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Thank you for putting my mind at ease! I'm afraid I couldn't discern a distinct difference, colour-wise. They were smaller compared to some of the others, though I'm not sure if that means they're juvenile or male. My concern was the sudden bout of activity after adding the iron; they seem to...

Hi all, They definitely do. One of @Roland's tanks - <"My thoughts so far">. cheers Darrel

Amazing, thank you for the in-depth reply :D

Hi all, No, definitely not, Cherry Shrimps like hard water and actively growing plants are the best thing you can have to retain water quality. Males tend to be fairly active, they will be less intensely coloured than the females? Personally I wouldn't have any concerns about adding any of...

Hi all, I think probably 50 ppm NO3- is more likely. In hard water the pH is likely to be ~pH 8, purely for <"reasons of chemistry">. Take it out, basically all plants (including algae) <"need phosphate (PO4---)">. Seachem's advertising <"is often misleading">. I'm guessing that this is, at...

Thanks for getting back so quickly. Yes I'm fertilising with TNC complete (I also have Aquadesign Carbo but deign to use it after seeing some reviews). I top up with tap water stabilised with Seachem Prime. I've just done another strip test which is showing 75 hardness and 80 carbonate and...

So I have just added a reduced amount of TNC Iron (0.6ml) and one or two shrimp seem to be swimming vigorously around the tank practically doing laps, and sometimes swimming up against the glass. I havent observed this behaviour before and it's been happening for the last 15-20 mins. However...

Y’all, it's finally here! After years of planning and procrastination, I finally have started my 4ft tank! Every single step has taken way longer than planned, but I think I have done enough now that I can actually start a journal. It’s About Time! Tank: 120x50x50cm, 79 gallons/300 L Hydra...

Thank you for the info. I was adding the Iron and Epsom salts for the benefit of my plants, due to the hardness of London water. Would you say that, on balance, the potential benefits of these two supplements for the plants are outweighed by the potential harm it could cause the shrimp?

Thanks Meg, it’s good to know that your tank has recovered well to the point they are breeding! I’m definitely guilty for spooking the fishes while vacuuming the soil and lifting the logs in search of possible corpses. Then they all come out spooked and annoyed 🙈😬 I’ve read all Darren’s links...

A couple of things spring to mind - nitrate/nitrite both at 0 is not good. Plants need nitrate to grow. Are you fertilising? Also, you mention evaporation and topping up. What water do you use to top up? If your hard topwater, then gH and KH will slowly be rising in your tank. For more help...

Thank you very much! I have texted him, his plants looks just amazing!

Member @Roland has grown this sp! You could send him a message to determine what parameters he used and what fertilizers. https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/plant-pictures.24682/page-6#post-658548

Hi everyone, first ask for advice. As you can see from my profile, I have a Fluval Roma 125l planted tank, Seachem Tidal 75 and a chinese UV filter (which is handling algae growth perfectly). The tank has grown a little untidy but with perfect water parameters. Harlequin Rasboras, Chili...

Thank you for the insight once again, Darrel. I do have an overdose of activated carbon in the filter ATM. Quick web search is saying that would remove pesticides. I am no expert in water chemistry and never will be, so idk. I believe Finnish water supply plants do not use pesticides in tap...

Your doubling the photons in an enclosed space/area. The angle overlap is additive. But in some areas it just spreads the light out. Keep in mind that glass reflections keep a lot of the light in the tank. Of course you also need to hang the lights at the correct height for the beam angle...

Hi all, I'm sorry to hear that. Because of the water change and speed of death, I would suspect it might be a trace of pesticide in the water change water? I say this because <"some pesticides"> combine a very low vertebrate toxicity with being deadly to crustaceans. When I lived in Bath...

I’ve been keeping isopods for a little while now, and it’s been such a fun hobby! I started with just a couple of species I found on a site called Postpods, which has isopods for sale in the UK. They really do add a unique vibe to my little ecosystem. At first, I was worried about how to set up...

For a month I dosed only APT Zero, but it did not help at all.

Hi all, Same for me. I think he is very good on <"microbial (biological) filtration">. Because I'm a great believer in a picture being <"worth a thousand words"> ......... <"Stocking of an Aquarium">. cheers Darrel

I was just about to post an extract about pore clogging from AS! I know some think Dave is dubious about his plant views, but I think he is pretty spot-on with most aspects of technology-based filtration.

Starting a journal is a good idea as @Onoma1 has suggested. As far as the hexagon shape is concerned I think they tend to be on the tall side for their footprint. I scribbled an idea out rather than trying to describe things in words! Along the lines of a tall piece of bogwood with anubias...

I can see this in my future! the Corys are quickly becoming my absolute favourite - they're so personable and silly to watch. I was worried about sand sticking to my Corys slime coats, however upon closer inspection & research - I think they're just incredibly messy eaters 😂 I feel you on this...

Hi all, Same for me. They are my <"filter of choice"> and always have been <"My venture into my new 760 ltr planted tank ."> - <"Ammonia test kit and Urea">. I think brown is good, mine is the same as @Aqua sobriquet 's "white", but I'm assuming that is just because I don't have a big enough...

Hi Marcia, I've basically been doing the same as you - I added more plants, fed more live food and improved filtration. I also removed the oak leaves I'd added that still had green patches (doh!) after reading Rosie's post on beautiful botanicals. I've never kept Otto's myself but @dw1305 has...

The rotala look good, but sometimes they can be affected by over-fertilization!

Rotala florida

More

Rotala red and rotala green at the back

Oh really? Thanks Darrel, I didn’t know that. There was a big Oto who was kind of the leader, all the others followed him. Then he got ill (at same time as Meg’s Cory - so I was following this tread closely) and he quickly passed away and now the others started hiding more. I’m feeding them...

https://www.flowgrow.de/db/aquaticplants/ammannia-pedicellata "N. pedicellata as well as other Nesaea spp. are suspected to react susceptible to elevated doses of potassium"

Can you upload an image of the Rotala?

Hi all, I'm guessing that is what most experienced aquarists do (I do). As a method it certainly has science on its side - <"Correspondence with Dr Ryan Newton - School of Freshwater Sciences, University of Wisconsin—Milwaukee">. So a pretty conclusive answer, from one of the leading...

Yes all rotalas grow perfect

@nijat11 Do you have Rotala sp in this aquarium?

@nijat11 It could be Potassium overload! Reduce or stop adding Masterline Golden for a few weeks.

Hi all, I think that is <"actually a good sign">, when they are happy and well fed they are mainly <"crepuscular / nocturnal">. When they swim around all day it just means that they aren't getting enough to eat and are desperately searching for food. cheers Darrel

I’m not so sure. I can’t help thinking it’s working more like mechanical filtration. Is the debris that’s starting to clog the pores helping or hindering the biological filtration? Siporax is very porous so I’m guessing a small quantity of it could support a lot of bacteria. Not so much though...

Congratulations on breeding pygmy corys. Warning it is very addictive. I've kept fish for about 20 yrs and never had any interest in corys until about 3 years ago. Even then it was just a case of that's a pretty fish I'd like some of those. This was quickly followed by almost obsessive searching...

Two week update: a more "instagrammable" FTS Progress with the plants is still slow, I lowered the light a little. Six hour photoperiod. Background plants have a few centimeters of new growth, Riccia is due to a first trim(I plan to pick the stones and do the trim out of water). Juncus repens...

Hi Meg, so happy to read about your new Cory after the loss of raggedy man. Just wondering if you’ve done anything else to help your tank’s health? I too lost an otocinclus and a Betta from infection. I treated them with Esha2000+Exit but with no avail. I’ve been doing like you suggested, water...

Hello everyone! I have asked this question in multiple other threads, but did not get any answers unfortunately. My setup : Tank 90l Light chihiros wrgb2 pro for 10 hours. CO2 2 hours before lights, drop checker is slightly light. Water change every week 70% with RO + reminiralize with Dennerele...

Thank you guys. Sent from my SM-S918B using Tapatalk

That's good to hear Bazz, fingers crossed then! :D

It means you’ve got happy fish. The more vibrant the colour is the happier they are. They’ll also brighten up when sparring or spawning.

Glad to hear it! I am always in awe of them as my LFS often has them in what appears to be around a 120cm tank and they're schooling behaviour and the way the flow through the water is awesome.

Perhaps that’s it. They have settled down now. You should get some. Beautiful fish.

I'd be surprised if you ever need to. Almost all of the plants you have should grow fine with that intensity (H. pinnatifida may struggle, but that'll be more CO2 than light - I've never kept it successfully low tech, but its a weed in high tech) - upping the intensity will at best case induce...

I haven't kept any rummy nosed tetras yet. Usually a loss of colour in fish is stress related or poor health, so I can only hope/assume that further colouration is a positive thing? I wonder if they're excited or if the new fish are acting as dithers maybe?

Wouldn't that just increase the spread of light by increasing the amount of sources? As if both lights are say 50w, it is still just two separate sources of 50w, as opposed to a singular 100w equivalent light which can have provide more intensity. Just asking to confirm if my thought process is...

My short answer is it depends on what you want to achieve. My slightly longer answer is my advice would be to go back to first principles. if you have a hexagonal aquarium and want a nature style aquarium I would treat it as a cube and scape it accordingly. I use natural lanscape features for...

You can also use leaf cuttings to propagate java fern varieties very quickly and produce huge numbers of plantlets to fill out a space.

If l plant Java Fern on wood it spreads fairly evenly in a month or so , it's one plant that does well for me ,soon impossible to see the rhyzone. Maybe it's the soft water. I do have to take off leaves every so often

From my own tank, Ray's scape looks to be around 2 years growth. Though thats probably highly influenced by lighting levels and Co2. My own tank has around 25 to 30 lumens/l and I can split that scape into 5 pots that would turn into that in a couple of years. Thats running with 30ppm of co2.

You could look at the easy plant range such as Tropica and in a tank like yours plant ,foreground, middle and your right stems at back and something like hygro.polysperma in a small 4 or 5 to a bunch, along the back, trim regular should look good

I used to really like those overhead filters as favoured by early aqua_one ( aquariums) Quite surprised they haven't been marketed for all aquarium general sizes, but could be done with a little DIY. You could do your mantainence in 10 or 15 minutes

You won't find that on UKAPS. I don't agree with some; some don't agree with me. But the commonality between all of us is fish, plants and nature. I am a technology and fish man on a forum who loves and promotes plants. 😀 I have never felt more welcome and have learnt so much in the process.

I would say the dirty brown wins! 😀 My HEL-X13 goes in white, and gets brown over time. I took some out before summer (consolidation from 2 x 250 to 1 x 350) left in my wfies greenhouse and it went white again.

Is that high tech MrClock Off?

Hello bazz :) Thank you for taking the time to comment on my ramblings. I really appreciate the input! We are going down to see the monster in law at the end of October :( I may be able to squeeze in a trip to Horizon so it may not be all bad news :D Hello richardcunliffe :) Thank you for the...

It truly does. I personally explain to people who are new, who wish to research on their own rather than being mentored, is to become successful with one guide they find the most comfortable to start with, and understand why and how that one guide works before attempting exploring other ideas. I...

This is true, one of my ideas was that no aquarium needs to be setup by only utilizing brand new elements. They can be seeded easily beforehand, which is extremely common. The most common being the already seasoned sponges from other aquariums, or plants that have already adapted to the water it...

I’d say this probably will take a year with single buce and anubias plant in optimal conditions? I’m just comparing with my tank where I used two pots of each. I found that if you are on the budget then if you cut off a plantlet once in a month or two and replant the cuttings. This is after a year

A piezo air pump should be fine for that if you're just supplying some additional water movement. I've got 2 of these though they've nearly doubled in price so might be worth having a look around. The pumps themselves are practically silent, you only hear the bubbles breaking at the surface.

I have red the information and watched some videos, but I am struggling. Have 60L hexagonal 23-24C. I want it to look nice but it’s not because I put one plant here and one plant there. I think I should have put bunches together… But how many plants is a bunch and how many is too many?? Because...

Update: I think I have had luck from River Park Aquatics. Before purchase I asked if they had male and female and they advised they thought so. I ordered 6 scarlet badis and asked for a mixture of male and female. I think out of the 6 I received 1 female, 3 Sub-dom males and 2 dominant males...

It’s a 60L hexagonal and I have a filter and some java fern, duck weed, anubias and a few more plants. I do use the air pump as often as I can, but it makes that silly buzzing.

Hi, I was wondering if anyone could give estimates on the spread rate of a plant you’ve attached to a rock, or wood etc The reason why I asked this is because I have anubias that are years old, but while they have created plenty of new leaves and roots their rhizome is almost as it was when I...

Do you miss the smell? 😄 I visit a few waste sites with work (was at a landfill the other week) and they’re often surprised that I’m not bothered by the smell. After a couple of years working on sewage treatment, most everything else smells pretty good.

Needed a bit of life, and 10 Serpae tetras have definitely added it! Rarely seen such feisty wee fish! 😂👍 unfortunately they don’t stay still for long and the lights are dim so all a bit blurry… Cheers

We’re a nice community here. We have some ‘lively’ discussions at time but generally, the discussion here is open and thoughtful. Animal welfare is a subject which may get heated and have a difference of opinions but at the heart of it, everyone just wants our pets to have the best life we can...

I haven’t at present. They seem to have settled down a bit. I think as someone else has commented, they’re just happy.

Hi all, I mainly play with <"clean water now">. I miss the wastewater work (mainly <"landfill leachate">), although some of it <"was pretty horrible">. cheers Darrel

Ah, understood, then I will retract a few statements. I am quite used to being immediately shut down on certain... other communities within the hobby when it comes to presenting alternative advice. I may have taken your reply as knee jerk retaliation, so I apologize. Yes you are absolutely...

@dw1305, you would have enjoyed playing with the system! Ferric chloride was precisely the flocculant we used, and we brought the water from pH 3 to at least 9.5 to get rid of Ni2+ before discharge. We designed the process thinking we were going to have a lot of Ni2+ in the effluent, but the...

This is what i planted: 601 -> c. Ferruginea Sekadauensis (bit clueless about this plant) 78 -> c. Green Gecko between 78 and 975 behind them is 267 975 -> c. Yujii 267 -> echinodorus reni (you can't really see it in this picture) 180 -> echinodorus big bear (it is a large plant in the very...

Hi all, It is. cheers Darrel

I also think that mqtt would be the biggest obstacle for most. Maybe a local webserver on the NodeMCU could work, I have no experience with that. But it shouldn't be difficult to do. An SD card could be used to store the data. The display can be also added. I have some D091-12832-I2C/BL displays...

Hi all, That is it, wastewater treatments tend to rely heavily on using sodium hydroxide (or "caustic soda" - (NaOH)) for pH correction, mainly to counteract the drop in pH when using ferric (or aluminium) based coagulants. We have some bits on <"ferric compounds"> as precipitants for...

Hi all, They use <"limestone in the catchments"> sometimes, but it has gone a bit out of fashion recently. I'm pretty sure they aren't using it in water treatment, although sodium carbonate (Na(CO3)2) would be an option. Any carbonate compound would add dKH and CaCO3 isn't really soluble enough...

Is it Tradescantia Spathacea?

Hello guys, I need help id-ing this terrestrial plant please Thank you Sent from my SM-S918B using Tapatalk

I hadn't thought about that. In my previous job we treated the effluent water from a process line with caustic soda precisely to precipitate heavy metals (which we would coagulate, sediment and then filtrate). I was thinking the high pH in the treatment plant might be from treating it with...

In my experience, red means happy and pale means stressed with these guys.

Hi all, What do you mean <"starting to believe ..........">. Honestly it is the truth, and the <"bigger the better">. Starting using the 12" x 4" x 4" Koi sponges was one of the best things I ever did. I only started because <"Rainbow Koi"> is 10 minutes down the road, you get <"a lot of...

Piezo air pumps are probably the quietest small air pump, certainly that I've used. What dimensions are the tank and is it your only form of filtration or additional?

Yes on the Siporax. The last time I looked it was still quite white in the Eheim and dirty brown in the Biomaster.

... or they are just happy to have new friends.... ;) I am very happy with my Rummy-nose tetras - I've had a school for several years. They never seem to bother about other fish in the tank - but of course the newly introduced bottom dwellers might have spooked them a bit if you didn't have...

I bought a cheap air pump from The Range. Please, please, please let me know what can I buy that won’t be as noisy. I know they make noise, but this sounds bad. It makes buzzing sound at times and I don’t think thats safe to use.

Hello - do you have a picture you can provide?

As long as the water you add contains no chlorine and roughly the same amount of Calcium/Magnesium (GH) and measures roughly the same EC (TDS) as the water you replace you can change as much water as you want. EC/TDS directly influences osmoregulation. Shrimps are quite sensitive to EC/TDS...

I want everyone to remember that this was my idea, and licenses are available on www.makebradveryrich.com. 😆

Hi all, Scroll over on the "dw1305" user name on any of my messages and "send direct message" should come up as an option. cheers Darrel

My view from experimentation is its a good idea to have some mechanical filtration (intake pipe, pre-filter) but if you have a low bio-demand to high bio-media ratio then it becomes even less important. But, overall, I support mechanical filtration and Darrel's view. I assume you have Siporax...

🤣🤣 you will need to help me how to private message you? I’m not the sharpest tool in the toolbox so to speak when it comes to technology. Thanks mate, you’re a diamond James

I’m starting to believe what Darrel has been saying all along. The best solution is a sponge on the intake pipe. I personally am not particularly impressed with the pre filter on my Biomaster. There’s bypass going on somewhere resulting in debris covering my bio media (Siporax). The water in my...

Hi. I have a small number of RN tetras in my aquarium. I introduced some new fish today and all seems calm and all happy. The only noticeable change is the noses of the RNT have visibly gone very very red - vibrant - which I haven’t seen before. I’m assuming this is just a reaction to the new...

I’ve been using JBL filter floss for 20 odd years, never had an issue.

Indeed!