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Good point Sam, I hadn't thought of it in that way. Seems unless the peat is under the plant it'll just get absorbed by the carbon before it can do any good... It makes sense how you describe it. Anyone tried it with truimphant success or catastrophic failure?! :no: :nod: O.G

Hi there, Just regular sand, but with an armored shrimp and several catfish and plecos, the terrain gets levelled every so often! Would a few localised peat-banks work in the same way? Sounds good... Thanks for the idea, O.G

Hi everyone, Thanks for all the information, much appreciated. To answer a few of the questions posed; I haven't checked the GH or KH recently, but will do on your advice. The discus are doing fine and are perky and alert, but I feel I've yet to see them truly blossoming. The plants are...

How do! I inadvertantly purchased HumuPlus (Iron and Mineral) substrate from my lfs, thinking it was a bargainous box of concentrated plant food (D'oh and forehead slap). However, a cunning plan begin to formulate in my hate-to-waste-anything mind; Could I use it in one of the baskets in my...

How do! I inadvertantly purchased HumuPlus (Iron and Mineral) substrate from my lfs, thinking it was a bargainous box of concentrated plant food (D'oh and forehead slap). However, a cunning plan begin to formulate in my hate-to-waste-anything mind; Could I use it in one of the baskets in my...

I think you mean simplydiscus.com :P Very useful site. PS pH can depend on what they have been raised in also if captive bred - I buy them raised in my local UK water conditions which are 7.5 - 8.0 and have never had any problems. They like to school in 6+, which can be pricey, but worth it...

Some will show their stress bars (or as I prefer to call them 'eek stripes'!) more than others, depends on their general demeanour and place in the hierachy - I find the further down the pecking order, the more often they switch on the eeks, especially when faced with the top dog! Fish shops...

Very rewarding given time; they'll start off looking fairly non-descript and pale blue, but their adult colouring will start on their finnage and forehead/gil area and spread over the body - a real deep blue under good lighting. Very pretty...

Thanks Kenneth, that's really thoughtful. I used the link and the most likely description sounded like Oscrapods, but after a google image search they are too blobby and not 'insect-like' enough to be the culprits. However, this morning I can't see any more of them, so it could be that my lazy...

Good thinking, but the bloodworm I feed them is frozen! You're absolutely right though, discus can be so lazy - it's almost like they know how pricey they are and develop diva behaviour accordingly!

Too teeny weeny I'm afraid - would be nothing but a smudge! They are about 1mm wide and 2mm long, with two pairs of hair like legs, almond shaped. Very shiny bellies, I thought at first it was a chip on the inside of the glass (palpatations aplenty!). They seem to be munching on the glass...

How do. Apologies, but I'm not sure which forum to put this in. I've had a few silvery flea type bugs appear in my tank this evening after a 20% WC. I was wondering if anyone could help out. I've been reading other posts and they aren't dragonfly larvae or anything like that; elliptical, 1mm...

How do. I've just spotted a couple of small flea type insects flitting from the surface of the water to the plants and tank sides. They are about 1mm, silvery and have two legs on each side. Does anyone know what these are, where they've perhaps come from and most importantly, are they...

Is it the same one, or different ones at different times? Mine occasionally have a bit of an inexplicable 'mad moment' - not unlike their owner... Keep an eye out for the usual white spots, irritated patches, etc. If you're having teething trouble with a new tank (re: your other post) keep an...

I had a similar situation. I found Accu-Clear gave great results for a one-off clarity boost, but I wouldn't use it as a regular thing (don't know exactly what's in it), you need to get the filter balancing on it's own. But for a quick aesthetic boost, e.g; a couple of hours before VIPs...

Angel fish are part of the same family as discus and should 'in theory' get along fine, so no need for too much concern there (probably explains why he's schooling with them too!). But discus are far more pretty... :P Apart from my tetras (which I really need more of!), I keep the upper...

No probs! Hope to have the new 500L tank purchased, up and running well before xmas. I can't wait to see them in it, even though they'll look a little lost for a while! OG

Thanks Zig, tracked down Wolf's post in ChitChat. Cheers! OG

No offence taken, to clarify; The four discus are juveniles, nowhere near fully grown yet - hence the much larger tank capacity planned soon. We're talking two and a half inches average - I got them when they were very young and have had them six months. The RTBS is also a young'un - an inch...

That's why I'm in no hurry, in order to make sure the rocks are properly and completely safe, seasoned and soaked. On the fish side, I've got four discus at the moment, but I'm hoping to get around ten in a large 400 - 500 litre (uk) tank, so they've got plenty of room for growth and manoevres...

Hi All, I have just returned from a great break by the coast and was fortunate enough to collect around 15kg of beautiful rock in varying shades and shapes for a new freshwater discus tank I am planning. I was just wondering how to best prepare these rocks before installing in the new tank...

Not sure if you mean me or not, but I'll go ahead and answer anyway! :P Got plenty of nice white pieces of oceanic rock (don't know what type, but they look almost coral like) and plenty of plants. Lots of areas for establishing territory and hiding away! However, talk about speaking too...

Mine are the same, they seem to re-establish the intermediary pecking orders every day (although they seem to know and accept that the biggest one is boss!). They often unite over a common cause (normally to stare at me when they're hungry) and swim peacefully in their group of six, but when...

Thanks everyone! I have a small heater going spare, but I was just wondering what the consensus was, as a lot of talk on here is US orientated betta keeping. I agree, the last week has been boiling here (apart from Glastonbury! :blink: ), but I wondered exactly how tolerant they were of mild...

Hi, I have a male betta who is extremely lazy/lethargic. He has the run of a 35 UK Litre tank, with a few neon buddies - but spends all day on top of the filter resting. I'm wondering if I ought to downsize his pad to a reasonalby sized bowl/vase/other receptacle with no current and less open...

Thanks BigC, Will check it out! :nod: OG

Hi All, I'm currently setting up an 80L water drum in a cupboard with an airstone and heater, to make the frequent changes required (to keep my discus happy) that little bit easier. Everything is working well apart from my slighlty niave notion of being able to move water between tank and...

Hi BM and thanks, That's a good point, the only problem being here in the UK I think it would be too cold to have him in a small unheated tank - even though it's warm in my living room, I wouldn't trust things to stay constant enough to keep him happy. Plus he seems to like hurtling around...

I know, you'd think he'd be over the moon having the run of the pad! :rolleyes: He's in an 18" wide, by 12" deep and 15" high bow fronted 38 litre, he's only got ten neon buddies and a large synthetic root in the middle to swim round and rest on. I'm going to try diverting the current away...

Hi there, I was wondering if anyone could answer a problem I'm having with my normally chirpy betta. He has been looking exhausted this last week, resting most of the day and looking slightly off-balance at times. He is still very active when the lid is opened and it's dinner time, but he...

Thanks everyone! Miss Claire, you're post made me laugh so much! I'm sure Ruski appreciates such a supportive mum, whatever his/her orientation may be! :lol: Still trying to decide on names for them, but am waiting for some more character traits to emerge... PS Some lovely pics of...

Thanks Lover88 and Seb! I will try and get pics soon, but what you say about stripes is very intriguing - I have one who often has dark verticals and one that doesn't, so could be i have a mr and mrs after all! :wub: They are fairly young, about 3.5 - 4 inches and although they swim...

Hi there, I have a pair of red turquoise discus who are happily enjoying life together. I was wondering if there was any way of telling a male from a female. Just out of interest really... I plan to put two more in the near future to make a nice managable group (I know they are at their...

Cheers Captain - will try that out. Hopefully a sustained heat assault will sort it out! Really want to get it back in the tank asap, as it looks so bare with only a few plants kicking around - and three fish looking lost, not to mention the frogs who like to climb up it too and poke their...

Thanks Kev, will try that out. Thankfully the little Fluval (currently chugging its heart out) seems to be clearing the water slowly without the mopani interfering, so that's good. The tank looks bare without it, but anything's better than seeing your fish swimming in what looks like herbal...

Thanks LL! I've been dousing it in hot water whilst it's been in the empty spare tank to try and speed the process, but I just wondered if this colour leakage for so long was usual or not. It's been in there a month, so I guess it may cease in the next few. From what I read the tanin isn't...

Hi everyone, Does anyone know a good way to stop mopani bogwood from staining the water with the brown tanin that it contains? It's been soaked, but despite frequent water changes (sometimes up to 50-75%, but not often), it still turns everything brown within a week. Not cloudy brown, just...

Any body know how to tell the sex of a shrimp?! I'd always thought mine was a fella, but the other day 'he' was upside down on a bit of branch and appeared to be knitting with his back main legs and flicking his small tail leg/sticks (note the use of correct terminology! :*) ) I couldn't see...

Good idea, would make it look quite contemporary too, after all a tank is a design feature in a way, as well a home! Difficult to tell from a pic, but if it's one of those nasty vacuum formed hoods often bundled with a certain tanks then it's best avoided. I'm with you on that one! :thumbs:

Blimey, a bargain of a tank Ben! Aren't you using that hood then?