Recent content by alanchown

So thick (not me, the plants) I doubt I'd be able see any buds! I reckon I'll play safe and do about 3 goes and start over.

If I cut my Rotala down to a couple of inches from the substrate it takes less than 3 weeks to get to the surface. How many times can I hack it down before replanting the tops? For ever?

Thanks. I suspected even if you could 'mow' the mess may not be worth the hassle.

I usually pull my Blyxa up, break it up and replant. But is it possible just to give it a bit a mow and cut it down a bit?

I'm sure you are right. I would expect they are a pretty standard piece of kit. I get wildly differing results depending on wether I use strips, liquid tests etc. I rarely check and this was the first test I had done since last April.

I have ordered new cartridges as it appears its been a while! However, I did see something in Google results, although the page it linked to didn't appear to be there, from JBL that suggested 'damp' could affect the chlorine reading.

Not that I can see. I suspect that although you pay extra for the Proscan strips, that they are identical to the bog standard strips.

To be honest, I only used Prime after the test showed chlorine. It also shows chlorine in my RO (home made), which also has an airstone running in it for a day before using (just as a stirrer for Equilibrium). I suspect the readings are false.

I tried it direct on crypts and java fern with no apparent issue.

My JBL test strips are measuring an amount of chlorine. This seems unlikely, I use RO water (remineralised with equalibrium) and have dosed with Seachem Prime- are these strips really measuring Chlorine or are they not reliable?

FX4

I have set my FX6 up using the coarse and medium sponges in the outer rings as per Pondguru advice. These sponges do get quite compressed to squeeze into position. I have noticed that some larger waste, bits of leaves etc, end up on top of the floss on top of the central section. Is it possible...

The instructions do say you can dose the entire tank. It just says not effective as spot dosing, which clearly would be tricky on some algae. I've never had a major issue with the other types of algae.

BBA is not hair algae, it grows in tufts. I use a syringe to target the tufts. On hardware I just syringe it all over as the tufts tend to form a carpet. It seems to have been more successful than my usual Excel/peroxide treatment.

Not obviously, however I had previously dumped my mosses. My Vallis was a bit ropey to start with as it was a few rescued bits. But it doesn't look any worse than before I started the APT. Hygrophila, crypts, blyxa, rotala and Java Fern all look fine. Excel always causes Vallis to melt for me...