Cheers guys,
Hi Alastair, So if you have seen any of my posts you will probably have gathered I am an older, very traditional!, member. Actually mate I'll be 74 in April but don't tell anyone else on here
😉 !!
I came back to the hobby just recently having been out of it for around 15 years or so and have been amazed at the progress. I used to be injecting CO2 into planted set ups long before most in my area had even heard of the practice. I thought I was clued up until I found this site and realised just how much progress has been made and how the thinking has changed, so in effect it's like starting over.
I can't thank people like you enough for sharing your expertise and especially Clive who is a rock!
Right so my aquarium is a Betta Lifespace 78 which I sourced at my LFS and it is quite nice, having opti white glass and LED.
The LED is a tile of 3 rows of 33 LED lights and is made in China..... WPG? I have no idea but it was not bright enough for plants so, using past experience I added two stick on strips, one from my LFS which I believe is marketed by Seapets at around £35 and a smaller DIY one I got from Ebay and this has given me what I would consider 'moderate' lighting. Sorry to be so vague. Lights on 8 hours daily.
Ferts... I have had the aquarium set up for just over 2 months and have been using AE Neutro + at 6 ml daily also Neutro CO2 liquid carbon at 1ml daily. Got to say I bought this before I read Clives great article on EI Salts. I immediately bought the EI salts and they have been sitting in my cupboard but now I have just finished My old stuff and have just started on the EI which I am dosing at 12 ml Macro and 12 ml Micro on alternate days.
CO2 is via a Soda stream bottle and is injected at around 3 bps via a Bazooka mist diffuser which seems to work well. Switches off at night.
Filter is Eheim Ecco 200 ( 600 lph) which I discovered is a bit small so I added a Koralia Nano pump at 900 lph and flow looks good. This is one area that differs greatly from when I first started and it was the norm to keep water movement at a minimum, usually turning over no more that once per hour
😱.
Substrate is Tesco with a couple of teaspoons Osmocote and a sprinkle of sphagnum moss under. (tips gained again from this site).
Water, according to Anglian Water comes out of the tap at 12-15 dKH and again I guess the PH is around 8 but I never check it. The drop counter, using 3bps CO2 is pale lime green by lights out. I change around 40% water twice a week which I think is very important.
Got to say I have had less algae problems, well none to speak of, with this set up that I ever had before.
Sorry if I've waffled but I've nothing else to do these days
🙂 and in any case if people are like me they'll like to have something to read
!!
Harry.
