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2020/03/07 photos: 2 days after the first round of plants of plants went in. Disintegration visible but not complete. 2020/03/08: day after after second round of pants installed (new vallis visible at back, but quite short). First round plants completed disappeared, save for java fern...

Thanks seangee. Interesting point. Perhaps also the substrate lowering the pH (it's maybe 0.5 lower than my nano, but with the same water source)? In either case, in the long term I think best to work off DH14. That wouldn't seem to preclude the pearl gouramis, and if I can handle the mess/risk...

Thanks. I'd left the lights on for 6 hours (6pm-midnight) or so as I'd moved over a few bits and bobs of plants that were otherwise going in the bin. On top of that, they get a little indirect, diffuse daylight during the day, but the tank is c. 5m from the nearest window and bordered on 3...

To be honest, I'm not sure! I picked up the tank s/h about a month ago. It's definitely the older model with florescent lights which I'd understood to be T5s; and various replacement fittings are available with T5s (e.g. https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B018IGTHVA/?tag=). I think the previous owner...

Thanks. Good news re CO2! Lights were on for maybe 6-8 hours whilst cycling with no plants; I should've upped that when I added the first batch of plants (vallis/ferns etc) but forgot until I added the second. That was only for 2-3 days though. Now up to 12 hours. The baking soda...

I have a Juwel Rio 125 litre (T5 lighting, I think; def not LED), “pimped” internal Jewel filter with 2kg of biogravel. Sand substrate over Tropica aquarium soil. . pH 7 - 7.5. Tap water source is hard (London) - DH14. Amonia, nitrate and nitrite levels all fine. Pond snails. No fish yet. The...

Yup, as above I'd assume 14 dH for long term - that's the (presumably more accurate) Thames Water tap reading. If it really is down to c. 10 dH (and I'm not sure I trust my readings/strips), that may be due to driftwood etc. I suspect in the longer term it'll revert to 14 dH, or close to.

Thanks all. I think softening the water is going to be too much hassle, so will investigate options good in harder water. Seems like I'm still on with pearl gouramis, at least :) Will look into the others and come back with revised proposals when I've researched (including the helpful...

Thanks all for your help. As with every aspect of this hobby (er, and life!), I feel like every time I have a question (or think I have an answer), I’m really just on the edge of an infinitely deep rabbit hole! The challenge will be trying to find an acceptable level of education (in relatively...

Thanks. I suspected (given the quotes in your signature) that might be the case. So I guess the question is ... what fish should I be looking at for this tank? (I'm kinda stuck with the glowlights in one or other of the tanks. Ssorry glowlights if you're not happy! I felt obliged to take...

Thanks Byron, As best as I can tell from my test strips: Tap water: pH7.5, KH180 (though hard to read), GH is off the charts (over 180) - strip turns indigo/purple; scale tops out at blue 180. Thames Water for the postcode has: Calcium carbonate(CaCO3): 256 ppm Degrees Clarke:18 Degrees...

Many thanks for your incredibly helpful and detailed reply - much appreciated. My guess/fear is that RO water may not be practical, so I may be back to the drawing board. That said, the hard water options I've come across so far (e.g. guppies, platties and dwarf rainbow fish) just aren't...

Hi, Relative newbie curious to have some thoughts on stocking ideas/recommendations for a new tank. I have a Juwel Rio 125 litre with T5 lighting, “pimped” internal Jewel filter with 2kg of biogravel. Sand substrate over Tropica aquarium soil. Fairly heavily planted, nature style (vallis, java...

Thanks all - most helpful. Ammonia test kit is on the way. Some white whispy mould growing on the wood, but I gather that's normal, not dangerous to wildlife, and goes away after a while. Hopefully I'll get a chance to order some plants, to arrive perhaps next week. I think I'll start off...

Thanks for the speedy reply Naughts! On (A), would having a deeper sand bed help - some compaction, etc? I'd ideally like to keep the sand sitting on top, but that may not be viable (physics not on my side!). B, E, H) An instant cycle certainly sounds appealing. I was a little nervous - being...

Thanks! Ok, so I now have the Juwel 125. All very exciting. Here’s where I’m at (questions in bold – labelled by letter for easy reference): Tank cleaned and installed. Laid down 3kg of Tropica Aquarium Soil with (leftover from my 19L tank setup) c. 2kg of Fluval Stratum volcanic soil for...

Thanks all for your help and suggestions. I'm doing bigger water changes; can't get the temperature up beyond 22'C - seems to be the heaters' limit. Once everything's transferred to the new tank, I'll gradually up the temp. It looks like I've sourced a s/h Juwel Rio 125, which I hope to pick up...

Many thanks Seangee - most helpful! I'll get reading!

I’m a newbie who was gifted a small Fluval Spec 19L tank (″ (W 52 x D 19 x H 30 cm, for reference) with 5 armano shrimp and a few fish (not sure what they are!) about 4-5 months ago. I have some tap safe and water cleaner, and have been doing 10-15% water changes every 7-14 days. I'm in London...