Search results for query: *

Hi all, Cheating a little bit because they are at work. They live in a trough in what would appear to be <"unsuitable conditions">, but nobody has told them and they've done really well. Cheers Darrel

Hi all, Not a forum I'm going to post on very often (or possibly ever again) but an article that may be of interest. <"Nitrification in Marine Aquaria | DrTim's Aquatics">. PDF at <"https://www.drtimsaquatics.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Nitrification-in-Marine-Aquaria-3-parts-CORAL.pdf">...

What is the “Duckweed Index” all about? I’ve never written a proper “Duckweed Index” article, but, prompted by @GHNelson, I’ve written a short introduction. I’ll break it up into a series of posts (of which this is the first), mainly to avoid author (and reader) fatigue. There is a table of...

Hi all, This one is especially for Rosie @shangman , because, apparently, I never show pictures of any of the fish. Also I can't type so the title should be "Axelrodia riesei" This is mainly because I rarely see any of the fish, but I've recently I've acquired these Ruby Tetra, and they behave...

Hi all, Just to bump this thread really <"Now is a good time to find PYO Oak branches for Aquascaping">, as <Storm Ciaran> is approaching. cheers Darrel

Hi all, As some will know I have a bit of a <"floating plant obsession">, and this has just come my way via my day job (and "Botany One" <"🌻 The Week in Botany October 23, 2023">) <"Future Mars astronauts may chomp on Earth's tiniest flowering plant to survive"> Photo copy write Christian...

Hi all, I just saw this on the Aquatic Store, Bristol FB group <"The Aquatic Store Bristol">, and it looks very interesting (and definitely a good idea). I don't know if anybody knows any more? The original is a short video, but basically a cabinet with lights and a fogging system...

Hi all, All right, so the title might be <"slight hyperbole">, but the <"Tropica "Amazon Frogbit" (Limnobium laevigatum) page"> says: cheers Darrel

Hi all, I'm not claiming that <"I'm Nostradamus">, but in light of the energy crisis (<"Our hobby faces an existential threat">) and <"Brexit bonus">, I just wanted to say that <"I am still doing"> the <"tarot card readings">. From 2013 (and a thread that @foxfish added greatly to) cheers...

Hi all, Not a paper this time, but another <"Seasoned Tank"> cycling video from Cory at the Aquarium Co-Op. He sounds a bit world weary on this one, and <"I know that feeling">. cheers Darrel

Hi all, I'm going to try and find some "ammonia oxidising microbes in drinking water references", but so far I haven't found any sand filter etc. references <"Metagenomic profiling of ammonia- and methane-oxidizing microorganisms in two sequential rapid sand filters"> that include pre-treatment...

Hi all, Leading on from our discussion about the <"microbes that occur in aquarium filters"> I contacted, Ryan Newton <"Microbiology | Newton Lab Uwm">, one of the authors of "Bartelme RP, Smith MC, Sepulveda-Villet OJ, Newton RJ. (2019). "Component microenvironments and system biogeography...

Hi all, I've got even less idea of where to put this one, so I'll leave it in "substrates", even though they are the component that is entirely lacking in this study. Bartelme RP, Oyserman BO, Blom JE, Sepulveda-Villet OJ, Newton RJ. (2018) "Stripping Away the Soil: Plant Growth Promoting...

Hi all, I'm not quite sure where to put this, so I'll pop it in "Substrates". I've talked a bit about plants being able to change the conditions in the substrate, in <"the rhizosphere">, to favour "beneficial microbes" and this paper quantifies that, using RNA libraries. It also talks about...

Hi all, Here is one that has come my way, via my "day job". We aren't actually doing any wastewater work at the moment but I belong to some list server etc. so I still get bits and bobs and I thought this might be of more general interest. <"How Floating Wetlands Are Helping to Clean Up...

Hi all, This review paper - <"Ammonia-oxidizing archaea and complete ammonia-oxidizing Nitrospira in water treatment systems"> has recently come my way. Al-Ajeel, S., Spasov, E., Sauder, L.A., McKnight, M.M. and Neufeld, J.D., 2022. "Ammonia-oxidizing archaea and complete ammonia-oxidizing...

Hi all, The recent bright light, warm weather and high temperatures have provoked the <"Utricularia gibba, in the glasshouse, into flowering">. The "tank" had a variety of floating plants added earlier in the year, but only Utricularia gibba, and a small amount of Salvinia "auriculata group"...

Hi all, <"Photosynthesis on the far side of the rainbow">? Any thoughts @oreo57 ? cheers Darrel

Hi all, Because we've had some breezy weather (and the crops are still pretty short) it is a good time to find fallen dead wood, and particularly the Oak (Quercus spp.) heartwood from <"Stag-headed Oaks"> (like below). You may also be able to find wind thrown trees with exposed root-plates...

Hi all, @LondonDragon do we have a snazzy new look? I'm on a different type of device to normal but we appear to have gone green (which is always a good thing)? Also following on from @GHNelson find of a <"bargain Cryptocoryne"> and @sparkyweasel 's lamentations about not having purchased...

Hi all, Some long-standing members may remember that we've been trying to buy some analytical kit to replace our AAS (<"atomic absorption spectrophotometer">). We didn't get the money for an ICP -MS, but the good news is that we've just bought an Agilent 4210 - MP AES - <"Microwave Plasma...

Hi all, This came out of the discussion on <"is expensive bio media worth it?"> in freshwater tanks, but it looks quite interesting. I know nothing about marine tanks, so any comments would be much appreciated. Cohen, F., Cabral, A., Lillebø A & Calado, R. (2021) <"Relieving pressure from...

Hi all, <"Aquarium Science"> have written a few more <"planted tank web pages">. They are the usual mixture of <"the good, the bad and the ugly">, but there were bits I really enjoyed, to quote. cheers Darrel

Hi all, A couple of years ago I found a Utricularia in some new ponds which had been constructed as mitigation for some maintenance work on ponds containing Great Crested Newts on our campus. I don't know where it originally came from, but there was some planting done. I haven't seen it...

Hi all, People who have been following the <"Bacteria in a Bottle"> thread may have seen that I said I'd try and contact Tim Hovanec and ask him a few questions about bacterial supplements. Dr Hovanec was kind enough to send a very thorough, and interesting reply, to the email, and has given me...

Hi all, As a couple of people have asked about the <"leaf colour chart" (LCC)">, (that is linked into various threads talking about <"Amazon Frogbit and the "Duckweed Index">*), I'll add some references into this thread, I'll add more as I collect them. * In December 2023 I wrote a more...

Hi all, I haven't maintained any of the tanks in the lab. since the middle of March, the only thing I've done is topped the water up, but it was about 1/2 way down the tanks at that point. They don't have any fish, and a limited amount of snails etc. but were heavily planted with easy plants...

Hi all, This is quite interesting, there are plant sections scattered through-out, and some unusual fish. cheers Darrel

Hi all, Not quite sure where to post this, but I thought it might go here, I've seen a similar one for freshwater tanks, I'll try and find that as well: cheers Darrel

Hi all, I've recently found a few more references using Limnobium laevigatum in wastewater treatment. Because Limnobium is my preferred "Duckweed" for the <"Duckweed Index">, I thought I'd start a thread. Because it is a thread I've started I should be able to add any new references that I...

Hi all, The grassy, stiff leaved plant in your second tank looks like it might be Ophiogon which isn't aquatic. If it is Ophiopogon it will have very stiff leaves, if it is Sagittaria or similar it will be lot more floppy. Cheers Darrel

Hi all, Because we are into a run of stormy weather now is a good time to see if you can pick up some fallen dead Oak (Quercus) branches, or roots from windthrown trees. I keep an eye out for accessible <"Stag-headed Oaks">, like the one below. You won't get any really "twisty" wood, but...

Hi all, I've found an interesting video in the <"Practical Fishkeeping - Reader Visit>" section. Mark Allison is a very accomplished keeper & breeder of catfish and also a planted tank enthusiast. cheers Darrel

Hi all, I've been surveying, and doing some water quality work, on some of <"Bristol's pond and rivers"> over the last couple of weeks. I had an interesting one today. I won't tell you the location, or context, but it was a pond and the water sample had a dissolved oxygen level of 180% (~20oC...

Hi all, I've just been out and at 22:30 the <"partial lunar eclipse"> is quite impressive. cheers Darrel

Hi all, Definitely a <"dead donkey"> of a thread title, but if any-one is interested there is a good open-source review article on the microbial mechanisms for nitrification, it is the science behind the cycling discussion in <"Bedside Aquarium">: Laura E Lehtovirta-Morley <"Ammonia oxidation...

Hi all, A paper has come my way that I thought might be of interest. : <"Photosynthetic acclimation of terrestrial and submerged leaves in the amphibious plant Hygrophila difformis">. It is "Open Access", so should be available to every-one. It is quite interesting, it suggests that ethylene...

Hi all, A couple of <"very interesting articles"> have come my way that suggests that Bladderworts (Utricularia spp.) are getting a lot of their food from algae that they've captured. Most Utricularia spp. are a bit temperamental in the aquarium, but <"I have a lot of Utricularia gibba"> and...

Hi all, I was looking at an <"Asellus food preference paper"> (apparently the shed leaves of Alders Alnus spp.), and it linked to this paper, about the Cherry Shrimp (Neocardinia davidi). Schoolman & Arndt (2017) <"Leaf-litter preferences of the introduced freshwater shrimps Atyaephyra...

Hi all, I was on a Field Course last week in Dorset, and a lot of heather on the sand dunes at Studland etc had died in the drought. You couldn't collect any dead heather from Studland, because it is a NNR, but there should be other heaths, moors and commons where there is dead heather wood you...

Hi all, While I was looking at the RAS and Archaea references I came upon this paper Khangembam et al. (2017) <"Diversity and Abundance of Ammonia-Oxidizing Bacteria and Archaea in a Freshwater Recirculating Aquaculture System"> HAYATI Journal of Biosciences 24:4 pp. 215-220. It didn't add...

Hi all, There is a planted tank enthusiast who has recently started posting on <"Apistogramma forums">. He has <"a blog">, where he discusses problems with plants like Ludwigia sedoides, that I think might be of interest to many members here. I had a quick "google", and his day job is as a...

Hi all, Probably not really the right place for this, but I took a couple of photos of the buckets where my Blackworm (Lumbriculus variegatus) cultures are mainly residing at the moment. I've also got some bits of nano-wood soaking and plenty of spare Hornwort. This was a very quick scoop with...

Hi all, I've found a potentially useful alternative crustacean to Asellus aquaticus and Hyalella azteca as "tank janitor" and live food source. It's called "Crangonyx pseudogracilis" and it has the advantages of being quite small (less than 10mm) and very tolerant of warm water and low oxygen...

Hi all, I was in Lidl this afternoon, and they are selling some quite large Maranta and Calathea plants for £2.49. They would be good for a large open top tank with emersed section. You can see them in a few peoples tanks, this is one of "sciencefiction's" from this post...

Hi all, I've owned the real Splash "Tetra" (Copella arnoldi <http://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/copella-arnoldi/>) on 3 different occasions (the only times I've ever seen them for sale), but I've never had much success with them, mainly because as soon as they start spawning I've always lost...

Hi all, I'm not sure our new light diffuser is working properly. It also seems to be show an unhealthy interest in the fish, and it is a bit bad tempered when you move it. and it is totally hopeless for the nano. cheers Darrel

Hi all, I've got quite a bit of Utricularia gibba, mainly because once you've got it, it gets everywhere. I quite like it and it grows well, but it doesn't usually flower. This bit hitch hiked its way into a plastic tub in the glasshouse, with some spare "floaters", and I noticed it was...

Hi all, You probably aren't going to like this as a reply, but I wouldn't buy this filter, or any other cheapish new filter. I'd buy a 2nd hand "Eheim Classic" and if you need more flow? a pump, either a Koralia, or if you aren't feeling particularly flush a Maxijet powerhead. I like Eheim...

Hi all, Following a combination of having some unexpected free-time and a "draw your plec" thread on another forum, I've drawn one of mine. The third serendipitous event was that I could actually see one. I've had 5 of them for about 6 months, but I've only seen them on a hand-full of occasions...

Hi all, I've found a freeware program that may be of interest to those with a more chemical bent. I haven't used it yet but it should be able to allow the user to visualise what is actually happening in complex solutions of nutrients...

Hi all, I've been to the Bavarian Alps for 3 weeks, this was a house swap, so why we were in Bavaria a German family were out our home in Wiltshire. I've only got 2 x 2' and a 21 litre nano tank at home, all heavily planted and low-tech. Usually when I'm away I ask house-sitters not too feed...

Hi all, Got sent this link via my "day job", but it is quite entertaining and I thought I'd share it. Also makes you wonder what Santa Claus has done to Rudolf, Dasher and Prancer? and whether he did it in the traditional Sami manner? Environmental Research Letters "Oslo: how castration can...

Hi all, I called in to Amazon Aquatics <http://cgi3.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewUserPage&userid=last-trading-post> (in Warminster) yesterday. Very well kept fish, and a lot of good quality kit (Eheim, Sera, Aqualog etc) bought direct from Germany and very reasonably priced. The owner (Mike)...

Hi all is 100% correct. I've got quite a lot of soil samples, out of the furnace in the lab (this burns out the OM at 500 oC to give you the percentage organic for your soil) if any-one wants to experiment with them? The technical term is "calcining", and it is how they create "hydroleca"...

Hi all, I'm pretty sure the Black Widow Tetra will be OK with the Ember Tetras, but will eat the cherry shrimps, unless there is a lot of cover. The plus side is that they are quite mid/surface orientated. If you want to breed them they are easy to condition with Grindal worms, Daphnia and...

Hi all, I have some dark red "Cherry Shrimps" with prominent pale lines along their back (basically a strip from the head to the telson) and since reading the recent posts on Caridina cf. babaulti, I wondered whether Red Cherry Shrimp (Neocaridina heteropoda heteropoda) have a stripe? or do I...

Hi all, I'd probably swap the potassium sulphate for potassium nitrate (KNO3) as the mix is low in nitrogen. You also need a phosphorus (P) source, as you don't have one at present. If you look at the sticky for EI and "James' planted tank - all in one solution"...

Hi all, Some good looking aquariums and some technical info on this blog. http://www.tuncalik.com/2010/01/indoor-plants-for-water-purification-in-aquariums/. cheers Darrel