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Awesome hatchefish

Plants will also take up some calcium, some may also be lost to the substrate. In every tank Ca uptake and loss is unique. I'm saying that in your case, calcium build up may be exceeding plant uptake and other losses leading to slightly higher calcium readings over time. This may be happening...

I also find the "dose macros in the morning and micros in the evening" a bit silly too. The PO4 will reduce a little during the day due to plant uptake, but it is not any 'less-effective' at precipitating Fe from solution in the morning or at night. So levels of PO4 do fall during the day, but...

As water evaporates the calcium will be left behind. If you top up with tap water at this point which contains further calcium, your levels will increase. If you add RO water at this point instead, your levels will balance out again. If you only did top ups in aquariums, not water changes...

Precipitation: You will rarely ever get total precipitation of Fe and PO4 dosing at the same time. We spout this info over and over but no hobbyist that I know of has tested this theory properly. It's only academic, not particularly a fact that the new compound forms completely rendering dosing...

As rebel said completely harmless. It's great food for daphnia and fish fry. Many breeders induce it to feed fry. Just a bit unsightly is all. In ponds it comes and goes when it's sunny etc.

Lots of competition for resources in this tank. Very slight chance of allelopathy also perhaps. I think a root tab will make a big difference.

Wow pond snails never looked so attractive. Beautiful patterns on flesh and shell.

Very little we ever do with aquariums is easy. We all seem to have horror stories and hold-ups. Keep perservering. This is just extra time to plan the scape...

Why cap it at all? Aquasoil doesn't need capping.

So they are! Thanks for telling me. Why do these guys differ from other gourami who are bubble nesters? Are they unique in the gourami family in this respect?

A psychologist might recommend graded exposure therapy, the gradual acclimatisation to something that frightens you. Start with touching it for 1 sec today, try 2 secs tomorrow and so on. Eventually you'll get there. TBH I can't feel shrimp when they walk over my hand. Maybe my hands aren't...

The other potential issue here is Easy Carbo.. dose is 1ml/50L.. you're running less than 20L here.. I'd reduce to <0.5ml Glut is potent stuff, plant uptake may be affected by CO2 injection, plants can sustain damage.

Plants are new and I'm umming and erring a little here, but think micro toxicity is a potential problem. Full EI may be too rich for this tank, the lower levels of EI would be more suitable for the level of plant mass. I'd cut dosing in half, macros and micros and see if things improve. They...

Gourami form bubble nests and tear away small bits of plant to create the nest. You'll see this behaviour increase around spawning time.

I think a lot of people who speak English as second language here struggle with misnamed thread titles etc perhaps more than others. UKAPS attracts members from Europe and surrounds with great diversity of language, more so than some other aquarium forums. I understand the difficulty in making...

I think they'll need at least 4 hrs high light to do well, 6-8 hrs might be better. They do grow in medium light, just not as well as they could.

I'm lazy and dose both at the same time. Reaction of PO4 and Fe is an issue but it's likely only some precipitation happens, not all of the Fe becomes unavailable to plants. . Has worked for me long term, no signs of Fe deficiencies, healthy red plants. This way after a water change you ensure...

When replanting Tonina it's best to use short cuttings, around 3 inches. Otherwise growth can look ratty. It's common to see rotting at the base of the stem from poor trimming technique, or when light levels aren't high enough. They are a high-maintenance plant for people who love trimming and...

Tonina is difficult to grow well. Needs high light Acidic substrate Not too much competition from other plants. Trim plants, uproot them and replant the tops. It doesn't like trimming much.

Before I believe you're Irish, you have to say these words quickly: Whale Oil Beef Hooked

Forget pH. Turn the CO2 off 1 hour before lights off. Just wasting CO2 otherwise.

Lesson about tetras: not all are friendly. This tricks many a noob. Serpaes are one of the worst by far. In reality they're telling the gourami to swim somewhere else but he can't get away. If you are hoping to keep other fish besides serpae, I'd move the serpae on. Not many other fish they...

Sorry that came out wrong. Post got cut off. Meant to say "tank looks ok, I guess you've mastered some skills early". Hope you can laugh at that one. Rude by technical error.

Have you added fine filter wool? Is there a chance you disturbed the sub again when refilling? A 100% WC should take care of it mostly. The soil below the wood may have compacted under weight, now the wood has lifted some silt may be escaping. This should settle down also.

What a great piece of goldvine for an island scape!

I do, outside of photoperiod. Mainly only to deal with surface film, added benefit is well oxygenated water. Pumps are noisy so I have it come on when we're not using that room, middle of the night. Water clarity can apparently be improved by increased O2 levels. Basic chemistry is increased...

Other option is to take the water level down to 10%. Use a funnel to spread soil. Fill tank, put fine filter wool in your filter to mop up the mess. Assess in 24 hours whether sufficiently clean, if not do another large water change. Remove filter wool when tank clean again. Worked for me to...

These diffusers aren't great. I battled with them for a while, eventually sucked it up and invested in better quality. Also hard to get even CO2 diffusion running 2x diffusers on one CO2 line. Gas will take the path of least resistance, one diffuser will always pump out more than the other.

Tank looks ok I guess

Welcome JD

America, _____ yeah! We're here to save the ________ _________ day yeah! Welcome

What is your quality control (QC) process for this product?

I'd start by dosing only K + micros. Let the soil leach some N + P for a while first. Maybe after 1-2 months check in and see if these need topping up.

I think 90% water change is too much. If you're changing that much water ensure you match temps before or you will likely kill off some bacteria.... Or livestock..... We need to be careful when we give this advice to newcomers. I would do no more than 50% at once, still matching temps. Then...

Don't forget to add some Mg if your tap water report states low levels. Mg is also a macronutrient that plants require, measured with a GH test. Seachem Equilibrium contains this, or use MgSO4 (epsom salts). A ratio of 3:1 Ca:Mg or near to it is advised.

My summary is for people who don't want to read the entire thread. The summary came from the 20% that's actually relevant to BBA. Many of your contributions were good Sciencefiction, no love lost for you after reading the thread. I just wish you didn't encourage a certain imbecile by...

Be warned: 80% of this thread is as useless as mudguards on a tortoise. Learn who the imbeciles are early and completely skip over their posts or you'll end up severely agitated by the end. 27 pages could have been shortened to 10 pages easily. RE: Tom Barr. No one starting bashing Hoagland for...

Now that Amano's not around I guess they need to do something BIG to show the industry that ADA didn't go with him... I wonder if they have more creative licence now that there's a new director?

Surface films aren't a sign of unhappy plants. They are harmless and made up of organic matter and some microorganisms. Even the most densely planted *perfectly* balanced lakes in nature have surface films. They can come and go at times, in response to various factors in your aquarium. The...

Just buy one small rock of each. Place in water for one week. Note pH KH GH at the beginning, then take these readings again after a week. Any change, not inert. Small change? Good enough for most applications. Big change? Maybe better for livestock that prefers those conditions.

Excellent fish choice, you won't be disappointed. Lots of live food in combination with good prepared food and they'll colour up very nicely. Even frozen live food is good. Tank is looking fantastic.

It seems to be a low light CO2 scape. Many of the plants Amano used often were low-medium light plants. He mostly never ran CO2 at the high levels used today. I think he preferenced moderate but steady healthy growth rather than growing plants like weeds as most of us like to do. Amano methods...

We can always reduce light without a dimmer by using black electrical tape to cover some of the LEDs. Just place the tape over say 1/4 of the LEDs and see how you go there. Add/remove tape as necessary until you're happy with the light strength.

Any ability to reduce light intensity? You can enrich with heaps of carbon but if the light's too strong you'll always have an uphill battle. If you're just starting out with CO2 consider running medium light until you get the hang of things, then increase intensity slowly over time. When you...

I'd stop the Glut dosing unless it's absolutely necessary. If you're getting algae, other factors need to be explored instead of a band-aid solution. It just shouldn't be needed in a balanced CO2 enriched tank................

Looks like things are nicely in balance now. Super healthy plants including red stems, healthy fish/shrimp. Barely any algae. Light/CO2/nutrient combo must be about right. I think you're right to keep nitrate lowish. Blue diamonds can be a little sensitive to higher nitrates... Maybe just aim...

How long does it take on average for Penthorium sedoides to double in mass?

The only removal of nitrate and phosphate you want in planted tanks is via plant uptake or water changes. Removing these nutrients may inhibit the growth of aquatic plants.

You've really captured Amano's style. Great work.

In a CO2 enriched tank with medium/high lighting plants will grow like weeds. You can go from setup to complete grow out in 2-3 months in many cases. It's not that people can't maintain a nice scape beyond this time, just that they want a rescape to try something new generally. Trimming and...

You did well to be there at the exact moment it happened. Nice one