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  • Users: Zeus.
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  1. Zeus.

    Co2 drop checker vs ph measure

    IMO the actual pH reading when injecting CO2 is irrelevant, as we are just using the pH reading as a proxy for CO2 concentration. I have even reached the stage where a rarely calibrate a pH pen. For injecting CO2 a DC (Drop Checker) and the pH change during the photo period is all we need for...
  2. Zeus.

    IFC Aquarium Fertilizer Calculator

    You haven't added Macro container volume and frequency and for Micro you haven't any volumes or frequency
  3. Zeus.

    Par

    Plus what's the output of the original T8 ? T8 output vary from different types and is usual in lumens and there isn't an accurate conversion from Lumens to PAR or watts esp when comparing between light sources of different technologies. PAR data is the only data which is really useful for our...
  4. Zeus.

    IFC Aquarium Fertilizer Calculator

    Dose size is very tank size and frequency of dosing dependant. But the calculator does the maths for whatever dose size, tank size and frequency and regime or targets you choose. If you start going close to the solubility limits for the salts you choose the calculator gives you warnings. I...
  5. Zeus.

    Plant deficiencies and the Fe Experiment

    👍 As many a low tech tank users find there is only the need for the standard Fe chelate, as they dont have Fe related issues/problems
  6. Zeus.

    Plant deficiencies and the Fe Experiment

    Well my guess would be at higher concentrations the cations have be moving at higher velocities and may have more kinetic energy and this may provide enough energy to displace the DTPA/EDTA from the Fe and a Fe phosphate compound forms. This compound may have a higher bond strength which plants...
  7. Zeus.

    Plant deficiencies and the Fe Experiment

    Studies on diffusion have shown that the activation energy and pre-exponential factor in the Arrhenius equation can systematically vary with concentration as the interdiffusion coefficient changes with concentration. So in lay terms it's more likely to interact at higher concentrations and at...
  8. Zeus.

    Front Loading

    Thrive came out as the cheapest commercial AIO fert in the US
  9. Zeus.

    Co2 PH drop

    I use to have a 1.0pH + drop in 30 mins for a few years and the livestock was fine, you just need to keep an eye on the live stock for any signs of distress and adjust your pH drop to suit the livestock. Having a good tank turnover helps as it ensures there's enough O2 for the initial drop.
  10. Zeus.

    Solufeed 2:1:4 and Solufeed Sodium Free TEC or Solufeed Coir TEC Combination

    its composition is and Solufeeds 2:1:4 is So it's the same, IMO its solufeeds 2:1:4 that's been purchased in bulk and repacked. It works out at twice the price of buying a 20Kg bag of Solufeeds 2:1:4 per Kilogram. But costing £10.45 per 1Kg its cheaper than 1Kg pack of the Solufeed 2:1:4...
  11. Zeus.

    Help to Set Up CO2 Art Kit With Fluval FX6 External Filter

    To keep the flow optium it is best to do a bypass to integrate the inline diffuser into the outlet here is how how did it on my FX6, putting the inline on the inlet just caused the filter to burp with the buildup of CO2 in the canister.
  12. Zeus.

    Theatre - Why so Expensive

    The UK is so expensive for breaks. We went to Egypt last year for in January four weeks all inclusive for food and drinks for £650 each and that was the flight as well. It was a special deal, we liked it so much we went to same resort for four weeks this year same time period paid about double...
  13. Zeus.

    Questions about custom ferts.

    A Lot of good advice has already been posted. Tank size is the main factor that gives the cost advantage of DIY ferts, for a nano tank use the commercial ferts is a sensible plan IMO and 100l plus DIY ferts come into play. Some commercial ferts are not to expensive compared to others, however...
  14. Zeus.

    Precise and affordable co2 needle valve

    Precise, affordable and needle valve are not normally in the same sentence unfortunately. Cheap ones are normally used and normally acceptable. But good ones are not cheap but i have hear good things about the better ones, even when purchased second hand, @Hanuman has only good things to say...
  15. Zeus.

    Seachem equilibrium to high potassium

    3:1 Ca: Mg ratio is what most folk aim for. The IFC calculator enables you you clone many reminerilers for a fraction of the cost of buying the commercial products also
  16. Zeus.

    How to get RO water to the right gH and kH parameters?

    IMO use the reminerlising sheet of the IFC calculator , then use the target calculator of the IFC bearing in mind how much other salts you will be using every WC (Water Change) to increase kH and gH. There is a steep learning curve with the IFC, however once mastered it does all the maths for...
  17. Zeus.

    Oase - Not focused on Turnover - Why?!

    The head of water in most of our setups is low to zero, ie 'Max Head: 1m' means the pump will be able to push water flow up to 1 metres high from the water surface. So if the outlet is below the surface of the water as it is in in many cases the head of water is zero, if the outlet is a few cm...
  18. Zeus.

    high pH suitable iron chelate UK source

    When I was using Fe EDFHA, I added enough to give the water the slightest pink tinge, then as long as the pink tinge was visible the Fe EDDHA was available for the plants to uptake
  19. Zeus.

    What scale for monitoring co2 remaining?

    @ian_m weighs his cylinders to monitor CO2 left in cylinder, I am pretty sure he uses digital scales.
  20. Zeus.

    Potassium carbonate - Potas

    Why not? Once Urea or NH4 land in the tank it's only a matter of time before its converted to NO3
  21. Zeus.

    Resolved! Website is taking 30 seconds+ to load, sporadically.

    Increased the bandwidth 200% was 5kbps now is 15kbps o_O
  22. Zeus.

    Flow, Aeration and Fish

    Having had a 500l litre tank with a Fluval FX6 and twin Maxspect Gyres the output to tank volume ratio when maxed out was about x36, which is far in excess of whats needed. However only had the gyres maxed out for short periods as the Gyres came with a controller which gave 24 timed schedules...
  23. Zeus.

    Potassium carbonate - Potas

    Potash has been used as a cheap fertilizer for many years in many countries, its composition varies slightly from where its been mined. Many commercial fertilisers use it in agriculture and our hobby. The Potash used for baking is mainly Potassium Bicarbonate plus there is also Potassium...
  24. Zeus.

    UKAPS has passed 20,000 members.

    Policing the members posts making sure posts are friendly, PC and don't contain any clickbait etc plus posts need to be following the UKAPS posting guidelines, plus allowing for multi languages is a critical part in its success. A forum which is friendly, informative and relatively Advert free...
  25. Zeus.

    Can I use Fluval 307 hose on a Fluval 107?

    Yes you can as your using hoses/pipes with a bigger diameters so there will be less resistance. The head of pressure will be the same as that doesn't change with pipe size. So good to go IMO
  26. Zeus.

    Cutting fluval hose?

    There is a rubber adaptor that fits over the FX 25mm hose and then a jubilee clip, it has always worked well for me ie no leaks
  27. Zeus.

    Cleaning filter hoses/loss of flow.

    For efficacy or lazyness ? 😂 just makes good common sense IMO esp if easy to do
  28. Zeus.

    Cleaning filter hoses/loss of flow.

    Every time I do a clean of the internal filters I clean the impeller esp on my 50L, on my fluval FX6/500litre no as often - as with lager pies/impeller a little detritus isn't as critical as smaller hoses/impellors
  29. Zeus.

    Cleaning filter hoses/loss of flow.

    One thing that I do that helps on one of my filters is to have a medium sponge filter on the inlet, it does need cleaning weekly and a fine amount of detritus comes out of it when i squeeze it out, its quick and easy to clean (or have two and just swap them over, then the internal filter and...
  30. Zeus.

    Solufeed 2:1:4 - IFC - low on P,K,Ca - user error?

    That was the 'main' addition to the ReminCalculator sheet, to be able to specify a dKH and dGH and a Ca:Mg ratio and pick a few salts and presto it was done was a great triumph IMO, which in turn enable us to clone many more commercial remin agents. Plus having the ability to make remin...
  31. Zeus.

    Solufeed 2:1:4 - IFC - low on P,K,Ca - user error?

    You only need to have an input/target for K if you after a specific [K] in you remin water. If your only after gH and kH just leave it blank. The last four salts (pic below) in the IFC are for K only, we only added it as some commercial remineraliser's have a specific [K] and if we hadn't added...
  32. Zeus.

    make ammonium nitrate

    All depends on size of tank and also dose concentration in the tank. When your dry dosing 5grams plus of salt plus per dose then dry dosing generally wins , if your dry dosing less than 1gram of salt then solutions beings to win. Its all about the order of accuracy to a point - not to a few...
  33. Zeus.

    (Free) Liquid Tension Experiment

    Very specific figures, where did you get the data from ? the tissue plants I have purchased in pass have always had a very good success rate for me
  34. Zeus.

    (Free) Liquid Tension Experiment

    Depending on how much livestock your planning for the nano tank an eheim skim may be enough and a heater may not be needed. Aquarium Gardens had a nano tank with only an eheim skim fitted and it worked fine, think it may have only had RCS ( Red Cherry Shrimp) as livestock which are pretty tough...
  35. Zeus.

    Solufeed 2:1:4 - IFC - low on P,K,Ca - user error?

    We have to remember full EI is ferts in abundance also, so that even though you havent reached your target levels for all nutrients you may already be in abundance as @Wookii mentions above. We also have to take into account that when we use the local water report that the levels of nutrients...
  36. Zeus.

    CO2 Reactors without PH Controller

    PLC are not cheap by any means, but if you pockets are deep enough and like a bit of DIY and prepared to learn some Logical for the coding of the software (which was fun IMO, myself or @ian_m could help) there is no better timmer. Plus Ians 'TankyMyTank' software for adjusting timings is excellent.
  37. Zeus.

    Ada old can Be used

    Well should be fine IMO That was it ;)
  38. Zeus.

    Ada old can Be used

    Was chatting about this with @dw1305 some time back. Much depends on how hard your water is. Aquasoil mops ups and exchanges ions in the water column, but once the clay granules form a bond with an Ion with a strong affinity this can effectively form a bond which is hard to displace so the site...
  39. Zeus.

    One Co2 manifold for two inline diffuser?

    Most needle valves sold at most places are cheap ones and quality needle valves are quite expensive, good ones can also be purchased second hand, @Hanuman got his hands on some decent ones. Two diffusers need two needle valves, as already mentioned.
  40. Zeus.

    One Co2 manifold for two inline diffuser?

    I had twin CO2 reactors on one outlet Olympus is calling, I did take it a little further by having twin solenoids set at different injection rates, which made it easier for doing the pH profile and getting a faster pH drop
  41. Zeus.

    CO2 Reactors without PH Controller

    I have used both, using pH controller at first. Once the CO2 injection rate and flow in tank was sorted I found not ising a pH controller better as I achieved a more stable [CO2] for the photo period. I was using a PLC for the CO2 timings, which helped.
  42. Zeus.

    IFC Aquarium Fertilizer Calculator

    But 50litres of aquasoil doesn't displace 50litres of water, not sure how much it does displace once all the air in the clay granules is displaced
  43. Zeus.

    Seen the benefit of lower KH - shall I cut my water with RO

    Green Aqua has Amazing plants/tanks and they use remineralised RO water, well worth the trip for city visit and go to the shop. Using water which has already got lots of minerals in it makes it harder as you don't 'truly' know what you have to start with and it varies from month to month with...
  44. Zeus.

    Seen the benefit of lower KH - shall I cut my water with RO

    I came to a same conclusion/observation about kH/gH having scaped with very hard water and going to various shops like Green Aqua, Aquarium Gardens etc, reading Journals and chatting with folk who did them. Better/nicer plants/tanks/scapes can be done easier with soft water than hard water esp...
  45. Zeus.

    IFC Aquarium Fertilizer Calculator

    Its normal practice to just use the volume of water and just ignore any hardscape or media, we only need to be with a range so the actual level isn't that important
  46. Zeus.

    IFC Aquarium Fertilizer Calculator

    Good question, I dont think the IFC is friendly with the use of a comma for a decimal point. MSExcel may be fine with it when MSOffice is in your native language. Will need to check with @Hanuman as he is more the expert on that side of things
  47. Zeus.

    What books are you reading?

    A professional friend who I have known many many years and I have great respect for had never advised a book to read which wasn't a professional one which was good for CPD. So when he advised a book to read I had no choice. RESET: RECLAIMING THE INTERNET FOR CIVIL SOCIETY. Well I have just...
  48. Zeus.

    Deficiencies or Algae?

    Think it may be the lack of a clean up crew as there doesn't seem to be any except SAE. I had RCS hundreds ( probably 1K+ in my 500l and 50+ Amanos plus lots of snails. I had to relocate my SAE as my RCS never took off well until they was moved as the SAE do get a taste for RCS when they get as...
  49. Zeus.

    pH drop / pH profile

    👍 Yes and No. IMO/IME the actual pH is irrelevant and as long as you have a least a little kH and gH. The accuracy of the pH meter (or pH papers) isn't important either IMO I even stopped calibrating my pH meters ( if using a pH controller there is a need to calibrate it as there's a target pH...
  50. Zeus.

    pH drop / pH profile

    As I posted above, ever thought of dosing some Urea Prills?
  51. Zeus.

    pH drop / pH profile

    @LightingBamboozled ever thought about supplementing some of that N dosing with say some Urea Prills ?
  52. Zeus.

    A little help please

    Having used twin FX6 on my 500l (100gallon) tank I may be of some help. Having the Injection prefilter wont work well as filter will fill up with CO2 then 'burp' out the buildup. Post filter works well, but needs a bypass to keep flow maxed out. I did it with solid plastic tubing with inline...
  53. Zeus.

    Drop checker sudden change

    Great, worth repeating over several days IMO Anything over a lime green colour 'may' be dangerous, so it is just going by safe guidelines ideally the pH/[CO2] should be 'relatively stable' from lights on for the first 4 to 5 hours ( which is advised by our CO2 Guru @ceg4048 ) so the there is...
  54. Zeus.

    Seachem method of potassium dosing

    per 18g dose in 80 litres As for the salt Well that's the data we have on it ;)
  55. Zeus.

    Seachem method of potassium dosing

    It's all tank size dependant, with tank below 50 to 100 litres the ease of buying the commercial products is still relatively cheap for the hobby for the amount you use, plus it takes away the need to choose a fert regime as you can use the products regime, so the commercial ferts make sense...
  56. Zeus.

    Seachem method of potassium dosing

    Seachems products are one of the most expensive products on the market esp their liquid fertilisers. Dont compare the volume you get as its basically just water. Its the nutrient content that counts.
  57. Zeus.

    Phosphorous Deficiency?

    When we work on getting a stable pH/[CO2] for the photoperiod, we work on the Flow/turnover of the water in the tank. The general rule/guidance is filter output should be x10 the size of the tank. The x10 figure is a guide that should be ample for most/all tanks, so some will be fine at lower...
  58. Zeus.

    Holes in leaves

    I think you have valid points @_Maq_ . Without a few very well constructed experiments done double blind to confirm or disprove CO2/Mg/PO4/... Its almost anyone's best guess/theory. All our tanks are so different makes any conclusions drawn from our combined observations a little inconclusive -...
  59. Zeus.

    Phosphorous Deficiency?

    In my 500l high tech tank in early days I gave it why to much light in a little experiment, the pearling was amazing to me at the time. The high light intensity managed to melt many a plant with it starting with pin holes in the leaves. A have also read 'somewhere' in another one of @ceg4048...
  60. Zeus.

    Phosphorous Deficiency?

    Sorry I had done the wrong link to thread :oops: I've corrected the link in above post
  61. Zeus.

    Phosphorous Deficiency?

    Dialling in the CO2 injection Rate and CO2 Profiles
  62. Zeus.

    Filter Foam

    Coarse and Medium foam is all I used in my 500L. Fine clogs up to quickly and then you get a big reduction in filter output and tank turnover. Less so critical in low tech setups, but even low tech setups benefit from good flow IMO.
  63. Zeus.

    Phosphorous Deficiency?

    Holes in leaves in CO2 injected tanks are a classic sign of unstable CO2 levels during the photo period and/or the light is too intense. Have you done a pH profile to check the CO2 stability.
  64. Zeus.

    Drop checker sudden change

    On my 50l if i missed the cleaning of my eheim skim the loss in flow and surface agitation resulted in an increased pH drop so had to keep it cleaned regularly. Lossed all the RCS once as failed to clean before holiday. It was a fish less tank. So may well be worth cleaning filters, plus is tank...
  65. Zeus.

    CO2 used Database -needs your data

    Updated first post. @Andy Pierce - sorry I had missed your post in sept 2021 :oops:
  66. Zeus.

    C02 help.

    CO2 used Database useful as a guide for tank size and how amount of pH drop affects CO2 usage
  67. Zeus.

    C02 help.

    Dialling in the CO2 injection Rate and CO2 Profiles - just in case you haven't read it ;)
  68. Zeus.

    C02 help.

    BPS only gives an indication of rate not how much. But 8BPS isnt enough IMO
  69. Zeus.

    Co2 not in flow.

    You know when you have it right as tank looks like its full of '7UP'.
  70. Zeus.

    Co2 not in flow.

    To get the best CO2 uptake by the water it is always best if the bubbles rise up right underneath the outlet of the filter, Ideally the CO2 bubbles should be pushed right across the tank and down to the substrate level then right across the bottom
  71. Zeus.

    Solufeed 2:1:4 and Solufeed Sodium Free TEC or Solufeed Coir TEC Combination

    To dose at EI levels Solufeeds 2:1:4 alone isn't enough as it [Fe] isnt enough, But is a level of 0.5ppm Fe needed !!!!
  72. Zeus.

    Fe EDDHA sources

    Cheaper to buy 1Kg
  73. Zeus.

    90x60x40 from scratch build

    The comparison table is just a guide for the Solufeeds products based on the same dose, I used 1.5g/week l100L as a rough guide to compare the relative ranges/ratios of the ppms for NO3, PO4,K ,Mg and Fe for a given dose. The latest release of the IFC the products can be selected and you can...
  74. Zeus.

    IFC Aquarium Fertilizer Calculator

    Sorry to hear that, esp since @Hanuman uses a Mac as well. I am more of a Windows and Android fanboy than Apple, being an ex -gamer and PC overclocker windows was always the natural choice for me. So I am no help at all with Mac errors unless its referring to the Mac Address of hardware. If we...
  75. Zeus.

    IFC Aquarium Fertilizer Calculator

    Think it will help folk who are after a regime or wish to clone a fert similar to a commercial fert as the IFC show you how close you are to your target ppms. Target ppms I find are a useful guide but healthy plants is all we are after
  76. Zeus.

    IFC Aquarium Fertilizer Calculator

    Solufeeds 4:1:2 added to IFC - any others?
  77. Zeus.

    Solufeeds 4:1:2 added to Fert Calculator - any other requests?

    Hi All, Its been some time since folk have started using Solufeeds 4:1:2 and myself and @Hanuman have finally found the time to integrate it into the IFC for target dosing of NO3 and for dosing based on mass of AIO ( All In One)Salt via the DIYCalculator sheet. Which will be releasing soon...
  78. Zeus.

    Is my Iron DTPA solution precipitating or growing a film?

    Well i also use time as i had multiple containers, so would leave them empty dry. But when flushing dosing lines out would use prime after a few rinses. Not as cheap as bleach and shorter shelf life, plus found peroxide a little tricker to get hold of compared to cheap bleach. Was getting the...
  79. Zeus.

    Is my Iron DTPA solution precipitating or growing a film?

    You washed/rinsed out the blue bottle, however you didn't disinfect it first! I use cheap bleach then a good rinse.
  80. Zeus.

    Switching from Flourish Nitrogen to Dry Ferts

    For the level of Urea your dosing I see it being a problem, its not even 1 ppm NO3. I was dosing urea at much higher weekly levels but was doing little and often, worked out about 100times a week on a custom auto doser. Well I have never heard of anyone posting a issue which was Calcium...
  81. Zeus.

    Switching from Flourish Nitrogen to Dry Ferts

    Just a quick double check and less than £1.00 per litre
  82. Zeus.

    Switching from Flourish Nitrogen to Dry Ferts

    You could always get some urea prills and do a mix yourself, urea prills are cheap and go a long way. Not 100% sure what the dosing NO3ppm level of Flourish Nitrogen is when dosed at recommended levels. It would be pretty easy to do a Potassium Nitrate and Urea mix in solution and just add a...
  83. Zeus.

    Solufeed 2:1:4 and Solufeed Sodium Free TEC or Solufeed Coir TEC Combination

    Haven't double/triple checked a thing :oops::oops::oops:- just threw it in quick
  84. Zeus.

    Macro mix stability

    Your using the 'potential elements/compounds' from the tap water, which I didn't allow for - hence I was unable to get all the ppms matching :oops:;) Using the blender to mix may be introducing some contaminates, depending what else it is used for, plus the more containers you used/transfer...
  85. Zeus.

    Macro mix stability

    Is your dosing bottle in a dark place? You could also just double the distilled water and double the dose and see if that resolves the issue. The K2SO4 is at the highest of the solubility limits. You could also just front load the K2SO4 direct into tank after WC. I used a 'goal seek; in excel...
  86. Zeus.

    IFC Aquarium Fertilizer Calculator

    We don't often do additions to the commercial fertilisers, or if we do we add them and they only get released when there is an update for correction of bugs or new features. Addition of new commercial fertilisers is easy in itself, its all the work needed for release that takes the time, plus we...
  87. Zeus.

    New ferts/regimes for IFC

    Obviously the trace only ferts only show on the DIYTracesCalculator sheet
  88. Zeus.

    New ferts/regimes for IFC

    @LMuhlen its OK I found the links ;)
  89. Zeus.

    New ferts/regimes for IFC

    Do you have a link to product? or pics of product and labels
  90. Zeus.

    New ferts/regimes for IFC

    and if you can compare you can also clone/copy
  91. Zeus.

    New ferts/regimes for IFC

    As already posted which I missed we already have other Vimi products :oops: Vimi Solo N So should be straight forward as having N% makes it easy to add back end Vimi Solo P Vimi Solo K Added them here for reference for later ;)
  92. Zeus.

    New ferts/regimes for IFC

    Well that a lot of work, a have an alpha version, but so much condition formatting needed many many hours of work Rings a bell, think we may of tried before and it lacked enough data on product - will check
  93. Zeus.

    New ferts/regimes for IFC

    You need to be quick folk as once @Hanuman has the new update done and checked and ready for release it will be some time before we get this chance again
  94. Zeus.

    IFC Aquarium Fertilizer Calculator

    Well at least we have the answer ready for why there's a difference :thumbup:
  95. Zeus.

    IFC Aquarium Fertilizer Calculator

    I vote for N: P:K as we dont mention K2O5 elsewhere in the IFC front end. It was built on NO3, P04 and K, the conversion to N, P, K was done at the end. Products that K2O5 etc when entered in the back end are highlight to account for different compounds as they contain a formula in cell that...
  96. Zeus.

    IFC Aquarium Fertilizer Calculator

    So is the IFC, we have the complete periodic table in the back end linked into all the calculations. Any round ups/downs was done at the front end. Made sense to do it that way in our opinions. Prevents typos entering valves and if there was an error or change in atomic mass one correction at...
  97. Zeus.

    IFC Aquarium Fertilizer Calculator

    No chances of it being all recoded so certain NPK ratios can be targeted, neither myself or @Hanuman have the time for that. Any changes will be minor which will change little of the IFC general use. It will probably just report the resultant NPK ratio, which is all that has been asked for...
  98. Zeus.

    New ferts/regimes for IFC

    Hi All. We may be doing a new update for the IFC. So if there are any commercial fertilisers remin agents or regimes you would like adding please ask. We cant always add all commercial products, as some dont have enough information in their data sheets or no data sheets at all. Zeus and @Hanuman
  99. Zeus.

    IFC Aquarium Fertilizer Calculator

    So the request if for NPK ratios ? As we will need all elements to have an value eg if P isn't being targeted/used it wouldn't have a value, so would N:K ratio be useful as well if P isn't being targeted?
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