Recent content by paul.in.kendal

One of the five gourami has been more timid than the rest, keeping apart, reluctant to feed and distinctly smaller than the others. Just this minute found it dead at the bottom of the tank. I'm surprised how sad it feels to lose a little fish, even though I knew it wasn't thriving.

Yup. After much agonising, about six weeks ago I introduced five pearl gourami to the aquarium. Lovely fish, definitely the right thing to do (and no further additions for sure!) About four weeks ago I lost one of the red phantom tetra, found dead at the bottom of the tank. No idea what did...

So I've not re-done the Ph readings, primarily because it's such a pain to do. The staghorn continues, I've raised the luminaire a little more, and I'm focusing on propagating healthy new growth, with assertive pruning, rather than preserving existing growth, which is a fool's errand. Just...

I think that either the 1300 or the 1330 reading is wrong. I'm going to do it all again (not today, I need an early night!) and see what I get. Thanks again, Clive.

The probe and buffer sachets turned up yesterday, so I took some half-hourly readings. I finished a 50% water change at noon, using my (pH7) tap water. pH readings as follows: 1300 - 7. 0 1330 - 6.7 (co2 injection begins) 1400 - 6.7 1430 - 6.7 1500 - 6.5 1530 - 6.4 1600 - 6.3 1630 - 6.3 1630 -...

I've ordered ten sachets of ph7 solution, as it seems to be a one-point calibration process. Hopefully that'll do me for a couple of daily half-hour sets of data? Or do I literally need to recalibrate for each and every one of those half-hourly measurements?

Thanks for that, @alto - I've discovered that, infuriatingly, the pen doesn't come with any calibration/buffer solutions, and Sterner don't even nudge you in that direction when you order it! So I've now ordered some sachets separately. I'm guessing calibration is only needed from time to...

Too late, a Milwaukee has been bought. What model of Hanna should I have got?

Looks like Milwaukee is a respected brand. Their ph600 pen is available for £15 - £25. As I'd presumably only be using this for a few days, to get a handle on injection timing and rate, that would do it I reckon.

Thanks Clive. [Retires to research pH probes].

Red phantom tetra feeding

I've now introduced a shoal of red phantom tetra. They seem absolutely fine - no sign of distress while co2 levels are elevated. And thinking about what @ceg4048 said about staghorn and co2, it occurs to me that, while I had sufficient co2 in the tank in the early stages of healthy growth, it...

Thanks once again for all the suggestions, folks. I've gone for a shoal of 15 red phantom tetra, which seem to have settled in fine. They definitely seem to favour the lower half of the aquarium, so the suggestion from @Simon Cole to add another shoal that will tend to stay higher in the water...

Hi Clive, I have misrepresented what the calculator says about 30ppm calcium. It's not a target, but a limit: "Here you increase the upper (maximum) limit the calculator should use when designing your fertilizer. Beyond these values the calculators will refuse to calculate. Note that the...

... and I've been doing 50% water changes like a maniac - aiming for a daily water change and never skipping more than one day.