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It seems a bit overkill for the average hobby aquarist. Is this aimed at labs or public aquariums? Surely the easy bit is analysing the data the hard part is collecting it?

Good post. The graveyard scape (36/96) is interesting :)

If you add tap water straight to a fish tank you will get what appears to be pearling but this is just air degassing from the new water due to higher temps and lower pressure in your tank compared to your tap. Are you sure that the pearling you are seeing after the water changes is actually due...

The plant in the corner I think is Limnophila sessiliflora. See http://www.tropica.com/plants/plantdescription.aspx?pid=047 I think it is fairly demanding of CO2 but in your case I wonder if you have enough ferts in your tank? Do you have any soil or plant substrate under your sand or do you...

What do you want to use the peat for - Fish breading or to improve plant growth? I used to use aquarium peat in old nylon stockings which I put into the filter. I did this to condition the water for breeding soft water tetras. I probably would not do this again though as I think it could reduce...

Hi Mark4785 Sounds like your mind is made up to do the fishless cycling - good luck with that let us know how you get on.

Hi Mark4785 If I were you I would forego the addition of the rams initially and set up the planted tank as advised by Darrel using something more hardy like tetras instead (slowly building up stocking levels as even hardy fish can be wiped out by ammonia problems). Then when you are satisfied...

Good question. For plants to use light to power chemical reactions they need to capture the light using some kind of pigment. So another way of putting the question is to ask are there plant pigments that are not involved in photosynthesis. The only answer I can find is the use of plant...

If the fish deaths started to happen after the 3rd addition of fish and shrimp i.e. - Phantom tetra x 20 added and 5 otocinclus + shrimp then I would suspect that the fish deaths are ammonia related caused by stocking too soon. It would be better to add the shrimp then wait a week or 2, then...

Not sure if the growth of aquatic plants is a simple linear relationship. The growth of aquatic plants will increase as fred says due increase in temp up to a point, but extremes of temp will damage plant tissues. There is also the effect of gas solubility in water vs temp, vital gases such as...

Excellent - I can see this being one of those articles that will be referenced over and over.

Have a look at this link on Tom Barrs website :- http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum/showthread.php/42183-DSM-Dry-start-method-for-starting-a-new-planted-tank This is a good method for getting carpet plants established. You can get other types of plants going using this method as long as you...

I think i'm right in saying it is watts per US gallons. You have to think carefully about adequate plant nutrition from the start otherwise you will end up with algae. I use a soil layer covered with sand atm. I'm not saying you have to use a soil layer but this gives me a large supply of...

If it is just to another office in the same building, you could empty the water and move the tank and soil/sand base. I would also save as much of the water as possible, in a large bucket and store the fish in multiple large bags (the type you get from the aquarium store). If the move is to...

I must admit the hard sell tactics have put me off going to TGM somewhat. I would still pop in if I was in the area but perhaps now would not make a special trip. I would also be a bit dubious about any advice they give out if they are claiming that products like TPN/TPN+ do not contain K...

Re: Volcanic springs in CA, Hat Creek source, aquatic plant Why is the water so cold? Is it because it is at altitude?

Out of interest what is the plant substrate?

I'd love to see a picture of this tank. Can you tell us what substrate you have, how frequently you do water changes and how much? The symptoms you describe would indicate insufficient CO2 to meet the plant requirements but you don't always have to add CO2 to grow plants. If you want low...

I wonder would it be possible (in theory at least) to deal with the high levels of organic waste by having more filtration? I know alot of high tech aquascapers aim for high turnover rates 10x or more but what about increasing the total amount of filter media or even doubling the number of...

ceg4048 Out of interest what are the toxic substances released by plants? I might be wrong but I seem to remember you arguing that the reason for water changes was to dilute algal spores?

I haven't tried this myself but you could try growing the affected (not infected :shifty:) plants emmersed for a while perhaps in a small tank or large jar. I think most plants we buy come pristine and algae free because they have been grown by the suppliers emmersed. My own experience is...

Have a look at this thread in particular Tom Barrs reply on page 2. http://ukaps.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=12173&start=10 Also on a low light and low CO2 tank you may not need to add ferts that frequently so price/convenience considerations of ready made liquid plant ferts such as TPN+...

Another approach to consider is this http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/el-natural/62825-new-npt-shrimp-tanks.html The only equipment used is the light although here in the UK you probably need a heater as well.

Wow that gives a theoretical turnover of ~30x. Your fish must be fit. :twisted: Someone will post next saying they have 20,000 l/h on a jam jar pico set up I have to admit I recently upgraded my Eheim Ecco Pro 200 (600 l/h) to a Eheim 2073 Professional 3 350 Filter (1050 l/h) on my 100 l...

An external filter on a 20L tank? Would this not be overkill? The Eheim Ecco Pro 130 (smallest Ecco) quotes an output of 500 lph - assuming vol. of water is 18L (allowing for substrate + décor) then that would be a theoretical turnover of almost 28 times. Before you explore the filtration...

LD, Can I be nosey and ask what health problems it caused you? I always come across the handle with care messages but never anyone who has actually suffered.

Wow great pictures you've sourced there ceg4048! :clap:

You might find this journal useful its for a 760l tank with sump: http://ukaps.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=10171

In the context of a planted tank or a riparium then nitrates are your friend and will promote healthy plant growth so don't worry about them. If you look at the suppliers section you should be able to get KNO3 in powder form. It would be interesting to know what test kit you are using and...

Was this event open to the general public or was it trade only? I noticed more interzoo pics on this blog:- http://faao.blogspot.com/

I agree with Beeky :thumbup:

I have an old Interpet guide to growing plants and in the section on lighting they show a stem plant - I think cambomba sp - grown under different light levels. Under low light it was long and straggly and a bit sickly looking, under medium it was nice and compact and a healthy green colour and...

Using the calculator here I think this works out at 19x9kg bags of eco complete ! :o http://www.plantedtank.net/substratecalculator.html Using your prices above that is $931 au +$7.5 pp. I'd look for sponsorship! And why not? If you end up with a spectacular looking tank then the shop will...

Here's a link to a largish low tech tank you might find interesting (125 US gallons - large by my standards). http://www.dataguru.org/misc/aquarium/125tank.html The soil in this tank is top soil and has provided good growth but I have seen other tanks using various soils & compost that end up...

It is well worth researching the planting medium in a low tech tank as this is probably the most important consideration in this type of set up and on a tank that big you don't want to have to restart multiple times. Alot of people use potting compost as a planting medium in low tech tanks and...

I wonder how important a rich substrate is? If you have a substrate releasing loads of CO2 and nutrients from the base then circulation and lean dosing may not be that important because the plant food is already right where the plants need it. But if you use an inert substrate then maybe flow is...

I've thought about this as well especially after someone was selling red wine shrimp for £1200 each http://ukaps.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=8799 :shock: !!- you could easily set up a load of small tanks get the shrimp breeding and sell them on ebay etc. And being on a small scale you...

Re: What's the demand for high street planted aquarium shops Interesting that the moment opening a high street shop was mentioned that the discussion became bogged down with the complexity of keeping livestock when what we are interested in here is plants and equipment for planted tanks that...

You should be aware that some non native plants if they are released into the wild can become invasive so a lot of the import/export restrictions are there for a good reason. Here is a list of some invasive aquatic plants http://138.253.199.114/IAAP%20Web/IAAPwebsite/Aqplantsppindex.asp?offset=0

Why bother converting NO3 to N2 when NO3 is so important to plant nutrition? My first tank had an UGF and I could never get plants to grow. Though looking back now they never had much of a chance as the gravel and water column was probably lacking in a range of nutrients and the air pump...

I've read articles that say you should determine the direction of the joists in the room (usually right angles to floor boards?) and then position the tank so that it lies across more than one joist to spread the weight rather than length ways along a single joist. Have you tried asking advice...

I do a 50% water change every 6 months on my NPT which is about 50l of water (tank is about 100 l). 2/3 of this comes from my water butt which is rain water so I use 15-20l of tap water every 6 months per w/c :D . But so what?! If all the fish keepers in the country stopped keeping fish tanks...

I remember seeing an article in PFK back in the mid 90's about someone who kept trout in a large aquarium. It was outdoors though to help keep the temp down and had a large pebble and boulder aquascape. I don't think I would care where the house was situated or how much it cost or if the rest...

To be fair plantbrain I don't really disagree with any of the points you make. But my immediate response is to be resistant to the use of herbicides and pesticides. I think herbicides have got a bad image but this is partly due to the early generations of herbicides that were used- looking at...

As far as I know dredgers tend to be used more to clear lakes (large ponds) and rivers in urban areas to stop sediment build up which would eventually convert them into bogs and then to grass land more than to eradicate invasive species. Most people (thanks to the media) are paranoid about GM...

Lots of really useful info here davidcmadrid - good digging!

You could perhaps keep the metal sheet but disguise it by siliconing bits of decor such as cork bark, slate etc which would make it look more natural. That way you wouldn't have to achieve plant growth so dense that it forms a barrier.

I always think that certain tetras like neon and cardinal look their best in subdued lighting and in water that is stained by tannins - their colours look less gaudy.

I have been collecting alot of plants lately alot more than really looks good in my tank. There are quite a few that I would like to get rid off but am loathe to chuck them because I know I would like to try them again in a new scape at some point in the future. One thing that I have done is to...

Why not combine the best of both worlds and try a marine macro algae set up or even a planted brackish tank with 'Mangrove Propagules' that I have seen on the net. There is a section in the Barr report forum that deals with growing macroalgae http://www.barrreport.com/marine-plants-macroalgae/