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Darrel, What's the best method for measuring pH in a very soft water fry tank?

My tds meter reads much higher with the tank lights on.

.microbial activity?

Ive had lots of both, never seen a difference in quality. Except for the invitro plants- tropica wins easily

http://www.amazon.co.uk/d-c-fix%C2%AE-Static-Window-adhesive-338-8011/dp/B005GJW8GY Going to try this

Looks like a clam?

Looks like a fungus or bacteria bloom. Its normal in new set ups

There was a bad batch 2 years ago

Cpds vary in quality. Have a good look for deformities before buying any. A lot are tank bred now, and its easy to find lots with bent spines and dull colouration. Maidenhead in Havant had some, probably the best colours I've seen on cpds. Really dark brown with orange fins. Lovely.

Great heaters. Shouldn't reduce flow, unless your filter uses larger diameter hoses.

Well... I had to pay £30 for the 9 they had left. But in the past I've payed £1 each. It varies wildly for chilies. My local have cpds for £9.50 each!!!! But expect to pay from £2.50 to £4 for them.

I had to contact Maidenhead aquatics head office, they found me the last ones at the Havant shop. Haven't seen any local to me for over a year. They Spent 30 days in my quarantine, then went in with my older group at the weekend. And immediately settled in.

Boraras brigittae, pygmy Cory and a squadron of their fry ! and otos

Airline costs about 50p a metre. Little airline clamps are about £3 for 2. Just tighten a clamp around the airline, using the screw to adjust flow rate . That's all you need.

I do 90 minutes with a drip . Usually because my soft water compared to that of local shop water.

How deep does a soil layer need to be in order to get things moving?

Why don't we put you in charge!?!

I think that sums it up for me. Unbelievable.

There's some uncertainty as to what actually is an amano shrimp. The fakes could end up being the true amano, due to vagaries regarding collection localities , labeling etc etc.

Or just use some substrate in a bucket to start the filter cycle? Unless of course this is also an outrage? :-/ It appears that the ADA ammonia is vastly superior to any ammonia you can possibly buy in a £2 bottle - might as well harness it. My point is, Something is often better than...

Its blahblahblahblahing ridiculous. As you say. The substrate will release a lot of ammonia, probably 6 +ppm worth. This can be used to cycle the filter/ feed plants. But using 1-2 ppm bottled ammonia to do the same thing is regarded as heresy. Is it me? I fully cycled my first noob tank with 2 ppm...

Get out of it . A new bucket , new filter media an air line and 1 ppm ammonia isn't going to set anything back or kill of the bacteria-. There aren't any- its all new and clean. We're not talking a planted tank, with plenty of plants to soak up fish waste. :-/ :-/ :-/

I would. Even just in a bucket with an air line and a drop of ammonia will kick start it.

Plastic tubs from tesco etc Only a few pounds.

Hydor externals , all the way.

I would turn off all power heads to reduce flow for a week. That's a lot of circulation

How much water flow have you got ?

My fish are very small and hate high flow and bright lights.

First off, We need to examine the cause of fish fatalities Until histological examination is undertaken we can't really be sure of the cause of death. I certainly would never keep my fish in a full ei, high tech tank ever again.

Your plants will be fine. If its a species only tank, you can target specific water hardness to suit this fish.

I don't know anything about the fish in question I have tried to compromise my water to suit hard and soft water fish but this middle ground didn't really work for either.

Water hardness? Ph, in itself doesn't really say anything.

Hard water fish never do well in softer water.

I was supposed to say similar to Darrel , I guess I picked the wrong day to run out of coffee!

What dechlorinator do you use?

Many 'garden' composts contain things you don't want, such as lime. Using soil is neither good or bad, advanced or for novices- its cheap, gets results and can give issues. Have a look at the EL NATURAL AND LOW TECH section for plenty of inspiration

Research

Get your tds calibration solution. Pour enough into a cup to dip your pen in. Turn on pen . Leave pen in solution for 5 minutes and calibrate ( with a small screwdriver) the LCD display to read the correct value. In your case 90 ppm. Or whatever ppm your calibration solution is.

Gah! I couldn't find one that low ! Had to settle for 240 ppm

Leave the tap water to warm up. Are you calibrated to near 300 ppm? Some test pens are calibrated at 1331 ppm. Which is pretty rubbish for use at our lower levels.

P.p.p.p. pesticides and nasty beetles. Some plants are banned for various reasons.

I love stone walls Recently during a holiday in beautiful wales I was stunned by the many stones walls Each different with various plants and ferns emerging tbrough the stone. And of course the many magical small waterfalls that you get in the hilly areas.

No He would tell one of his lower ukes' to do it

Take an hour off the lighting duration. Maybe blank off one tube too

Every bit of co2 helps.

Can I just say, I'm really enjoying the views put forward, new tank syndrome desperately needs addressing in the hobby. Another issue - apart from readying a filter to cope with fish waste , is the environment of the tank itself . Bigtom alluded to this a couple of months ago. High ammonia...

My concern and observations are based on the old. " neon, guppy, danio and goldfish- floating upside down in 5 litres of water' Help urgently !

I like your method , Darrel It's progressive and simple.

To a large extent, I agree Darrel I am confident in my experiences now to know the signs of fish and plant distress. Beginners don't have that luxury though. I am vehemently against fish in cycling, because I've seen the legacy a poor cycle leaves.

That is ammonia And a whole bunch of human related nastiness which you don't want in a tank. And in case you're wondering, My 2ppm ammonia method happens to be backed by a professor of microbiology/ Scientology/ I've got a brand new combine harvester.

And then let's consider aquasoil This stuff and others , releases vast amounts of ammonia ( off the scale last time I used it) Much more ammonia than I cycle with (2ppm) So what's it gonna be chaps? You can't denounce cycling with ammonia When many of the most expensive and fully loaded...

Leaving water in a tank doing nothing will leave you with 3 week old water Using soil or adding 2 ppm ammonia will cycle the tank . But then we get into the age old test kit brouhaha... Jeesh. Its like giving an Uzi to someone who has no concept of firearms.

It has nice dimensions. How about the aquael brillux? How did I miss that???

You can buy the tank without all the gear. £60 I think.

130 litres?

Reef white is no good for tropical , surely?

From eBay?

Dennerle scapers tank. ? Do you want open top or an enclosed hood/ lid ?

What you are highlighting is the fact that every tank is different. We have to rely on rules at first, after a while we can use our eyes to make judgements. Its easy to follow the rules but its better to manipulate those rules to suit our own aquariums. As you have done.

Initially, I think full fertilizer dosing is recommended. Just to remove any chance of shortfall.

Indeed. 8 way controllers go for about £80 And twin 600 ultima around £100 Which could be enough for a 4 foot tank.

Good lord, that much?

Tmc tiles and 8 way controller

Danio margaritatus- celestial Pearl danio. The little fish that made it big. I have danio erythromicron, I get a baby every week , usually hiding in the moss. With enough plants some babies will make it

That's unacceptable. A Micky take.

Some of those are lovely. Will read that later

Perhaps the piranah took him....

I ran 20 x turnover. Reduced to 10x turnover and my Monte Carlo exploded in growth. Not scientific but...

I think you should reduce flow but improve distribution. Eleocharis doesn't need a lot of light

Its not a low light issue.

Or several mini-toms, with their own eco system?

welcome to the house of fun, tanks are everywhere...

Tadpoles in the bromeliads Truckers, diggers, wings. Mipnip.

the Southampton shop is not particularly good

don't have much of a selection . You'll find that a normal occurrence. I will be interested in any suggestions too

Remove, discard rockwool, seperate and then plant.

My 40 litre nano is injected co2, florabase with Monte Carlo and eleocharis sp mini 1-2 grow. apart from water changes and squirts of tropica, its neglected - and thriving! even though i forget to refill my soda stream bottles... flow is the issue. My 20x turnover is too much to ensure...

You know the next step A full fledged scape, with healthy plants and fish.

reduce lighting down to 2 tubes for 5 hours per day Use full fertilizers. For instance, tropica specialized.

tnc substrate plugs are a good choice. Slap in some tropica specialized for good measure.

Get whatever you want. Some red stem plants will be tricky. Otherwise the worlds your oyster .

shave my poodle!

I wouldn't be without one

Plants are pretty tough.

Oh man, that is terrible. Hydors have gained some bad reports lately

So, why can't the algae just grow by itself. If these nutrients are available- why the need to care about what's going on with the plants,? Surely the evironment is suitable for both. At the same time?

Nice Roll on Tuesday!

git ! Which lighting solution are you considering?

Vrenaks big fake out.

I imagine they do as they please with regard to their own rules. a bit like the wbc. Corrupt

pygmys feed on the bottom, mine spend most of their time rummaging in sand

Completely insane, but well done :)

That's a great start.

You could try Colombo nutribase, it won't leech ammonia but its not highly fertilized either. I like it but I also boost it with tnc substrate plugs.

plenty of time ;)

Ah, glass surfing

Did you soak the purigen in dechlor?

Gotta larf , eh? this hobby is a wind up!

Anecdotal I know, but my low tech jungle is happier with maximum surface agitation, so are ze fish

agreement. The high working pressure makes all co2 art regs very usable.