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Hi all, Agreed, I actually like the temperature in the tanks to vary a few degrees throughout the year. In terms of breeding Dwarf Cichlids, if <"they spawn in the summer"> (when the water is warmer) that is actually to my advantage, I have <"more live food"> to condition the fish with and...

Hi all, You might be interested in <"The temperature for Fish">. cheers Darrel

Hi all, I don't know how warm your house is (our is cool), but I think @Bradders is right and you might need a larger capacity heater. cheers Darrel

Hi all, Mobile phone, which is one reason (of many) why you don't see the tanks very often. Cheers Darrel

Hi all, I'm away quite a lot and I just don't feed the fish for a week. If it is longer? I weigh out food portions and put them in dated specimen tubes. I learnt this the hard way <"My unfortunate vacation experience and "who dun it"">. cheers Darrel

Hi all, Yes, definitely a possibility. All the stomata are on the upper leaf surface, so gas exchange is entirely atmospheric. Cheers Darrel

Hi all, I'm sure that would do. I like as near fully saturated as possible, but it depends a lot bit on the fish you keep. That is one of the great advantages of planted tanks, they usually maintain higher oxygen levels than non-planted ones (because of the <"net oxygen production from...

Hi all, This has come my way via my day job, about £500 <"Data Harvest - Wireless Oxygen Dissolved Sensor">. I've no idea how good they are. cheers Darrel

Hi all, Since the original thread the Quanvee ones haven't leaked, but neither of any of my Eheim ones, some of which are ~20 years old. cheers Darrel

Hi all, Welcome to UKAPS. What @MichaelJ says. I know it isn't possible for everyone, but I have hard tap water and <"I use rainwater in the tanks">. cheers Darrel

Hi all, That would be the approach I'd use, it gets rid of any moving parts. cheers Darrel

Hi all, I'm <"not convinced"> either, but could you use rain water? Difficult I suppose with a big tank and an automated system. cheers Darrel

Hi all, Looks great. I think one is fine. I'd be a little worried about how hot it gets. cheers Darrel

Hi all, I think you might be the only purchaser, it is bit close to the knuckle for us. It is like when I suggested a new slogan for one of my employers: Unfortunately it proved prophetic for the employees...... Cheers Darrel

Hi all, Yes. Plants are the <"gift that keeps giving"> in oxygen terms. I'd say <"that is a better idea">. cheers Darrel

Hi all, <"Triple wall polycarbonate">? A bit expensive, but <"easy to shape"> (and cut up) and nice and stiff. cheers Darrel

Hi all, Perfect, that is the <"0.01 Molar potassium chloride (KCl) standard">. cheers Darrel

Hi all, What is the calibration value? and is it in micro S? and if it isn't? Does it have a conversion factor listed? They may sound strange questions, but while the buffers for pH are quite complex to make up, the calibration standards for conductivity (TDS) meters are <"really straight...

Hi all, What @jaypeecee says. cheers Darrel

Hi all, Sea water is fully saturated with dGH and dKH, so you will never get any <"dissolution of the concrete">. In fresh water <"Lake Tanganyika would be the same">, fully saturated with Ca++ and 2HCO3- ions. cheers Darrel

Hi all, I'll add in Marcel @zozo , because I think he has made these. Cheers Darrel

Hi all, I would worry about the light being too bright, as long as it isn't too hot. Even "Reef Light" brightness is much less <"PAR than the tropical sun">. cheers Darrel

Hi all, I don't know, but I'll add Marcel (@zozo ) in because I know he has <"practical experience of building these">. cheers Darrel

Hi all, I'd probably use braces, and keep the tanks quite shallow (don't fill them up with water). As a general rule it is the deeper tanks that need the thicker glass. cheers Darrel

Hi all, @LondonDragon is also a <"fan of these">. cheers Darrel

Hi all, I'n agnostic, but there is definitely something you can do about the <"un-natural white colour">. We think it is a <"nano-bubble generator">. Assuming it is, the extra expense of the Twinstar maybe to do with the <"composition of the electrodes">. It is not a product that interests...

Hi all, I assume that is to do with increased efficiency of the RO unit, electrical conductivity should increase with increasing temperature if everything else remains the same. cheers Darrel

Hi all, No need <"to remineralize">. Even if you use 100% RO you only need a <"splash of tap water"> to supply some calcium (Ca) and dKH (HCO3-). cheers Darrel

Hi all, I think that might be the answer, for <"whatever reason Eheim"> seem to have lost their long term reputation for quality in recent years. cheers Darrel

Hi all, I bought some 12 - 16 mm QANVEE ones and they have been fine so far, but they are a bit bigger than the Eheim alternatives. I've not had issues with the Eheim one leaking, and some of mine are ~15 years old (and they were nearly all pre-owned when I bought them). I haven't had the...

Hi all, I've got lots of old glass chromatography tanks, I might reconsider what to do with them. cheers Darrel

Hi all, I think @arcturus is right, the glass is joined with silicon, but there just isn't a visible seam. Lower down it says: cheers Darrel

Hi all, Bin I'm afraid. cheers Darrel

Hi all, No, but it looks interesting. It should work pretty well for "Temp" and "TDS", pH might be more of an issue. If it is an <"ISFET probe for pH">, that would also work pretty well. You could ask them the question? There doesn't look to be a glass reference electrode and if it was...

Hi all, When I wrote it, I was thinking of Frankie Howerd (video for younger aquarists), but have subsequently the found the "initialed it" bit was a story told by <"Truman Capote">. cheers Darrel

Hi all, <"Another comment"> I didn't think I'd find on UKAPS. I'll have a go, I have a very short one, there isn't room to brand it, but it is initialed. I don't use it very often, I've found blowing/sucking on a piece of tubing is more effective. cheers Darrel

Hi all, The advertising really puts me off buying products from any of <"these companies">. I think "if I buy this your advertising has worked". cheers Darrel

Hi all, I like <"Siporax">, I wouldn't go out of my way to buy it, but if some-one gave it to me I'd definitely use it. cheers Darrel

Hi all, No, I think it does what it says on the packet. Have a look at page 3. of <"FeEDDHA">. If you want "gin clear" water for aesthetic reasons, then Purigen is of interest to you. If you want it to reduce levels of DOM in your tank? then there are other options. cheers Darrel

Hi all, I'm a fan of <"humic substances"> as well. If you keep a Reef Aquarium, or Lake Tanganyika cichlids, you might want to reduce DOM, but even then there will be some present. I think this should be available to everyone <"Dissolved humic substances – ecological driving forces from the...

Hi all, My guess would be that they would do. cheers Darrel

Hi all, Diffusion of all <"dissolved gases is pretty slow">, which is why you need to maximise the gas exchange surface. You can see that this is potentially a two-way street, leading to potential <"oxygen super-saturation in suitable conditions">. You can process wastes with really high BOD...

Hi all, That is one of the reasons why I've pushed <"dissolved oxygen as being so important">. It was only when I started posting the cycling threads that I began to realise that there was a, <"pretty much total, disconnect"> between aquarists views <"on nitrification"> and waste water...

Hi all, Yes, I think it is probably about right. There are a few minor caveats, was the temperature* the same? etc. *edit: <"The meter"> has automatic temperature compensation The thing we really don't know is: We don't know the state of the inside of the canister filter. Because there is...

Hi all, Thank-you, I'm still proud of it. I've added a link in to the <"original post">. Yes and no, laminar flow is really what you want in the tank, so that the water from the bottom of the tank is continually circulated to the gas exchange surface. If you are reliant on direct aeration...

Hi all, That was really where I ended up, and it was why I wrote <"Aeration and dissolved oxygen.......">, about <"~fifteen years ago">. It wasn't entirely <"well received initially">, but I think it has stood the test of time. You can get galvanic probes, they sell one meter for aquaculture...

Hi all, If it wasn't for the cost they would be a recommendation for a meter that is pretty <"much "plug and play">. Yes it does, I've just looked and I had no idea they were that expensive for that model. We've had a meter/electrode to trial, and it has seemed pretty good. cheers Darrel

Hi all, The Thermo "Orion Star"ones are pretty reasonably priced. The <"A123"> is about £650. cheers Darrel

Hi all, I think 8 mm glass is a good idea, and even then I would have a central brace on a really long tank. cheers Darrel

Hi all, Use the light, but you don't need any filtration. It will maintain <"high humidity"> and allow you to grow more demanding ferns etc. Acid carboys used to be popular for this sort of thing, and they are as close to a BiOrb in shape as you can get. cheers Darrel

Hi all, Should be plenty thick, even with the 5' length of glass you have very little water depth, so little internal pressure on the glass. cheers Darrel

Hi all, 100% terrarium. George set-up one. cheers Darrel

Hi all, I do this. cheers Darrel

Hi all, That one. cheers Darrel

Hi all, I had the same experience, it continually went under <"until I stopped rescuing it">. Mine never looked anything like as healthy as @Gill 's. cheers Darrel

Hi all, I'd just put it in the tank. Fruit wood is used quite a bit for <"feeding Panaque spp. etc">. I think Morus spp. have contrasting darker heartwood, Morus alba definitely does, but I think M. nigra does as well. cheers Darrel

Hi all, You are absolutely fine to use them, and you don't need to boil them. cheers Darrel

Hi all, I think for most us they probably are, the real issue is for CO2 users, where not knowing what the pH is can easily lead to asphyxiating all your fish. cheers Darrel

Hi all, I know, "CO2", "pH", "TIC", "NO3", "ion" are all too short to use as search terms. I cheat a little bit by adding "bromothymol", "NO3-" etc. to any CO2 etc. posts I make now, but it doesn't work for finding other people's posts, or for my older posts. Yes, you can use a <"narrow range pH...

Hi all, You can, but usually in situations where you already have a good idea what the pH is likely to be. The problem is really that pH is a very strange measurement, it is both a log10 scale and a ratio. If you have hard, salts rich, water then the pH will always be about pH8, and your pH...

Hi all, Very nice. I love foggers. They were just coming into commercial horticulture when I left, but they were obviously going to be the next big thing because you could root really small, soft cuttings with them. I'd go for a much <"weaker salts mix">, no more then a 1/4 EI and probably...

Hi all, Same <"for me">. cheers Darrel

Hi all, Perfect. cheers Darrel

Hi all, I had a persistent cut in the tip of my finger and eventually I thought "I'll super-glue it". The good news was that it sealed and healed really quickly, the bad news was that it "stung a bit" (a lot) for about two days after application. cheers Darrel

Hi all, I prefer a higher kelvin value for the lights in terms of looks as well, but a 4000K light will still provide plenty of PAR. The main difference is that the 4000K one gives you a more yellow, slightly warmer light than a 6000K one. cheers Darrel

Hi all, There isn't a huge amount of science knowledge required, but it would really help if you understood a bit about aseptic culture and the scientific method. We had the problems that @X3NiTH notes in the Barr Report thread, it is really difficult to avoid microbial contamination. I'd...

Hi all, Certainly has. Does he still post on the Barr Report? We used to do it as <"part of one of our courses">, and years ago I did a feasibility study for a large <"UK ornamental plant producer">. As a commercial concern, you would need to find a niche market and then you might find that you...

Hi all, I'd do that. You'll probably find a bit of drift at both pH4 and pH10, but not a lot. Because pH is a log10 scale as you move away from pH7 you tend to get a <"more "accurate" reading">. I like the <"instruction page"> link for the WEIPRO, nice and clear. That would be my worry. I'm...

Hi all, That should have been three molar KCl for the storage solution and 0.1M KCl for the reference solution (insider the probe). They all used to be refillable (with KCl), most of the newer probes are sealed, and have a finite life. Usually you can buffer the meters, the buffer solutions...

Hi all, I don't know quite how the cheap probes work, they won't have a silver (Ag) wire in the probe, but presumably a cheaper alternative metal. They are <"quite complicated bits of kit">. I don't usually recommend putting too much reliance on pH as a measurement, that isn't because it...

Hi all, I've never had a Hydor heater, but if you wanted to go down the Schego route you could buy an off the shelf controller like an "Inkbird ITC 308 temperature controller". I'm not too worried about the heater failing and not heating, I'm much more worried about the heater sticking on and...

Hi all, They have quite strong heating effect in a nano. If you have a small tank with a lid as well and then factor in the light they will often read ~5oC warmer than the the room temperature. This isn't ideal in the summer, but useful at other times of the year. cheers Darrel

Hi all, I'm not sure, I think titanium would do. It is "transition metals" that are the catalyst, and I assume that it is cheaper then silver. Platinum or palladium would presumably be the best options, but more expensive again. I assume one of the reasons for the ceramic is to control the...

Hi all, That is what they are doing, the extra oxygen comes from the break down of the hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). The reaction is 2H2O2 ~catalyst~ 2H20 + O2. The catalyst was traditionally a small piece of silver (Ag) wire, I assume the "ceramic catalyst" has some silver in it <"somewhere">...

Hi all, It would really be what @mort says. People would look at a coral reef, or the surge zone of a Rift Valley Lake, and says this is an alkaline, high oxidising environment with very low levels of nutrients and DOC. This is true, but it is only <"part of the story">. These are difficult...

Hi all, We have a <"few threads"> mentioning them. They had a vogue with Rift Lake Cichlid keepers about 25 years ago, but like a lot of these things it didn't last people were soon onto something new. It isn't snake oil, but there are other ways of achieving high oxygen levels. cheers Darrel

Hi all, @zozo is right, it is no different from testing any water, you can clean the electrode up under a running tap, a quick rinse with DI and into the storage solution. The important thing is that the electrodes (unless they are ISFET ones) are stored in the three (or four) molar...

Hi all, In most cases you store the electrode in <"four molar KCl">, so you don't have to worry about it harbouring micro-organisms. cheers Darrel

Hi all, Yes, exactly that. cheers Darrel

Hi all, It does, the reference electrode used to be refillable with KCl, but now they are often sealed, so once the KCl has leaked out you have to buy a new electrode. cheers Darrel

Hi all, I should have put the workings for that. potassium (K) RAM = 39.1 chlorine (Cl) RAM = 35.5 potassium chloride (KCl) RMM = 39.1 + 35.5 = 74.6 So 74.6g of KCl made up to 1 litre with DI water is a molar solution. 74.6 multiplied by 3 gives you 224g, and 224g of KCl (in one litre of...

Hi all, I have the same opinion as @mort. Because you've taken all the substrate out etc. I don't think it will be a problem, also it is a permanent stain, so nothing is leaking back into the tank now. cheers Darrel

Hi all, That should work. If just want a very quick DIY fix you can wedge a water worked, rounded, pebble in the void. The really useful thing about spherical pebbles and cobbles is that you don't need to try and work out what type of rock they are, basically it is only really hard rock that...

Hi all, That's it, the little pellets the shrimps produce are pretty much the inert matter left that they can't derive any more nutrition from. The shrimps like the void (it offers cover) and will pick at any fungi or softened wood. There will be some ammonia continually diffusing from their...

Hi all, It doesn't matter, even if you have xylophagous fish (like Panaque spp.) that process a huge amount of wood it isn't actually very polluting. It is to do with the, <"BOD concept">, basically wood is almost entirely composed of structural carbohydrates with a very high carbon to...

Hi all, You don't need to fill it in. Just scrape any soft wood out of it. I have lots of bits of wood with central voids. cheers Darrel

Hi all, I do the same, put the back of my hand on glass, you can tell instantly whether the tank is about right, too warm or too cold. It doesn't seem like a very effective method, but you can pick up any differences. cheers Darrel

Hi all, I have a look at high bay lighting every so often as well. They certainly look pretty chunky and well made. They must be incredibly bright, I think I'd be worried about planes mistaking them for run-way lights and landing on my house. cheers Darrel

Hi all, I press the back of my hand onto the tank glass every morning, it tells you whether you have a stuck-on or failed heater, and it is more sensitive than you might imagine to smaller changes in water temperature. cheers Darrel

Hi all, That sounds like an air leak somewhere in the hoses. If you rock the filter back and forwards until the air is purged (you may have to turn it on and off once or twice) it should run silently. If it keeps getting air in it you have a non-gas tight leak. These "air leaks" often don't...

Hi all, I took a couple of photos of the plants outside the lab. There used to be Ivy (Hedera helix "Glacier") and a pip grown Pomegranate (Punica granatum) covering the wall, but about 10 years ago they removed them and exposed the building in its full 1970's architectural glory. Our last...

Hi all, Changed from Schizostylis to Hesperantha. cheers Darrel

Hi all, That is interesting. I've got three different ones in the garden (they aren't really pond plants, they like a damp summer, and a drier winter), but I've never seen a good white one before. They are hardy here, but I assume they wouldn't go very well some where with a colder winter...

Hi all, I'm not sure I've seen a white Hesperantha coccinea with such broad petals before. Do you know which cultivar it is? cheers Darrel

Hi all, That made me laugh. cheers Darrel

Hi all, It works, I have it in <"one filter"< (Eheim 2224). I just 3/4 filled the media basket. <"It was">, but it will develop a biofilm in an external filter. If some-one else is buying I'll have "Eheim Substrat Pro", but I've use floating cell media, Alfagrog and Hydroleca etc without any...

Hi all, Bad luck, it is a "high range meter", which means that I'm pretty sure it will never be of any use to you. I'll assume the conversion from microS to ppm TDS is 0.64, but it may be 0.5 (it should say on the meter). If you search for "6.44 ppt calibration fluid" you should find some...

Hi all, You mean like that plants (really enzymes like "Rubisco", "pyruvate dehydrogenase") have a preference for carbon12 (C12) atoms over the C13 isotope? Or is it true for the uptake of other isotopes, by other enzymes, as well? cheers Darrel

Hi all, There is nothing wrong with the <"Tropica fertiliser"> and it will provide all the nutrients your plants need, but it is a really expensive option. Plants can only take up mineral nutrients as ions, and it doesn't matter which compound that potassium (K+), nitrate (NO3-) or phosphate...

Hi all, It is probably a bit of an expensive option but can you just add in more spray-bar sections? I think it is about ~£5 (for 2 x 10cm). INSTALLATION SET 2, PRESSURE SIDE/ SPRAY BAR EXTENSION SET: EHEIM part no. 4009620. cheers Darrel