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Thanks for the recommendation, I'd already booked in with move my fish by then - in the end only 2 of the companies I contacted actually came back to me with quotes....

Usually I would agree (and have moved 3 times with smaller tanks) but unfortunately while we have the bonus of access to both properties for some time A) we have a small child (<2) running around and we both work full time so we're very time poor currently, B) We physically can't move the tank...

Thanks :)

How was the process - I'm guessing you didn't have too many losses and the tank survived. I guess you weren't on site to see the move happen.

So, I've been away from this forum for a bit, work and family severely cut down my online time, but I've still been keeping my tank going - unfortunately, it's now time to move house and I'm stumped as to who to trust with such a move! My tank has blossomed a bit since I've been away from this...

Hmm, difficult one, nice little fishies shoaling, big plec with lots of character or a cardboard box and the possibilities of goodies within... I think it's going to have to be the big fish.... but I've no idea where to put him as I've only got a 3 footer!

Surely if it leaks they'll replace it. A fish tank that leaks isn't exactly 'fit for purpose' is it!

Hmm, is there a nice link somewhere that describes what all the styles mean, I'm leaning towards paludariums but I might like some of the other styles better if I knew what they were ;)

Piccys. Experiences (A learning experience is one of those things that say, 'You know that thing you just did? Don't do that.'- Douglas Adams) New ideas :) Successes/Failures

You can usually retro fit a juwel hood with an arcadia ballast (or three) There used to be a thread on TFF with instructions on how to do this but it's gone walkies and I can't find it. It's fairly straight forward though.

Hmmm, I'm doing long term stuff at the moment but I'm not sure that's out of choice or skintness/lack of time! I think I would love to set up scapes on a monthly basis but at the moment I a) can't afford the costs involved and b) don't have the spare time!

My shower pipe unscrews near the tap end and I screw a hoselock tap connector (with the white adjuster) to that bit, was a lucky discovery :)

Well said Clarke, sometimes the few extra quid is well worth the extra peace of mind and knowing that you're supporting a decent shop. That said, ebay is probably the safest place for bargains right now.

Save your leftover tights/stockings, they're useful for filter media, purigen, popping over the end of the hosepipe when you're siphoning out water. Plastic tubs are great for organising the inside of your under-tank-cabinet. Tropical fish don't like really cold water changes - make sure the...

Re: BECAREFUL WHEN BUYING FROM THESE SHOPS I did wonder, which is why I asked, mainly because the only 'competitors' currently on this site would be the sponsors and to say you're considering legal action suggests that they've done something wrong and currently I find that unsubstantiated and...

Re: BECAREFUL WHEN BUYING FROM THESE SHOPS Thanks for the clarification guys. It is of course your prerogative to change company details but you can imagine how liquidation proceedings look in the current climate. We are just looking out for our members by sharing this information. On this...

Re: BECAREFUL WHEN BUYING FROM THESE SHOPS Depends on your card issuer.

Oooh, now that would look funky! If you find the dye disperses too quickly you could try some glitter or something instead.

For it to be a true blind study you'd have to get people on the panel who don't tend to use them at home. Otherwise they'll know the tell-tale signs even if you cover up the labels. It's so easy to be unconsciously swayed by something as simple as the knurling on the grips being the same as...

Provided it is under the 6hrs that they say it will be it should be ok. As Matt says, you might need to reset timers when the power comes back. The only worry I might have is surges when they reconnect, it might be worth putting a surge protector on any valuable equipment if you haven't already.

I can see it now, the next UKaps meet up everyone is going to turn up with their tweezers for a tweezer comparison session! :lol:

I've had similar mishaps in the past, very disheartening but not the end of the world. If there's anything I can take cuttings/runners of for you from my tank then let me know.

Try putting less liquid in the drop checker so that it updates faster.

Do a google (other search engines are available) search for fishless cycling there should be plenty of 'how to' sites :)

So long as you acclimatise them gently then they should be fine across most changes of habitat. The advantage of taking water with you is that it's quicker and easier to acclimatise them and less stressful after a long journey. I think it also depends on how sensitive your fish are; some...

I had a nightmare the last time I moved! I couldn't catch half of my fish and we started way too late in the evening! It's one of the things that has made me say that this time I'm not moving until I've actually bought somewhere, I'm not going through that curffuffle again just to move into...

The first thing is to at least know where you're going to want your tank. Since you're only moving a few floors you shouldn't need to worry about transport too much, I just hope you have a lift or you might end up setting up a pulley and weights system ;) Keep as much of the water as you can...

Depends on who you listen to! Amano would probably have nearer 50W according to this page! Though if you increase the lighting then you'll need to add either CO2 or some carbon fertiliser such as excel or easycarbo.

Ditto, intend to find some tea and biccies to enjoy it with at some point soon!

No personal experience but the article George wrote is here

Agree with the above, take some photos of the rocks and wood and then we can point you in the direction of possible scaping ideas. You can also test rock formations outside the tank if you mark out the tank footprint on the floor with masking tape.

Ok I've done a quick google and the ones I've got I'm sure are nerite eggs. There's a few other places which have them too... http://flickr.com/search/?q=eggs%20nerite&w=all http://www.guitarfish.org/2006/08/30/wo ... rite-snail http://www.thereeftank.com/forums/f186/ ... 96024.html

I've got those, I assumed they were nerite eggs... now I'm not so sure! :?

I like the idea of a low tech shrimp and siamese fighter tank... was thinking this morning that's what I want to have at work. :) The only problems I foresee are the eating of shrimplets and the fact that fighters don't like flow... might make things a little more difficult.

I shouldn't worry about them too much, your fish will probably eat them when you put them in ;) Have a quick google and see if you can find out what type you've got, (a good start is whether they have legs or are like little white worms etc)

What do you mean 'when they were growing up' I'm not done growing up yet :wink: :lol:

Ahh, you must have had canaliculata (eats plants, red eggs) instead of bridgesii (doesn't eat plants pale pink eggs).

There seem to be a lot of people saying this... maybe I need to scour the journals and work out whose tank has the required plant set to generate the cuttings Santa sent me as I don't have a clue who mine was! :lol:

Other way round! If anyone wants any, mine have just bred I have blue and ivory and an intact tank of plants :lol: (I'll be putting an ad in the for sale section after Christmas when the post has calmed down and they're a bit bigger)

Why? What did you get?!

Part of the fun of a £5 limit is seeing just how much you can get for it. I managed to get something cheaper than you would normally because I asked them to knock a quid off as I needed to fit it into my secret santa budget... when I then explained that it was a planted tank enthusiasts secret...

Shhh... it's meant to be a secret santa :roll: :lol:

Since our santa's were obviously secret I thought it would be nice to have a thread where we could say thank you :) This morning the postie arrived with an enormous box, in it there we loads of cool new plants and cuttings from my santa's tank :D there was a also a lovely card and note :) So...

Hmm, while I agree it would be nice to have a record I think that it would be difficult to keep them up to date. What would be better would be a set of links to the local water authority's page on water parameters... eg for those in the Thames Water area this link allows you to generate a...

It's a 1700 l/h rating if that make much difference.

Feel free to use any fishy photos from my flickr account, as usual just make sure I'm credited and that they continue to have the creative commons licence attached.

I don't think this would work well, the fish will just push it out the way and swim past. I generally find my fish move out the way when I put my hands in my tank. My Guppies didn't, they always used to see if I was doing anything interesting, they were constantly in the way! Ok, it sounds...

I made the mistake of putting mine in a bucket overnight when swapping tanks. It would have been fine but I also added my filter which was too powerful, I lost all my penguin tetras as the flow was too much. :cry: Next time I'll use a bigger bucket, remove the spray bar and have it as a...

.... to start the siphon :lol: Alternatively, dunk the whole tube into the tank slowly (to make sure there's no air bubbles), put your finger over the end and transfer it to the bucket, remove finger and voila! siphon will start.

I think for the tank size the Sri-Lanken biotope would be better.

I would be too, you're right, good CO2 distribution can't compensate for poor CO2 production. You filtration/flow sounds ok, you've got a filter rated ~6x tank volume which combined with your nano pump (rated 7.5x tank volume) should be enough. The 10x rule is for rated not actual turnover, I...

I think that depends on how well you feel the flow is doing now and whether you feel you are under filtering for the fish or just the plants. You didn't give livestock figures so I don't know how overstocked you are but If you think you're on the limits of your biological filtration then...

I don't know which I'm more jealous of; all those Tank-tastic tanks or a living room!

Thankfully I've never been in the situation where I can't keep the fish I have. If I were then I'd try the local MA or the boards on here/TFF. I've had guppies before that I didn't want but they didn't last long in the end (not in a sinister way, only that they are relatively short lived...

More info in this thread *Thought I'd plug it in a more frequented forum*

Working hard :p

Ohhh, inflatables... that way you don't have the transport issues!

I know the feeling, whenever I've been using Jeyes to clean my flower pots I keep a wide berth from the tank until I've had a chance to wash the splashes off my arms! I think generally if you just find a bog standard soap without too much scent, wash them at school before you leave, by the...

Regular tweezers work, long handled planting ones are easier. I cheat, since most of my stems bases are hidden by hardscape/crypts I use lead weights with foam to protect the stems from being crushed. The foam is just strips cut from one of those washing up sponges.

I can see that they are constructive and I agree with the vision of much of what you say, it's just that we're not the ones you should be telling and changes like you suggest don't happen overnight. As I say you just have to bear in mind that currently (AFAIK) this is all done by volunteers, I...

Ok, dragging us back onto topic.... Please feel free to start another thread on how you intend to make the whole show super next year, you organise it and I'll be there :P

Wish I could take the credit but that was someone else's (though for the life of me I can't remember if it was Dan or Graeme I was talking to when that came up!) I think we had on the stand what we were donated by the sponsors who are already amazingly generous. It was also about as much as the...

Split from the FoF thread in events this is a place to suggest ideas to make next year's stand even better than this year's. Comments welcome from all whether you were there or not, what would you expect/like to see on the UKaps stand. So the starter for ten... Aquascaping hands on zone -...

Not as often as I'd like! I've not seen my tank lights on since Sunday and I'm not likely to until tomorrow evening! There's just so much going on! If my tank were open top then I'd have my hands in all the time, pinching bits off, removing that pest snail, grabbing that floating leaf. As it...

I doubt it, the important thing is to go slowly, make sure you understand what you're doing before you make any big changes and not panic if it doesn't all work out straight away.

You could go back to T8, 15w = 18inch which would give you a nice 1.5wpg

Hi Steve, I'm not sure I have all the answers to your questions but I can definitely help by pointing you to where you can find them :) Don't Panic (in big friendly letters) There are 2 main routes to healthy plants, what's known as high tech and low tech (or au naturelle). The former...

I thought it was fluctuating CO2 rather than just poor. Bearing in mind this tank has no CO2 and gets all its carbon from easy carbo what's the solution if you don't want to add pressurised CO2?

Ah, that makes more sense! Was going to say otherwise it might have been a nasty accident waiting to happen!

There are bigger ones on a simple google search, 2ft and over! It was just interesting because it was a captive uk one. Sounds about right! Though think of how good a few would look in a nice big tank! it will still require a filter and water changes though. Saying that some of the fancier...

Is that one of those dire plastic ones with the little coloured surround type hoods? 5 litres is nothing. I think the best way to help your sister is to explain that although a bigger tank may seem like more work it'll actually make her job easier since larger tanks are more stable. Goldfish...

You can 'get away' with all sorts and it would definitely be better than just dosing the trace elements and doing a weekly water change. So long as everything is balanced (co2/carbon additive, ferts, lights) then you should find that there isn't much build up of anything in the tank and the...

I would debate tastiest! :lol: Biggest, yes, shiniest, probably but tastiest tends to be when the plant is trying to put more energy into a smaller fruit which indicates that there's a deficiency somewhere that's limiting the size of the fruit. Herbs especially are much more tasty if not...

cool tanks, shame they're hidden but I suppose that's better than no tanks! Was it just me or is your fire extinguisher running horizontal... didn't realise you could do that, thought you got liquid CO2 out if you weren't careful or something?

I like the fact that we've got all 3. I love the final shots of people's tanks, they always looks so stunning, but once you've seen that sometimes it's nice to see how they got to that stage. Either 1 or 2 can provide that. 1 offers hope to people like myself who are still just starting out...

The same as in bubble bath, which you get 4 times as much for half the price ;) But seriously, I don't understand the need to use air fresheners, I prefer to open a window... and then you let the beasties in to lay eggs in you tank ;)

This is my dream, it would be the perfect place to grow orchids :) One day when I have the money... i,e. have finished my perpetual studenthood, bought a house, started a pension and all the other sensible things I need to do first! :roll:

You mean to say my scape isn't good enough ;) Only joking, I would be mortified if anyone suggested publicising any of my testing grounds! I think it's because most women end up doing other things, something as time consuming as planted tanks means there's several other hobbies you don't have...

Your snails will finish off a dead fish in no time so it's likely he's well and truly gone I'm afraid.

Nooo, I want nice sleek curved ones! :lol: Cheers Dan for all your hard work on this, I know what a nightmare the language barrier can be from both sides.

Well there's the IPA ones and the ADA do aqua ones on Aqua Essentials Otherwise the only decent image a google search gave was Hopefully someone with a pair will be able to get some decent photos. I was going to ask about these today, must be on the same wavelength :)

Cool, I didn't realise they made aquarium ones, thankfully I don't need one at the moment *touches wood*

You need to read the instructions carefully on these, a lot of insect killers are harmful to aquatic life also.

Of course they can, as can 'Should I use control coupling to make my code more versatile?' the answer is usually no but it doesn't explain what control coupling is or why it's not usually the good idea it sounds (sorry if you're an expert programmer it was just the first example that came to...

There is already a step by step on how to set up a hightech tank. This is great. There are already tutorials on lighting, co2, EI etc. An FAQ for this site should perhaps contain a small primer on each subject with a link to the tutorials and then a 'further information' link to either sub...

Well I was using nutrafin aquaPlus, but having read some of the comments on here I think I'll be switching to pond doctor dechlor, much cheaper!

If you can add a good substrate then it will help your plants, things like crypts especially like a good substrate. Depending on how much you want to spend you can either buy an aquatic specific substrate or you could go for a cheaper option and do something like a pond soil base layer covered...

Hi Hoddy, Welcome to ukaps :D There are 2 main options when going for a planted tank. Low Tech = no CO2, low lights, low fertiliser High Tech = CO2 or some form of organic carbon substitute (eg flourish excel or EasyCarbo), more light, more fertiliser Low Tech means a smaller range of...

Will second this, I have a KH of 15-17 and on my 70l I can get ~30ppm with DIY! (when it's not leaking :roll: )

Now I'm confused, I thought from Dan's post on the first page of this thread that yours was the new front page for ukaps.org :?

Wow, congrats to all. Hope you all got good feedback ready for next year ;) 15th is an amazing result for a gorgeous tank. Looking forward to seeing photos of the rest. :)

I'm a bucket girl still... but it only being a 70l it's probably easiest! I don't suck on the siphon but instead use the dunk it principle to get the siphon started. I start with a snail cull and any pruning required. I siphon the debris out along with the water and use this to water my...

Nah, I think you should pick the best from the region if you want to show case them. Or pick to get a nice mix of 'scapes/colours so that the final map looks good. How are you going to do it, are you going to have a mini tank in each county or are you going to crop the images to be the shape...

Well I don't think I'll be able to compete with planter for Surrey but in case you want any, all of my photos are on my flickr site http://www.flickr.com/photos/egmel/sets ... 240461190/ Good Luck filling up the map.

Kilrock descaling gel is really good (but obviously not fish safe!)

Thanks Dave, that's a really interesting thread. Maybe we should suggest that AE changes their blurb on purigen to reflect the fact that it wont filter out all our carefully added fertilisers. :) It might also be worth them adding that it shouldn't be used with nutrafin aquaplus since that's...

Excellent, looking forward to them :)

It may have been some of those pics which got me thinking originally. How often did you need to change the water and what was your dosing regime? I was hoping on getting some smaller crypts in mine and an all round darker green feel. Maybe I should look at getting a taller vase with low light...

Can you imagine if every time someone used the term billion in a press statement they were asked to clarify whether they were using American or British Billions... now how to beef up spending/profits without appearing to be pandering to the Americans. ;) *puts away wooden spoon* While I have...

2l was the min I was looking at doing. I was thinking about doing 50% changes twice a week (Mon and Thurs) but could probably stretch to Mon,Weds and Fri. I want to have this at work you see :)