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Am I being impatient? :unsure:

This test kit is a little confusing! First attempt. The KH comes out of the bottle an orangey colour (in my test tube of tank water, it doesn't turn blue) The GH comes out of the bottle a dark green shade. It took 8 drops for my test tube to go from orange to green. My question: the KH...

Just bumping this in case anyone has some wisdom they can offer me regarding hardness and my water.

Thanks Martin, that's interesting. My ph had tended to be around 6.5, but has dropped a great deal recently, so trying to get back to nearer to the 6.0-6.5 mark again I think. And thank you for the note on ammonium to ammonia. All the best.

(post edited to be less wordy, in case I am putting people off reading/replying to me!) Hello, I have been reading about water chemistry for hours (inc great post here by Wolf)and I STILL have questions. PH = <5(I need a kit that tests lower than this, to be sure how much acidic) KH = 1 GH =...

Thanks guys, I really appreciate your input. This Old Spouse - good point. I have some API test strips coming in the post, but I'll get a ph test kit tomorrow just to get an answer quickly. My plan (as I had let the testing slip) is to use the strips weekly to check for no change (once things...

Yeah, fair enough - I lost the will to live halfway through proofing it!!! :rolleyes: (sorry - didn't want to miss anything out!) Yes, the vac bag was grubbier than usual on Wednesday, but I've been quite a regular vacuumer, and usually burrow quite deep (but gently) in the substrate. I take...

Hi there, thank you! I have three tiny sword (!) plants which have been in there a while, but are meagre, really, only about 5cm high now! Two pieces of bog wood that have been in there for several years, and a lrage flat stone raised on some other stones, which have been in there for a long...

Filling in the request for help form below, so sorry it's lengthy. And sorry I only seem to post here when I have a problem :-( Doesn't make me the most helpful member of the fish-keeping community, sorry. Tank size: 43 litres pH: 5.5 (fallen from 6.5 since yesterday. This is the lowest I've...

I think sterbais are one of the bigger corys (compared to bronze/albino anyway?) So (other people correct me if I'm wrong), if you feel bronzes are too big for you, sterbais would be too...

Thank you for the encouragement Minnnt; the reason for not wanting babies, though, is that I don't want to increase my stock - I feel my tank is at capacity. And as I don't have a car, my lfs is actually quite a bus ride away, and I don't have any friends who keep fish... So I'm keen to not have...

From one sterbai (inherited) I added an albino, and now have 2 each of sterbai, albino and bronze. They all hang out together often, and I take Baccus's point about similar sizes - the three smallest (one of each) are most lively together, and I also find, as Baccus does, that when resting, mine...

Hello Maureen, lovely pic. Whilst I am avoiding raising baby corys, that's extremely cute!

Thanks Tizer - I probably shouldn't have used the word 'parameters'. I wouldn't take the spawning in lieu of keeping tabs on my water quality. I test that regularly and always before introducing new fish. I guess what I was referring to was the comments of people regarding spawning fish - "they...

Just a bit of an update. All of the eggs from one part of glass have disappeared, and a lot of those laid on a plant leaf have gone, too. So there's some snacking going on. The other eggs don't appear to be changing or to have black dots in them, so quite likely I will not be seeing little corys...

Thanks TwoTankAmin, my panic is subsiding by the hour! That's good to know, particularly as I counted up the eggs and there's nearer 100 than 40! Really appreciate your comment, cheers. Nature's grand indeed!

Hi Baccus, I really appreciate your thoughtful reply, thank you. Okay, I'll try not to panic. most of the eggs are still there this morning, but it looks as though a leaf edge which held some has been nibbled away (along with the eggs)in the night. Can't see any black dots in those eggs, but...

Background: I took on an unwanted 43 litre tank a couple of years ago, full of guppies, one cory sterbai and a bristlenose plec. I'd never had fish before, and had a hellish time with the breeding guppies. It was a steep and miserable learning curve and I managed, eventually, to get a LFS and...

Thank you very much to both of you for responding. I will proceed with caution. I had let the rubber ends an tube cool down (after disconnecting from the mains) before attempting this last night. But yes, some warmth might make the ends more workable, so i'll pop them on a warm radiator before I...

Hello everyone, I have bought a new tube for my little tank. I inherited everything, so am replacing bits. I don't think the flourescent tube has been replaced for a long time, and I can't seem to get it out of the ends of the lighting unit. The unit is by Interpet, a 15W one, not fitted to...

Hello there, thank you for the aeration tip, I did that as you suggested. Two more days of Pimafix to go. Plec still has the pink wound, but behaviour much returned to normal. Fingers crossed he's recovering. I also have most of the guppies going to new homes this week, which means I can get...

Hello, thank you for your reply. I have someone collecting some Pimafix for me today on the advice this morning of the LFS (not so local!). To your questions: The lump is it hard or soft liked filled with fluids. - just fluffy. There may be no lump under the fluff. The fluffy pink stuff is...

Hello - attached is a pic. Very bad one, but I read someone said "a bad pic is better than no pic" He is the black area at the back middle. Above him is the bottom of the tank heater, to the right of him a little plant pot. He is facing the way of the plant pot - the pink fuzzy spot to the...

Hello, I have a small plec in a community tank with guppies and one corydora sterbai. I had noticed the plec was coming out more - usually of course he'd be hiding n the day. Today after work I noticed he had kicked up a lot of mess in the tank and was visible, and not hiding when I opened the...

Thank you - that sounds optimistic. We had the filter out of water for maybe 15/20 minutes, then straight back in to a bucket of the tank water while we were setting up. Appreciate your response. I'll be working on getting that ph up.

Hello everyone, first post here, I'm just three weeks in to fishkeeping. I inherited a 10 gallon tank of guppies (20 adults, plus babies), and the fish seem to have done well since the move. I managed to retain a lot of their water as we moved them from the home where they were no longer...