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Hi@Jaisol – Thanks for the suggestion but I’m not even considering Fire Extinguishers, two reasons – I don’t have the space for one, and the nearest place I can get a refill is an 80+ mile round trip ! So it’s a non starter really for me. Hi @The Miniaturist – like you I just want to give the...

Hi G H Nelson, Having run the numbers again and read and reread the explanations by confused squid on reddit, I think this is probably the least complicated way to go. At least the whole thing comes as a kit and I could get a good few months of use from one reaction at my present rate, or...

Hi everyone and thank you all for your replies. G H Nelson - I was all set to get a 1L CO2 generator, but when ordered on ebay before Christmas with a UK seller, the seller accepted the sale then cancelled it ! Meanwhile I've watched them relist several times and keep raising the price...

Have been struggling to transition plants and grow them so that they look healthy for the last year, and have thrown in the towel. Was using liquid carbon but it seemed to be annoying my Peacock Gudgeon, they'd swim around shaking their heads and flicking for an hour after it was added (via the...

In this case it seems that adding the gravel cleaner has completely upset the balance of the tank. Possibly because it killed a whole swathe of beneficial bacteria that colonised the substrate. Hence a bacteria bloom. If there's a handy healthy mature aquarium, it makes sense to transfer...

The only time I had a cloudy tank that wouldn't clear, I added a litre of water from a mature tank with clear water. It worked like a charm. I'd still add an air stone though, it will help with water turnover.

Hmmm. I think mine is possibly a little bigger, but it can be difficult to say from photos. I've been thinking about the naming. For mine, I think Hisonotus leucofrenatu s would be a good descriptor leuco meaning white, frenatus meaning bridle. And looking at mine there are very light...

Thanks John Q it's just the one fish. First photo a few months after I got it, and the other 2 from this year. I've had it since 2018. Size is between my male Oto and the females. Certainly not as big as the females. It's quite a dainty fish. Mat H I'm so happy to hear about others...

Have had one of these little beauties since 2018. Wish I had a group as it doesn't seem to hang with my other Otos much and I'm sure I'd see it more if it had company. From all the research online I've done, it seems to be Hisonotus notatus, but is recorded in the Baensch Aquarium Atlas 2 as...

For those having trouble finding the pink Moler Clay Cat Litter, I have accidentally found a dark grey version (with some pink bits !) Colombo Flora Mano Base Black sold by Aqua Essentials. As no one seemed to have tried this, I took a chance on buying it. I loved using the Cat Litter...

For anyone still looking for Moler Clay Cat Litter, I accidentally found an alternative. Colombo Mano Base Black, is a dark grey version of the Cat Litter used in Aquariums. It's very dark grey inthe bag, and if you wet it, looks black. But once in the tank looks like the image It can be...

Back in the early 80s I set up an undergravel filtered aquarium run with an air pump. Fully planted. The plants thrived. Various Fish species were thrived and bred. We had regular babies grow out in the tank with no help from me . Water - crystal clear. Didn't feed the plants...

Yes. We're looking at rainwater collection for this reason. Our local authority claim they don't use Chloramine, but public health trumps everything so I doubt they could promise they'd never use it. I'm just not sure how to keep the rainwater tub free of mozzies. Had a nasty shock when...

This is all very well if you absolutely know that your water company .only. doses the water with Chlorine. It will evaporate out of water if a full bucket is left with an aerator, although how long that takes depends on turnover and size of bucket. However in the UK, some water companies...

Hi Miguel, Thanks for your reply. How long have you had it in the tank ? And does it break down? I've read some suggestion that it might be very soft ?

Does anyone have any experience of either of these please ? Haven't been around for a while, but those who remember me will know that I'm a big fan of Cat Litter substrate, but detest the colour in the tank. For the last few years, I've had Limpopo sand as a substrate, but I really don't like...

I had Tesco Cat litter in my tanks for about ten years. The first tank, I only rinsed it until it stopped turning the water brown whacked it in and planted it. Water was crystal clear by the next day but it still smelled of perfume, so I ran some activated carbon in the tank for about a week...

Pets at home keep them for ages with no regard to their requirements, and don't seem to replace until they've been sold. Trouble is, they are in the blisters deteriorating all that time. And even if they look good, they can be on the point of collapse, usually when you get them home. Best...

Thank you ! And thank you for your continued work keeping this forum. It's very much appreciated :)

Was the sand brand new or used? Whenever I've raised Cory fry, I've used the limpopo sand from the main tank, just enough to cover the bottom to about 3- 5 mm, java moss, Limnophyla aquatica weighted at the bottom and Salvinia natans - all taken from the main tank where the parents live. The...

Great Job Paulo! And thanks for all the hard work you do to keep this forum updated and running xx

WOW Darrel ! That is amazing ! I would love to see one for Freshwater Aquaria. x Polly

I picked up one of these when I bought some otos from MA about 2 years ago. I would have had more but it was the only one they had and they haven't had any since. They weren't sure what it was as it had come in with the otos. I just liked the look of it. It's quite a character, and has...

Hi Barry, I have Unipac Limpopo Sand in my aquarium. It's less 'dead' looking than the black/grey sand bought in PAH and Maidenhead Aquatics. I have a small amount of that in my 21L tank. It grows plants well enough and my Cories all developed magnificent barbels. A picture tells a better story...

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Hi Martin,, Coming late to this, you've had some great advice from alto and mort, but I'm concerned about your statement "probably all the white Worms and daphnia they munch through". It's great that you're feeding them well, but goldfish need vegetable matter as well as live foods for good...

The problem with breeder boxes is that being open to the flow from the tank, most of the food is whisked away before the babies get the benefit. They need to feed almost constantly to grow properly. This is why I used live moss, matured sand and plants. All of these harbour nitrifying...

I had baby Cories last year. C. paleatus. It wasn't intentional. They spawned and I saw some of the eggs on the moss in the tank. Decided to see if they'd hatch and put the moss in a 4 litre sweet jar, with tank water and an uplift tube filter - literally a piece of uplift tube with...

I gave up with magnet cleaners. Just one teeny grain of sand/clay and you have scratched the glass. It just isn't worth it IMO. And they really aren't 'that' effective. I use the Algarde glass cleaner/planter. I have 2. one with a cut up credit card instead of a razor blade for tough...

I've never seen it. I've also not seen any fish consume a dead fish in decades. And certainly not Guppies or Endlers. But then there's plenty in my tanks for them to eat. The Guppies, in the past, and now the Endlers always seem to find some tiny bits of Algae to pick at in between...

No apologies necessary alto, I feel your pain. Been there, worn the T-shirt. Shame it's Apple. If it were MS or Linux, I could maybe help (or rather my personal sys admin could help) For others, I run Linux - Arch Linux to be specific. But any of the Ubuntu/Linux/KDE OS are great, and...

Thanks alto, never thought of using Google Scholar, which is odd since i use it regularly for other things :banghead: Thanks too for the heads up re the Liquid Carbon tank in Journals, I'm off to search for it :) Tim, I'm happy to take the hit for Liquid Carbon, whether it's Microbe-Lift Bio...

akwarium, Having documented the growth of the plants in my tank last year, whilst using Glute-based LC, I beg to differ. A sequence of photos shows what happened over the last year that the experiment ran, you can find it here - https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/back-from-the-brink.56890/

Love this, looking forward to watching your journey :)

Hi alto, I read on the Glute thread and a few others, that there seemed to be no evidence that Glute was doing anything, I also read your posts, but with so much dissention, I felt it worth documenting. I couldn't find any other scientific papers to read online, maybe my search terms were...

3-2-2019 Things are growing nicely already and new growth is present on the Limnophila aromatica The Vallis hasn’t melted at all despite the LC and Bio CO2 ! In fact it’s looking good and putting out new runners as well as growing thicker. So it looks like a teaspoon of Coral Gravel (Calcium...

By New Year, it was obvious that in my tank at least, Liquid Carbon had been making a massive difference. So.. I started looking into which one to buy as my bottle was almost empty and I wanted to do this properly again. No point in starting to dose, then finding that the new stuff is vastly...

Once the tank had grown in, the plan was to gradually reduce liquid carbon dosing and go Low Tech. I’d read on UKAPS forums of some doubt whether Liquid Carbon makes a difference to plant growth and I wanted to be sure before ordering any more Liquid Carbon and possibly wasting my money. About...

This year I had to replace my tank after the Juwel Rio125 sprang a small leak, The replacement is a Juwel Primo 110 LED. Knowing the plants had taken a knock waiting for the new tank to arrive, I decided to take photos of its progression. The Rio had been growing nicely so it was upsetting to...

nuno, the last Vals I tried to grow melted quickly - no Glute in the tank. The rest of the plants I had were thriving with Glute based LC until i gradually stopped it. then over the next 6 months they started failing ;) The Vals I have now are thriving and multipying on a half dose. My...

I've read that some of you are trying out Liquid Bio Carbon. I'm just wondering whether any of you have seen any difference between that and gluteraldehyde based product? Not using it to supplement CO2 and not for algae issues. Simply to help plants grow better :) I'm swapping from...

It usually takes about 2 months for males to start showing but the colours can take their time and it can take longer if the water is cooler. Get a good magnifying glass and look at their ventral fins. Males start to get a more pointed ventral fin and then can move it to the side. Within a...

Regarding coloured Endlers Females, you're unlikely to find these unless they are hybrids or guppy females ;) " For no matter which kind of endler I'll consider, the females will be basically similarly coloured from grey, tan, greenish till darkbrown. Some females tend to have some markings in...

I'd worry more about the Cories. If he fits in their mouth, he's a snack. With my Cory fry, I waited until the fry were big enough to not fit in the Cory's mouths. Once over that hill, they were fine ;) Regards feeding, I found crumbled JBL Granomix perfect as it crumbled easily, but...

Fine Sand definitely. They constantly sift the substrate looking for food so it's kinder on their mouths. Pea gravel gets stuck in their mouths and can be difficult to remove without hurting them. I used to keep them in a planted tank with fine sand, vallis, anubias and java fern. Once the...

Having thought about it, and looking at them both, I think it would be C. habrosus. I like their daintiness and the patterned markings. C. panda are too close to white for me ;)

Well done for rescuing this poorly fish. At least you're giving him a chance! I have wormed fish with this medication. Despite already being wormed at MA, I have in the past had fish with cammalanus worms and fish that just didn't thrive (not Discus though). This medication did the trick...

I haven' decided yet they are both lovely. It will be a while yet. I have other things I need to concentrate on ;)

I think the Borellii are keeping the Endlers in check. I floated some Limnophila sessilis to give them a refuge. But as I have a number of fry now have planted it. Hopefully they'l slow Things down I have kept miniature Cories, but found they didn' really pay any attention to the substrate...

Thanks alto ! Not happy with all the plants yet but there' plenty of time. Livestock Pair Apistogramma borellii 3pairs Endlers and 4 juveniles (some males!) And about 7 fry 3 Otocinclus. Not sure which ones yet, but sure of what they aren't Pair Corydoras aeneus Pair Corydoras paleatus, 1...

At the end of February my Juwel Rio 125 had a leak. As it was 11 years old, and I had no confidence in my ability to effect a good repair, I bought a Juwel Primo 110 LED as replacement. I was a little worried that the NovoLux 80 LED (white) lighting, 10 Watts, with 819 Lumens wouldn't be...

Hahaha Kezzab It gave me a start when my fingers touched it ! Angus, thanks for that. Wouldn't a biofilm be less of a 'structure' ? Unless you mean a slime mould or similar ? I was inclined towards a fungal body of some sort, but the fact of it being underwater and in the filter flow...

Went to change the filter pad in my Juwel Primo 110 LED today, something I do twice a week as it gets dirty surprisingly quickly, and something unexpected made me jump. On removing the pad, I find a roundish orange body about 1cm. Pictures below taken with magnifyer app. Anyone else seen...

Very unfortunate. If you had the tank made for you, the manufacturer might be the best person to advise on repair. They may be able to remove the panel and replace it.

. This is why I never buy from PAH. Their petcare advice is awful. The only reason I can fathom for taking purchasers name and ' is for marketing and data collection purposes - there's a huge market for data. The fact that their staff have no experience/knowledge of fishkeeping gives the...

My stand is level as far as I can tell. Measured with 2 spirit levels for accuracy. Can't measure across the diagonal until the tank is moved. But across the top it's level. It may simply have been a dodgy seam. I was never entirely happy with that corner. The tank had been set up for 11...

I got burned by the little pots on the display at my local PAH. The pot looked to have all green plants in it. So I bought it. Only to find a complete tangle of plant stems of which only the top and bottom were green (the visible bits.) The rest was grey. Some of the green bits have grown a...

Hi alto, Thanks for this. Great video ! Well, after ordering yesterday morning, from amazon uk, there was a knock on the door this morning and it was the tank being delivered ! Amazing considering were in the red zone for weather ! Have unwrapped it and it seems excellent. My only concern...

I can' afford to be the Guinea pig I'm afraid. NACDesign seems to be a Polish company. The person on ebay has a Polish name too. After much consideration I've ordered a Juwel Primo 110. Comes with LED lighting which is upgradable. Hopefully will be here by Monday - given the current...

Kalum, Thanks, been looking at that. I'd buy it if I had seen any reviews on the seller and tanks The question was asked last year, but so far no replies

Thanks both. Don't really want to go second hand. I wouldn' have any confidence in it Maybe if I was near a city and plenty of choice, but not sure about here Budget up to 150/200 preferably less if possible

Disaster struck my Juwel Rio 125 yesterday. One of the corners is leaking. Luckily I caught it very quickly. So water drained to below the lowest leak (several pinholes) about 1/3 left. Can't use the filter but it's a planted tank and just 10 small fish so not too worried for a day or so...

Did this a few months ago and wanted to see results before mentioning it. I had used fertilisers balls a long time ago and they worked great. However they were really expensive. I also tried grow more tabs. They worked too, but the little balls would migrate and end up on top of the...

I was really interested in the Natural Color Volcanic substrate, but couldn't find any reviews. If you decide to use it please let us know how it goes

Started back in the 70s as a kid. Begged our parents for goldfish. So we had 2 goldfish in a bare 12 inch plastic tank. Changed the water religiously every week - no conditioner then. Needless to say they didn't grow very big. Then one died. So we got another. That died too so we just kept...

I have several small tanks that can be brought into use with a mature sponge filter very quickly, but dont keep one running. Space is a problem. I have also got 2 tanks running now. Sciencefiction your post resonates strongly with me. I restocked an almost empty aquarium with male...

Only a litre? I doubt you'll have any trouble. Have tesco started adding scent? They didn't used to. The other brand did, and I used that. Rinsed in a sieve just enough to remove the worst of the dust (seconds not minutes) and yes it does 'fizz' but then so does activated charcoal. I was...

Awww that's really sweet :lol: Hope he stays that way :) Mine were all fine until they became adults, then it all changed. Hopefully yours will stay fine ;)

The fish in your picture looks like the one in my Avatar. He was one of a batch of very pretty young females at MA about 10 years ago. I bought a group of 6. As they grew the became very aggressive with a lot of flaring and posturing. At this point I realised they must be Plakat males and...

Hi Gill, I've used Kusuri Wormer+ to rid my fish of Camalanus. It worked really well. It treats the whole tank and even treats fish that have stopped eating. Excellent stuff and well worth the price. http://plymouthdiscus.com/ocretail/pd/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=139

Update Thank you all for your suggestions :thumbup: I found what looked like an interesting prospect on the All Ponds Solutions website. Looked like the perfect substrate for my needs. But couldn't find a review anywhere. So phoned them up and was told it's very light. They use it and have...

The air drying clay may or may not have resins or other chemicals added. Straight clay needs firing if you don't want it to dissolve when it gets wet, or break if you look at it too hard - it's incredibly fragile in this state So the question is, what has been added to the clay to air harden...

:lol: I've swallowed my share of tank water in the past :hungover: but not any more. I fill the hose with water, thumb over each end - or even just bucket end, just hold the other end higher One end in tank, the other in a bucket, and release the thumbs. Of course if it's wine or beer...

Thanks for the links on UKAPS Tim, had read them, and many others too ;) Unfortunately, most either bring up more unanswered questions or lead to a conclusion of not suitable for my fish ;) Thanks zozo for the links, had searched both Google and Amazon - Yes, there are some really cheap...

Thanks alto and bridgey_c. I think aqua gro might be a tad more than I want to pay, although if it were a smaller tank I'd go for it ;) Looking at Tahitian Moon - I agree about it being too glittery - and at the prices I'm seeing, I may as well go for something like Eco Complete or Flourite...

Dean, I'm not actually looking for coarse gravel. It would be fine gravel or coarse sand. Regards Polly

Hmmm Thanks Dean, I took out 'Black' sand when I replaced with Cat Litter. It didn't have a name but i'm guessing it was Limpopo, from MA in smallish unlabelled bags at the time. Cant say the Corys' barbels were any better than they are now - they have magnificent Barbels now! :-) and it...

A Web search for UK brought nothing up, and their website would only deliver US results But thank you anyway ☺

Just thought I'd update on my cat litter aquarium. Took the plunge in 2009 and it's still in there ! Fish still fine, plants fine. It doesn't seem to have disintegrated too much if at all. I am sick of the colour of it though. I really wish it came in a really deep dark colour...

Or it could be really dark brown, but really dark. The Cat litter has lasted for many years, but I've never really liked the colour. I personally love the dark substrates and they work better in a lowlight tank (for me, I know some will disagree) Fish certainly show better colours over a...

Why not? I swapped all the living room lights to IKEA LEDs - the very definition of cheap, so by your reasoning, not going to get brighter light or save money. However, I can now read at night, something I couldn't do with CFLs, I can also work effectively - I'm an artist, I need good light...

And that's why I didn't just go out and buy the Juwel T5 light bar ;-) I want LED because of the look and the LONG TERM ENERGY SAVING, I have a low light tank for the same reason. It's all in my first post really ;-) (tablet playing up, can't do italics)

Have spoken to both Juwel and Arcadia. Arcadia, because their Eco Aqua lamps are just about unobtainable. This is because they are discontinued! But they now make the Classica LED lamp as a retrofit for T8 systems with a magnetic ballast, which looks just the ticket - except Juwel have just...

Thanks karla. That looks realy lovely and the plants certainly responded to the LED lighting :-D

Thanks alto, that page makes more sense of trying to fix them in :) - If I can locate some, still haven't found anyone who actually have them in stock :( Have emailed Juwel but no reply :( I'm astonished that there wasn't even a stock reply. I know where I will be spending my money...

Thanks tiger tim and greenmac. Lowlight is fine, the tank is low tech, and the fish will appreciate it. The plants are mostly low light too. I liked the length of the 'stretch' - at least it is as long as my present lamps. Good to know the fish look good under the stretch, no point in...

Thanks Supercoley, good point about the unit being a heatsink too. I have LED lighting everywhere in the house and completely forgot about that in my excitement at finding these lights - Doh! Thanks alto, I saw those, but apart from not being able to find the tropical one to buy (one...

Hi all, it's been a while since I've posted, but still lurking. For a long while now, I've been wanting to change the lighting over my Juwel Rio 125 (2x T8s) over to LED. But I also want to not make the living room look as if a UFO has landed LOL So, for various reasons, I'd like to keep...

Sorry about your disaster, must have been awful getting home to that :( Regarding the smell still in the carpet, you could try a Bio Clothes washing liquid, diluted in warm water and used in a VAX machine or Rug Doctor. The enzymes will get rid of most smells, as a rinse you could use white...

WOW beautiful scapes LD ! When I bought the plant, it was potted, with about 6 leaves, Not much of a root system, but that's not always obvious with the Tropica potted plants. I expected to lose the leaves because of the change from shop to home. I didn't expect it to not grow for 18...

Now that's interesting, not sure where I can put it out of the flow, all the plants are waving gently. But it's worth experimenting with the outflow perhaps, to create an area of less flow.

I wasn't comparing tanks, they are completely different set ups separated by about 30 years ;-) It was merely an observation that just about everything I did with that tank was 'wrong', and yet plants thrived as did the fish, they bred in the tank and there were so many plants that they...

There's Mag Sulph in the recipe for the ferts - it's the one on James' Planted Tank 'TPN' No 3 (All in One) Not sure if it needs more, but I have to be so careful with this tank, any slip-ups and I get BGA. Have kept Planted Aquariums since 1982 and never saw it before 2000 ! My own fault...

OK I should have said low lighting, not super high tech. I don't do CO2. I dose the tank daily with James' 'all in one' ferts liquid, in addition to the liquid carbon. First thing in the morning, it's easier to remember if I add the ferts daily. I chose this because our water report...

I bought this plant last year along with Nessea and Rotala Rotundifolia, which are both growing fine, however, the Nymphaea leaves melted away and it really hasn't done anything since. I thought I had lost the plant for the longest time, but now there are tiny shoots on it. Still no roots...

+2 It doesn't even matter 'which' whitespot it is - it will still work and is safe with shrimps etc. I tried salt in my planted tank, raised the temp etc. followed the instructions on dosing salt. Plants died, plants struggled - cost me a fortune in new plants and what was worse - it took...

I don't have Chilli Rasboras, but I do have Neon Green Rasboras - Microdevario Kubotai I bought a shoal of 11 (one free!) and they are totally happy and confident in my Rio 125 planted with Danio Choprai, and a young pair of Pearl Gouramis. Showing colours well - even the blue iridescence on...

If you are using cat litter, there's no need to cap it, it will work well on it's own ;) Also, any gravel/sand, being heavier, will sooner or later end up underneath the cat litter ;) The same happens with other substrates, it's really difficult to stop them mixing together IME ;)

Without knowing what fish you have and how sensitive they are it's impossible to say for definite :wink: However, I did just that. I rinsed all the cat litter, using a sieve as it was quicker. I removed and saved all the water (70% went back in) plants, and put the fish in a bucket...

I really would NOT recommend using Thomas Cat Litter in the Aquarium. Even if it has kept it's shape after washing, it will very quickly turn to sludge of the kind I described earlier :( It's virtually the same product that I experimented with years ago in pots in the aquarium, rotting...