on plants.

My solenoid has an arrow on it, i.e. there's a right way and a wrong way to connect it up. I've never checked to see what happens with gas the wrong way but, if you have an arrow, have you got it the right way?

Not necessarily. It will show 50 bar when it's full and stay at 50 bar until its almost empty, then you'll see it drop. It will still last a while but then you need to keep an eye on it. Something like this: Time ---> 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 40 30 20 10 0...

Looking good! :thumbup: Exactly that happened to me. I put an extra non-return a couple of inches back from the atomizer so there's no back-flow even when the CO2 is off or disconnected. A full tank shows 50 bar and it will only start to drop when there's no liquid CO2 left in the bottle...

Great job! All those stems and all that light must mean it's like painting the Forth Road bridge! :shock: I'd be interested to hear more about how you use that lighting.

You should consider just dosing dry powders Richard. The quantities for 200 litres are easily measured into a jug of tank water with a teaspoon and then you wouldn't need ascorbic acid, potassium sorbate or distilled water.

It's not a gourami thing AAB, it can happen to any fish as far as I know. Barbs often go this way in my experience.

Looks in a bad way and sad to say I agree. :( Hard time for any fishkeeper ... http://www.fishchannel.com/fish-health/euthanasia.aspx I've never had a fish with this condition affect other healthy fish.

Thanks Clive and Alistair, that sounds like a plan. Presumably I'd have to dose this separate from any sulphates? Would mixing magnesium sulphate and calcium nitrate, or potassium sulphate and calcium nitrate just precipitate the calcium sulphate back out?

Thanks for all your replies. :thumbup: Does this GH booster say what's in it? I can add magnesium easily, it's more the boost to calcium I guess.

Melafix can cause problems with gouramies and other fish with a labyrinth organ: http://www.fish-as-pets.com/2008/12/mel ... -fish.html Totally agree with Andy's comments on dropsy -- it's more of a symptom than a disease and the prognosis is usually poor because it often indicates some...

In have very soft water and, in addition to adding MgSO4 as part of EI macros, I add about 3/4 tsp GH booster at each water change (tank volume 300 litres). It's the GH booster that Aquaessentials used to sell and isn't very soluble (which is not a criticism of AE). Is something like Seachem...

I've just re-subscribed but September will be my first issue. I'm fascinated by your approach so I'm going to go out and get that one. Congratulations! :clap:

If you've got the drop checker solution, i.e. the 4dKH with the bromo blue mixed in, that's the correct stuff. You don't need to add anything to it. When you said you'd only added bromo blue, I thought you meant you'd added the pH reagent neat. As discussed above, if you remove it from the...

Yes, you typically add 2-3 drops of the bromo blue to standard 4dKH water in the drop checker bulb: http://www.aquaessentials.co.uk/ae-desi ... -3979.html The bromo blue on its own won't work properly. The colour we aim for, i.e. lime green, is the colour that a 4dKH water produces with around...

Are you using 4dKH solution in your drop checker? When you add the bromo blue to the water in the drop checker, but before you put it in the tank, what colour is it?

You might also chance your arm at Pets at Home if you have one nearby? Stretch your budget a little with Tropica pots 3 for £11. You don't get the full range and you need to know the delivery date to catch them fresh but sometimes you can be lucky. Other times it's just a tank of slime!

I'm really interested in the results of this. I'm wondering if you've salted the breeding tank too early though. My understanding is that the shrimp live in fresh water and the eggs hatch in those conditions, maybe verging on brackish. The baby shrimplets are carried into estuarine waters by...

I'll leave the more knowledgeable to advise on EI or reduced EI but you aren't far from me and if your water is ultra-soft like mine, I'd recommend supplementing your ferts with GH booster and magnesium sulphate (epsom salts). I also add KH with bicarbonate of soda -- 1 tsp of ordinary bicarb to...

Are you sure none of your sponges are carbon-impregnated? That would be most likely to be what is adsorbing the tannins. If that's the case, they will be stuck pretty well and you won't squeeze them out. I noticed from reading your journal that your HOB filter claims to contain active carbon --...

I did that once without thinking and it was shrimp carnage. Must have had pesticides all over them. :(

Regarding the harlequins: T. espei are easily confused with T. hengeli and both often sold as "copper harlequins". I started with a mixture bought as a group of "copper harlequins" and the two species hang out separately at opposite ends of the tank most of the time. I thought they were...

Maybe not quite as lax as that -- there's no point wasting the stuff and an even dosage is recommended.

Re: What spec scales - Weighing EL chems It's EI, by the way --Estimative Index. This also seems to cause confusion in the El Natural & Low Tech forum, where there are questions about EI. These words look exactly the same in some fonts I guess.

Hey £24 though. Still a good price. :clap:

Re: 30cm OptiWhite Cube Is that opti-white glass? It looks very green through the ends in the photo.

I never did a precise dose and just used the kit to indicate the presence or absence of ammonia/nitrite. IIRC one teaspoon of typical household ammonia per 25 litres gives approximately 4mg/l. I never worried about anything more accurate than teaspoons and half teaspoons and only topped up...

I've done a few fishless cycles and the ammonia does disappear all of a sudden around the end of the first week. In my experience you can really cut back on the ammonia dose now. The nitrite is the slow part. I think last time I went down to a 2ppm dose but only every three days. You won't lose...

Sounds like I have the same pump as Gary. Works a treat. If the w/c is bigger than the container, it's still easier to dump buckets in there than try to add the bucket direct to the tank. I siphon out with a hose then use the pump to fill.

The pH reagent should never turn clear -- blue/green/yellow is the spectrum. Hagen/Nutrafin low-range is the right reagent and is available widely. It's dark blue in the bottle. The 4dKH water to go with it is available from Aquaessentials and Tankscape.

No it's different. Activated carbon is black sooty stuff -- pretty much pure carbon. The liquid "carbon" is based on a clear, sweet smelling compound of carbon called gluteraldehyde. It's not carbon, but it contains carbon that becomes available to plants when it's added to water. Sagittaria is...

I had some to quickly fill a corner but it never did. Turns out it's one of those gluteraldehyde haters and I melted it spraying some BBA on the back wall with Easycarbo. :roll:

Some Juwel Rio tanks take flap sets with three flaps so that you can add an extra lighting bar. I didn't think the Rio 180 was wide enough so I'm sceptical about this link, but maybe worth a try: http://www.rocketaquatics.co.uk/juwel-f ... 88s196e4v7

I think it comes under general hardness. The water companies often quote it in terms of equivalent CaCO3 but it's typically a combination of calcium, magnesium and a minority of others.

I don't know about the AE one, a 300g tub from the local chemist is two pound odd so I've never ordered any. This dosing calculator works on the basis of the heptahydrate.

Isn't it usually the hydrated form though? The crystalline one you buy in chemists as epsom salts is magnesium sulphate heptahydrate (MgSO4+7(H20)).

What are your thoughts? Assuming CO2 is not on 24x7, which I know some people do. An hour before lights on? Two hours? Same deal before lights off?

Apart from algae, cucumber and green pepper (capsicum), some of my Otos will eat the odd Tetramin granule and spirulina flake.

I had big problems with sand over Tetra Complete. The substrate went aneorobic very quickly and the tank became riddled with BGA. I know residual BGA is still in the tank but switching substrate (to Eco Complete in this case) has knocked it back to a point where it's not an issue. I think the...

From what I read on forums I was worried about adding small Amanos in with my B. striata but the two I put in three months or so ago are still there. In fact the loaches have dug a narrow channel in the substrate under a piece of bogwood and the shrimp seem to live in it! :) For anyone adding...

I'm using sand (J. Arthur Bowers lime free grit sand) as a substrate in one tank and it wouldn't be my first choice if I was starting again but it goes OK. I've got a mixture of coarse grit (again it's J. Arthur Bowers from a garden centre) and laterite underneath and I think that helps a lot in...

Mine came from Plants Alive and is good and red at the top. There's no shortage of nitrate. It tends to go straggly and green at the bottom when the top gets too thick. My latin is virtually non-existent but surely rotundifolia means round leaved? (From a dictionary - rotundus : wheel-shaped...

The pots should be better rooted. The singles from PA often just have a couple of leaves and hardly any root.

http://www.theplantedtank.co.uk/deficiencies.htm

I think that generally the RSPCA do great work with animals but they think primarily of animal welfare in terms of birds, cats, dogs, rabbits, horses, etc. When I have reported animals like foxes and horses in distress the RSPCA have been very dedicated in their response. When I have reported...

Bear in mind that nitrate results can be skewed by the presence of nitrite. If you thought you had a high nitrate level and it has apparently dropped, that could just be because the nitrite has gone. The Nutrafin kits mention this effect specifically, but I'm not sure if the API kits are...

TGM have bags of cycled media Clark. Or they did last time I was there. That might help you with the cycling?

Just my update on this. I replaced the impellor with the 1000 and it makes a big difference. I can't say whether it's as much difference as replacing the whole pump but I'm pleased with the result. I've added a Koralia Nano too, but even without that the new impellor was moving the plants in the...

Sorry to interrupt. Just to cover the Lunapet stuff - this is the solenoid: http://www.lunapet.de/product_info.php?products_id=56 You'll find all the individual CO2 parts under the "CO2 Zubehör" menu. The sets are under the "CO2 Anlagen" menu. I don't speak German either but BabelFish is...

I know - that's where I got the idea from! ;) Cheapest pump I can find on eBay at the moment is about £28 delivered. I'll probably copy you even further and add a Hydor Koralia Nano too. Do you reckon that's the right size for the 125? I tried a Seio 970 litre/hour but had to send it back...

Sorry to drag this old thread up but I've been looking into this idea for a Rio 125 (same principle applies to a Rio 180 as it has the same pump set). The reply I got from Juwel was: I'm going to give this a try, i.e. replace the impellor in the 600lph pump with the 1000lph version. It's...

Sounds pretty good to me :cool:. They ought to get themselves along to the Sutton Blues Collective in Sutton Coldfield. It would be just their kind of thing and might get them a few contacts. PM me if you want more details.

Yes. It contributes to general hardness (GH) but using it alone would not be a balanced way to increase GH. If you look at AE's GH booster, you'll see it adds Calcium, Magnesium, Potassium and Iron. MgSO4 is used specifically to boost Magnesium. MgSO4 doesn't affect carbonate hardness (KH).

A lot of it is on the substrate, that's true, but it's reaching up the glass. It's also got one of those moulded tree-bark internal backgrounds and there's quite a bit on that from the waterline down about 6". It's definitely BGA, you can tell by the smell. Removing the background is not one of...

I'm going to redo my girlfriend's tank in a couple of weeks; partly to replace the Tetra Complete substrate, which is all over the place, and partly to clear out a moderate BGA infestation. I'm going to add pressurised CO2, decent substrate (probably EcoComplete), plant heavily, improve the...

Botia striata are a great little fish. They interact so much you'd get more out of them with a larger group though. Even one more would be better. Five is a good minimum. They typically grow to about 3" SL.

Five zebra loaches for me (B. striata). Not a snail in sight. If I find one in another tank, I throw it in - they love 'em. Do any of you keep loaches with shrimp? I bought a couple as a trial, thinking the loaches would probably eat them but they haven't. But they do hide all the time.

Sorry. SL - standard length, i.e. nose to base of tail. The flake is a mix of things and is a better balance as a staple food. Too much high-protein food isn't good. They'll produce loads of waste either way. I've been casually "helping" with a couple of goldfish in a 25 litre for someone's...

Well done for getting the filter in :) When the filter is cycled I think you'd struggle to keep the nitrates down with 10% a week changes. Even small goldfish are messy fish and it will probably hit 3" SL within a year. I'd also go for goldfish flake as the main staple with the frozen for...

I think I agree with you Tom, although I'm not as worried about ruining the suspense. If it's something unusual, e.g. creating beaches, etc., I'm interested to see photos of how the substrate is built up. Same goes for any unusual (to me ;)) hardware, e.g. external reactors, filter glassware...

Employers Liability covers employees' losses while working for an employer. It's compulsory unless you are a one-man band or purely family business. Public Liability covers other people's losses directly caused by the company. Professional Indemnity covers you for claims against you for losses...

I saw the whole programme on TV last night and it was just unbelievable :shock:. It was disturbing enough watching it, let alone being there. That poor bloke in the lorry was mortified. And as for one night in prison - what was the judge taking? Whether you believe a prison sentence was...

I've done this before and yes, they are fine but, given that ammonia can trigger algae, why not wait until the tank is cycled? You'll typically need to do a large water change at the end of a fishless cycle to get the nitrate level down and that's a good time to add the plants.

The chemicals we are dealing with are compounds - combinations of chemical elements. When they go into solution they split into their positive and negative ions. Take ordinary salt as an example. It's a compound of two elements - Sodium and chlorine make Sodium Chloride (NaCl). Dissolve it in...

The reason I asked where you live is that I thought this might be of interest ... http://www.parcelpark.com/ This always seemed like a great idea to me and might help you with managing the delivery. I'm not associated with them in any way other than that I know someone who did a lot of work...

Where do you live Howard?

In my experience, variable :|. The easy stem plants and grassy things like vallis are usually fine. Individual crypts and similar can be a bit on the weak side and need to grow in a lot. I've found glosso, Marsilea sp., etc. well short of the mark. But they do replace/refund if you have a...

I don't think mine can fit directly to the regulator, although the kits they sell now look as though they do. MIne is connected like yours via some tubing. I checked all the connectors for leaks but my leak was manifesting itself from the side of a metal plate attached to the solenoid body. It...

Do you have the solenoid? I have a Lunapet setup and that's where I had a problem. Just needed tightening up but I added some PTFE tape too and it's been fine since.

According to this ... http://www.fishforums.net/index.php?s=2 ... try2068471 The ingredients are ... ESHA 2000 (UK) - contains: 6.3 mg Ethacridine lactate, (AKA: Rivanol an antibacterial acridine, sometimes used to treat shigella.) 1 mg Proflavin, an acridine closely related to acriflavin and...

Looks like a promising setup Howard :cool:. I'd just comment on a couple of practical things: a. 2cm of sand over Tetra complete could be a problem. If you get the Tetra stuff into the water column you have a nightmare of annoying brown debris to contend with. You need to be really careful with...

Aquarian Flake Nutrafin Spirulina Variety Sinking Wafer (rarely now because my barbs pounce and chew them like gobstoppers) Tetra Fresh Delica Brine-shrimp etc. (handy alternative to frozen and the fish love these) Veg - cucumber (very popular), cooked shelled peas Freeze-dried daphnia &...

Some branches of Pets-at-Home also stock the less exotic Tropica plants at good prices.

Re: CO2 Kit Not working - Please Help! Sorry, another silly question ... have you got a non-return valve the other side of the solenoid? Is it the right way round? How did the regulator pressure get up to 4 bar? Did you set it to minimum before you opened the bottle tap and then increase it to...

I've tried it in a couple of tanks and, like Lisa, found it's a big problem if you get any into the water column. I know someone with a 600L tank that's 50cm or so deep, he's got a 3-4cm cap of gravel over it and doesn't do much replanting. It's fine for him and the plants go well. With a...

I think it looks great! Even without the plants growing in you've got an element of height into the aquascape which I think is one of the big differences between tanks where people have just put a few plants in and tanks that are well scaped. That is one fabulous piece of bogwood! Why don't you...

Thanks Dan! Great piece in PFK this month BTW :)

I've just taken delivery of my new Rhinox ceramic diffuser. Impeccable service from AE as usual :). Is there anything I need to do to this before it goes in the tank? And are there any tips for locating it - depth, flow over it, etc.?

Thanks for your advice gents :) I've spent a couple of days fiddling. Less flow, more flow, more bubbles. Not much progress. I think I'd better get myself a ceramic diffuser before I contribute any further to global warming. The reactor came as part of a CO2 kit I got from Germany off eBay. It...

Fishless with ammonia? Once the ammonia is getting converted nicely, it does no harm to do a water change, in fact it's sometimes beneficial to reduce the nitrite backlog.

Laying sheets of kitchen towel on the surface for a few seconds then dumping into a bucket sometimes works for this.

I have a CO2 reactor that looks like this ... I'm struggling to get my CO2 levels up and I'm not sure if it's the way I've got the reactor set up or insufficient flow around the tank. I've got large bubbles rattling around at the top of the reactor (B) and a big blob of CO2 in the bottom...

There was a small piece in PFK a few months ago that referred to a product for removing scratches from glass. IIRC it was the manufacturer that contacted the magazine with a "readers might be interested in this" and it hadn't been evaluated by anyone at PFK. I don't have the copy to hand to...

Thanks guys. I note that AE's GH booster has some K2SO4 anyway. If you are still interested, the calculator I used was http://www.theplantedtank.co.uk/calculator.htm. In 20 USG ... KN03 : 3/16tsp (0.1875) : N = 9.11, P = 0, K = 5.75, Mg = 0 KH2PO4 : 1/16 tsp (0.0625) : N = 0, P =...

Thanks for that. I take your point about the phosphate. This might be a stupid question but something that's puzzling me is that K doesn't seem to be treated the same way as N, P and Mg :? I used a dosage calculator against the reference 20 US gallon to try and understand it better and, if I've...

Thanks for that Dan and thanks for the welcome :). The recommended dose on the Seachem bottles is a lot lower than the dosing I've been reading about in the context of EI. Dosing three times a week gives 3mg/l nitrate per week with the Nitrogen and 6mg/l potassium per week with the Potassium...

Hi :) After a few bouts of algae, and largely thanks to great information and links on here, I'm completely sold on the whole idea of proper plant fertilisation. The tank in question has been set up from about November last year - Rio 300 (standard 2x54W T5 with reflectors). It was all going...