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Am I right in thinking that I have to be a little more careful with CO2 in my tank given I am using rainwater? Presumably the low hardness means that co2 stopping and starting can cause larger ph changes? And the low hardness in rainwater makes the ph swing for the ideal CO2 concentration larger?

So the tank is: 80cm x 40cm x 45cm - about 144 litres volume (120 litres water allowing for substrate and hardscape) Planting is a carpet of Hemianthus Callitrichoides and Eleocharis Parvula (the EP to be added in the coming week) Currently has 5 Amano shrimp - several years old, left from my...

Just wondering what people use for cleaning the inside of their tanks? It's 10mm glass - so a little thick for magnet cleaners - and to be honest they always end up with grit trapped and the glass scratched. I'm guessing the safest option for avoiding scratches is a blade cleaner - just...

I ran a Discus tank several years ago, and used only rain water very successfully. My return to aquascaping won't be discus, but an 80cm high tech planted tank. I will bring a water feed in from outside to a sump under the tank, so that water can come up to room temp before carrying out water...

As in the title. Just wondering if anyone has any experience of using them. Initial enquiries have been very positive, but just wondered if anyone has any first hand experience.

Well I'm returning to a new setup after several years away from planted tanks. I've already been skimming through the fora here picking up ideas and asking some questions. It will be a high tech tank that I'm building from scratch (including the tank itself) as, in typical fashion, I want...

Trying to decide on lights for my new tank. 80 x 40 x 45 cm Will be going into a custom made oak hood, so no legs or hanging equipment required. Want something with plenty of capacity. Will use controller to fine tune levels. Want to grow a good carpet, so don’t want something that’s not...

Can someone solve my lily pipe conundrum!? I am building an 80 x 40cm base tank. Due to reasons I won’t bore people with, I have to have my glasswork going in from the back, not the ends. I can do either of the 2 options in my plan view illustration. I fear that neither options are ideal...

So on my new tank I will be using an in-line diffuser to remove one more item from the tank. I've read contradicting ideas of where to place this, some saying the outflow, into the filter, and others saying the inflow back to the tank. Obviously I want to ensure maximum co2 dissolving, so...

Advice sought on lighting layout. New 80 x 40 cm base tank. Aquaray 600 Grobeam Duo which I am happy provide enough light for the volume of the tank. However I am having a little dilemma regarding layout within the oak hood I am making. The Grobeams are a fair bit shorter than the length of...

There is clearly a trend for clear glass and pipework at the moment - I will be using aquascaper lilypipes and clear pipe on my new setup. What I do notice is no-one has caught up on the fittings front. No-one makes clear elbows or junctions. Because of how I will have to arrange things, I...

So the CO2Art regulator that I was having trouble with yesterday turns out to be an older single stage regulator, not a dual one - fell foul of the old issue of sellers confusing dual gauge with dual stage. Never mind, these things happen. So looking at my original regulator that I bought...

That'll teach me for feeling pleased with myself. Secured a CO2Art regulator from ebay. Dual stage, for much less than new price - felt good :) Arrived today, to find that it won't fit onto the extinguisher. On this regulator, the connecting shank /bolt screws directly into the BACK of the...

Trying to work out if I am purchasing enough light for my new 80 x 40 x 45 cm planted tank. Will be well planted and will want to get good carpeting on the bottom with CO2 injection via an inline diffuser. Am purchasing an Aquaray Grobeam 600 Duo (2 bars, 10 LED's) as I already have the...

Re-reading about EI after several years away from a serious planted tank. All the guides say about making a separate Macro and Micro solution because they react when mixed. If this is the case, how do products such as TNC Complete have 'ALL' the nutrients in them? I see the ADA products come...

Am about to set up a new high tech planted tank, trying to re-use as much existing equip as I still have stored from a previous large (350litre) Discus tank I used to run. However, have some questions about whether some of this equipment will work, given the size of the new venture. Tank: 80 x...

Have been running a Fluval edge with an Aquaray 400 mini tile for some time now. I already have the older Aquaray 8 channel controller with dimming and storm function. Am about to build a new open planted tank with all the hardware hidden in Oak boarding and glass lilly pipes. I will build an...

Hi, Have been using Estimative Index, since November. This is currently working on a routine of 2 water changes of 20% a week. The formula for my dosing liquids are included below from my original posting back in Oct / Nov Using James' planted tank calculator, I carried out the following...

Hi, I have used rainwater in my tank for over 3 years now, with almost no tap water ever going in. However, of course now the GH and KH are almost non-existent and I would like to raise it a little. This can easily be achieved with the local tapwater! As the rainwater is stored in 25l jerry...

I have had some amano shrimp in the tank for just over 2 weeks and they seem happy enough and appear to have evaded the discus long enough for me to consider trying to increase their number in the new year. My only concern is that, being a discus tank, I use rainwater, and as a result have a...

Ok, I have my first delivery of dry powders arriving tomorrow, and I want to run a possible dosing regime and recipe past people for feedback. Introduction: 250l (150cm x 40 x 40) discus tank with medium density planting (it'll grow!), 4 x 54w 120cm T5 plant gro tubes (2 on for 8 hours, 2 for a...

Well my 250l discus tank is planted up now, and the CO2 system is installed and working at a very low level just to get the fish used to the idea! However, I'd been thinking about the issue of avoiding food ending up in the ground cover planted area, and I've had a bit of a brainwave. I've...

I would like to try using the EI method now my tank is planted up. The problem is this. I use rainwater in my tanks, and have done for several years, having almost no problems with fish compared with those when I used tapwater. The Discus especially benefit as we have very hard water in our...

I have been busy setting up new equipment on my 250l discus tank and today I got as far as putting the external CO2 reactor in. Well the existing flow order was: inlet into filter (straight through bottom of tank,it's got drilled pipework.), then output through UV filter before returning to...

Phew... what an afternoon I've just had. Have ended up having to completely disassemble a 5foot arcadia luminaire. I'll explain: I took the offer of the 4 x T5 Arcadia 5 foot luminaire from Jim at TGM since he was off-loading them due to a lighting changeover. I assumed it would be the same...

Hi, I have red about the anti-algae benefits of shrimp, but have a discus tank. Is any of the breeds of shrimp large enough or confident enough to be ok in a discus tank? Any info appreciated!

Things are coming along with equipping of the 275l discus tank. I should point out that this is an established tank that's been running for 18 months, but I had to strip out all the plants, decoration and substrate as I acquired leeches from somewhere. Luckily, having spent 3 months as a bare...

After some reading and thinking, I'm probably going to start off my 300l Discus tank with the following: Hemianthus Callitrichoides Staurogyne sp Taxiphyllum barbieri As far as I can tell, this should avoid the need for extra lighting (I currently have 2 x 54W T5 120cm flourescents) and also...

I'm gearing up to replant my 300 litre, 1m 50cm length tank and wanted to ask for a few pointers to see if I can improve my success! The previous substrate was sand, but that had to go when my tank acquired leeches from somewhere. 1. Given the plants I'm thinking of using listed below, I...