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Eurgh, I’ve kept them mine (Altum unintentional snacks). Sources online are not reliable anymore, they’re regurgitated from single sources. I’ve seen them at about~4.5cm (probabaly more 4), so I bet they could hit 5cm. Check out fishbase for fairly accurate sizing. Imo, your tank is too small...

Sounds like a great aquarium

Tank is f’n tiny tho 😩

I have a glass wide mouthed demijohn that is covered in cling film with about 2cm of water in the bottom that I use to keep plants longer term. The ones in there at the moment have been in there for a few months without complaint. Growing a bit too well, actually.

A e/w windowsill should be fine for a week

I’ve *never had a tank that’s not had BBA. I could reliably get BBA when using dead branches with bark on. However when using branches like this in soft soft water, I don’t get BBA. Anecdotal, most likely. I’ve never had** high lighting, as high lighting has always caused me more algae. I can...

Followed John

A minor learning, which by sharing I am probably teaching you how to suck eggs… Large rocks in the back of the tank are lovely, add depth and height. However once plants grow in, you often lose them. They take up large areas of valuable planting space, which i kinda now need in this tank. I...

I’ve seen them get to a meter in length. If they reach the substrate they’re kinda invasive…

Hi, green hair algae has almost gone. Not sure what I did to do this… a few scrubs, plants obviously growing well, oh, and 20 amano shrimp… Going to order some moss and epiphytes soon. Maybe another carpeting plant, see if I can make this tank a bit more “jungley”. Thinning the floaters out...

If you YouTube IAPLC build videos quite a few people use black lava stone to create islands and height, could be inspiring ?

Well this is it, if I’d have lost other fish in the order, I or wildwoods would be at fault. But as I didn’t lose a single other fish in the order, I just think these fish weren’t up to it. Fish were well packaged, very well packaged. But we just don’t know how cold those vans get. There was...

Well, anecdotal but my parents next door neighbour did one of those aquariums above the pond things, so goldfish could swim up and take a look. It’s lasted all the elements and has been there for 10+ years, more like 15. Aquarium silicone is meant to have high resistant to UV damage, but I’m...

Lessons learnt, will only order fish in summer and for very delicate fish, I’ll go down in person.

Yes, your water is fine. I’d probably just add a bit more sand at the back to create a slope. It wouldn’t hurt (aesthetically) to add some rocks too. I’d suggest you add root tabs. I’d also suggest that you dose 10-20ml of TNC complete every week. Only dose that volume if you’re going to add...

You could try putty for marine rocks, mix it grey/black and use that to join the rocks?

I’m generally tricky to convince to buy things, as in I believe simplicity is key. I then bought an ADA super jet, used it for about a week. Looks nice tho.

Aeneus, concolor- 25-27 Blochi, brevirostris, Melanistius 26-28

26-29c So greens would be fine

I’m scheduled to be in London that week for work, so maybe I could visit. But then I realise I’m not that social 👍

Yup, @dw1305 is correct, but the higher ph with soft water is unusual and really, I’ve seen ph of 8.4 out of the tank. . Truth be told, I don’t really think my water I is challenging, just variable. I give very little thought to ph these days 👍

Approximately dGH around 1.5 or ~<50tds (depends on the rain) with a variable ph of around 7.8 - 8 Working out quite nicely so far tho.

How it’s going… Algae looks bad, but it’s really starting to clear up. The green thread algae may be a problem tho. Every tank I’ve had here has become overrun with it eventually. Need to remove the floating mass, eventually. There is a pair of apistos in here now, and about 16 amanos. And...

Will be fine 👍 seen it in tropical greenhouses with 40c temps in the greenhouse

A sad end to this, I think overnight postage with minus temperatures got them. They went into a very mature nano, which up until then housed a single betta. But I’ve lost 16 fish in 4 days. I’ve got 3 left. It should have been the perfect tank, mulm, algae, and loads of azola. in the same...

https://www.aquatic-gardeners.org/Articles/TAG20-1pg25-31%20Artificial%20Rocks.pdf Looks good

Resurrecting, because I don’t know what I’m doing 👍 I have seen that very heavy rocks will weigh down the aquarium enough that it pushes down the aquarium mat the aquarium sits on. This is on top of a reasonable deep sand bed and egg creates. I can’t believe this is safe; as it’s creating...

Keith at wildwoods got some in, ordered 18 and lost 5. They’re all less than 1cm long. Feeding micro worms, vinegar eels, and added some paramecium for good measure too. Can say the survivors are eating, which is good. You couldn’t keep these with any other fish, imo.

Got some 👍

Finally listened to this. I run 2 250s, and 350 - none sound like this, but I can reproduce this sound if the canister is not filled with water. To fix: Empty canister and refill. Connect the inflow/return Connect the outflow Suck on the outflow so you can be sure that water has filled...

Sorry, I bought an all ponds solution timeless tank. And I sent it back, others on here did the same. Silicone was terrible and scratches in glass (deep) where they had tried to trim silicone. Crap. Even if they have improved, I’ll never buy another.

No, they’re terrible 👍

Great suggestion, just looking into these now. A close friend is a furniture maker and I suspect they could make me shade for these so it’s not too brutalist in the room. I do wonder how bright they would be tho, as in, blinding?

I am looking to buy some lights. The water depth is 60cm, and the lights might end up being 100cm above the substrate. The tank is about 180cm long and 70cm wide. I would like to suspend the light from my ceiling, which is about 160cm from water surface. Looking at Kessils, hyperspots and ADA...

19mm, but with a 19mm piece in the corners siliconed in, if that makes sense. A4L calls them armoured joints

Ordered 178x70x60 😬 will share more when it’s here, in months.

Give this a read: Biotope in my study, a low-tech natural aquarium - tuncalik.com - Natural Aquariums and Sustainable Life I think your tank is too small to provide enough natural food for them. As for grouping, I think they’re better in a small group. A self regulating aquarium is possible but...

Unsure, effectively forces me to go to RO/rainwater. Add in botanicals, try and starve it off. Reduce lighting a touch. Fairly common in new setups so 🤷‍♂️🙏

About 8 days after I filled green thread algae has emerged. I am 99% sure the wood was seeded with it so beware when walking loch shores and picking wood that the wood may be seeded with some nasties 👍

Just going to challenge this, not because I disagree but because you’re not moving the tank. Every substance in the previous tank is covered in bacteria that are part of the stable aquarium. The more presence/surface there is in the tank theoretically the less bacteria would be in the filter...

A fully tank shot, and pictures of any effected areas you want to discuss will help 👍

Just looks like a different colour morph to me; but it will die if you don’t add calcium to the water. Its shell will slowly thin 😞 I could be incorrect on what you need to add 😬👌

I’m really into sci-fi, hard sci fi more so. Dark first has been on my list for years but just haven’t had the time to get into it. It does assume the reader can grasp some higher physics concepts. But it’s excellent, but it’s a book that needs the series to support it (books 1/2/3/4) I prefer...

Finished “The Dark Forest” last night and I’m very keen to get into the next.

Ahh! I was really impressed with the plants too btw, really healthy looking so will see how they get on as light is limited in this tank. Will offer them on the sales forum 👍 (auction tho)

I have three plants left if you’d like them? Just pay postage (inc that 80p for RM to collect from my door 😅)

Heater failed two nights ago, and the tetras in that tank went down to 12c They were lethargic, pale and not looking good. Pretty sure I’d have lost them if I did t catch it sooner (within 24 hours)

I plan to fill tonight! 😬 Cable ties will remain in place until the wood has absorbed water. I did dowel a few pieces so should be OK. I have some planting to do too, but really just relying on floaters to start with.

It’s been fairly easy for me; you need two tanks, relatively warm water and a good amount of leaf litter. Tetras (neon/black) spawn easy - acidic tank, 25/6c lots of leaf litter, feed live foods every day. They’ll start to spawn, once they have spawned move parents out. Once you’ve picked out...

Overall best, I think

No problem, keep an eye on her listing as sometimes things go for 99p! Wood has gotten very expensive imo - especially as most of it is just an algae disaster waiting to happen 😬

A great chunk I’ve collected over time, but a couple of deliveries from kilda11 on eBay helped plug the gaps. One of the core pieces came from her store, wood can be very cheap. I have a lot of this wood now, but it’s not as easy to work with and you can see the sacrifices I’ve made with shading...

Tank looks really good, and a shame about the Cory. I’d suggest (if the fry aren’t alive) getting your hand into the tank and stirring up the dirt to get as much out as you can. That mulm is a great source of food for fry. Mulm is good, but also may or may not promote algae, but definitely does...

I too would go for a hob; much more applicable on a small tank and easy to maintain

In progress: Almost there No room to the rear 😬 I filled some tights with tropica soil; and that’s buried in there. I didn’t photo that as that’s kinda boring. Will add root tabs now I’ve decided to get heavy root feeders.

I haven’t kept it before sadly, just taking a gamble on it 😬 Aquasabi says: It is propagated by adventitious plantlets on the inflorescences which appear mostly in the emersed form, but sometimes also in the aquarium.

It’s a beauty, isn’t it? Hardier, grassy tall plants are kinda few and far between. I just wanted something that could punch through the wood, we shall see! Sadly the tank depth means I’ve got about an inch of space at the back of the tank so, it’s not ideal.

I bought some Echinodorus Decumbens - was reading through Aquarium Plants by Christel Kasselmann and it looks like just what I want in here: This may be the only plant in the tank, we shall see!

😬 780l total volume says no to RO @MichaelJ I have spawned and raised neons in my tap water, which I am using a lot of botanicals. I’ll get a ph probe and check it. Botanicals require a lot of husbandry tho. I’ve never seen ph as a problem, in fact , I’m not sure I still do but that’s...

My in laws own a fair chunk of land, and a river runs through it. West coast of Scotland. Found these: Found these months ago, only collected them to show as I have no plans to collect more of these rocks 👍 these kind of rocks make up less than 5% of the rocks of the river that runs. I’m...

I’m wondering if I should make a continuous ph probe attached to a pump which adds say 10ml of hydrochloric acid until ph is at say, 5? Wondering if this is a bit mental tho? 😅

Hey @dw1305 , sorry to revive a thread but… I am not a chemist and while I have a vague idea about bases and acids (a levels, yawn) I basically know nothing. My water has this, dGH around 1.5, ph 7.8, sometimes 8.2. I understand that the water is likely dosed with NaOH, but will the...

However in a low tech tank, your remediative actions can take many weeks to show a change - you may have even made the wrong change 😅. I actually think it’s easier to learn the hard way with high tech EI based planted tanks as your changes can be see in days.

@Andy Pierce they use Facebook as their primary audience 🤷‍♂️ but I don’t have Facebook 🤦 Also on an aside p.gayi might be my favourite stem plant, it grows so so well in all water types but, and a big but, it does not like shade. Lower suffer if it grows too bushy.

Tickets sold so quickly 😩

Some suggestions; Pier aquatics get them in every now and then Wildwoods may order them in Kew aquatics on Band has them in a list every now and then (I think)

Mass deaths in the marine world, and of course plenty of deaths in the tropicals too. 30c is very warm for any prolonged period for a lot of fish.

Depends on fish; 25c is my standard temperature but I tend to do a lot of research on the fish I keep so that I set the heater to be that of the average water temperature for that fish at their known wild locations. I mostly keep wild caught fish, however farmed fish tend to be in warm places...

I sold mine, just didn’t suit the room. Looks great imo. Buy the wood base as it’s unsteady on carpet.

In rainwater with 20% Cambridge tap water mine did okay. In 100% Cambridge tap water it did amazing. On the west coast of Scotland, it withers and dies…

I mean how the image is distorted as you look into the aquarium? I think that’s refraction? In an aquarium (large) often I find that the focus/detail can be distorted due to the glass thickness, but in a public aquaria the glass is often much much thicker 😅

Water volume, and surface area do some real wonders for water stability and in turn plant growth. Not to devalue Toms tanks; they’re inspirational to me too, much like how this one ( Biotope in my study, a low-tech natural aquarium - tuncalik.com - Natural Aquariums and Sustainable Life ) was an...

Thank you 🙏 I really wanted to share as I was really happy with what could be made with really inexpensive wood. This aquarium was a Christmas gift from folks, and it came with these odd but actually not terrible Aquel leddy LEDs. I don’t really want to change the light but I could remove a...

About to pull trigger on a tank, but I can drop a safety level to 15mm If you have a 19mm glass tank, what’s the viewing like? Does the image distort? I guess the 180cm aquascaper had 19mm? About to spend a fortune, so would like to be sure

Aw thanks Tim, there is a part of me that wants to fill it all in, but that’s a bit more scapey than I want. Need to think about it more as water is really soft and I also quite fancy using vallis nana. This is my bad, applying opaque window film on the outside. I can’t do it in situ, as the...

Freshwater driftwood, and a nice carbo root piece. Idea is to have it all look like one root. Planning to add more rocks behind and to the left. Going to take it all out soon so I can add some backing film as I’m a little more invested in this aquarium than I thought I would be. Unsure on...

I’d love to have the hardscape/plant dedicated places that England has locally, but I’m unsure there is enough support for another store in UK equivalent to those in England; so much competition online etc. I think it’s quite a challenging time beneath the surface for dedicated shops, yet I...

Yep, I’m local but non-native 👍 we’re struggling up here for shops worth going to imo. For hardscape, pretty slim picking. Riverside aquaria is alright, and I quite like it but fish aren’t all in best condition. All round best shop imo. Waterworld aquatics on Paisley Road is pretty good, but...

Something like this should do it https://www.topregal.co.uk/en/shelving-racks/1-2-m-shelving-rack-fb500-45-cm-deep-1-8-m-high-4-levels-rack-layer-wood-compartment-load-capacity-500-kg.html

Many winters… There is a greater variety in neocaridinia, and I can’t be 100% they’re davidi. 🤷‍♂️

Cherries have gone down to 6c for me. Just saying the unheated greenhouse pond still has a colony…

Any new leaves? It’s a heavy root feeder, so if it’s in inert gravel it would be very wise to add root tabs. I’d probably add root tabs regardless 👍 It was constantly my top grower in hard water

From King’s Cross, you go by train to Huntingdon then it’s a bus to the shop. Via Cambridge has a bit more of a walk/uber. It’s a nice trip and I’ve done it before. You’ll get a lot of inspiration, and advice at aquarium gardens and I’m convinced their plant selection is better in person than...

I had a thought, When cycling a tank we’re basically making a lot of denitrifying bacteria and others. From this point on, I’ll refer to all bacteria as bacteria. (Obv) If bacteria in the tank is effectively limited by the amount of food going in, then if I add a second filter wouldn’t this...

I know this site won’t be the cheapest to run, I really only (devils advocate) asked as I can’t imagine your costs aren’t any different from other sites 👍 I think you should be more open with costs, if you’re running at a loss, shout about it. I also agree re:sponsors! I know it’s a bit tight...

Gucci media is boxed nicely tho 😩😩

What does the money go towards? I say that to be devils advocate, instagram, facebook, Reddit etc are free. If money is neede, I’d suggest doing something like: Ukaps memberships; ⚫️ Allows for unlimited trading on forum (limits non members to one item a month) ⚫️ Monthly aquascaping...

While you’re not wrong, it’s easier to get started with an all in one system. It also quickly teaches you about what you do and don’t need. £150 is not much money really, and while wasteful you could certainly learn a thing or two with any of the systems suggested 👍

Super fish tanks look pretty decent for the money See: Superfish Scaper 90 Litre Aquarium Set

Asellus aquaticus?

All good 🎉

I am posting this at 19:40, to check back in 2 hours. Flux capacitor is glitching

Thank you, missed that setting somehow - and it had bugged me for years…!

Looks like whenever I post something it says I posted it 4 hours later than had? Is this a profile setting or something admins can set? Is it just me? 😅

Maybe stating obvious but, as I understand it no one openly is a fish vet, and fish diseases are so tricky to diagnose it’s all educated guesses. What can look like one thing in one pic, is something else in another and context can often alter diagnosis. There is a nice flow chart in a TFH...

Sounds bacterial to me, maybe internal parasite. Strong indicator is fin damage that isn’t healing. Fin rot can look different on any fish, but it’s quite common to have fin rot with other infections 👍 Rare to have TB without signs of an open would - as I understand it anyway.

Aiming for 10 for me , I don’t really want to see notable glass deflection as ultimately while within tolerance I believe this adds greater strain on the silicone 😬

Interesting post, thanks Kris. I lean on the side of caution. I agree this may end up being 15mm but I’ll need to do a couple more calculations. Just as I’m calculating force on glass from water I’m also calculating external forces, like my disabled mother leaning on the aquarium for support...

Yeah this has been part of my problem, I can go bigger but whether or not I need to is another issue. I won’t be starting the tank with any fish greater than a few inches. I just need to be mindful of the future and make sure that any fish I might fancy can be housed. I agree I won’t be able...

What great journal doesn’t start off with a wall of text 😎 I’ve been dreaming of being in a somewhat stable position for a while, you know, settled in a new home, babies no longer tiny, no one has died in a while, that kind of place. I think with so much going on, and with a lot of choice for...