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The flowers only last about a day but new plants will grow from those spots just let it float over the water surface, don’t cut it off and the new plants can be removed once they have a decent amount of roots. The new plants detach easily if you leave them for long enough.
Hi Could we do a ukaps judging on the top100 some how .
Pic your top 10. 10points for number 1 down to 1 point for position 10. The results could be interesting to see if we do a better job.
If your adding high amounts of urea with a ph below 7 you may not have a problem with NH4 but if the plants don’t use it all up wouldn’t the nitrite become an issue depending on biological filtration capacity?
Hi they have a crisp white light look with great colour rendition of red green blue. Similar to the Chihiros wrgb which I have but I think I prefer the A2
The A2 has good colour pop but also a more natural look
The wrgb is just to unnatural for me I have to substitute it with cool white point...
Hi Maq great idea having all those small tanks for testing. I have to get a similar set up going soon.
Im sure your crypts would produce better growth with a soil substrate.
I’ve been growing all my plants in pots lately and the higher soil/clay to sand mixes are producing better growth for longer.
Hi all just came across this light spectrum video some of u maybe interested in. It’s not specifically for aquatic plants but keeps things simple and covers most of what we need.
Also Thanks so much to everyone for your input to this forum. I’m a keen aquatic plant/fish keeper for many years...
I would think the 6.5-20 k would have many blue leds which would be wasted and unusable on a planted tank. So you would be paying for a light fixture that you only use about 20 percent of its power and leds.
The 3.5-6.5k light you could use all the power it’s got.
Ok I don’t want u to have to redo the whole thing again!
I just know that if u add a long length of hose or to many corners to the out flow of a pump u lose a lot of water pressure l/h.
I would have the pump in the sump to depending on the model of pump.
The pump should pull the water through the reactor not push it. My understanding is these pumps work much better that way. It should create less head pressure for the pump.
Hi I think your going to loose a lot of water flow with so much pipe length,corners and co2 reactor on the out flow of the pump. I would try to put the reactor on the Other side of the pump if possible.
Ok Lowering light intensity isn’t doing nothing. It will have a great affect of getting rid of most algae or at least slow it down until u can work out the cause.
(12 glass ) thank you
Hi I would just dim the lights until the tank has balanced itself. Trim back the worst leaves,
New plants need to adjust to new conditions so the original leaves often get algae but the new growth should be fine.
I find oxygen or surface movement so Important for new tanks.
Any java fern or...
I have to try this stone again. Last time it raised my kh from 3 to about 15 (api test) in a 700l aquarium with about 20kg of stone.
It was the Japanese stone with minimal white lines on it but it fizzed like crazy with an acid test.
In Australia now I think most of the seiryu stone comes from...
Hi seiryu stone will have a large affect on kh/gh if you have soft water and or are using co2. not all seiryu stone is the same. Don’t use a ph controller to control your co2 and do weekly water changes and it should be fine.
Hi I had UG growing really well in my last tank
700l
T5 200w
seachem fertilisers just double recommended dose
30% water changes every 2 weeks
Low co2 drop checker always blue/ green
Aquasoil substrate
It was a weed from day one
I got it in its submersed state maybe that was the difference.
I put...
I wouldn’t buy a new filter
If you used a spray bar you could drill more holes or larger holes until you reach a gentle flow that doesn’t push the plants to much.
If you don’t like a spay bar I would just restrict the flow some where on the out flow side
Led flood lights, led down lights in a diy unit
T5 high out put. Red Sea aqua pink globe looks really nice mixed with regular warm, cool white
The tank in the little picture above with my name was 150/60/70wide with 4 54w t5
Just cool/warm white and 1 aqua pink this was more than enough light...
Hi all I was just wondering if high kh/gh has any affect on the amount of tannins released by wood or substrates like ada Amazon?
Ada recommends using soft water for water changes to stop the release of Tannins.
Any thoughts or info would be great thanks.
Hi I would advise against getting the tweezers with the angled tip. The angle always catches on the plant and they float back out of the soil while try to plant.
Yes the drop checker is effective enough at measuring co2 when the co2 is fully dissolved but not so effective when co2 mist enters the drop checker. So you are now probably getting a more accurate read than before with the co2 mist.
Less gas exchange just makes it take a little longer but you...
Hi
The fine mist of bubbles could have been going into the drop checker affecting your reading making it look lower than it was.
Or the fine mist of bubbles could have been getting trapped on all the plant leave, staying under water for longer giving you better dissolved co2.
Sae’s never touched the Phoenix moss and maybe not Taiwan moss in my tank. creeping moss, Xmas moss were the 1st to be eaten. The moss always recovered after removing the sae’s
I think they will just keep eating the moss, they love the new growth and won’t give it a chance to grow. They like to keep feeding throughout the day so adding food once or twice probably won’t help save the moss.
Hi. All the ones I’ve kept never got sick of eating algae but the older ones are always happy to take an easy feed of regular fish food too. Not over feeding helps them stay smaller for longer.
They easily clear up bba but then move onto moss
They prefer new growth of bba so over time it just...
Adjust the light so it’s visually appealing to you and the plants will grow fine. U will find you don’t need much blue with cool white. If you had warm whites you could use more of your blue to balance the colour
Hi
Have a look at rotala butterfly fertiliser accumulation chart to see what lever your fertiliser can reach with different water change size.
30% water changes will be fine but adjust your fertiliser as well.
Your tank isn’t heavily planted, 1/3-1/2 ei dose should be fine for now.
The test...
Most people with hi tech planted tanks do 50% water changes weekly, with shrimp. Just do x2 smaller WC a week for about 3 weeks if your worried about 1 large WC
Once your tank has cycled you will never get an ammonia reading unless u do a large rescape, a sudden loss of fish or spill the fish food etc something to make your ammonia level spike that the level of bacteria you have now can’t keep up with.
Your tap water may have high nitrates in which...
Hi your soil is still releasing ammonia which is being converted into nitrite then nitrate at the same rate it is released. Your soil will continue to release ammonia for some time which is fine because the filter/bacteria is doing its job. Try water changes 30-50% or twice a week for a while.
Hi all!
Could anyone help ID this plant please. I’ve had it growing in my tank for a few months. It needs good light and co2 to get any results out of it.
The light green part is the same plant it was just shaded from light flow and co2 it’s leaves stay small and a little crinkled when it’s not...
Hi paul
My tank is 160x70x60 cm LxWxH about 650l
3000l pump with spray bar no filter
Co2 a few bubbles/second into the inlet of pump gives me about 0.5 ph drop at best.
Lighting 4x54w t5 8 hrs a day
The tubes are 4cm from the water surface.
I’m away now for 8 weeks so I turned 2 tubes off to...
Hi
You can defiantly trim it lower than your last trim.
Try trimming it really short across the front where it hits the glass down to 1cm. It will give the scape more height without going to short further back. The shorter u go the longer it takes to recover but it shouldn't die if healthy.
Hi
Not sure where your from? in Australia I use
Silica sand which is used to mix with concrete or in sand pits for kids
mix with river sand which needs a really good wash to get the clay out (I don't wash) It is used in gardens
$7 for 15-20 kg
Garden landscape and building shops should supply...
Some changes I made to get rid of bba in my
700l that may help.
I upped my water changes of 100l every 1-3 weeks back to once a week. Your need for water changes will be different depending on your bio load and weather you run a hi or low energy tank.
Less fish less food helps with bba!
I...
I use basalt rock now it's very cheap! Doesn't affect water chemistry and looks very natural in most scapes once the plants grow in. If your going for an iwagumi scape it may not have enough detail and random shapes though. Just another idea, good luck!
Sorry about the (keep co2 low) comment...
Hi ! If you have a API nitrate test kit, a drop of solution 1 on any rock will fizz up if the rock is limestone or any other that will affect your kh/gh same as hydrochloric acid. Other nitrate test kit brands may also work. Vinigar never worked for me!
Seiryu stone is similar to limestone maybe...
Hi everyone! Just a quick post
I started feeding my red cherry shrimp spirulina algea pellets a few weeks ago and the colour change in some of the shrimp has been amazing.
Has anyone seen this affect? I can't think of any other possibilities other than select breeding with in the aquarium by...
Good luck with it, I think u have it sorted. Your scape looks great! Nice layout of stones. Looking forward to seeing those red stems creep up from the back.
I would like to do a journal one day soon on a new diy 100x80x60 LxWxH cm but life is just to busy right now
Hi steveno cheers for the welcome!
Ukaps has been great! So much quality info compared to other forums.
Yes that's my 700l not much of a scape but lots of happy plants
Just thought I'd mention the seiryu stone because I was so surprise of its affect on my tank (not a great rock for large tanks...
Hi
Your seiryu stone would be rasing your kh/gh
If u aren't doing full 50% water change weekly.
Adding co2 and seiryu rock is like a calcium reactor in a reef tank, co2 slowly dissolves the calcium and other minerals out of the stone.
This could partly affect you ph 1unit drop from happening.
Cheers for the fast reply
I like the idear of adding a clay based fertiliser and haven't used peat before in a substrate so I'll give that a go too.
The tri coloured lotus is a nymphaea micrantha
It has the delicate root structure.
It has plenty of the plantlets growing on its leaves so I'll...
Hi all
just wondering if anyone has had problems growing lotus plants in aquasoil?
Every time mine slowly start losing leaves over about 6 weeks. And the roots turn black and rot away.
It happened with 3 different types of lotus. While all the other plants are growing perfect!! Ada as is...
Hi
It would be fine to plant it out if you are going to put lots of plants in preferably some fast growing plants and Keep up with lots of water changes for the 1st 3- 4 week. Just don't add any fish or shrimp. I got a little white haze in the water for about 3 weeks until the bacteria...
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