I certainly did enjoy reading your Article on Co2
you should write a book in my opinion
Hi Simon,
There's a lot of work writing a book. Maybe we do a movie first and then publish the screenplay haha.
We have used the JBL Manado Dark substrate sort of a clay based which has a fairly high content of iron plus a release of Nitrate so I researched.
OK, but I really wouldn't get too excited about your substrate. Hobbyist read manufacturers claims and magazine testimonials and get mentally programmed, assuming the product is some kind of new scientific breakthrough. Just to be clear, the fact that the substrate is clay is 10X more important than the small amounts of nutrients it contains. These tiny amounts of nutrients cannot compare with nutrition that you can add simply by dosing the water column with our standard dry powders, which farmers have been using in one form or another for hundreds of years. Have a read of my post in the thread regarding the benefits of clay=>
Brown edges of leaves, what does it indicate?
Your dosing regimen should include small amounts of Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium, none of which is contained in the sediment or in your Tropica Premium. Right now your plants are living on borrowed time as they are using the reserves of NPK they stored when they were grown in the nursery. This is yet another level of programming, where hobbyists are taught to be afraid of NPK, which builds in future failures if not corrected.
Is it worth investing on a Drop checker or not?
As mentioned, unless you are injecting CO2 there is no point as the DC will simply read blue, which only indicates the water has CO2 equilibrium with atmosphere, which can be anywhere from 2ppm to 8ppm depending on temperature.
We are now experiencing some fungal growth on the bonsai driftwood I use my Turkey Baster to blow off some then net it!! I gather this is a common scenario when cycling.
This is common but is not a result of cycling. Fungal growth is a result of wood rot due to the wood being submerged and the fungus feeding on the decay. When you do a water changes, use a scrubbing pad and wipe the fungus off as often as you can.
Nitrites are still High at 2.0ppm Nitrates are between 5-10ppm.
Test kits are another controversial subject and in my opinion, their use should be curtailed as much as possible. Currently, you are now being programmed to think that when you experience problems in the tank, reaching for a test kit will solve your problem. It has been my experience that folks who are programmed in this way almost always misdiagnose their problems and they run back to the pet shop who are only happy to sell them some other useless product. I advise to simply continue to perform large water changes (50% or more tank volume) 2 or 3 times a week for the next 3 weeks or so. Your tank will stabilize automatically and the water changes will remove toxins from the water.
Also, if you think you will try CO2 then it's best to learn about CO2 injection before you add fish. CO2 is highly toxic to fish and it takes a bit of practice to learn the ins and outs.
Cheers,