My 385L Malawi Tank

[jamesmacc]

morning to you both. glad it was a good purchase, i watched it fro a week thinking it would go for maybe £25 but i put a cheeky bid in in the last minute and won it as you both say hopefully it will help things move round and stop any dead spots

 

[markandhisfish]

youl know if itsd too powerful , all the fish will be stuck to the glass at the other end of the tank

 

[jamesmacc]

any ideas if i should order 10-20cm ocean rock or 20-30cm pieces of ocean rock? i plan to stack them and hopefully try build some caves underneith from pvc drain piping

 

[markandhisfish]

id get some of varying sizes , altho personally i think iuf you can find some that nice big chunks of slate or simillar gives a much better more natural look . ocean rock tends to look a bite "marine"

 

[elisew]

id get some of varying sizes , altho personally i think iuf you can find some that nice big chunks of slate or simillar gives a much better more natural look . ocean rock tends to look a bite "marine"

Plus the fish are too stupid to realise they`re getting bigger while the holes in the ocean rock aren`t and the fish can then get stuck and die slate would definitely be a better option

 

[jamesmacc]

do you both mean like slate tiles or as in slate rocks? any idea were i can order some online?

 

[markandhisfish]

slate rocks like in my journal . usually available from landscaping suppliers

 

[jamesmacc]

i will try arrange a trip to my local landscaping centre although its a 240 mile trip , the easy thing about the ocean rock was i can mail order it, there must be somewere online that does slate. i will have a good look later

 

[markandhisfish]

have you got a local quarry? if you have they will usually sell you rocks dirt cheap .

 

[jamesmacc]

yeh i do, i havent seen any there but i will ask the boys. just recieved my powerhead in the post. tried it in the water and im very unsure, there is flow i can feel it with my hand but about 50cm away i cant feel any, are my hands not sensitive enough or is it a worn out unit? when i hold it close to the surface there is plenty of suface agetation

 

[jamesmacc]

just did my 2nd ph and nitrate test of my tap water, ph very high and no nitrate

 

[elisew]

yeh i do, i havent seen any there but i will ask the boys. just recieved my powerhead in the post. tried it in the water and im very unsure, there is flow i can feel it with my hand but about 50cm away i cant feel any, are my hands not sensitive enough or is it a worn out unit? when i hold it close to the surface there is plenty of suface agetation

That`s normal, same as mine. Wait until you have some little bits in the water and you`ll then be able to see the water movement better

The ph is good, it`s unusual to get a 0 result of nitrates but it does happen on the odd occasion. Make sure you give the test fluid bottles a really good shake, follow the instructions very strictly. Also, although the test kit might be newly bought by you, check the neck of the bottles for the expiry date because it has been known that a test kit has been sat on the shelf for the majority of it`s 'shelf life' before being bought

 

[jamesmacc]

yeh i do, i havent seen any there but i will ask the boys. just recieved my powerhead in the post. tried it in the water and im very unsure, there is flow i can feel it with my hand but about 50cm away i cant feel any, are my hands not sensitive enough or is it a worn out unit? when i hold it close to the surface there is plenty of suface agetation

That`s normal, same as mine. Wait until you have some little bits in the water and you`ll then be able to see the water movement better

The ph is good, it`s unusual to get a 0 result of nitrates but it does happen on the odd occasion. Make sure you give the test fluid bottles a really good shake, follow the instructions very strictly. Also, although the test kit might be newly bought by you, check the neck of the bottles for the expiry date because it has been known that a test kit has been sat on the shelf for the majority of it`s 'shelf life' before being bought

i have looked for an expiry date but can only find a lot number. what is a average nitrate reading? i got the same reading on my test strips but im aware they are like the lottery

 

[elisew]

i have looked for an expiry date but can only find a lot number. what is a average nitrate reading? i got the same reading on my test strips but im aware they are like the lottery

The last few numbers are usually the month or year of expiry. Test strips are completely useless and are likely to produce wrong results so they`re a big no no in my honest opinion.
My nitrate is 40 from the tap, I`m not sure what the 'average' is as it differs around the country. I`m not saying yours is definitely wrong, but it`s unusual to get a 0.....possible but not often if that makes sense?
Do you have a result for NiTRItes at all?

It may well be fine but it always pays to check and double check

 

[jamesmacc]

just checked nitrite and thats zero aswell. bottle neck says 17A1109. so could be november 2009 or september 2011?