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Hi all, It is <"actually German">, but you are right about it being a "trade name". The company that makes it is <"EMW filtertechnik GmbH">. @JMorgan you have a thread <"Polyether vs Polyester/polyethylene foam filters (minor rant)">. I've still got some of the <"Yamitsu sponge blocks"> I...

Mmmm spotted a teeny ramshorn snail in the moss, Didn't realise they could live emersed. The Flamingo Pink Crypts new leaves have grown in Green, wonder if they will go Pink or Not.

you can also collect Fallen oak leaves and use them as leaf litter. Just be from a park and far from cars and carparks. and youll be fine. There are sellers who sell dried and oven dried leaves if you just want to have a supply of them.

Hi all, That is a good point <"KH, GH and aquasoil">. I managed this, in reverse so to speak, by soaking Moler clay cat litter in hard tap water <"Can old tropica soil exposed to hard water raise the KH of soft water?">. cheers Darrel

Agree this - measuring KH is easy with the right kit, but there are a lot of ways to generate what you think are water chemistry data that don't actually have much connection to reality. If you dig deeper into your water report you might find an actual measurement of alkalinity, but if not the...

Yes, I was a bit worried about the aspect ratio of the 75p, but then realised it’s pretty much the same ratio of the 60P, and seeing it in person made my mind up . Good to hear that you have had a good experience with UNS tank, I was vey surprised with the quality.

Thank you! I’ll post some more pics when I’m back from work

I have posted before - One recipe for remin agent Ca:Mg ratio 3:1 add 16 grams of Magnesium Sulphate Hepta aka -Epsom salts and 17 Grams Calcium Chloride To 1 litre of RO water add 1ml of remin agent solution for every 1.0Litre added during WC will increase GH 1.0 If after a 3GH add 3ml...

I'm by no means an expert but as discussed in the link above it's worth every penny you spend extra to replace polyester/ethylene foam with polyether foam - assuming of course you don't get ripped off. I have recently seen some available on eBay UK. I'd just make sure you pick a seller doing...

Thank you, I do have an affection for Gobies with my time with nano Reef Keeping. These were for sale in the Aquatics section of a local Garden Centre under Stiphodon Species.... I do believe that they are the "Cobalt Blue" version I am relatively certain that I have at least one male and one...

@oreo57 thank you so much for taking the time to explain this for me, I finally feel as if I understand properly now -- despite the old US/UK gallons difference 🥰. I have bought a second 42 watt, four foot, Hygger and offset them slightly on the cross bracers, so direct light gets right to the...

Ooh, I love Stiphodon. Those you have look quite like what are sold as Cobalt Blues at places like MA. (2 females and a male ?) They can live a long time. I have an S.ornatus male who is at least 9 years old and still going strong. He likes to think he is the boss of the tank.

Mine came with a flexi spring steel cleaning brush that’s around 60-70cm in length, l of course use that to clean the skimmer. Mine starts bobbing as you mention when it’s in need of a clean. I just take out the floating section and clean under the tap with the brush, the main glassware in the...

It would work fine. You could also just put some limestone type rocks in the ponds instead.

Love aluminium extrusion. I have a sim rig made out of it and the channels are dust collectors, which can be quite tedious. I've used the metalstore.co.uk to make a unit like yours. Used the 25mm box section and clamps. Basically Meccano for adults.

Please excuse my question, I'm not as experienced as most posters on here. I'll be looking to put in ground level ponds, I wish to bypass using tap water & use clean, fresh rainwater. I wish to make the water hard, ph suitable for Axolotl. Would crushed oyster shell grit be all that's needed to...

Thanks, I've never kept shrimp before, but looking at a little tank to put on a cupboard, and like everything in aquaria, you get a lot of conflicting and bad advice.

Little update on the removal of co2. Some leaves in the highest flow are getting BBA, one of the Buce started to flower and a minor amount of green spot algae appeared on the glass. Probably should have just got another refill and dialled it down slowly. It won’t be long till the new tank is...

As others have said looks about 20ppi. There are a few sellers on ebay, like this one that has good feedback and sepecialises in aquatics. If you have a local pond shop that is also a good source for sheets that you can cut to size....

It's probably not bad, and will likely slightly lower ph along with added tannins and all the benefits that come with it. Or go the natural route and add catappa leaves for all the same benefits, with added bacteria for shrimp to graze on, shelter under leaves, and enhance the natural look in...

I'm thinking of setting up a shrimp tank, I came across Easy-Life Catappa-x, has anybody any experience with this stuff? is it good or just snake oil?

Purigen should not affect the shrimp. Some of the Brita filters use ion exchange resin to strip out the hardness and heavy metals and replace them with sodium. That includes calcium and magnesium. It is worth checking which type of cartridge you use and whether it does this so you can plan...

Hi all, Not being funny, but just throw it away, it definitely isn't working - <"Testing and What to Test">. If you want a better test kit? A <"semi-titrimetric kit"> (drop test kit) <"would be better">, but even then you are still talking "ball- park" figures at best. The problem is that...

Hi all, Buying a dry mix designed for horticulture is a <"no-brainer"> for people with a large volume of water. It takes fertilisers from being a major expense to a very minor one - as an example, still £14 a kilo - <"2:1:4 High K 1 kg">. As soon as you buy a ready diluted mix you are trading...

You could try here, who list the size you need. We bought some square blocks of ppi 30 from them recently and it has not blocked at all, though we do give it light rinse it every 2 weeks.. Pardon our interruption...

I’ve been running these lights now for a few months, ( 100G ) and they’re definitely a worthy upgrade to my original oase bulbs for sure.

Thanks for that, I have two 270l tanks one is high tech and one is not at the moment. Soon I’ll be adding co2 in second one so I will need to start mixing my own. I just can’t figure it out how, long time ago I used to mix it with Instructions that come with the all in one package.

Hi Guys, Had two very silly questions but ones that I could do with some advice or help with. 1. I’m using a glass surface skimmer for the first time. How and when do you clean these? I also notice it bobs occasionally, what do I need to adjust. 2. The suction cups on the lily...

Important note - I am no expert !! I have just got a couple of litres of this as a short term option (I think I will be moving to mixing my own soon). On paper it looks decent and pretty reasonably priced if you are set on a ready-mixed product and are unsure of the exact needs and ratios of...

Doing a bit of catch up here, a fabulous aquarium

Good advice, you often see better behaviour, there is usually less issues and in my subjective opinion, it looks much better - I hate fish soup tanks with far too many species and not enough within to shoal/school properly.

Stainless steel screws have always worked well, and safely for me. They are a million times easier to use than wooden dowels too. You won't even need to drill, just use a power driver to whack them straight in.

I know many just add lots of fish at a time, but I like to do it incrementally if possible, as well as in reverse order of aggression/territorialism. This helps with the bioload as well as aggression etc, although I'm sure you're already aware of this, why not just add one species at a time? So...

Thank you ElleDee yeah I will just manually remove them as I go. Going to be careful in general about over feeding. Think I will pop into pets at home tonight to see if I can get some pannacur liquid for the Hydra. I could pick up some Dwarf Gourami to see if they would eat it but then they...

This is probably the slowest journal ever 😄 ....but some of my wood has been cut, so I spent the weekend sanding/priming/painting this 18mm board of ply to go onto of the cabinet, it's had another coat of paint this that photo was taken, not that it needs to look great as it's just for the tank...

Looks like you're sorted but from what I've seen Wio have good quality tanks (sometimes slightly thinner glass than ADA). I have a UNS 60S and the quality is very good with the mitered corners etc, I'm sure you'll be happy.

Welcome :)

Looks like it's around 10-20PPI, I have no idea what a good brand for foam is, once you find one just buy a larger piece and cut it to size.

Well, this is how Cory from Aquarium Co-Op did a long-distance transport of fish. Hot rooms, plenty of air, treated water and containers! I guess the advantage of this compared to postal is that you have direct control and monitoring of the little lives under your care.

I found this old thread about foam, and I have to say, the problem in the UK getting the right stuff (and ensuring it IS the right stuff) still exists! https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/polyether-vs-polyester-polyethylene-foam-filters-minor-rant.50253/

Hi and welcome!

Hello 👋, welcome to UKaps.

Welcome to the UKaps! :thumbup:

Best foam I’ve ever used is Poret foam, doesn’t shrink or degrade.

Welcome to UKAPS

It’s a Brita under sink filter. I’ve been using the same regime of rain/tap water for years. Then some months ago the shrimp in one tank started dying off, but not in the other tank with the same mix of water. I wasn’t bothered at the time as they were all natural coloured shrimp. I’d now like...

Not the most exciting image , but it represents a place to start ... a reference point .There's 3 different Crypts in here . Across the back - C.'Florida Sunset' ; next closest ; C. 'Tropica" ; and closest some C. parva which I moved from a tank downstairs where it was doing nothing to this...

Hi, I noticed you posted the above on another thread today. Do you mind elaborating as to what type of filter you use as it might (or might not) have a large bearing on what you need to add to your water for shrimp and in some cases the filter itself might make the water unsuitable. Ion exchange...

Ok, after MUCH thought and consideration and YouTube scrolling, I think I’m going to give this method a shot first. I will be in New Orleans next week and will see what I can find down there. IF I happen to stumble upon a nice group of black neons, I might come home with those also. Which brings...

Hello Everyone, I'm a new member, although I have been visiting the forum on & off for many years. I'm originally from Portugal but residing in the UK for the last 10 years. I was very involved in the aquascaping scene back in Portugal, when it was all beginning (it wasn't called aquascaping...

This is a good argument. I have enough trace elements to last me about 10 years. I have a shelf in the cupboard dedicated to ferts and minerals and it’s completely overkill for my little tank. Cheap though.

Hi Darrel, I dont need to connect the pieces together. Just want to prevent then from falling over.

From a thread of mine MichaelJ He's a clued up chap who keeps shrimps .. You don't need expensive salts. Considering the cherry shrimps only, you just need CaSO4 and MgSO4 to target ~27 ppm of Ca and ~9 ppm of Mg - this will yield a GH of ~6.0. The amount you need to add depends of course...

No, it is a strip that I dip in the water (it covers a few other things too).

Personally I don't see "mess" in this tank. I do sometimes find the sheer brightness of the green in a tank such as this quite daunting. Rather than thinking structurally, my personal curiosity would be to see some autumn leaves added, to create other colours, reds, browns, oranges, and a...

Isn't it a 'count the drops' test?

I had successfully manually eliminated bladder snails several times until this April, so it can definitely be done. But then I got another infestation from some new plants and despite my efforts I was never able to get them all before they started breeding. But even still, they are kept to...

Found this video (for 450) comparing version III to IV twinstar IV Is it just me, or so Reds look more purple & greens less saturated?

Algae Your lighting period is too short....reduce the intensity to 50% and increase the photoperiod to 8 hours! Increase the plant mass....use some of the stem plants as floating plants as per the tutorial below...

Hi Could well be a Nitrate/Magnesium deficiency or Iron? I would remove most of the Matrix from the filter and replace it with sponges! Algae Your lighting period is too short....reduce the intensity to 50% and increase the photoperiod to 8 hours!

New Location I recently moved to a new apartment (hopefully no more moves!!) and so the tank has been sitting on a temporary stand until I can find one. They're hard to find in the UK, but even harder to find in Canada. As a result, it's been receiving some neglect. The beauty of a low tech...

Just a wee update: Back from 1 week off to find a small outbreak of bladder snails / smaller outbreak of Hydra and my first baby cherry shrimp and ramshorn snails. Bit gutted about the bladder snails and the Hydra - I’m not sure about going down the chemical route or Fish for the Hydra...

I don’t doubt, but without knowing what to buy and how much to use I don’t have the option. I do use my own chemicals for plant fertiliser, as conveniently it’s written down on James’ Planted Tank. Sadly no one seems to have done something similar for shrimp minerals.

Not much help to me as I don’t use Excel, only Free Office.

Yeah. That would work great. 😊

Nice job. The CO2 is obviously doing its thing ! Its a shame the plants are growing so much and covering all that carefully planned hardscape - such is the way with these things.

Yes, I like those and it would definitely give a more natural feel, but the maintenance is more than I can handle. Maybe I can grow some on mesh that can be taken out? It's something I might experiment with once I've got this going.

Any of the remineralising powders aimed at remineralising RO water to replicate the conditions required for Caridina shrimp raise only the GH and not the KH and ideally should be Carbonate and Bicarbonate free, that means some blend of Sulphates and/or Chlorides of Calcium and Magnesium...

I am struggling with some hair algae, as I have posted in this thread: https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/cant-get-rid-of-hair-algae-please-help.75854/ Its been one week since that post, seems like the hair algae still dont want to go away. I am still not aware of the cause, but when I was...

My tap water goes through a filter so I’ve never bothered with a conditioner. I do use Sodium Thiosulphate though after regenerating Purigen.

We did a reminering sheet in the IFC calculator, which makes it very easy to make you own or clone a commercial product. heres the list of the products you can clone Or just set your own parameters Heres the list of salts you can use Gives all the parameters, gH,kH,TDS, ppm etc and a cost...

I notice aquarium gardens have the 600S in stock, has anyone seen the colour rendition of this new line in person yet? I currently have a Twinstar 600E for my 60P and am building up a 75P and could potentially use a 600S IV pendant style. My alternative would be the other extreme a ADA Solar RGB...

This look great. 😍 Did you think about cuba, monte carlo or even ricia for drtails around rocks?

All planted, so the real work begins. Although there are a couple of plant placings I want to change, I'm pretty happy with the results. I've kept to the 'easy' plants, as my skills are somewhat basic when it comes to plant care. Plant list for those that are interested. Lobelia cardinalis...

Hi all, Some mix of cheap everyday salts, and some inventive advertising. They are. Cheers Darrel

An update - came across a 75P UNS at Horizon Aquatics and it looks very good quality, very neat sealant. It’s the first time I have seen one, and really liked the size of it, so have purchased it. Also horizon now do bespoke cabinets, so I have a cabinet on order 😀 . Next to find a light……

Thank you 🙏 Happy to have this now after all the algae.

Thanks guys! Haha well some plants are knowingly and willfully ignoring the planting scheme 😜. I am thinking several long twigs placed diagonally would help to create some structure and at the same time improve the messy look?

All commercial ferts are basically water, some of the water is more expensive than others and some is a rip off all together. For me its bang for buck, so I would always go for the most cost effective fert that suits my needs. TNC complete did work out the most cost effective commercial fert in...

Managed to get a Trio of Stiphodon Gobies for the tank this weekend. Delightful little characters

Hi all, Yes, you are fine. You may find you can reduce the nutrient addition over time. I'm not a CO2 user, but there will be plenty who can advise you. I'll add some links to my last post. Cheers Darrel

yes because we are all different and one condition may not affect 10 people in the same way. Don't get me started on putting the shopping away. I put a bench in the kitchen so that i can rest when i need to before/during/after putting the shopping away. doing the dishes etc. I hate when CFS...

Thanks. Daily water change and good bacteria adding works great. I bought a lily pipes but they are huge. So i order smaller ones, can't wait to add them :) Here are the pictures

Before and after pictures: First planted - end of June 2024 To today - October 2024 Happy with how it is going and now also have: Amano shrimp Albino tetra Chili Rasbora Golden back yellow shrimp (Neocaridina Davidi) Nerite bumble bee snails Pink ramshorn snails The fish and shrimp come...

Sorry for offtop, I've finally finished the video of my AGA 2023 top 5 winner aquarium of Rio Negro: It is worth another thread here 😉

Not sure if the size is right but Powkoo sell course 15ppi filter foam sponge in black. Amazon has them.

Anyone know what the ingredients are for these type of things? Several companies make them and they all seem expensive? https://www.shrimpland.uk/product-page/shrimps-forever-gh-mineral-powder-90-grams

Water change once a week 30 to 40%

Those stones look great. Plants look great too. Some glass or steel pipes would really elevate the whole look.

I’d say 10 to 20 PPI. However, Where to get good quality foam is a mystery to me!

Anyone like to guess the PPI of this foam and where I can get a BLACK or GREY version? It needs to be 50mm thick X 200mm X 2-300mm.

Hello everyone, After a 7 years of break, I have returned to this wonderful hobby. To start, I opted for a nano aquarium with a simple setup, aiming to reconnect with my past experiences. Tank is 14 days old. All parameters are great, no visible algae. Fish added yesterday. Here are some...

It’s a really unique sized aquarium, one I wouldn’t mind in my collection but too far to travel. Perhaps pop it in the sales section and you may get more interest 👍🏻

The only problem I see is the complete lack of mess.

Beautiful tank, really nice work!

Thank you this is as I thought. If I were trying to brew my own I would fill in the dosing regime exactly how I would dose if I were using APT? I do have a second low tech tank which is 70ltrs but I think it still makes sense to stick with commercial ferts for the time being and I'll probably...

Sorry if I’m being dense but does that mean I have nothing to worry about and should stick with what I’m doing (50% weekly [currently 2x a week for the next two weeks] water changes, dosing 6ml Tropica premium each water change), using Seachem Prime)? Or are there things I need to correct? I’m...

Hi all, That helps plenty. So basically it is <"hard, alkaline water"> with a <"fair amount of nitrate (NO3-)">. A lot of people in E. and SE England will have similar water out of the tap. This is how you can work out the dGH from the calcium (Ca) value - <"Water Hardness">. So we have 117...

Just discovered this webpage full of really cool images of the Rio Xingú river in Brazil, in case it could be inspiration to any of you or just an interesting read! https://amazonas.dk/index.php/articles/brasilien-rio-xingu