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Cpds vary in quality.
Have a good look for deformities before buying any.
A lot are tank bred now, and its easy to find lots with bent spines and dull colouration.
Maidenhead in Havant had some, probably the best colours I've seen on cpds.
Really dark brown with orange fins.
Lovely.
Well...
I had to pay £30 for the 9 they had left.
But in the past I've payed £1 each.
It varies wildly for chilies.
My local have cpds for £9.50 each!!!!
But expect to pay from £2.50 to £4 for them.
I had to contact Maidenhead aquatics head office, they found me the last ones at the Havant shop.
Haven't seen any local to me for over a year.
They Spent 30 days in my quarantine, then went in with my older group at the weekend.
And immediately settled in.
Airline costs about 50p a metre.
Little airline clamps are about £3 for 2.
Just tighten a clamp around the airline, using the screw to adjust flow rate .
That's all you need.
There's some uncertainty as to what actually is an amano shrimp.
The fakes could end up being the true amano, due to vagaries regarding collection localities , labeling etc etc.
Or just use some substrate in a bucket to start the filter cycle?
Unless of course this is also an outrage?
:-/
It appears that the ADA ammonia is vastly superior to any ammonia you can possibly buy in a £2 bottle - might as well harness it.
My point is,
Something is often better than...
Its blahblahblahblahing ridiculous.
As you say.
The substrate will release a lot of ammonia, probably 6 +ppm worth. This can be used to cycle the filter/ feed plants.
But using 1-2 ppm bottled ammonia to do the same thing is regarded as heresy.
Is it me?
I fully cycled my first noob tank with 2 ppm...
Get out of it .
A new bucket , new filter media an air line and 1 ppm ammonia isn't going to set anything back or kill of the bacteria-. There aren't any- its all new and clean.
We're not talking a planted tank, with plenty of plants to soak up fish waste.
:-/
:-/
:-/
First off,
We need to examine the cause of fish fatalities
Until histological examination is undertaken we can't really be sure of the cause of death.
I certainly would never keep my fish in a full ei, high tech tank ever again.
I don't know anything about the fish in question
I have tried to compromise my water to suit hard and soft water fish but this middle ground didn't really work for either.
Many 'garden' composts contain things you don't want, such as lime.
Using soil is neither good or bad, advanced or for novices- its cheap, gets results and can give issues.
Have a look at the EL NATURAL AND LOW TECH section for plenty of inspiration
Get your tds calibration solution.
Pour enough into a cup to dip your pen in. Turn on pen . Leave pen in solution for 5 minutes and calibrate ( with a small screwdriver) the LCD display to read the correct value.
In your case 90 ppm.
Or whatever ppm your calibration solution is.
Leave the tap water to warm up.
Are you calibrated to near 300 ppm?
Some test pens are calibrated at 1331 ppm.
Which is pretty rubbish for use at our lower levels.
I love stone walls
Recently during a holiday in beautiful wales I was stunned by the many stones walls
Each different with various plants and ferns emerging tbrough the stone. And of course the many magical small waterfalls that you get in the hilly areas.
Can I just say, I'm really enjoying the views put forward, new tank syndrome desperately needs addressing in the hobby.
Another issue - apart from readying a filter to cope with fish waste , is the environment of the tank itself .
Bigtom alluded to this a couple of months ago.
High ammonia...
To a large extent, I agree Darrel
I am confident in my experiences now to know the signs of fish and plant distress.
Beginners don't have that luxury though.
I am vehemently against fish in cycling, because I've seen the legacy a poor cycle leaves.
That is ammonia
And a whole bunch of human related nastiness which you don't want in a tank.
And in case you're wondering,
My 2ppm ammonia method happens to be backed by a professor of microbiology/ Scientology/ I've got a brand new combine harvester.
And then let's consider aquasoil
This stuff and others , releases vast amounts of ammonia ( off the scale last time I used it)
Much more ammonia than I cycle with (2ppm)
So what's it gonna be chaps?
You can't denounce cycling with ammonia
When many of the most expensive and fully loaded...
Leaving water in a tank doing nothing will leave you with 3 week old water
Using soil or adding 2 ppm ammonia will cycle the tank .
But then we get into the age old test kit brouhaha... Jeesh.
Its like giving an Uzi to someone who has no concept of firearms.
What you are highlighting is the fact that every tank is different. We have to rely on rules at first, after a while we can use our eyes to make judgements. Its easy to follow the rules but its better to manipulate those rules to suit our own aquariums. As you have done.
Danio margaritatus- celestial Pearl danio.
The little fish that made it big.
I have danio erythromicron, I get a baby every week , usually hiding in the moss. With enough plants some babies will make it
My 40 litre nano is injected co2, florabase with Monte Carlo and eleocharis sp mini 1-2 grow.
apart from water changes and squirts of tropica, its neglected - and thriving! even though i forget to refill my soda stream bottles...
flow is the issue. My 20x turnover is too much to ensure...
So, why can't the algae just grow by itself. If these nutrients are available- why the need to care about what's going on with the plants,? Surely the evironment is suitable for both. At the same time?
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