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Welcome to the UKaps! 🪴🇬🇧👍

First algae has appeared, bba, mostly on the moss! And I’ve also got some diatoms, so looks like it’s all kicking off. Will up my water changes for the next couple of weeks

Photo update time

Above image taken from the "Valley of Colours" Featured journals forum.

Yep, you should indeed be proud! If your tank was/remained unhealthy then they definitely would not bounce back like that. And it always great to see self-recovery.

Brill, thanks @Bradders :)) I'll keep up the water changes and add more plants when they arrive (quickly realising that this is the solution to everything). I feel like a proud mum, I'm really glad they seem to be bouncing back :)

What a way to start a weekend! This is great news!!! Now, if it were me, and seeing that you are observing natural recovery then I would hold off on the medication and observe for a day or two - especially in terms of any ich treatment. If progress stops, then take a view at that point. In...

:happy:

Because of the lack of cover? I doubt my male endlers would have cared - they were always so wrapped up in their interpersonal drama they seemed completely unaware of anything else short of food. Though I image the sort of person who appreciates a minimalist iwagumi would not be drawn to...

A POSITIVE UPDATE ! I went a bit overboard with plants and added 31 yesterday, with more arriving today 😅 This will almost certainly double the aquatic growth (not including mosses) and I'm so happy I did it! The fish seem a lot calmer and have many more hiding places. It's difficult to...

Nice scapes, well done. If you're looking for next steps, maybe this will help. https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/a-challenge-break-these-3-aquascaping-rules-with-a-great-tank.26145/#post-271052 https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/what-tank-shape.57484/#post-560496

I want you all to know that my fish are highly approving of my wooden floor. So there. ;)

Hi @megwattscreative - just thought I would ask if there has been any updates or improvements?

Thanks, I will source some more green neon tetras and see how things go 👍

Personally I wouldn't consider it an 'either' consideration - I'd add the six Neons regardless, and then consider options for dither fish if you want to go that route. Fish vary, but they're another 'hider' for me, so wouldn't be on my list for the intended outcome. I wouldn't worry too...

Hi all, I think they probably will, some people have been fine, but not for me. Mine got a lot of live food and they just regarded the Cherry Shrimp as a new diet item <"Are there any Dwarf Cichlids suitable with Cherry shrimp?">. cheers Darrel

Thank you all for your replies. From taking this all in, I will either a) add another 6 Green neons to make the shoal bigger and see if this helps or b) try a dither fish. I do like the look of the small Pygmy corydoras, always busy at the bottom and won’t look too big for my scape. Not sure if...

Hi all, "Bloody hell" indeed. The amount of poor advice, offered by people <"who should know better">, never ceases <"to amaze me">. cheers Darrel

Bloody hell….. As mentioned already, your green neons will be wild caught. Even if they wasn’t why would they not prefer water that mimics their natural habitat? Millions of years of evolution to specific environment isn’t wiped out buy a few generations of captive breeding. I think you just...

The main benefit is that they don't die! Just wanted to pop in to say good luck with whatever is affecting your fish...

Also agreed…only Iwagumi I would do with fish but be less traditional and have lots of long leafed plants.

Hi all, It is not unpopular <"with me">. cheers Darrel

You can talk to them and they will sort you out, chances are they already deliver in your area.

What a stupid thing for them to say - the lack of knowledge in some LFS's is truly astounding sometimes! Your water is fine - zero KH would also be absolutely fine, mine always is. Tetras are commonly very lazy fish, depending on species. It is common behaviour for them to just hang motionless...

Second tub looks like a Rotala sp.

Hi all, I'd guess they will probably be all right. Get them out of the containers asap, and then gently pinch of any dead and melting leaves. Don't be too rigorous, and if you aren't sure? Leave it. Get them into some water (ideally something fairly shallow) and give them bright, but subdued...

Temperature.....damaged?

This is the first try of that setup but failed because the weather was good and the window was left open during the night before: Quite interesting though, how much such a thing as an open window during the night pushed down the CO2 starting levels for the next day. The window was left open...

With the small tank I would just carry on with what you are doing it looks great and will look even better when it has grown in a tad more. The right hand side of the 350 is perfect but the left hand side appears to me to have grown to close to the front glass, nothing that a good trim wouldn't...

I wouldn't change anything on the big tank! With the rio 125, the only thing I would be tempted to do, if forced, is to add something else with big broad leaves in the back right like an echinodorus...

Awesome photos @taistrietman I just love the underwater ones - it really inspires me to push on with a habitat style tank.

Well done, good call on the rocks

Assuming the water volume of his tank is 55L (after rock and sand it won’t be, but let’s assume). That would be a 8.25L water change each week. Things may have changed since I used them a few years ago, but minimum order was 50L, so larger water changes would be needed to make it work. They...

At a guess.... First https://www.aquariumgardens.co.uk/monosolenium-tenerum---tropica-1-2-grow-3389-p.asp Second could be loads and hard to guess until grown out.. Third https://www.aquariumgardens.co.uk/marsilea-hirsuta---tropica-1-2-grow-1253-p.asp Forth hard to tell in the packet, maybe...

You can order natural sea water from the natural seawater company. They also do ro at zero tds. The prices including delivery are very low. I used to keep the water and ro water upto 8 weeks without problems and that's in 25l containers on the balcony without aeration. If you do a 15% water...

Thank you for your suggestions. might give that a go, I could add another 6 green neons, brining my number to 12 green and 11 ember to see if that improves things. My other option would be to add some ottos as always fancied trying them out. Yes Apisto seem nice, but always think they will...

Cichlid keepers often use tetras as dither fish in the upper layers to make the Apistos or whatever feel more confident and outgoing. I wonder if this is a two way relationship and also better for tetras if there is a larger species (but not large enough to eat them) in the same tank. Like the...

Need lots of greens for them to be out , I think greens if you want to see them need to be in iwagumi i have my ambers in iwagumi and greens in NA style aquascap, but I cannot catch mine to swap so I habe given up, One day!!! In my case I think my 2 year old is constantly harassing them and as...

Yes

What a beauty!

the both look very nice. maybe just give them a bit of a trim, i personal like the natural look

And this truly is the key in home aquaria. Whilst I appreciate nature, we can never let truly emulate it at home. I’m looking forward to seeing the tank develop and hoping you manage to add more to it over time. There are some stunning cold water reefs out there and not many hobbyists trying...

Hi everyone, I have two aquascapes that I’d like help with. The larger one is a Rio 350L and the smaller is a Fluval 125 which is only a month old (please excuse the murkiness on it as it was after a water change) (the more pink looking H’ra in the 350L is the latest photo after adding liquid...

With a lovely mature heavily planted tank like that I’d try adding more fish to see if a bigger school makes them less shy - up 12 of either or 6 each and see if that improves things. And/or maybe add another type of fish with a different behaviour, sometimes the tetras seem to need to see...

Have them on top of wood ,sort of in the grooves with a tywire loosely around and moss draped over, they were about 5inches high in May taken off a potted plant ., they have really grown but l think the plantlets take energy from the mother plants so after flowering will cut them off...

hello i got some (seen better days plants for cheap) but i need help to identify them and also i need to know if they are gonners. there are 4 plants in total they came in pots for each i took a top down shot and side shot. here goes and thanks for any help you can offer

Absolutely. :)

I’ve not made any changes to the flow or scape, but thanks for the suggestion. As it is high light, it often gets denser growth, followed by trims on a regular basis. It’s been trimmed last week, should it’s less dense and that has not made any difference. The behaviour to the embers going shy...

will air driven sponge filter be ok

Did you make any other changes? I find altering the flow has an impact on whether my embers are out of hiding more. Could be plant growth effecting it even if you havent altered the physical set up.

No, the plants will probably do better without a heater. I'd have something to move water around though.

That sounds amazing to have a tank that size, I can imagine the excitment of setting it up and having your own boat and being able to dive to collect things! A lot of people go for thick acrylic tanks I think, must help a lot with that condensation you mentioned as well as extra insulation

Hello. I got a few plants and an empty tank. was thinking of adding the plants to cycle the tank. do i need a heater and flow the plants are stem plants in a tub with tropica substrate capped with mano base and Anubis nana and buce kedergang. and a crypt i think i would rather not have a...

I love this thread, it brings back memories and excitement! I wish I could find some photos of my old tanks but, I have given it a bit of thought and realise the last cold water marine tank I ran must of been about 27 years ago. My first attempt would have been as a child, I can clearly...

Sounds like things can be random & different experiences in different tanks. Thanks for sharing

Now that is a very cool idea. I do monitor the salinity regularly, what I should have said was that I no longer have to worry about it being the tiniest bit too high or the tiniest bit too low like I did with my last tropical nano reef. All of the life in the tank is accustomed to fluctuations...

This is truly a thing of beauty. (It must be said, I am partial to black and blue tones with accents - but woooah!)

i have minnows (5) and they hide at the bottom i was told due to it being cooler and darker and more oxygen at bottom . they feel more safer.

Sadly not. Too many other elements at play in tap water. RODI water is best, then any elements that are low would need dosing either separately or using some form of all in one. At a minimum you should be testing: Specific gravity - “salinity” Alkalinity (Dkh) (Mag and Calc should in theory...

Firstly, what a beautiful aquarium. That greenery is something to die for. Very lush! Well, I tend to stay out of fish politics! Mainly because I find there is no rhyme or reason for it. In my aquarium, I have Sun Platy's, Salfin Mollys, Green Rasboras, Cardinal Tetras and Phantom Tetras - a...

Anyone have any ideas why new lotus leaf and stem turning brown and dying as of July 1st Current Conditions 1. water change ever two weeks (dechlorinator added per correct dosage for 32 gallon water tub) 2. No fertilizer yet Advised no fertilizer added until i see leaves progressing to vertical...

When I was really into cold water marines, I had several larva rock hardscapes stuck to a perforated plate. I would place one hardscape in a suitable half tide rock pool and keep one in the tank then swap them around every few months. The fresh hardscape would hold an amazing amount of life...

Oh and I use an Olympus OM-1 with the Olympus 60mm macro

Thanks! I have a male & female pair of Common Prawns, they don't seem to touch the algae or at least don't make an impact on it. I have seen them lowering their heads down to the rock to graze but that's all, never on the sand. They seem to be mainly scavengers rather than algae grazers...

Awesome photos! What are you using to take them? Do you have many shrimp in there? Do they not have a go at the diatoms?

Thank you for this clarifying this. Ah I didn’t think about the green neons possibly bullying them. All the fish including the neons are hidding, but I guess the neons could be keeping them all hiding. Would be interested in knowing how other people have dealt with this?

Hi all, You are right and he is wrong, and they definitely aren't tank bred and even if they were? It wouldn't make any difference. If you think it will make any difference? You could point him at TomC 's Apistogramma site, it has water data - <"Welcome to Tom's Homepage">. Strangely it...

Hi all, It is likely to be a nutrient (fertiliser) issue. Have you changed anything? Fertiliser type, or dosing regime etc? cheers Darrel

Little update for you all, The tank is doing really well at the moment! A Snakelocks anemone even split in half to multiply, so now I have an extra one! Some algae and brown diatoms are starting make more of an appearance since increasing the light intensity a little for the snakelocks, but I'm...

Here it is in January...

They're slowly dieing back, up until recently I was pulling a bucket load of plants out every couple of months as it was all growing so well. I don't think so... I'm going to clean the pump out and see if I can improve air flow.

Hi, In my 60P co2 injected planted tank I have always had ember tetras, and they have always been confident swimming around all of the tank, and pretty much taking a territory. A month ago, I added 6 green neon tetras to the 11 ember tetras. Since I added the green neon, you would think that no...

Nice tank!

It is a strideways pro plus CO2 regulator with an inline diffuser - I bought it from Aquarium Gardens

Hi all, They are fantastic. I'm guessing that <"is a general finding">. We've had a bit if discussion about <"turned up to eleven "> plants, like Ludwigia sedioides <"Ludwigia Sedoides where to get it?">. Even <"RBG Kew struggle with them">. cheers Darrel

Hi all, Horrible for you, but I've never seen a fish recover from there, so it was the right thing to do. cheers Darrel

Hi @Aciko, I don't use artificial plants and they aren't beneficial at all as far as I'm aware :)

Do you use artificial plants in your tank, and if you do, does it have some benefits?

Hi all, I think you are right. That is the <"million dollar question">, and I would <"really like to know the answer">. I'm going to guess that once the plants have grown in that <"the oscillations in microbial stability"> are going to be damped to a level where the tank is "fish safe"...

Hi all, A video from <"Dave Goulson"> from the <"University of Sussex>. cheers Darrel

Nice! Do you just have them bare rooted attached to the hardscape @PARAGUAY ?

Hi all, You honestly don't need a video, all you need <"is a container">, some <"RO or DI water"> and the fertiliser. I use old milk cartons, but you can get better bottles. All the instructions are in @Happi 's thread <"Solufeed 2:1:4 and Solufeed Sodium Free TEC or Solufeed Coir TEC...

I was told before there was light, nature was enveloped in darkness. Basically me just wanna play god. Also was told higher diversity of microbiota counters algae's competitive advantage. And some bacterial/archean species thrive more in darkness than with light. I dunno if all these = true...

Nice, I had them in my tank for at least two years and not seen flowers yet. Actually no babies either, im probably doing something suboptimal... Imagine they are too low in the water after a top up...

Plants in second photo look healthy, have you changed anything ?

A lot of the approach you take is what works for you, in my case doing large (,as you would with a CO2 new set up) 50% water changes in my low techs gradually from daily to one a week in the first few weeks reduces algae considerably and less diatoms but l think heavy planting helps and you can...

Nice too see Spider Plant flowering

Still tickled pink👍. Don’t know about others but l’m finding that when using the Biomaster 600 in combination with a glass surface skimmer it’s paramount to keep the strainer section ( not the skimmer, the standard return part ) clear of debris and algae build up and keep any vegetation in...

@Superpuma1 - are we still tickled pink? Or has the filter reverted to old practises?

I've bought the solufeed 2 1 4 and solufeed sodium free tec , my question is if anyone has done a video of making it into liquid fertiliser

I think for me it was less cycling more to save daily water changes and any ill effects ammonia spike may cause to the plants and i had no melt what so ever. I have found it to be helpful but not alge free which is the main selling point and alge most likely is my own fault for being a noob alo...

Sorry to hear that @Kevin2016. I don't think it would have been treatable, so you did the right thing.

It’s done. To the swimming pool heaven 😥

Welcome! :)

I sadly don't have any Ludwigia helminthorrhiza or Aeschynomene fluitans any more, they did great in my big tank but had to destroy everything with the Fish TB saga :( I got both from Wildwoods from Dan, so I'd say he's your man for them! Fingers crossed he can still get them in ... when I...

My concern with this line of thinking is that the microbial community is going to go through changes every time you tweak your parameters. Is the microbiome you spend a few weeks cultivating in the dark going to be a better starting point than what they replaced (the one adapted to the air) once...

Hi all, not posted for a while. Last year I redo the tank fully and the plants took hold really nicely. However in the last few months everything has died off really extremely. Has anyone got any ideas why? I have attached photos of it when I first planted it up. It then all grew really nicely...

Oh about a year bad I was plagued with pest snails! I now have a healthy colony of assassin snails because of it 😂