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Wouldnt that upset my plants as well?

Thanks guys - i can put the plants in a different tank to do an easycarbo overdose.

Hey folks I need to take down and move my 160l tank in a couple of months as it is at the "tank sitters" aka mom and dads garage whilst we move into and renovate our new house. Its always had a clado problem and i dont mind a bit as it looks quite good on the wood but its knitting the plant...

I have a friend in the Netherlands I am sure he doesnt dechlorinate. I looked up your fish on the Seriously Fish database and it does say that the temp in their natural environment rarely fluctuates and that they tend to fare poorly unless maintained at 24-28. Bad luck - its a good database...

Thanks for the feedback guys. That last link is great, and his water looked crystal clear!

Hey folks I have been googling wabi kusa balls and it looks like most people advocate buying a ready made one. However i would like to try and make one myself and wondered if i could use something very porous eg catlitter in a stocking, and then dose the water with ferts? It just seems that...

I cant honestly remember the exact time frame - the moss was allowed 10 days out of water to fix onto the wood before i submerged it but i dosed the tank for the other plants mainly. Once everything showed progress i withdrew the additives and it all carried on growing well. My plan had been to...

Its worth a shot - you could try keeping it moist in a pot for a bit to see if anything happens. Mine didnt do a lot for about a month but after that progress was slow but steady. I was dosing tropica specialised and easycarbo for thatfirst month though so that would have helped it along i guess.

Thanks again Michael :) i think i may try one broad leafed plant but am conscious that i dont want to obscure too much light to the underwater plants. That tank in the first link is amazing!! Even he says some of his plants outgrew that tank so thatswhy im looking specifically for tiddlers...

Hiya its me again. Seeing as you have already been so helpful on the critter front i thought id pick your brains about plants. I am looking for ideas for plants i could use for emergent growth, i only have a 60 by 30cm footprint so its got to be small. I would love to try maidenhair fern but...

Thanks for that link Michael, i think that might be perfect especially if its something i could find in the wild. Ugly bugs but if they do the job im happy. Love that google translate of the article, hope they dont grow as big as donkeys :)

Thanks for the quick reply troi :) I had thought about pond dipping (new house has a beaitiful established wildlife pond) but wasnt sure if i might introduce something unwanted into the tank. I had damslefly nymphs come in on some plants in my big tank and they are mean critters! I bet its a...

Hey folks Its a way off yet (have just moved house and have a tonne of renovating to do) but to keep.myself sane i am making a planted tank plan for my 54 litre Juwel Korall. I am really keen on trying to replicate something along these lines...

Ok thanks Ender - makes sense if you are not providing high levels of eveything else then lots of light would create an imbalance.

What will you do with it? And back on topic, just to get my bearings with regard to how much light I need - how many of these would you need to have successful growth in a 54 litre? tank is 30cm deep. http://www.argos.co.uk/m/static/Product/partNumber/4325750/Trail/searchtext>CLIP ON DESK LAMP.htm

Like many, I miss that tank Alastair. Your new one is pretty special though :)

Wow that banyan forest tank was beautiful. I love the idea of being so low tech, and the emergent growth looked so natural. Right I'm going to have to google all these lighting suggestions - thanks ffor the advice!

Lol I was just looking at Edvets one perched on a corner! What sort of wattage should I go for?

Hey folks Ive got a 54 litre tank that I am interested in trying as a Walstad ecosystem. Ive got.her book and am only on page 21 so very much finding my feet. I love the idea of emergent growth but the tank is a bog standard Juwel with lighting in the hood. Whats the best way to go about...

Thanks so much for the link :)

Ive got my hands on a copy of Walstads book so hope to educate myself over the next few days :) Ive also looked at a few science papers about the impact of elevated CO2 on bacteria and cant quite figure it out! There is one about marine bacteria which suggests that elevated CO2 makes the...

Thank you for your reply Darrel, I appreciate your input. I use a calculation based on the ammonia% and tank volume to ddose ammonia as even as a kit user I know they can only give a ball park idea of what is going on (the colour differences are minute and I struggle to read differences, but can...

Thank you for your reply Darrel, I appreciate your input. I use a calculation based on the ammonia% and tank volume to ddose ammonia as even as a kit user I know they can only give a ball park idea of what is going on (the colour differences are minute and I struggle to read differences, but can...

I know Fern :) I see lots of successful tanks that have been cycled too, this is why I am after the detail. If its any consolation I did think twice about dosing today (first time I've tested for ammonia in a few days) and it was at zero. I've re-dosed at a much lower 1ish ppm in hope of finding...

So you think the ammonia method is more for the fish keeper than the planted tank enthusiast?

Do you feel that we see problems where people have fishlessly cycled correctly (including a qualifying week so as to ensure the results are stable)?

Also, you mention that a bucket of water will become colonised with bacteria. Giving hat the.purpose of cycling/maturation for a fish keeper is to ensure fish waste can be rendered harmless to fish, and dissolved oxygen appears to be a limiting factor for bacterial growth, arent you giving the...

Thanks for the reply. What is the empirical data we have to confirm a tank is cycled and ready for fish?What is measured? With respect, you say that these bacteria are vital, but you don't know what they are... you suggest that the proof is in the fact that your fish don't die, but I could use...

Thank you Harry, I find this stuff absolutely fascinating. If its anything like PFK then I'm sure my questions have been asked before - if anyone could direct me to any good threads I would be grateful - my searches keep going off on tangents as I click on something, it turns out not to be...

Thank you for the supportive words - maybe I will do a journal - I do feel that my understanding will come on much quicker by asking questions on this forum. I understand what you are saying Andy, but I still want to know what these other crucial bacteria are, and why so many tanks do...

I will definitely think about a journal, feel like too much of a novice to be putting my pics up.next to the likes of some of the others though :) I understand why you want me to stop using ammonia, up to a point. I have taken on board all the info I've received so far in response to my...

:)

No of course not but they will be moving into this tank once its ready.

Thanks so much both! That pump looks like a bit of a food processor, I have shrimp so would have to proof any equipment to make it safe. My other question is, wouldn't that kind of flow turn my tank into a washing machine? Where are the fish supposed to rest?

I've got two Marina s20s but they seem really sluggish - that's why I got the u4! Will Google power head, I don't really know what they are.

Fern - I've got a Fluval U4 set on the underwater spray bar mode (not sure what the proper name is but its like a vertical spray) I will definitely go and get a timer tomorrow :) I think the grey stuff is simply coming off the red moor root, it comes off really easily (using a turkey baster to...

Could it be fungal? The redmoor appears to have a similar thing on it. I wondered whether it could be debris from the redmoor as tge flow takes stuff into that area, but its definitely growing on the plants.

Other info which ceg said would be helpful: Tank is 160l, lighting is one aqua glo bulb, one sun glo bulb, I'm not home at the mo so can only go by what the write up of the tank deal says, I think they are 30W. I've had the lights on a lot - sometimes in excess of 15 hours a day as I forget to...

Yeeeehah I've finally got it thanks Jafooli and John :) Have another pic of my ailing greenery.

Yes thank you John, I am having a spot of bother with my ailing Nexus, it doesn't like copying things :)

And me! I'm pasting the above link into the pop up box but all I'm seeing is a blue box with a white question mark in it (very avant garde arrangement for a planted tank... :))

Darrel you are very kind to help me understand all this, thank you.

I am a complete newbie in terms of planted tanks - my first tank only has 5 different plants in it and they are all extremely easy. Do you guys generally use photo bucket? I can't find an attachment button for pics.

What percentage and frequency of water changes do you advocate? Will the grey algae kill off my plants?

Why, exactly? Cheers

Hi folks I've been looking at this site for a couple of weeks now and have already picked up loads of information. I need some help with my new tank, I'm confused about whether its low tech or not, I have Tropica specialised and Easycarbo but I'm not sure how much of each to add while the...

Thanks so much! The other bit I didn't get was how the small increase in bio load would crash the filter....?

I got everything else but this :) don't worry if you are sick of explaining everything to me, I get it off my toddler (why, why, but why mommy...!) I've seen a video about the anaerobic nitrate munching bacteria, can't say it interests me though as I've barely registered nitrates in my tank...

OK I've read it all properly now, had to make some notes to keep myself on track :) I am glad to have read an explanation for keeping the tank clean and doing water changes - at first I didn't get the link between BOD and nitrification but the last article spelled it out very well.

Thank you for the reply Darrel. I've just had a skim through but.will definitely reading more thoroughly later - are you essentially saying then that oxygen is the limiting factor in the growth of all the beneficial organisms in the tank?

OK I've read some of that thread (its mammoth!) And its just raising an absolute tonne of questions! First though I need to clear up something else from this thread that was bugging me. Where Clive has been quoted further up, he suggests that nitrifying bacteria are chemoautotrophs, and that...

I've not heard of that technique, I thought it had to be after.so as to have proper access to the relevant bit! I have never done it myself but have read the PFK article linked to further up the thread, which suggests pithing comes last. Lovely topic!!

Fern you might be right about the reason for the ammonia method becoming popular, as you do end up with bacterial colonies that are.able to process a fully stocked tank. It doesn't just take a fortnight though Ian - mine took 5 weeks. In terms of the criticisms of the method, I have the...

My mind is open, but I do need details to understand it properly :)

Hello stranger! I'm so uncool - is that a Top Gear reference? :)

Where can I find more information on this? My fish are going to produce ammonia so I am guessing its to do with the concentration of ammonia.

Just need to make sure people realise they need to pith (destroy brain) after decapitation as the head can remain alive for several minutes after removal.

Well that sounds exciting, i hope Ceg does see the post :)

I haven't had any problems with nitrites. Which bacteria does ammonia kill that are necessary for a.healthy tank? Looks like my ammonia may have inadvertently sorted out any issues caused by the yoghurt anyway.... :)

Who is Ceg and why would this make them mad?

["ian_m, post: 337694, member: 8584"]Yet another falls for the "fishless cycling" matrix myth and wonder why things don't work, them nicely sterilising their tanks adding ammonia. "Fishless" cycling | The Skeptical Aquarist Years ago (pre-1999) I remember reading about people would...

Well.... this approach feels like a sort of gentler, more elegant refinement of the basic principle. People on this site are as much gardeners as pet owners, if not more, so it stands to reason that the focus will be different. I think PFKs approach is to hammer home the basics and get peoples...

OK thanks Andy :)

I'm using the fishless cycling technique using ammonia and testing - how do you cycle a tank without ammonia? Will it still grow sufficient numbers of nitrosomona and nitrobacter to deal with a fully.stocked tank?

Sorry I have been very vague! I used the yoghurt for a DSM technique but I only left it a week before I put it in the tank. The nitrogen results aren't moving ie ammonia isn't going down etc. I've just got to be patient!

Thanks for the reassurance! I spose I'll just have to be patient :)

Hey folks I am sorry if this is in the wrong place, but I wanted to confirm whether yoghurt (which I used to paint on some wood to grow moss) is going to affect bacterial growth in my filter? I'm cycling with a good chunk of mature media but nothings moving and I wondered if the yoghurt.might...

Hi George I am a novice fish keeper with a (very) low tech planted tank. I am keen to up my game a bit for tank #2 which is on order, and would love to try the DSM and moss/yoghurt paste on some.red moor root. I am conscious that fissidens and riccardia are classed as 'advanced' on the Tropica...