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Well, the crypts are growing back but saddened to say nearly all inverts have been wiped out. I had at least 100 cherries in there. None left. Had a dozen bee shrimp, gone. Three bamboo, gone. Two assassin snails and three nerites, gone too. Left with one amano. Cheesed off about that doesn't...

Thanks Tim :)

Used to be a keen runner in my teens Started up again a few years ago but fell victim to fallen arches and subsequent Achilles and calf pain. There's a shop in Edinburgh called 'Run 4 It'. Went there as I had heard about them. They put you on a treadmill and video you walking and running...

Just back from 12 days Hols away, tanks in good order except my 130l. All the crypts have melted, and there was a huge amount of them, covering about 30-40% of the substrate. Wondering what the cause could be? Before I went on Hols everything was in good order. I dosed enough liquid ferts for...

I have soft water but I run crushed oyster shell in the filter for many reasons including this

Mine often bury into substrate, they seem to hibernate for a few days after feeding

I wouldn't use miracle gro due to the additives. I have john innes no3 from Westland in one tank and Westland aquatic Compost in another. There are tannins for a couple days after setup,but they soon disappear When I replant I get no more cloudiness than I would with any other substrate Fine...

Nope, happened to me, but I intentionally chose the non coated stuff as I worried about the coating in the aquarium...couldn't find anything at the time to say the coating was ok so tried uncoated, pretty much a horrid lump of slimy mush after a couple of months

If your plants are growing well and healthy you don't need (additional....) co2

Your plants may or may not need co2, can you tell us more about your setup?

IME it wil rot in a couple of months

Hi Zak, it's only been a couple of weeks since you started your EI regime so I think your tank will take a little more time to settle. I would trim and replant your stems like this http://www.ukaps.org/index.php?page=a-general-guide-to-plant-maintenance Well done on getting the flow and...

Update pics. With similar photography skills http://flic.kr/p/oKBBSK http://flic.kr/p/oKBsFj

Soil capped with sand?

Hmmm....is there a red face smiley....lol During maintenance today I found it was simply detritus that gathered around the Dhg, predominantly to the rear....flow is fine!

Pygmy cories, good idea, have them, great little guys

Not sure why I like it, but I really really like it

Perhaps some (low grade if you've not kept before) Taiwan bees to complement the cherries. I think double up the cardinals. How about some nice zebra Otos? And maybe some amano shrimp, nerite snail?

I would add stem plants at the rear, perhaps with a red plant to the right and a carpeting plant to the front

3 weeks old, some doing extremely well, just the stuff to the rear with brown

Only a little difference in dept, did wonder about flow

So, in my new setup I have soil capped with ada amazonia powder DHG was doing very well, tank doing well (used media from other tank) and ammonia, nitrite down to zero, so,time to ditch the kit Did a 70% WC two days ago. Some Dhg doing very well (on the side closest to the window) some not so...

So, for one of tanks I looked at on the tropica site that would be about 900l of ferts!

After buying my first batch of 1-2 grow I would highly recommend, not sure I would buy potted again!

Toms bucket o' mud is quite 'pondy' I suppose

I'm no expert but I'm thinking a spray bar spanning the left hand side of the tank, perhaps coupled with a power head beside it at the back

I baked mine, as the soil was wet for baking it didn't produce that sandy residue

Micranthemum umbrosum? (Giant baby tears, often confused with baby tears, even under its scientific name) I have in my low tech inset up a couple if weeks ago, seems to be doing well, I'd say about a 30% increase in size since planting

Not sure if this helps, haven't experienced it before myself http://www.fishdeals.com/fish_diseases/black_spot/

Personally I would start again. If you're going for low tech you may want to look at a Walstad style set up - about an inch of soil capped with an inch of sand. Combination of root feeders, stem plants and floating. Significant amounts of fish. Plant very very heavily from the outset. No ferts...

Photo please!

Like it :)

Strap the large and small pieces together to make a single 3d?

Thanks, which product(s)?

How are you feeding the plants?

Many thanks :)

Would love too see photos of the fixes, I have the aquanano 55

I'm guessing you'll need something like 5-7kg of stone...but I could be way off....

Not a great shot, but here's day 1

I would revisit co2 and circulation before going down that path

All set up, just filling up, pics to follow :)

Love your enthusiasm, go for easy plants You can add the additives if you like, however you don't need to. I would stick to hardier species of shrimp and fish to start, such as low grade bee shrimp or cherry shrimp.

Mr Mazanita?

If it's lying at an angle you could have the bottom portion covered in substrate

Just had a text, order coming tomorrow!

Doesn't sound like a huge plant mass, so not sure upping co2 would help, controlling with the blinds sounds like the better option

I have two tanks, one gets sunlight in the morning, no algae of significance, the one the that gets sun light in the afternoon has the occasional bga outbreak. They're both low tech, but the one that gets bga is not heavily planted

I think it depends on the effect, I.e are you getting algae or plant issues as a direct result?

So, this might end up being a journal, but I setting up my new tank this weekend It's a 40cm cube, the aquaone aquanano 55. I've placed my order with The Green Machine which is 1 xADA Aqua Soil Powder Amazonia (9 Litre) 4 xTropica 1-2-Grow Eleocharis sp. 'mini' 1 xSumatra Drift Root Wood...

If keeping up maintenance is the issue I would go low tech. Soil at the bottom an inch thick capped with sand up to the sane depth Use some root feeders, such as crypts, swords. Some stems, such as hygro sp and some floaters such as frogbit. Plant very very heavily from the outset. Re-use...

Don't know, but nice tank btw Us it an aquaone aquanano?

I've given it some thought I'm thinking Soil substrate capped with ADA Amazonia Manzanita wood coming from back left corner to front right direction with Taiwan moss attached Java fern covered coconut shell for the apistos under the wood, about 1/2 way in with a tumble / flow of small seiryu...

Zebra Otos are cool

Thanks Darrell, may take you up on that :) It's not out the box yet though! Ta

Couldn't resist the temptation today, pets at home have the Aquaone Aquanano 40 (a 55 litre tank) one offer at £90 from £130 until 5th August so snapped up the chance using a £5 voucher I had received from them as well. It will be a low tech tank with a soil substrate capped with sand. The...

:) And that's the tank after trimming about a bucketful of leaves out! Thanks :)Flora Various crypts, lots and lots and lots of them Java fern Java moss Xmas moss Various Anubias Hygrophila poly Penny wort Frogbit Accidental duckweed Aponogenton crispus red Aponogeton ulvaceous Echinodorus...

Can't answer on behalf of science fiction, but I think point is the nitrites, not the sensitivity to nitrates. Nitrites are toxic even in very small amounts, nitrates are not. It's not about the conversion, it's about the presence of nitrites at all. Nitrate sensitivity causes much debate and...

Not sure, guessing its to do with pots, I would put in a more suitable temporary substrate

I don't think its possible to feed too much protein, but easily possible to feed too much poor quality protein, leather shoes are indeed protein after all. Raw meat is about 20-30% protein. Some dry food manufacturers claim high amounts but it may not be digestible. When I fed dry food I used...

Hi, Dogs do well on fish and I often feed raw fish to mine. The clicker method first came about in the 70s when some of the top trainers (Ian Dunbar for one) noticed that killer whales and parrots were trained this way. Both can be agressive if treated badly and modern dog training was, even...

Avoid the natural supplements as there is emerging evidence they may be harmful to your dog (if you mean the ones sold to avoid pee burns) Less red meat may have negatives effects on the dogs health - 'a butchers dog is a healthy dog' as the old saying goes. Mine are fed a raw food diet and I...

I would recommend reading Diana Walstads book, which is less than a tenner on kindle

About a week ago my alternatha broke the surface and started shooting emersed leaves in my low tech, beautiful deep pink colours. Was getting very proud of my low tech jungle and was about ready to take 'show off' pics. Then all of a sudden the submersed leaves developed holes, changed colour...

I had this before. I solved it by preparing water a week before and matching, I.e. When I do this weeks water change I prepare next weeks water. This meant capatta leaves, mineral rock. I also used a heater to temp match. After I did that it stopped happening.

You could add floating plants and then the 'duckweed index' could indicate your fertilisation needs?

Have a read through these http://www.ukaps.org/forum/forums/tutorials.34/

Yes, but I'm not sure out Scottish water is what it used to be 8 years ago I had a ph of 7.0, kH of 1 and gh of 3 Now I have a ph of 7.9, kH of 2 and gh of 4, when I check the water website I see increased levels of heavy metals in comparison to previous years I use a 3 stage HMA, it's...

Leaving someone with food never really works, they do things like forget for four days and then chuck a weeks worth in the tank in one go. Automatic feeder next time....

Is it a soil substrate?

Hi Ed, I have a 6 year old Lab x collie who is retired from competition through hip arthritis and a 2 year old German shepherd. He's not ready for competing yet though. Ta

I do Working Trials http://www.thekennelclub.org.uk/activities/working-trials/ 'A competitive dog sport based on the civilian equivalent of police dog work'

And a response from Diana about root tabs in the setup that I found helpful. http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/el-natural/90427-dsm-questions-2.html#post692642

Interesting article by Diana Walstad, growing more difficult plants in low tech using DSM. http://www.bookmasters.com/marktplc/00388Shrimp.pdf

Just finished the book, very good

4 40...ouch...sorry to break the news to you but is under a tenner on kindle now

It's a fascinating book, been though don't understand all the detail, I don't need too, so far it's given me a better insight into planted aquaria Everyone one should readit

Allelopathy seems to make sense to me, but I'm certainly no expert by any means Crypts and vals seem to come up in forums a lot as an example

Just read the chapter in Diana Walstads book on Alleopathy and wondered what the opinions / observations / experiences were? It seems from this chapter that algae can produce alleopathic chemicals that inhibit plant growth and that plants can do the same to algae. I know I'm preachng to the...

Thanks Harry :) I have moss on way and there is a branch sticking up I was going to attach it to. Was thinking about doing a large water change below the level of the branch and attaching in situ before refilling go the tank, looks like it will work ok and the gel is the best option as it...

How long is it until the superglue dries (is it about a minute or two)? And can you put the wood straight back in at that point? I have shrimp in the tank

Take it easy and slowly when stocking...

My guess is that there is significant dissolved co2 in new water so when the lights come the plants will use it, I'm sure others will clarify

No, but a good idea

<a href="http://s50.photobucket.com/user/nickmcmechan/media/Lady and Max/24a0610073220b539d6d0ef91d5362cb.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f336/nickmcmechan/Lady and Max/24a0610073220b539d6d0ef91d5362cb.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo...

Can't remember where I got the link to this http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LUSH-Max-Aquatic-Fertiliser-1-litre-Aquarium-Plant-Food-Fish-Tank-Fertilizer-/251500608645?pt=UK_Pet_Supplies_Fish&hash=item3a8e9abc85 But a good find anyway....especially for low tech dosing (a fivers worth would last...

Crypts? Echinodorous sp? Some stems...Hygro?

You must have an understanding family....

Simmer down....

With lots of light you need lots of nutrients as the plants demand it more, carbon, macros and micros What plants do you have, what is your dosing regime and can you post a pic? If it's a case of reducing light you could remove reflectors, remove a bulb or add fast growing floating plants I reckon

How long does the battery last?

Any suggestions? Need one that would fit in a 25l water container Ta

Reading the articles on substrates and posts by those who I would consider 'really know what the heck they are talking about', there seems to be a greater success rate with ADA. Haven't used it myself though.

When I set up my fluval edge about a year ago things were going well, then after a few months I kept getting shrimp deaths and couldn't work out the reason why...added carbon to the filter (and have been doing so since) and have a thriving colony.... My tanks seem healthier with carbon than without

Fair point.... I guess the advice has to be taken in context, adding algae eating species in a healthy well balanced tank will be beneficial as all tanks suffer even a tiny amount of algae...but if things are not going well they may add to the problem rather than take away from it?

Which types do you have?

I don't have experience but have read elsewhere that fully grown adult angels may eat sub adult cardinal, but the effect is reduced if the angels are young in the tank with the cardinals and grow with them Wild caught angels may already have the appetite I supposse

Lol, expected you to ask how to reduce flow in this tank, everyone is going on about flow being far too much in the aquanano tanks I reckon if you write to aquanano they will advise which other pumps fit it, that way you don't lose one of the key features of the tank (everything is hidden)...