Search results

This looks lovely! Aren't you worried about the tank weight on top of your drawer or have you custom built it?

Yesterday I decided that the rotala walichii had gotten too tall. In my previous experience when plants approach the surface, I get algae breakouts, so for this tank I'll keep them shorter and bushier. Furthermore (and knock on wood) it seems to be doing fine, which is a first as it has always...

Well, my lovely betta whom I adore and have kept for a year now in his own small tank, is becoming aggressive. He is chasing my gold rams and my honey gourami. The poor gourami has lost his colours, and the rams are trying to hide wherever they can. If this keeps going on, I may have to move him...

So I spent last weekend planting the newly arrived plants. Water was still full of tannins although the driftwood has already been in my previous aqua scape for over a year. The fishes seem to like it, although today I found them gasping for air at the surface, so I eased up on the CO2. I'm...

Hiya, I've re-scaped my previous 75P ADA driftwood jungle [1] because I wanted to move the tank to the living room. I decided to take that opportunity and go for a somewhat different type of aquascape, mixing driftwood, Iwagumi grey stones and an island-type setup. The design follows a triangle...

Brown algae is typical in early aquarium set-ups, and believe it or not, it will go away once it has run its course. Things you can try in the meantime:   a) reduce lighting hours b) increase distance between lights & water surface c) add floating plants to provide shadow d) buy Otocinclus (they...

Hi Coo Man, thanks for the kind words.   Here's a picture from last week. Amazing what a few red plants and a few small stones will do.   The front left part which always seemed so empty, is now filled and gives the tank a more "complete" jungle look. I've started propagating the ferns on...

I've used Flourish excel and now I'm using a no-brand liquid carbon. They are all the same substance at different concentrations per brand (don't remember the actual name of the substance). It is sold as liquid carbon, but AFAIK light breaks it down to carbon dioxide, otherwise (if used during...

First of all, you're running a high-tech tank, "green" drop checker ain't gonna cut it, you have to up your co2. Aim for lime green or yellow. This of course depends on your water hardness. Once you do that, you will notice the plants growing a lot faster (you may have to cut/prune weekly).  ...

Hi boshk!   I tied the moss to the branches using fishing line. Gluing them would have required tons of superglue (I've done small underwater bonsai using moss and driftwood and I ended up using a lot of glue). The heater and a small powehead are completely hidden behind plants and branches.  ...

I was cautious about buying a molly, but the bloke at the LFS insisted she'd be fine... Sadly both tanks I have are acidic water (not soft though). Interestingly enough I noticed today that two of my tetras have a white fuzzy fungal infection. My water params are fine, so I'm guessing its some...

I have had a Balloon molly for about 2 months now.   She is solo in an Amazonian freshwater tank (low ph at 6.4, low hardness) which AFAIK is not the environment that mollies thrive in. She was however bred and kept at ph 6.8-7.0 (LFS told me so).   My water quality is top-notch, I do 50% pwc...

This may sound silly, but are you sure its algae not not something else? A picture would go a long way.

Brown algae goes away after a while. Sadly, it may be replaced by other types of algae.   Try to wait it out, if it isn't gone after a month of the onset, then you may have too much light or an imbalance in your light/co2/nutrients.

Other fish eat BBA, I've seen my Gourami and Molly munch on it, but catching an outbreak? TBH, I don;t think that you have an outbreak, but some slight imbalance.   If you don't want to use liquid co2 (I use it every day to keep things in check due to high light intensity) then my opinion would...

Don't use the WPG rule, its outdated and can lead to problems.   A better approach is to measure PAR, or try to measure lumen per square foot.   To calculate your GPW, simply divide your total wattage by the gallons of your tank: 180 litres = 47.5 US gallons. 90 Watt / 47.5 = 1.9 Watts per...

This looks to me like the beginning of black beard algae. It tends to occur when you have an unbalanced relation between excess light and little nutrients or co2 in the water column.   You can remove it by turning off your filter and dosing liquid co2 (e.g., Excel) directly on it with a pipette...

Daize thank you very much for your response!   I really like that platy, I am seriously considering buying a small school, as my tank is currently understocked. I'm a bit sceptical though: my PH is normally 6.5 ~ 6.8 which seems to be lower what platy normally like.   Regarding the shrimp...

Amazing tank Daize!   I have a couple of questions if you don't mind:   1. Those pond snails, do you think they threaten the flora in any way? 2. Whats that orange fish in your #11th post?   Really enjoy the look of it :-)

This is an update after more than a month. For nearly a month the fish showed no signs of deterioration or improvement. Lately I've noticed signs of deterioration, the fins on some of the neon tetras have gotten smaller, and now one of the Cardinal tetras also has some signs of that white patch...

You shouldn't have to pay for postage back if they are faulty. They should also be covered by Paypal/Ebay. A lot of Chinese retailers have this practice of claiming to be a UK-based shop, when they really aren't.   Which Arcadia light did you buy? CFL or LED?

Hi, yes sorry I forgot to mention it is not a new tank, but a second hand one. The previous owner had it stored in a shed, barely used it, he bought it a couple of years ago from a reputable online retailer.   Yes its an issue with the floor. I used to have my wardrobe there, and it was also...

Let me start by saying that I am by no means an expert in aquaria, engineering, physics or hydrostatics.   Recently (July 2015) I set up a new tank, an ADA 75P, which is 75cm length, 45cm width and 45cm depth (or 2 & 1/2 foot long, 1 & 1/2 foot depth and 1 & 1/2 foot height). It can take up to...

Hi guys, thanks for the kind words.   Yes it is a joy to watch, but its also a nightmare to maintain. So far I only had one LED strip, because I was scared of early algae blooms (my first tank spent most of its life covered in algae). I've managed to control it with low lights, high co2, high...

Its been a bit over a month since the last update! In the meantime, I've battled brown algae, cheap Chinese LED floodlights, added a powerhead, gone through 2 nano-air pumps, added 7 dwarf otto catfish, and moved some plants around. I also added a second Aqualigther2, so now I am running at 4320...