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Should probably mention the Trace element as your tap water looks pretty nutritious on the macros. you could cover these with Tropica premium which is just traces and you would get a little more K from there. You are probably getting some off the root tabs at the moment but removing most of it...

Any mention of Potassium in that water report? If not you could maybe add a touch of potassium sulphate. Everything else is good so see how you go.

Yes mate I put osmocote pellets in the substrate every month and liquid dose in between.

It is comforting to know that the far more experienced people in here see this as something you have to put up with having a low tech set up. I guess I'll just see if arranging the plants could mask it better. I recently watched a video (by a biologist I believe" said the two options were either...

Just to say maximising co2 in a low tech is up there with getting good co2 in a high tech. And I thought I was simplifying things but cutting out co2 :D

Flow may be something I have over looked Iain as I didn't think it would be that important. Maybe I should take another look at this. The mantra I set this tank up with was low energy in all senses of the word in so far as I only run a small hob filter that use 3watts for a bit of water...

Wondering how people deal with "easy" stem plants when they start ditching lower leaves? My understanding of this is it's a combination of lighting and co2, maybe to a certain extent flow as well. Do people just cut the healthy tops of and re-plant accepting this will happen and just keep the...

Just to clarify mate the river I was collecting from is nowhere near that area, it's a lot further inland. What you said first is probably right, the river banks upstream are sandy so it probably washed down from there and settled on the bend forming a beach areas. i wouldn't like to dig in the...

There's a pub at the bottom of my hill called the Distressed Sailor which seems like an odd name for a boozer so far inland, don't know how true it is but apparently it was called this because ships used to be able to sail from Whitehaven Harbour to St Bees along that route. The water was...

It's in Whitehaven mate which is on the west coast, the river is maybe five or more miles inland as the crow flies. There's mainly just usual rounded basalt cobbles in the river but every now and again you come across a sand bank. Birds nest in these, I'll get a picture next time I'm up there...

If I'm honest it may not be comprising of sandstone, I think it's just because further up stream there's a sand stone bridge and I'm putting 2 and 2 and getting five. I find it a really odd place, it's on a freshwater beck but if you cut out the background you would swear you are at the beach...

Slightly off Topic but I've some future plans for a soiled cube, going to wait until the temperature gets warmer as I'm probably going to try with no equipment except lighting. Near me there's a stream and under the bridge where it meanders there's a small beach with very fine sand on it. It's...

No worries pal, I hope it all works out. That's the problem with the "high tech" game especially when it comes to co2. To get the maximum growth and fancy plants people allude to you often find yourself walking a thin line when it comes to fauna especially when there's no exact way of measuring...

All you can do is do what you're doing mate. Dial it back gradually and see which plants come out the other end. If co2 has led to the demise of your shrimp, there's nothing to say it was so far and they are your priority just turn off the co2 altogether and reduce the lighting. I recently...

You tend to find that most commercial products are either very week in Nitrate or Phosphate or omit it all together. That's why a lot of planted tank keepers move on to dry salts especially when using high light and co2. To achieve the levels associated with EI style dosing or making sure a lack...

An excess of Nitrogen isn't usually an issue with planted tanks, nitrogen and potassium are up there as the two elements plants consume the most, you may even find if you provide all the macros and traces required they consume even more nitrates than they normally would. Best not to get bogged...

Hiya mate, there's not too much to get your head round. You can use the APF video as a guide, unfortunately it looks like their starter kit is out of stock but those are the dry salts you need, just use your own spoons and bottles. Their recommended dosage is. Macro 3x a week. (10ml per 50ltr...

I would change water weekly. The outlet isn't that important just whatever works for you, flow is more of an issue when injecting co2. No need of the reflectors. If you use the soil I would dose traces and magnesium right from the off. I wouldn't dose the co2 at all, plants will get addicted to...

Just for clarification, I have never changed any water in that cube, added any frets and the only light it gets is from a window but compared to being stuck to a dry bit of wood in a cupboard that's luxury. But then I see someone with a High tech tank wondering why their moss keeps dying :shh: I...

Trying to dissolve a gas that constantly wants to get out of a warm environment and keep it stable is like herding cats. Errors with nutrients is far more forgiving unless they are combined with gas issues. The tank I have sometimes I dose like clockwork but there's times when I've just let it...

I think that's where a lot of new high tech scapers may fall into chasing ghosts. Co2 injection is an inherently unstable practice and a dynamic situation as surface agitation and plant mass changes. The plants are constantly trying to adapt which then leads to people making further unnecessary...

I'm pretty sure the post @zozo is referring to did this, I could be mistaken though. I remember a loooong time ago reading a post where a container was dipped into the water, pulled out past the water line then filled with co2 to see if some equilibrium law would "pull" the co2 down into the...

What deficiency might I be looking at for brown holes in old leaves? I bought some Siamensis B potted to add some simple stems to fill a corner and cover a heater but left the plant just sitting in the pot in the aquarium for a couple of months to let it adjust a bit before planting in the...

From what I've read and because lighting these days is very efficient (Even the ones we class as low energy because they use low watts but still achieve reasonable par to watt) fish food adds very little nutrients. I would suggest it would take quite a high fish stock and combined heavy feeding...

In my particular case PO4 is added to the tapwater supply at the treatment plant possibly for raising alkalinity? as our water is extremely soft. AFAIK this would then react with the iron forcing it to precipitate and get filtered out. Not sure if this is common practice in all softwater areas...

Don't open that can of worms :D The reduced EI model sort of works for me using the assumption that each element is going to be consumed by the plants in those kind of ratios so it's simpler to divide them ratios when dosing and be fairly confident you are somewhere near. For instance 1/3 n also...

I don't think it's an either or situation, the plants need "some of everything" you could get away with just micros, something like Tropica Premium which is just traces but that would largely depend if the plants were getting some npk macros from somewhere else like the fish waste or your tap...

Hmm not really, its just waste organic matter the same that collects in the filter. Far better out than in so syphoning off is the best bet. Certain substrates which have high cec values have the ability to absorb and store nutrients from the water column but this is a different matter...

Going well so far ED? Regarding the Balansae, I tend to find they do most of their growing under the substrate for quite a while before they get going above. Once they have enough root system they are the perfect big plant for low tech. I've pulled them before thinking they were going no where...

:clap::clap::clap: Check him out, Betta have been burdened in life with a face that looks like they are permanently miserable but you can tell this one is buzzing :thumbup: Lot of people say they don't like too much flow but it's ok as long as they can get away from it when they want. I bet this...

Unfortunately Betta are a victim of its own success. Its ability to live in relatively small bodies of water even puddles has been misconstrued over the years and people with limited space get convinced by the LFS that they are fine in that environment. That couldn't be further from the truth...

The guy in the video the OP linked took par readings @Edvet

Nice one, thanks for showing up :thumbup: yeah there was a lot of interest in the shrimp. I've seen various youtube videos regarding raising Amanos in saltwater with varying results. I seen on your profile that dirty tank were your thing and there's also a lot of interest in this forum as well...

Yeah, watching it again it does appear to have two types of shrimp in there. There's Amano and what appears to be wild shrimp, I'm assuming the wild ones were the survivors probably introduced before the fry from the other breeding tank went in and the Amano are just dropping young which survive...

Or was it locally sourced? Not sure I'll have watch again. That could mean sourced locally from the lfs. Sent from my STH100-2 using Tapatalk

I think somewhere in there he said they were wild caught Darrel so not sure if they're a mixture of Amano and locally collected ones from wherever they are from. I think I'll invite them to the forum for a chat. Been watching a few of their tanks while planning my dirt setup. Sent from my...

My next project is a soil and no co2 cube but I will probably use a small surface skimmer just for movement. Just waiting for the temp to rise a bit but I'll put a small 25 watt heater in just in case. Sent from my STH100-2 using Tapatalk

Just shows what can be achieved, something for everyone in this. Sent from my STH100-2 using Tapatalk

Oh right, I think I'll grab one next time I'm in before they dissolve. Sent from my STH100-2 using Tapatalk

Just like the submerged species the roots will trail into the water and remove waste products, nitrogen etc. I have a Pothos plant in a glass bowl in mine. @dw1305 out of curiosity mate, the plant pictured or Dracaena, you often see these in the LFS for sale but what looks like a red leaved...

Thanks for the info, I'm going to have a go at a Walsted style small tank one of these days with a little cube and just a betta. Whatever you're doing it seems to be working so far, that's some healthy looking plants. Keep us informed with the progress. Sent from my STH100-2 using Tapatalk

Any information on how you set this up, which soil, any water changes, filters etc? BTW, that's a good looking betta too. Sent from my STH100-2 using Tapatalk

Yeah, possibly Darrel. I seem to have a stale point at the minute, maybe I'm to used to co2 injection and my expectations are to high. Apart from the Balansae nothing seems to be moving. Can't really blame it on any fert in particular it gets a healthy dose of most things. Water change 30% once...

Just noticed some first signs of issues, s repens with some holes in. Not sure whether this is mechanical damage from the Ottos or I'm starting to hit a point where co2 is becoming a problem? Doesn't seem to be affecting the s repens where they have plenty of cover from the floaters on the other...

Just remembered there was a third question :) If we are saying increased o2 then leads to more co2 through increased de-nitrification is there a place in a non co2 setup for those twinstar and similar products which appear to release hydrogen to break algae cell walls which then converts to o2...

Interesting read! Couple of questions, firstly, all taken into account here, when would be the best time to perform a water change, before lights come on or after? Just thinking if we have a small amount of co2 built up over night would it be best to let the lighting period have what's there and...

Put a pinch of potassium in today and kno3 just for good measure. Ottos having themselves a good scoff. Good way of finding if all are present and correct. Even the Ram fancies a bit of a salad haha. More realistically he's had his spawning corner taken over, too many about to bully any which...

Yeah that was my first instinct Darrel was the ottos and a bit of a soft leaf. Didn't explain the hole and melting of the Duck Weed though. Is nitrogen what causes the striping on DW? Was going to try some KNO3 anyway, there is quite a lot of plant mass at this time and about third coverage of...

One Month Update Things still going ok here give or take. Went to P@H for some rabbit food promising myself not to buy anything just yet until things settled down, anyway 4 Ottos and some plants later (resistance is futile) :) That now brings the total Ottos up to seven. As usual they looked a...

Unfortunately I binned the MC carpet mate, put it in the composter so not a total loss, something will benefit from it one day I suppose. I have some MC growing in the new tank which seems to be holding its own right now so hopefully I can keep it going, in fact, all the plants seem to have...

Big day today, I think all's aboard that's going aboard. Only one fatality during the whole process. Unfortunately one of my Ottos took a leap, I found it on my desk on Friday morning :( Left the old tank running until tomorrow just to make sure nobody has got left behind. Lots of debris and old...

Thanks Alto, I think things are going to get a lot simpler now. I don't have much scape or plants left, a couple of Amazon's and some balansae and the MC carpet across the front. Going to pull the carpet out then just snip the rest down at the base as I'm binning the remaining plants. Once the...

Sorry guys, bottled it today. Came in and the Rams have fell out big time, she was showing signs of spilt fins and he was being very aggressive. Been fishing-not a nice experience! However I managed to catch some important fish now currently sat on my desk getting drip fed. I've got all the...

Oh don't do this to me Alto, story of my life, I've tried breeding Rams unsuccessfully for years and always lost the fish or they've been in a tank with other fish or a filter that would eat young. This is the first time the sun, moon and all the planets are inline and accidently. I've got to...

As suspected I think the GBR's are going to spawn, he's dug himself a pit in the back corner and trying to coax her over. She's been in a few times for an inspection and seems to get more willing daily. Toying with the idea of prepping up a brine shrimp hatcher just in case, looking at the JBL...

WC done, all looks good in the hood right now. Managed to get a couple of granules of prima each down their necks, the female walloped hers the male picked a bit. Hopefully if the female is well fed and acts a bit more accommodating Harvey Weinstein there will show her a bit more respect. Going...

You know what I have done here, inadvertently set up what I would deem as a perfect breeding setup for the Rams! It's something I've wanted to do for about 15 years and if I was going to try this is probably how I would have went about it, sponge filters with plenty of plants and tannins, no...

Hi @alto I don't think that's an option. I've worked with cat litter gravel many times and IME it's very light initially which seems to improve the longer its in the tank. Lifting and rearranging that large piece of wood is going to rip everything up and I'll end up with 50 ltrs of aquarium...

Ok handsup, I made a bit of a booboo today with my impatience. Decided to move a couple of fish over and went with my Blue Rams! Not the most logical idea being probably the most sensitive of fish I own but I reasoned that I didn't want to dump too many fish in in one go, the neons aren't coming...

I have a patch of MC in my non gas or LC tank at the moment, only been in there 3 weeks but so far no sign of it dying back and a little new growth. Obviously very early yet, only time will tell.

Really like them as well, they give a nice wild feel to the tank.

Day 23 If you have an adversity to test kits look away now :) I ran a series of tests today pre water change so the results were....best guess anyway, depends at the angle you look at. Round glass tubes are worst IMO, they reflect light at strange angles making the colours change but... TDS...

I'm no expert on low tech stuff but I would imagine that you will be using low lighting? In the first seven days I don't think the plants will use much co2. They'll just be settling in.

Thanks Darrel, really appreciate your input. I also add a pinch of Magnesium and traces at WC so that could account for some. I would hazard a guess that Nitrite could be more of a worry at this point if anything. I've managed to temp stall the house move at this point as its a bad time of year...

Now growing emersed, thanks @Edvet Maybe I should see if I can cadge an ammonia test and nitrite of a friend who has them just to see what's going on. Don't want to shell out on tests just to use a couple. No doubt they will be out of date next time I use them. I generally don't bother and...

Good shout mate, never thought of that. I could tuck the top behind the heater cable wire and it should stay on the surface :thumbup:

Day 22 Little update on how things are going, managed to get a plant ID so I feel pretty confident on putting a plant list together. Looking at Tropica website the majority seem to be "easy" plants so hopefully they should do ok in this setup. Plants are as follow... Hydrocotyle leucocephala...

Day 7 Still nothing much to report here (I guess this is how this tank is going to go) Still monitoring the TDS in case there's a massive release from the Osmocote but nothing major as yet. Maintenance so far has been changing 30% water every three days which seems to be keeping me in the range...

OK, thanks buddy. I do keep the little plastic Tropica labels I get with these plants but I can't for the life of me find them right now but I think that stem plant is the only one I'm not sure of. Nothing much to report today, cut off a Balansae leaf that was starting to melt, maybe the plants...

Thanks @Edvet is the other stem plants with reddish leaves Ludwigia repens Rubin?

Day 3 Not a great deal going on as expected. Found a generic light dimmer with 5 settings which seems to work with my light but for now I don't see any reason to lower the lighting so will be leaving it on full power for the six hours. Hopefully keeping the light at full strength for now will...

Can anyone ID some plants for me please so I can put my plant list together. I really should keep notes, I think one is some kind of Pennywort and the other possibly Ludwigia repens Rubin?

Day1 Tank still looking cloudy but heater seems to have held out and no plants uprooted themselves. TDS of the tank today is 134ppm so a rise of 12ppm, nothing major there I guess. I put a large Almond leaf in yesterday to try and lower PH slightly although I doubt it will have much effect. I'm...

Managed to get things planted up, used a lot of S.Repens as I had tons of it and I think it should fair well in this tank. Tried to plant out as heavy as possible but aware that I couldn't reduce the biomass too much in the doner tank as the fish still need to live there. Hopefully the more...

That's my wood scrubbed and in, decided against against the fourth piece. I think it will make the tank easier to maintain and help with the flow. Also provides a free swimming space to the left hand side. Time to go get some plants.

Thanks buddy for clearing that up, looks like my hardscape wood isn't wanting wanting to float this morning so I'll get that in and head down to get as many plants as I can from my other setup. Looks like they have some work to do. I also have the option on fish move day to bring the canister...

I guess I need to get this planted and running as soon as possible, looks like tomorrow off work. I suppose it could be worse. On the bright side I forgot how nice the cat litter looks, I think it will really pop in a blackwater setup. I suppose I also have quite a nutrient rich substrate for a...

No mention of Magnesium on the box Darrel. NPK Fertiliser 14-13-13 Nitrogen (N) Total 14% Nitric Nitrogen (N) 7.2% Ammoniacal nitrogen (N) 6.8% Phosphorus pentoxide (P2O5) soluble in neutral ammonium citrate and in water 13.0% (5.7%P) Phosphorus pentoxide (P2O5) soluble in water 9.1% (4.0%P)...

Thanks Darrel, My Duckweed is expendable I suppose so got to be worth a shot, my air pump isn't that powerful, in fact I'm not sure if it is powerful enough. I have a TDS meter so I assume I could do similar with that and convert? As I'm not anticipating dosing the tank other than possibly...

I've also let my Duck Weed grow to unhealthy amounts in my other tank so I can nigh on cover the full surface in this tank but not sure if they can keep on top of the ammonia.

Hmm interesting. The sponge filter I have in there which was only a couple of quid at auction site can act as a pre-filter for both 17 and 12mm pipework, well worth it if you want to save fry. Yeah that was my worry Darrel, probably shot myself in the foot there by adding it. my water although...

Apologies for anyone who was looking forward to this but some life circumstances have changed. Still going to push on with it but unfortunately the Otto's aren't getting the place to themselves :( I'm moving house possibly on the 1st of Jan, where I'm going needs some work so can't really move...

Hmmmm, think that extra bit of wood is a bit too much? Toying with the idea of putting my substrate in this weekend. I think I'm going to just place small stones around the Base of the wood. Sent from my STH100-2 using Tapatalk

There is another option of the same filter but with two sponges, only a couple of quid so I think I'll get one anyway Darrel. The sponges are interchangeable anyway so I'll run the single in my Hi tech for a while and when the double comes just put the seeded sponge on that.

I hear what you're saying mate. The sponge filter in there does actually fit on the end of filter pipework both 17 and 12mm which I didn't realise before I bought it which is handy. I do have a couple of spare externals with 12mm pipework so it in an option. I find though even with a pre-filtet...

Appreciate the info Konsa, the ones I have in my hitech had some large bellied females in there most times but whether they spawned I don't think I would ever know and fry wouldn't stand a chance anyway. There is also some talk of spawning coinciding with times of low pressure just before a...

First thoughts are filter, not enough on this size tank?

Yeah they turn up in stores in the UK usually in a pretty similar state. Often kept in stock tanks with no place to hide and fish that are far too boisterous for them :(

Appreciate that buddy :thumbup: I'll have to be honest here, if I have any success the Ottos raised probably will end up at some point being janitors in my high tech but the ones I already have are living the dream. Just annoying that I had to buy about 25 to end up with 8 healthy ones.

If you like getting into a journal from day dot then this is the place to be :) Be prepared for a very slow burner, I'm in no rush with this one so will just potter about as and when I'm in the mood. You've actually just caught me in the thinking out loud phase, just dug out whatever I have...

Nice one, thanks mate. Just need to find which plants are best suited now. Sent from my STH100-2 using Tapatalk

Is anyone running low tech tanks just using air Driven sponge filters? Never really tried low tech before and from what I understand the co2 is from the background levels in the tank so I guess air Driven would maybe gas this off? Trying to avoid LC if at all possible but if I need to I might...

Dean I think the Hannah stuff is supposed to be rated but you're getting up into the hundred quid bracket. If you search the board for best tds meters there's been a few discussions on the topic and some cheaper meters are supposed to be quite good as well. Sent from my STH100-2 using Tapatalk

"I've got better at <"recognising iron deficiency">" Darrel I thought you were a scientist working in the plant industry? if you can't spot a plant deficiency you need to take a hard long look at your life and wonder what went wrong ;) Sent from my STH100-2 using Tapatalk

Haha wrong man to talk to brother. I've had some monumental cock ups when it comes to TDS meters. I bought one that was dual with a ph meter then found out it was for higher tds levels than we work with, then I bought another and found out you couldn't calibrate it. I sort of gave up after that...

I'm quite lucky regarding soft water species as my water is extremely soft...or it would be if I didn't have to add so much salt to keep the plants happy. Hopefully I can find the fine line between the fish, the plants and my lighting. I have the option of dropping the lighting to 50 or 25% if...

You know what, I've just had an epiphany :wideyed: I've halved my mag sulf on the last two water changes from my usual 2tsp hoping to address my suspected GH rise. I've noticed this last week quite a big increase in algae on the glass which the ottos are loving right now (first time I've seen...

I strongly suspected that was going to be the case as for everything in this hobby. I find the mantra of the plants will tell you to be the most reliable but it's always good to have some information. What made me ask was in my main EI dosed tank after not checking for many months (laziness) I...

Sorry to go off topic on this one but I've heard this mentioned on numerous occasions especially when related to Darrels duck weed index. Does anyone have any links to an in depth explanation on how you would carry that out or could explain please? It's something I'm interested in doing but...

There's this on James Planted Tank no pictures though.