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I have done fishless cycles using nothing but ammonia. Yes it does take a few weeks for the few bacteria in my tap water to multiply to make sufficient numbers but the tanks still cycle. Don't forget most water has chlorine or chloramine added to kill bacteria so we add dechlorinator to remove...

To summarise what has been said so far: Water conditioner should be added either to a bucket of new water before it goes in the tank, or if filling with a hose, water conditioner should be added first, then water. 10 to 15 % is a very small amount to change. A 20 gallon tank needs at least a...

GH measures divalent metal ions. In tap water, these are manly calcium and magnesium with trace amounts of other metals. There are several units of measurement for GH. But these do not measure the actual amounts of the metals or the unit would be "GH = x mg/l calcium + y mg/l magnesium + z...

I used a long thin kitchen knife. Anything which can cut through a blob of silicone is OK, whatever it is. As long as you manage to get all the Juwel filter's media into the new filter, you can add the media that comes with the new filter to top up the baskets. It's the media which holds the...

Looking at videos of the 207, there are a blue sponge and 2 white pads sitting vertically at the back of the filter. There are 3 baskets. The bottom one has a black sponge covered with a floss pad; the middle basket has ceramic rings; the top basket has carbon. The easiest thing , if this were...

Nitrate is perfectly OK at that level; it should be kept below 20 ppm and 5 ppm is way less than that. You do not need need to do anything if you really do mean nitrate. However nitrite is toxic at very low levels. If you ever have nitrite in the tank water you need to do something about it...

Salt is not for nitrate with an 'a' - it's for nitrite with an 'i'. Nitrate and nitrite are different things.

I seem to remember Byron saying that substrate, even just a few grains thick, is important as it stops the fish seeing their reflections. {I have just realised that we can no longer use Search with Byron as the member who posted so I can't find what he said :()

The lid is made of something which could easily be cut if necessary, just to make the gap large enough for a pipe to go through. Something to be aware of - if you remove the filter, let alone cut the lid, you'll invalidate the warranty. Not that it stopped me removing the filter after a couple...

To be clear - are you talking about nitrites or nitrates? So far you've said First you said nitrite was both zero and 0.5 ppm, then you said nitrate was 0.5 ppm. However, nitrate testers don't read as low as 0.5 ppm, they usually have 5 ppm as the next level above zero, while nitrite tester...

I removed the filter from my Rio 125. I did it during a water change as you need to saw through those silicone blobs which causes a tidal wave in the water, so removing half the water meant none ended up on the floor. The sponges can be cut up to make them fit a different filter.

The OP gives their location as Poole, so I googled a high street bank in Poole and used their postcode on Wessex Water's website. The tap water for that bank has 32.4 ppm nitrate so the OP's nitrate should be similar. Water changes with tap water won't get nitrate below 32 ppm.

That's not really an option with a Juwel Rio as the filter is siliconed to the tank walls. That's what makes it tricky to remove the pump. The only option would be to cut through the silicone blobs and remove the filter, but then it would need to be re-siliconed back into the tank, which is not...

Yes nerites do poop a lot, especially when they've been grazing on wood as they seem to rasp the surface off with whatever else they're eating.

40 ppm is out of date I'm afraid. Most reliable sources now give 20 ppm as the maximum nitrate, with some fish needing lower than that. It is now believed to be a cause of hole in the head in cichlids. See post #9 here. https://www.fishforums.net/threads/byrons-legacy.493140/ 40 ppm is under...

Sand or gravel works just as well as soil - that runs out of plant nutrients after a while so you still need to use fertiliser like you do with sand/gravel.

In areas with high tap water nitrate it doesn't matter how many water changes you do, the lowest nitrate they can get it is the same as the level in tap water. If that's 40 ppm in tap water, it's 40 ppm or more in the tank water.

AJ356 has already alluded to swimming room when talking about danios. Something to research before buying fish is the minimum swimming length they need. The website Seriously Fish lists many requirements in their profiles, from the hardness and temperature they need to the tank size they need...

You have plants, so yes it can be normal. Nitrate in tanks comes from 2 sources. The first is tap water. The UK legal limit is 50 ppm and some places are close to that. Other places are well below - for example my water company gives my tap nitrate at 3 ppm and my test kit is higher than zero...

My son was recently off work for 2 weeks with the current variant of Covid. He was told by 2 different doctors and a nurse that this variant "knocks the stuffing" out of you. He may only have tested positive for the first of those 2 weeks but he was too exhausted to work during the second.

It's only England at the moment - Scotland and Wales may follow at some point.

In the England the dogs are getting their own back. They managed to convince the government to make it compulsory for cat servants owners to have their cats microchipped. As of 10 June 2024 all cats must be microchipped by the age of 20 weeks, including indoor only cats, with a £500 fine if...

Just a word of caution - many bettas will eat cherry shrimp so I suggest just a couple to test the betta, then if s/he's OK with them you can get more. I've had a betta which ignored even baby shrimp, one which ignored adults but ate babies, and one which dismembered shrimps - there were shrimp...

I can only find 90 g and 600 g sizes. My current tub of Oase is 40 g and that will outlast its use by date :(

That's the brand I've been looking at :) Northfin also make a 'community flake' but it's a very large tub which would last me years and no-one in the UK seems to sell it, not even the shop in Peterlee which sells other Northfin products.

Until the Prime arrives, the second part of this link is about using salt to mitigate the effects of nitrite, should the water test for nitrite again. https://www.fishforums.net/threads/rescuing-a-fish-in-cycle-gone-wild-part-il.433778/

It's Oase Organix Daily Flakes. The first ingredient list in post #1 is what's written on my grey lid tub; the other list is from their current website page. They've also changed the lid from dark blue-grey to white, which is what alerted me to check the ingredients as well...

eSHa medication is liquid rather than powder which makes it a bit more tricky leaving a dose out for someone to use. Their meds come in bottles with a squeezy dropper in the lid to measure the dose. If the drops were measured into a cup, the fish sitter would need to rinse the cup in the tank to...

At least with this fish food I noticed in time that they've changed the colour of the lid so that made me look what else they've changed. I used to have Omega One fish food but suddenly it wasn't available here which is why I had to find a different brand. Now that one has changed.

Marine Stewardship Council from what I can find. https://www.msc.org

Yes I know, it's cost. The flake food I currently have lists the ingredients as - whole salmon, whole shrimp, wheat flour, fresh kelp, whole herring, wheat gluten, plus vitamins and astaxanthin. Their new version contains - MSC krill, MSC fish meal, wheat bread flour, wheat germ, wheat feed...

It's Dr Tim's ammonium chloride isn't it? Take off 10% volume for decor, so that's 63 litres or 13.9 US gallons If the bottle says 4 drops per gallon, you need 4 x 13.9 = 55.6 drops. I'd use maybe 50 drops. If the bottle gives a different number of drops per gallon, you'll need a different...

API General Cure contains metronidazole which is prescription only in the UK. Amazon does not sell it here and while it is listed on eBay it's all imports from US sellers. Strictly speaking, it could be impounded by customs if you import it.

Siamese algae eaters should be kept in groups in a tank way bigger than 10 gallons, I'm afraid. Recommended minimum tank footprint is 150 x 45 cm. That said, there are a few species sold as Siamese algae eaters some of which should be kept alone. But they all need bigger tanks.

Just because the tank can remove 0.2 ppm ammonia in 24 hours does not mean it can remove the ammonia made by a tankful of fish as soon as they produce it. I would still add a 3 ppm dose of ammonia to check before adding fish. Ignore what Tropco says, they seem to be very prejudiced against...

Even in the UK, there are non-metric everyday things. We buy milk and beer in pints, though it is possible to buy litre bottles of milk; our road signs give distances in miles not kilometres.

A female nerite will lay eggs everywhere - they look like small sesame seeds. But they won't hatch, they just stay there. These eggs can be scraped of hard things like glass, the plastic parts of filters, plastic decor, rocks etc but not plants or wood (the top layer comes off wood if you try -...

You don't need to do anything to get rid of ammonia except wait. The bacteria and plants will remove it - you just need to wait till the bacteria grow. I have no idea they mean by bacteria feeding of the fertiliser. Fertiliser usually contains just minerals for the plants.

Most liquid GH testers work by titration - adding reagent drop by drop until the liquid in the tube changes colour.