# Updating an old aquarium, Juwel Rekord 72, and other ramblings



## dcurzon (13 Jul 2020)

I had an old Juwel aquarium, of approx 72liters.  This was 2nd hand when I got it about 11 years ago, I'm not sure what era it dates to, but it holds water.  For a short while, this was home to a rainbow crab, with a life expectancy of 4-5 years.  As the years went by, Crab was relocated into a Juwel Rio 125 and lived for a good 11 years!!  After which, the 125 was repurposed to house the RTShark, yoyo loach and tiger barb that probably shouldn't have been in the smaller tank.

The smaller tank, now looked quite old.  I'd admired the new tanks that are available, but the pocket couldn't justify them, especially as I had this one available. I didn't think it needed a whole lot doing.  But it did need moving. It had been in the boys' room, but during decorating, it was put in the lounge.  The crabs 125 was on the landing, but I wanted the 125 in the lounge, and the smaller tank on the landing, so I moved them about.  Heres the old tank, placed on the landing.





I removed the big plastic hood and broken light fitting.  I also had a couple of chunky office cabinets sat in the garage, and as I carried one past the tank to put in the boys' room, I realised that the other would fit nicely under the tank.
So hood removed, Nicrew 24/7 light unit fitted and new cabinet put into place.  I then emptied it, got rid of the sand and put in some Tropica Soil Powder.




Just ran some black electrical tape around the rim to help frame it (hide the stubborn water staining)

So this is the current set up on that tank...
U2 filter (ugly but silent)
Tropica Soil Powder (approx 7.5kg)
DIY CO2 - this is intentionally DIY to try to encourage some science learning for the child.  Its the JBL ProFlora Bio kit, however we will be using science to improve this.

Jungle Val
Dwarf hairgrass "mini"
Egeria Densa
Lobelia Cardinalis
Moss Balls x2
a few bits of java moss glued to the wood
2x I have no idea what those plants are, might not even be aquatic (although came from LFS)

6 5 *6 *black neon tetra's




This is the view from about a week ago.  The Val is looking a bit battered, as I put in a ml of Flourish Excel and it was expected to knock the val back a bit.

Ferts - im EI dosing separate macro/micro, I've used the Zeus EI calculator for my mixes.  Although the calc has been set up with the 125l tank figures, I'm using the same mix for this tank with a scaled dose (20ml in the 125, 10ml in this tank)


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## dcurzon (13 Jul 2020)

This morning I trimmed the Elodea Densa down to about an inch above where it was when I first put it in, which was about 10 days ago. I'll probably put it in mum n dads tank.  Mum n dads tank has to remain low maintenance as its in a very tricky position to work on (embedded into a wall) and I can only get there every few weeks to do it.





Val is definitely making a recovery, and the new shoot from it has grown several inches.
The Elodea or Egeria or whatever its called cuttings are in the ceramic ring just dropped at the front, so that's 10 days worth of growth.
None the wiser on the mystery plant, but if I can get into the LFS at some point, I'll take another look at the label.




Looks like some diatoms are settling.  I'd been doing about 20% water changes daily, but was away for the weekend.


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## dw1305 (13 Jul 2020)

Hi all, 





dcurzon said:


> None the wiser on the mystery plant.......
> but if I can get into the LFS at some point, I'll take another look at the label.


They look very <"_Ophiopogon_ (or _Acorus_?">) like.





dcurzon said:


> The Elodea or Egeria or whatever its called cuttings


If you look at the leaf edges, _Egeria densa _has a smooth leaf edge, and _E. najas _a serrated leaf edge.

The main differences between _Elodea, Egeria & Hydrilla _ is the number of leaves in a whorl. _Elodea spp._ usually has three leaves per whorl, whereas _Egeria spp._ and _Hydrilla verticillata_ usually have four or more leaves per whorl.

I can't tell from the photo. The only one I could definitely discount would be _Lagarosiphon major_

cheers Darrel


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## dcurzon (13 Jul 2020)

*I have a lot to learn on these terms, whorl for example. I'll try and take a closer look and see what we have, thanks Darrel

ive just had a closer look at the dhg, which was planted last Sunday. I tore it up and stuffed it in chunks using my fingers, like a pro, and I can now see evidence of it starting to grow out





*


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## dw1305 (13 Jul 2020)

Hi all, 





dcurzon said:


> I have a lot to learn on these terms, whorl


Sorry, now I think about it it isn't probably a term in general usage. 

It is part of the botanical terminology about <"plant leaves">. Leaves can be alternate (single leaf at a node), opposite (two leaves at a node) or in a whorl (more than two leaves at node).

cheers Darrel


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## dcurzon (14 Jul 2020)

Definitely 4 leaves per whorl, so Egeria Densa.  I'll edit my first post for accuracy.
I'll try and pop into LFS at the weekend to ID that mystery plant, it may well be as you suggested, just so hard to tell :/

Small update today... I have 5 FIVE black neon's.

Now, I'm getting on a bit, but I was reasonably sure I had 6 of them.  This morning, I have 5.  Its possible that I did only have 5 to begin with (Pets at Home "x many for £y"  but I cannot remember), however I'm pretty sure it was 6.
Spent quite a lot of time checking the floor, the stairs, the cabinet, any possible place a leaper could have got to... and also had a search around in the tank (and 20% wc), and there's no sign of any carcass.

Mystery disappearing fish.

I took a bubble count from the JBL... they propose that their mix can potentially last up to 40 days.
I was seeing 1 bubble per 8 seconds, so yes, I can believe that 40 day suggestion!
I made a quick mix of my own just for comparison, with brewing sugar, wine yeast and yeast nutrient.. just a small version, and saw 1 bubble per 3 seconds (this will likely increase after a few days) so I'm interested to see how long that lasts for.  Meanwhile, the JBL had a teaspoon of brewing sugar added to it, and it's bubbling away into a bottle of water, now also at 1bubble per 3 seconds.  Really I ought to buy some more airline and connect the 2 together.

Wilko, right cheap for brewing supplies 

500ml coke bottle, 4 tbsp brewers sugar, light 1/2 tsp wine yeast, light 1/2 tsp yeast nutrient.  No idea if this will fizzle out quickly or slowly.  Thats why we try


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## dcurzon (14 Jul 2020)

That doesn't look too far off to me.
The 500ml is just bubbling away on a bottle of water so I can see what it reaches and how long for.  It's currently running at 68bpminute.
I've no idea what the JBL is outputting, I should probably have put a counter/gas separator in line. I might disconnect it later and put it in the bottle of water and see.


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## dcurzon (14 Jul 2020)

Unable to edit the above. The funny round green JBL diffuser was letting out some big bubbles around the connector (nice tiny bubbles elsewhere from the stone), on closer inspection, the diffuser was broken at the pipe connector so I pulled it out and used some superglue gel to fix it back in and try to prevent the bigger bubbles.
JBL kit is outputting 85 bpminute (air pipe hanging in tank).


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## dcurzon (15 Jul 2020)

the home brew test stopped bubbling overnight.  I don't know much about these things, but I've added another teaspoon of sugar and it seems to have started again, so it looks like I need to consider excessing the fuel.  Maybe the brewers sugar is too easy for the wine yeast to process.

In other news, the 6th black neon reappeared late last night.  Maybe he'd gone on a day trip.  At least I'm assured that I haven't actually gone senile yet.

The glued together diffuser/stone is crap.  So I stole the glass diffuser from the other tank.  I really need to get a few of these as spares.  I shoved a short length of pipe into the venturi of the U2 overnight just to help with overnight co2 buildup.  Still a nice pale green colour.

I need to get some RCshrimps.


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## dw1305 (15 Jul 2020)

Hi all,
Have a look at the <“Jello” method”>.

Cheers Darrel


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## dcurzon (16 Jul 2020)

I like the idea of using jelly... to sustain the yeast with an amount of available sugars...
Obviously pressurised is the best way to go... but still, can't beat a bit of home science.  I managed to find jelly at Lidl's during my shop 

Found a local lad selling RCShrimps as his colony had gotten a bit big, 8 for £5, so grabbed a bag.  There was 11 in there of varying sizes.  So now I have some shrimpy's.

An observation on the Egeria Densa,  where I lopped off the top and replanted (shoved in a bio ring), the lopped off tops are growing very well indeed.  between half and an inch per day.  Which is good as they'll be going to mum's tank.
However, the ones they were lopped off from, haven't grown any more since being cut back.  Will these grow a new 'crown' and pick up again? Or are they now stuck at that height?


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## dcurzon (17 Jul 2020)

The leaves of the lobelia cardinals behind shrimp are well coated with diatoms... I guess the options are
Leave them in and see if the shrimps deal with it
Leave them in and see if it just goes away
Pull them out and give the leaves a gentle scrub.

Maybe I'll give them a scrub. I know they are slow growers, but it must affect their ability to use the light


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## dcurzon (17 Jul 2020)

I nipped to the lfs, the unknown plant he said is a Japonica.
I picked up a cryptocoryne of some description and a draconea.

Impulse purchase and looked crap in the tank, so the draconea has gone into a large vase.

So I'm starting to realise my mistake.  LFS plants at least are submerged, but not well labelled (labelled on outside of the plant tank and not on the plant) and not a good selection.

The japonica have come out and the crypts have gone in.

So my mistake?
I dont know much about plants, and haven't got local access to many. I don't have any social circles of people who do know.  I need to stop grabbing random plants, and instead, take some suggestions from the vast pool of knowledge on here.


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## dw1305 (17 Jul 2020)

Hi all, 





dcurzon said:


> Japonica. I picked up a cryptocoryne of some description and a draconea.


So _Ophiopogon japonicus_ and not an aquatic, the _Cryptocoryne_ should be all right, but I'm going to assume that the other plant is a <"_Dracaena">_ and another non-aquatic.

cheers Darrel


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## dw1305 (17 Jul 2020)

Hi all, 





dcurzon said:


> So my mistake? I dont know much about plants, and haven't got local access to many. I don't have any social circles of people who do know. I need to stop grabbing random plants, and instead, take some suggestions from the vast pool of knowledge on here.


No, it honestly isn't your fault, surely it isn't too much to expect that a plant sold for an aquarium will actually grow underwater?

Have a look at the <"Tropica"> easy selection and at Aquarium Gardens and Aqua Essentials as plant sellers. They are all <"forum sponsors">.

cheers Darrel


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## dcurzon (18 Jul 2020)

dw1305 said:


> Hi all, So _Ophiopogon japonicus_ and not an aquatic, the _Cryptocoryne_ should be all right, but I'm going to assume that the other plant is a <"_Dracaena">_ and another non-aquatic.
> 
> cheers Darrel



Sorry yes, the dracaena is what I've now shoved in a vase, and the 2x japonica I have removed from the tank, and put the 4x scrawny looking crypts in instead (1 pot contained 4 frail looking things... On the plus side they did have some roots, which I trimmed a bit before shoving them in)

Having looked at your suggestion of jello, I've now got a bottle in the fridge with jello mixed with both granulated and brewers sugar setting... 👍


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## dcurzon (18 Jul 2020)

Popped round mums, water change, some random plants and a dose of leafzone.  Fed the fish a few times until they weren't all that interested anymore then popped a £5 bag of 11 RCS into mums tank.
Absolute carnage.
The 2 golden barbs went immediately into seek&destroy mode 

Have managed to convert a wifi/Alexa/Google RGB led strip controller into a single channel led controller, so on my next visit I can set their lamp to mimic sunrise/sunset, and have Alexa do it automatically.


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## dcurzon (21 Jul 2020)

A week on from previous tank photo.
The Egeria trimmings made it to the surface, the original plants haven't grown upwards, however they have some side shoots now.

I'm away on a break next week, and the previously mentioned new shoot from the val has thrown its own new shoot right in the middle of the grass. Contemplating snipping it and moving it before it takes a good hold, it's growing quickly.

Some of the dhg has got some longer straggling blades, shouldnibtrim down or let it spread more first?

Shrimps seem happy foraging around, spotted a few moult casings, which must be a good sign.

Crypts are not suffering from crypt melt.

👍

on a side note, this cabinet doesn't have a back, so there is a (very) small amount of sideways movement if I'm cleaning glass etc (as an example).  I'm wondering if I should largely drain the tank, manoeuvre to a position where I can work on it, and add some bracing?  Although the movement is minimal, so maybe I'm just overthinking it.


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## dcurzon (5 Aug 2020)

Not too much to report...
I had a bit of a trim up of the plants at the back.
Looks like I have possibly 2 berried cherry shrimps in there.
Plants to the side I've left to run a bit wild, they no longer have that artistic looking twirl to the top as per previous photo, but I've left them in case I become a shrimpy grandfather, and I put a couple of bits plants that were struggling in the other tank in to float for a bit see if they perk up.

Grass is looking straggly now, but is growing so that's something!


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## Wolf6 (5 Aug 2020)

I love black neons, used to have a fairly large group (30ish) as a teen  playful fish. Glad to see the happy cherries  In regards to your previous post, I would definitely brace it, if it moves a bit too far and everything folds...


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## hypnogogia (5 Aug 2020)

dcurzon said:


> I'm wondering if I should largely drain the tank, manoeuvre to a position where I can work on it, and add some bracing?


Yes.


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## dcurzon (8 Aug 2020)

Ok so I decided today I would add a back to brace the cabinet.













My red Tiger lotus from the other tank was floating about, it had lost all its roots, so I've just wedged it gently into a gap in the wood in this tank.  If it grows some roots back then I can see a gap where I can stick it in the substrate.

I've ordered some lily pipes, some 12/16 pipe, and I have 2 eheim ecco's and an Eheim classic 250 to pick from.  I put a larger eheim 350 classic on the other tank, I bought for £2 on eBay and after a good cleanup, there are no leaks.  
Both the ecco's work ok, the classic 250 needs a new seal but has been fitted with new impellor etc so maybe I'll keep that one as a spare and the smaller Ecco under this tank.

None are silent though 

I'd actually really like to get a silent one with heating.

Anyway, back to the reason for this post... All lateral movement is now gone, and a 60% water change at the same time 👍


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## dcurzon (9 Aug 2020)

Tiger lotus has already gained a root. I'll leave it where it is and see if it gets some more.

The DIY co2... Is it normal to need to clean the diffuser every 3 days or so?  I put a cigarette filter inline (where pipe enters the bottle) but that still didn't help.  Just seems to gum up way to frequently.

So I've moved the sodastream system from the 125 onto this one now.

No sign of any baby shrimps yet. I'm starting to wonder if I just imagined some sign of eggs. 2 weeks since I thought I saw 2 berried females.


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## dcurzon (10 Aug 2020)

Lily pipes and hose arrived, so I've fitted the smaller Ecco and it does seem fairly silent, so suspect possibly dirty old pipes were contributing to noise?
Anyhow, new pipes are very soft and pliable, possibly too much, so will have to look out for links.

I've got no seals in the double tap connectors so used some vaseline to keep leaks at bay temporarily, another forum member has kindly offered to post me some spares 👍

So running the Ecco alongside the U2 for a while. Have run out of plug sockets, will have to locate a double adaptor from around the house somewhere until I can remove the U2.

Another small question... The lily pipes inlet/outlet have one sucker on each, so they tend to twist a bit. Do I need to attach at the top with those acrylic pipe holders? Or is there a secret way?


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## dcurzon (13 Aug 2020)

Gave some of the plants a trim, tbh I made a bit of a pig's ear of it and I'm not happy,  but ok, it'll grow (perhaps).
The red lotus has a root so I've shoved it into the dirt, I'm sure there's a root tab fairly near it.





I removed the black electrical tape.  Some honeycomb vinyl was found, haphazardly cut and fitted,  almost fluval-like to help hide water staining.  It's not a perfect cut but close enough that my OCD almost doesn't notice it (it does but it see's everything). It clearly came from the vinyl company not quite cut straight, and if I had a sharper blade and a straighter edge, I'd cut it so all the honeycombs were aligned properly.

I'm not sure if I like it or not yet.

Some new o rings fitted to my double taps, thanks to a ukaps forum member 👍

And still no baby shrimps. I do now think i just imagined it, probably through hopeful eyes.


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## milla (13 Aug 2020)

dcurzon said:


> Tiger lotus has already gained a root. I'll leave it where it is and see if it gets some more.
> 
> The DIY co2... Is it normal to need to clean the diffuser every 3 days or so?  I put a cigarette filter inline (where pipe enters the bottle) but that still didn't help.  Just seems to gum up way to frequently.



With yeast yes.  Use a second bottle of water to bubble through and filter the gas.
Have you considered the other DIY option.  The presurissed one with citric acid and bicarbonate of soda?


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## rebel (14 Aug 2020)

dcurzon said:


> . Is it normal to need to clean the diffuser every 3 days or so?


Yes! It's a pain.


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## Wolf6 (14 Aug 2020)

dcurzon said:


> Ok so I decided today I would add a back to brace the cabinet.


Wise choice  must also give you more peace of mind knowing it wont just when some visitor accidentally leans against the tank a bit


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## dcurzon (14 Aug 2020)

milla said:


> Have you considered the other DIY option.  The presurissed one with citric acid and bicarbonate of soda?


Yes I've considered it, from a home experimenting point of view both methods are interesting!
I've moved my sodastream system down to that tank now.  The regulator really wasn't much more than the "DIY co2 kits" anyway. 

Maybe I'll revisit the DIY route sometime though


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## dcurzon (14 Aug 2020)

So I have 4 types of "small things" that have suddenly appeared, once I'd put my reading glasses on.

1. Baby shrimps.  I moved the moss balls, and then I spotted the teeny things! Not many though.




2. Baby snails. I dont know where these have come from or what type they are.  I didn't ask for them though.  Plants have been from either Tropica, or the LFS "random tank of not very well labelled plants".  Not sure what I can do about them 
Quick Google and I think Malaysian trumpets




3. Tiny grey-ish dots, so small they are literally like the tip of a pin.  They seem to move in fairly jerky motions and partially bury into the substrate.  Again I don't know what they are.  I guess potentially they could be smaller shrimplets? But there's no shape to them, they are like a dot.

4. Hard looking things attached to the glass and leaves of the Val, like a large greyish white dots that floats off if knocked. Maybe a couple of mm's.
I'm kind of thinking possibly snail eggs or something? These have literally suddenly appeared, they weren't there yesterday. Scattered all over the place.




I think I'm going to have a snail infestation :/

Can I do anything in these early stages??


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## dcurzon (16 Aug 2020)

So those whitish dots on the leaves I think are more snails. Ah well a few snails won't hurt I guess.




^just playing with angles. You may also spot that I removed the U2, as I figured I can fits it's media into one of the trays on the Ecco.




Found a stick on towel rail in Poundland, for just 50p... I feel like I have robbed them! Anyway, a quick cut down of the rail and it fits there nicely.

Have stopped feeding the shrimp, as they've started to get lazy on the algae.


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## dw1305 (16 Aug 2020)

Hi all, 





dcurzon said:


> They seem to move in fairly jerky motions and partially bury into the substrate.


They are a crustacean, if they move like .....     .   ..... .... ..... then they are a copepod like _Cyclops. _The other option are Ostracods, but they tend to move in loops. 





dcurzon said:


> like a large greyish white dots that floats off if knocked.


They may be river limpets (_Acroloxus lacustris_).

I wouldn't worry about any of them.

cheers Darrel


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## dcurzon (18 Aug 2020)

@dw1305 thanks Darrel, I'll try and pretend I can't see them 

I'm looking to get some red plants to fill in around the base of the wood.  I'll move the Egeria right into the corner where the diffuser is (inline diffuser should be on its way) and confine it to the corner, leaving me with some space at the base as circled







Either some.ludwigia repens Ruben and/or AR ?
Any other suggestions for that gap?

And possibly some more carpeting something.  Is it ok to mix carpet plants?


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## Greenscapes (18 Aug 2020)

Maybe some saggitaria, or anubias in between the rocks. It is absolutely fine to mix carpeting plants as long as they are compatible and are suited for the conditions of your aquarium.


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## dcurzon (21 Aug 2020)

👍


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## Dr Mike Oxgreen (21 Aug 2020)

Yay! Babies!

It‘s a great feeling getting your first shrimplets, isn’t it?

You‘ll be astonished how fast they grow. Give it two weeks and you’ll be struggling to differentiate between the “babies” and the adults. They also become a lot more visible as they grow - they hide less, as if they’re programmed to know that they’re potential food when they’re tiny, but they seem to know that they’re less vulnerable as they get bigger and they start exploring the tank a lot more.

The tank is looking great - well done! 

By the way that’s a great picture. They’re bloody hard to photograph - what equipment did you use? Your focus is spot on, and with a lovely narrow depth of field to eliminate the distracting background.


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## dcurzon (23 Aug 2020)

Dr Mike Oxgreen said:


> Yay! Babies!
> 
> The tank is looking great - well done!
> 
> By the way that’s a great picture. They’re bloody hard to photograph - what equipment did you use? Your focus is spot on, and with a lovely narrow depth of field to eliminate the distracting background.


That's actually from my phone! It just happened to be about the right distance from the glass for the phone to focus, and I didn't think I'd have time to go get the Panasonic before he disappeared again

The first batch, I only saw maybe 4 or 5 and I thought they'd all become snacks, then I spotted this one sat on the Egeria quite nicely 

theres another female with a big clutch of eggs under her so the numbers game suggests that whilst some will no doubt get eaten, some will also survive and build up the numbers

been away a few days, so it'll be interesting when I get back to see if there's been any changes


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## dcurzon (27 Aug 2020)

dcurzon said:


> View attachment 152171
> The leaves of the lobelia cardinals behind shrimp are well coated with diatoms... I guess the options are
> Leave them in and see if the shrimps deal with it
> Leave them in and see if it just goes away
> ...



Gave them a good scrub I did, a gentle rub with a damp scouring pad.

And grow they did after that!




Also, some hygrophilia polysperma that hasn't been doing anything, also seems to have had a burst




Val is now hitting the top, flowing along the back, and curling across the side...



I might see if I can get it to loop all the way around :O

A few minor bits of algae have been forming here and there, I just try and pluck it out when I can. The shrimp aren't keeping on top of it.

Couple of bits picked up in the for sale section, so Co2  is now inline with an up atomiser. I noticed a slight co2 leak from it so attacked it with gorilla glue and that seems to have it sorted

Also some saggitaria subulata to help fill in some gaps should arrive sometime next week too 

Still looking for some red stuff to pad out some areas.

Cheap 50p towel rail fell off. Now I am the one feeling robbed. Thanks, Poundland. Glad I didn't get 2 anyway it's just the sticky stuff they use is crap.  (They did also supply screws)


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## dcurzon (2 Sep 2020)

The dwarf Sag arrived from Hoggie, so I have separated individual plants from each other (runners) trimmed roots and filled some gaps . not sure how long that takes to get going?
I still have at least half of it left though.  I've got it floating in the other tank, might consider planting it in that one.  Or something, I don't know.

Moved one of the crypts into the middle of the DHG just to create a bit of even spacing and contrast.  Im not really the artistic type though, so will have to see how it looks.

A couple of the Val's had just started to throw out some runners on Thursday.  Today I snipped them out.  Very odd, they both went in the exact same direction, parallel to each other, straight into the middle of the DHG.  So about 6 inches of runner each, and the baby plants had grown a couple of inches.  from 2 different plants.  I may have to consider removing the val entirely at some point.  Those baby plants have been dunked into the sand of the other tank, along with a couple of ceramic rings with some stem cuttings shoved in, all destined to end up in mum's tank at some point.  Speaking of which, she has terrible algae problems, horrible black gunky stuff.  I've managed to train her to feed less, but natural light I think is the main issue, and also not a huge amount of plants to compete, hence i'm trying to gather my offcuts. I think I can improve the natural light issue with some cardboard, so next visit will be a deep clean, throw in whatever offcuts I have accumulated and a light block exercise.  Did I mention how bloody difficult that tank is to maintain??

Still looking for something red. Will probably have to wait until after pay day now.  I may have to lose some more Egeria on a maintenance perspective :O

Alo, I'm probably going to have to invest in some Aquascaping scissors/tweezers.  Trying to get my hand in and a finger prodding the Sag down was a bit of a pain... Cheapo sets from Amazon any good at all?


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## dcurzon (4 Sep 2020)

Made myself a light screen.  There's a bit of light spillage as I've only test fitted so it's all balanced in place
👍


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## Melll (4 Sep 2020)

I like the effects of that, how did you make the light screen? 

I have seen the prices of the ADA ones


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## dcurzon (4 Sep 2020)

Melll said:


> I like the effects of that, how did you make the light screen?
> 
> I have seen the prices of the ADA ones


I probably should have taken some photos along the way but I just sort of made it up as I went along...
I'll be taking it down shortly to cut and fit better so I'll do some then

Any led strip and some white foam board basically.  The strips I use are usb powered and Alexa compatible so routines can be set to increase/decrease brightness/colour etc.


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## dcurzon (4 Sep 2020)

@Melll




So i cut a bottom and 2 sides... they are around 1.5 inches wide (I didn't measure I just eyeballed and said that would do), and cut to the width/height of the tank.  The bottom is the full width of the tank, the sides are 5mm shorter than the height, as they are sitting on top of the bottom piece. The foam board is cheap 5mm stuff.

I had to notch my sides at the bottom so it could fit over the plastic brace around the bottom of the tank...



The back was cut 10mm less than. the width of the tank, and I made it a couple of inches taller. The back has been fitted at an angle so it sits on the back of the bottom panel and inside the bottom of the sides, to the front at the top of the sides, and then I trimmed the excess off.  So its sloped to meet at the top of the tank.  I could have maths'ed the correct measurements for the back panel, but its foam board and easy to trim.






Made a hole in the back corner to pass the cable through, then cut and stuck the led down. Some black tape to hold the led strip to its cable as they are always flimsy, and a piece of tape on the back for strain relief to also support the cable.  You can see in the above pic that my cutting was far from perfect!

Placed it behind the tank, snugged it up against the back, and and rear cables drop down the slope and are a little bit hidden from side view too.








Light spillage also solved 👍

this particular LED strip is from WOWLED on Amazon, USB 5v LED strip, Alexa/google compatible, and also has a remote control for those that prefer not to go the smart home route, costs about £11 delivered.  I happened to have it left over from other stuff.


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## Melll (4 Sep 2020)

Thank you  

I will be diving into the garage tomorrow, I know where I have some polysterene and I have a roll of LEDs, I do love a little project 👍


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## dcurzon (4 Sep 2020)

Melll said:


> Thank you
> 
> I will be diving into the garage tomorrow, I know where I have some polysterene and I have a roll of LEDs, I do love a little project 👍



You COULD cut the sides at an angle if you wanted, but I decided to leave them rectangular so any cables that run down the back can tuck down the slope and be obscured somewhat by the sides.
Only change id make really would be to have all the outside faces black, as all my tanks sealants etc are black


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## dcurzon (7 Sep 2020)

Melll said:


> Thank you
> 
> I will be diving into the garage tomorrow, I know where I have some polysterene and I have a roll of LEDs, I do love a little project 👍


@Melll How did it turn out??


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## Melll (7 Sep 2020)

Long story very short, I had an allergic reaction to something I ate, so I didn`t even get to the garage door.  There`s time though 😃


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## dcurzon (8 Sep 2020)

I think there are improvements that can be made...
Because of the right-angle between the side and the back piece, the light seems to be have bright spots there and with viewing angle, the line can be seen... (Also my cutting doesn't help)

So I'm thinking large piece of white paper (probably on a roll), glued to the back piece up to about an inch or so from the edge with a few inches of over hang either side, that can be concave curved over the edge piece either side, so creating a seamless curve with no perpendicular angle.

I'll try it when I find some suitable paper, or maybe @Melll can try before me


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## Melll (8 Sep 2020)

dcurzon said:


> that can be concave curved



I know what you mean, when photos are being taken of models etc they stand in front of a wall of paper/fabric that gently curves.

Time to get my thinking cap on as a temporary thing to improve for the real thing.  So far I have found a paper holder from Ikea in the childrens section.



https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/p/mala-paint-draw-storage-10149350/


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## dcurzon (9 Sep 2020)

I had some thin (possibly 2.5mm) foam underlay around from a scalextric project, so added a layer of it to the light panel to act as a makeshift light diffuser.




So there is a layer on the tank-side.





Seems to do the trick of softening the light, but looks terribly DIY!

But what I take from this, is that a piece of clear frosted vinyl on the back of the glass will do the same thing and probably better.  That isn't something I have laying around unfortunately.


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## Melll (9 Sep 2020)

dcurzon said:


> a piece of clear frosted vinyl on the back



Or use frosting on a roll 👍

I`ve been playing with some polycarbonate sheet the triple wall stuff, it gives an interesting light effect if the channels are vertical and hardly any effect if they are horizontal.  So time to frost the tanks


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## dcurzon (15 Sep 2020)

Looks like another trim up needed...




The tiger lotus has recovered very well, however I can't really see it behind the lobelia.... I might have to have a swap around




Dwarf sag seems to be taking, some bits are growing quicker than others!




All of the Val's at the back have thrown out new runners... I'm going to snip them out before they root.  I'm definitely going to replace the Val with something else...

I managed to successfully grow some staghorn algae last week... Cut away infected leaves (which prompted the Val to shoot), trimmed the grass, does with some excel, changed the lighting/co2 cycle and picked off bits that I could, seems to be holding it at bay hopefully 👍

Edit a few hours later...



2 of the Val's removed and actually it was 3, they've gone in the other tank.
I moved some dwarf sag from the left side and placed at the back where the Val was.  I was quite surprised by the root growth.
Tiger lotus moved to the left side beside the rock.  A few weeks ago, that had one barely hanging on root, I was pleased to see a huge abundance of roots that needed trimming down.

Never fails to surprise me just how bouyant those are 

And another haircut for the DHG


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## dcurzon (20 Sep 2020)

Welcome to shitfest Sunday!

Got some ludeigia palustrus red, super red,  type stuff so have thrown that in.

I started a water change, took a few buckets out, then realised I'd left water conditioner at mums.  Also discovered my sodastream co2 had run out.  So a trip to pets at home, and then Argos to get an exchange bottle.
i had been planning to get a 2kg FE, but it's Sunday, and needed to get it done.

2 unsuccessful attempts to fit the regulator, each time, gas escaping rapidly whilst I was trying to crank it tight... and then I saw the sealing ring on the floor :/ so 3rd time got it fitted.
No idea how much I lost, but I definitely need to get an FE and keep the sodastream for a spare.

I now have co2 again and the water is done.


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## LondonDragon (20 Sep 2020)

dcurzon said:


> I started a water change, took a few buckets out, then realised I'd left water conditioner at mums.


Not the end of the world, a lot of the time it will be just fine as a once off.


dcurzon said:


> No idea how much I lost, but I definitely need to get an FE


I usually buy 5Kg FE's on ebay!


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## dcurzon (22 Sep 2020)

LondonDragon said:


> I usually buy 5Kg FE's on ebay!



What size do the 5's come in at roughly??

Just picked up 2 (more like 1 and half) 2kg FE'S, with regulator, piping and diffuser for £40 . Good result! I think that's a generic Chinese "2 guage" regulator


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## LondonDragon (22 Sep 2020)

dcurzon said:


> What size do the 5's come in at roughly??


67cm high, usually paid £35 for them, haven't brought one in a while as I had one almost full and have a spare 5Kg full when I was going to kick off my aquascape back in 2017, and only started using CO2 again in June on my A900! So hopefully that will last me for a while before I need to get another one!


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## dcurzon (23 Sep 2020)

So the not full FE with the Tianjin regulator already connected has gone into the larger tank.  That 2kg FE is a touch taller than the full one.  That tank hasn't got much in the way of plants, I need to do it at some point.  I just throw a few excess plants/cuttings in to see if they'll do anything.

The full FE has gone into this tank, having removed the regulator from the Sodastream bottle.  I haven't had to move the shelf, so very similar in height (once the adaptor is on the ss bottle etc), but its much steadier standing up as has a larger footprint.  The SS bottle was quite unstable.
Struggled to get a seal going on with the regulator though. I think something wasn't quite as flush as it should have been, but I tightened it up to FT torque which seemed to pull everything into place and no leaks.

I now have a spare Sodastream bottle and adaptor should I run out of FE at some point


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## dcurzon (9 Oct 2020)

Last night, I swapped the Eheim Ecco for the Eheim Classic 250 (I just needed a canister seal - interesting that there doesn't seem to be an indent in the canister lid to hold the seal, seems to be a case of put it on and try to hold it in place whilst fitting the lid?? )

Flow rate seems to be stronger with the 250.  Points to note, maintenance of canister is more of a pain.  Also, I only had one double tap available so fitted on the inlet.  Also took the opportunity to clean out the pipework and glassware.  Its a touch noisier, but probably needs a few days to settle in and get some gunk into the new shaft/impellor

Whilst trying to get pipes positioned so they sit reasonably,  the outlet popped off the canister, and outputted a bit of water... (filter running), i managed to get the inlet shut off, then realised it was now siphoning out the tank from the disconnected outlet pipe!!  So yes, need to get a tap on there.  I think my hose doesn't grip well so perhaps I need to change the hose.

Gave me a good reason to wash a load of towels at least.

Also, I have a slight drip coming from the inline diffuser connections.  Again, I suspect this is due to my hose.

Got some Ludwigia Palustrus Red stems planted in a couple of weeks ago, they haven't gone red or seemed to have taken off at all yet.  However, there are roots growing from various points up the stems, so I have to assume this is a good thing and it will start to get going soon.

The crypts have grown much bigger than expected :O


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## dcurzon (9 Oct 2020)




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## dcurzon (11 Oct 2020)

Tiger lotus seems to have sprouted a new plant.  Not sure if it might develop a new bulb?  I've not had any flowering action going on, but clearly it's recovered from its root loss 







I had a little kids starter tank that I picked up last year for a frog spawn experiment. I put it together in the kitchen with an led, filter and heater from the "crap bits that I'll horde anyway" box, some DIY co2 (has now gone yellow on the dc. more sugar, less yeast) no creatures but for a plant cuttings grow out tank.


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## dcurzon (16 Oct 2020)

Finally got around to doing a PH Profile...  Not sure what this means for me... it looks like I need to switch co2 on a couple of hours earlier?


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## dcurzon (20 Oct 2020)

The small 'grow out tank' had a very old led thing in it, and I measured that as being roughly 2w... which isn't going to do anything at all.... so I found a 7w smart bulb and some wood and dangled the bulb from a make shift frame (bulb isn't touching the water as the pics may suggest). a piece of foam board to help cut out the window light, and another piece hinged from the frame just to bounce some light from the bulb back in and can flip it up out of the way if I want.

It seems I had an unnoticed diy jelly co2 incident over the weekend, as the diffuser was full of strawberry jelly and everything in the tank was coated... but there's no live stock in here anyway.  Things do appear to be slowly growing under 7w, however I've ordered a 14w led bar to sit on instead.


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## dw1305 (20 Oct 2020)

Hi all,


dcurzon said:


> It seems I had an unnoticed diy jelly co2 incident over the weekend, as the diffuser was full of strawberry jelly and everything in the tank was coated.


I'm willing to bet that that particular statement doesn't occur anywhere else on UKAPS, or possibly not even anywhere else on the WWW.

cheers Darrel


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## dcurzon (20 Oct 2020)

I was attempting to do a bit of time lapse...

Pre Jelly incident...



Mid, and you can see the diffuser getting jellied...



Post, filter now gummed up, some stems floating wild...


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## dcurzon (21 Oct 2020)

So with a tiny bit of metal bending, the new light fitted



Short lived however, as it seems I must have done the bolt up too tight :/




It isn't leaking yet though...


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## rebel (31 Oct 2020)

dcurzon said:


> I must have done the bolt up too tight :/


Hate when tanks crack! Lucky it's your little tank.


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## dcurzon (2 Nov 2020)

rebel said:


> Hate when tanks crack! Lucky it's your little tank.


A strip of sellotape and its still holding together


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## dcurzon (3 Nov 2020)

Terra base day 1

Looks like I could probably throw some more spiky moss at it.  I ordered 5 trays and used 3.  Awaiting some Buce red to arrive to be tucked in


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## dcurzon (8 Nov 2020)

Staghorn has made a reappearance, plus some stringy green algae also. Not going to worry too much about those.
Some hydrocotyle triparita Japan added - I got some for the terra base and obviously there's spare, so some in the 72 and some in the tiny plant only tank.

Also started up a heated propagator, so a few strands of it have gone in there also to see what happens. And some spare mosses, and some stem cuttings.  If the mosses don't grow, I hope they at least survive.




Gave the dhg a haircut. I can never get all the cuttings out!! Would a skimmer style inlet pipe help with that?


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## not called Bob (9 Nov 2020)

if you have kids of a certain age then you know ben and hollies magic kingdom and have heard JELLY FLOOD shouted a lot, that was what sprung to mind


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## dcurzon (16 Nov 2020)

dcurzon said:


> Tiger lotus seems to have sprouted a new plant.  Not sure if it might develop a new bulb?  I've not had any flowering action going on, but clearly it's recovered from its root loss
> View attachment 155144
> View attachment 155142


And so a month on, and that baby plant has sent off another baby plant.  Like a Vallisneria


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## dcurzon (21 Nov 2020)

Had a good trim and thin out, took most of the lobelia out (moved to different tank), and flow seems to have improved.  Also cut a couple of bits of the dwarf sag out and stuck them in the other tank to see how they would fare in sand and under very old t5's.

I've very often read about how cutting a stem will cause 2 shoots from the cut point... But never experienced it... I've cut some and it's sent some side shoots from  other places, but nothing at the cut node.  So I was quite pleased to see a good example at last!
Pic is 5 days after the snip.



Ludwigia super red. Ironic as none of it in my tank is red :/!but maybe just maybe these bits will be


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## Andy Pierce (27 Nov 2020)

Saw your comment about the Ludwigia super red being not red.  This is my current project plant and for me although the emersed growth form from the grower was all green leaves (and maybe some red to the stems) all the new submerged growth started out red and has progressively become redder over the last six weeks (time lapse pictures here:  https://aqua.egads.uk/ludwigia-palustris ). The version I purchased from AquaEssentials is labelled "LUDWIGIA MINI SUPER RED" on their website.  Is yours the 'mini' version and where did you get it from?
     -Andy


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## dcurzon (27 Nov 2020)

@Andy Pierce
Just took a look at your blog, mine don't look as good as yours.  I got from an eBay seller, they arrived looking healthy and red, and described as ludwigia mini sp red.
Leaves fall off easily, they go a bit of a brownish colour, they just don't seem to be doing well. Frankly they look awful. Maybe I need to cut them down low and let it be all new growth and see what happens.

I have taken some cuts to grow in a small no livestock tank to compare, and those ones are very red.  So I might need to replace the ones in the fish tank with ones in the growout tank (once there's enough trimmings growing) and see if that sorts it out, or cut my losses and try from tropica etc.


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## dcurzon (14 Dec 2020)

Just thought it looked a nice photo.
Thought I had some odd looking dwarf sag growing right up against the front glass. Turns out its a crypt crispulata decided to grow another plant exactly where I wouldn't want it


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## dcurzon (16 Dec 2020)

Still a bit of growing for this to do, but this is about 6 weeks in. New growth on the fittonias. The hydroctotyl triparita is struggling though :/


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## dcurzon (21 Dec 2020)

Just throwing in a FTS.



The ludwigia is a total mess.
Tiger lotus thingy is casting a fair shadow beneath it but the dwarf sag seems to be ok under there, maybe a little slow.


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## dcurzon (20 Jan 2021)

I've no idea why the ludwigia doesn't like to grow in this tank.  Offcuts seem to do ok in the biorb of doom.
Anyway, FTS.


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## dcurzon (26 Jan 2021)

Java moss is getting big
Crypt has thrown another runner out, this time to the back glass
I don't know why but the hygrophilia plants have all lost lower leaves?



I've not seen any berried shrimps for a while, and have plucked 3.or 4 dead shrimps out over a few weeks. I was starting to worry that something was wrong 



Then spotted this little fella, and have seen possibly 4 hiding away.

Gave the filter, pipes and glassware a clean... Removed the floss from the filter and flow has increased, and cut off some staghorn infected leaves


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## Paulthewitt (27 Jan 2021)

Found my way onto this thread due to the back light posts, but found myself hooked!
Keep posting... I enjoyed this thread!
(Even when you don’t get many replies!)


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## dcurzon (16 Feb 2021)

*The mystery of the missing loach....*

So wayyyyy back in post 1, it was mentioned that the rio125 former crab den had been repurposed back to fish, and the previous occupants of the 72l had been moved into it.  One being the yoyo loach.
Now, he was always a bit of a ****, if im honest.

He would lay on his side motionless, amongst some plants or on the wood, and play dead.  Waiting until I was getting a bit concerned before having a bit of a swim around...
Anyway, he's gone missing.  About 5 inches long, and no way to get up the filter pipe (I had watched him trying to enter the original Juwel internal filter via its outlet pipe in the past, however that is gone and an external filter in place).  Theres a lid on the tank (standard Juwel flap type).  Ok, a couple of cutouts at the rear for pipework, which are mostly filled with... pipework.  But still, he is missing. Not hiding, as I've removed all the wood for a good scrubbing.  No decomposing corpse.  No dried out loach around the tank anywhere.

So where did he go???

(on the plus side, I could put some snails in now for algae control)


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## dcurzon (23 Feb 2021)

Excuse the reflections on the glass!
With the tiger lotus, the leaves are really quite delicate, so I trimmed out any that had tears on them.  Also removed damaged leaves from the cispulata, and gave the carpet a trim.
There was either more baby shrimps hiding in there than I thought, or the same ones kept moving to the next patch I was cutting!  Anyhow, the carpet has grown fairly dense under the nicrew light.  Its a mix of DHG and dwarf Sag.  I think I'm going to have to trim down the giant java moss growth to let a bit more light through.
Also, I was getting thick scummy layer on the water surface, so I added a usb air pump on a small foam filter.  Coupled it to a spare wifi led strip controller, so I can set timers on it with Alexa.  Comes on a couple of hours after the co2 goes off, and runs until midnight.  Seems to have cleared it up nicely.


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## dcurzon (1 Mar 2021)

Seems to be successfully co-habiting with the tiger barbs in the 125


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## dcurzon (19 May 2021)

The crypt crispulata went a bit wild. Sending out thick runners and new plants all over. So I removed it, as the originals were reaching nearly 3 feet.
Unfortunately pulling these up made a bit of a mess of the carpet, pulling that up also, so I've trimmed that back to to encourage new growth into the bald messy areas


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## dcurzon (7 Apr 2022)

I've had to wrap up the Juwel 70l tank, there was an amount of water between the cabinet top and the plastic base of the tank, and the water has caused some veneer damage to the cabinet, so I stripped it all, the shrimp are currently resting in a tub and the black neons have gone into the 125 in the lounge.
I haven't actually been able to find a leak in the tank, but I've lost confidence in it :/

I should be picking up a used Aqua One Arc 46 to go in its place, which whilst its smaller, will now be shrimp only


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