Search results

Since re-doing the tank & swapping the substrate for plain black limpopo sand, things seem much better. Fish have survived just fine for about a month now, where they would have previously been dying off by now. I haven't been doing the 'just in case' water changes as I was, measuring what's...

Planting: I've added some Feropol and Interpet 'Fast filter start' and have just turned the CO2 back on. Some time over the next few days I'll watch the pH for a day and tweak BPS and timing from there. Once I know that's set sensibly, I'll move a few fish from a smaller tank into this one...

I've got the tank re-done over the last couple of days. It's been quite a mission. I really hope things'll thrive in it now. A few pics for anyone who might be interested: Before: Taking plants and hardscape out: Storage for plants: Pipework and inline heater & defuser in bits...

I'm not really decided yet. Just got a bit of £ in it, that's all. It was recommended by Aquarium Gardens or I probably would have gone with something more simple to begin with. I'm honestly not disagreeing with good advice, just find it hard write off a whole type of substrate that's commonly...

Thanks. Feels a bit like it. When's the 'sit back and enjoy the thriving tank Ive created' start? 😩 Good suggestion that makes a lot of sense, but I've got a tank full of plants to keep going at the same time. After the last big water change though, the remaining fish don't seem to be dong so...

Thanks. I'm about an hour away from Aquarium gardens, so our waters could be quite different? The water where I am is meant to be quite hard, but I'm still clinging to the fact that they all do OK in my smaller tanks. There's something different about the larger one. The water going into them...

Current substrate is this There's a spec sheet pdf linked to from there but its not in English. I'll run it through Google translate when I'm not on my phone, see if it rings any alarm bells with you all. (Edit: the Spec sheet is really instructions for use. I can't find any real detail on what...

I was hoping things had slowed down and maybe levelled out, but I've seen the odd dead fish again recently so have done some pretty large (50%) water changes. The few remaining fish seem happier afterwards, coming out and looking active like they sould be. At least for a day or two. With no...

Really good to know thanks. I was thinking it was the sign if some parasite 'not on the fish' stage at one point Ive got a pH pen, cheap one very like the TDS one I've got. Once things are levelled out a bit and I get back on the CO2, I was going to monitor throughout a day or three just as you...

I've got Cory's and gouramis from two different places, once from shop 1 and then twice from shop 2. They're close to each other so may well have the same supplier themselves. They did both drop their price at the same time. I'd guess they've all originated from the same place. I was thinking...

Thanks. I was thinking it might all end up covered in plants so wouldn't be an issue. Is it just never a good idea to have Cory's with plants over the whole substrate? They're really tiny, I guess the pygmy corys might need a *very* fine sand? I'd like to understand how the substrate=bacteria...

I have got some Zeo-carb, that I hadn't thought to use. I'll put it in the filter over the weekend. £300 worth of plants came from Aquairum Gardens in Huntingdon. Understand why you mentioned PMing, but I've got no real reason to think they're the problem. Their advice seemed great. I spent way...

Just done the JBL tests on of all three tanks and my tap water. TDS is measured with a cheap electronic meter thingy. I wouldn't give absolute numbers much weight, but it might be useful to roughly compare them. Didn't do the test strips Carbonate hardness of the larger tank seems quite low...

Good to read, thanks. Glad someone likes the way it looked. It's my first tank that isn't tiny and took a surprising amount of work. I'm trying to not be sick of it at the moment tbh. I can feel a full re-do with a different substrate, after scrubbing/boiling, coming on. I thought about bad...

Thanks Not that I can see any sign of, all looks as you'd expect if I got it new