Recent content by raylove

Angelfish!

I count 14! There are three on the sponge (one right at the bottom) and 11 above (there is one behind the one that is just above the tiny one that you might have missed).

This my Juwel 260 litre Vision bow fronted tank. It was set up 5 years ago though all the fish in it I have had for much longer, apart from a couple of rehoused Cory's from about a year ago. This picture is taken a week after thinning the plants which is why they are a little lower than usual on...

As you say, that's a big swing. I thought that insufficient shaking could produce an unrealistically low reading rather than high so that is strange.

It needs a decent level of light and doesn't like being moved too often. It's slow growing compared to many stemmed plants which is why algae can overcome it. Mine wasn't doing particularly well (even with Nerites present) until I discovered that my tap water is high in silicates. I used...

I would be suspicious of that test. UK tap water is supposed to be no lower than 6.5. I thought 6.5 seemed a bit low following your first post but then I saw the substrate so it made sense. 6.0 straight from the tap looks wrong and certainly I wouldn't expect the tank water to be higher. What...

Don't put all the fish in at once. I would add the Embers first followed by perhaps 6-8 Cory's at least 6 weeks later. Honey gouramis can be shy but I understand why you chose it a a centrepiece. It would be best to leave that until you have more plant cover. I think the shrimps would be OK but...

I made my own out two soda bottles over 10 years ago and it's still running fine on sugar and yeast. Although you can't regulate it, it's also really difficult to overdose with a primitive system. With decent circulation I've never need to run anything extra at night. I could grow nothing...

I think they're suggesting that more active fish circulates the water faster.😁 In fact wouldn't oxygen be lower due to decreased surface area?

It will only replenish the tank water once the main tank level drops below the bottom of the extension. Then surely quite a lot will suddenly glug out until the level in the tank rises again and you'll be left with an air bubble in the extension? As you say, ultimately you'll have to refill it...

I can't grow any plants unless I dose CO2. I only have a home made sugar water system but since installing it 11 yrs ago I can grow most plants, including Vallis (I stick to less demanding plants). Previously I couldn't grow it but with CO2 it's rampant. I did once accidentally use a liquid CO2...

I just realised today that my Cryptocoryne affinis are the descendants of plants that I bought over 30 years ago! I used to struggle to grow plants and affinis was the only species that lasted long term. In the 1990's it was usually the only plant in my tanks and at times it completely over ran...

I didn't know what one of these was so I searched online out of interest. One of the first things that came up was this video. I'm not sure how much of the mechanism is actually shown nor what the video is trying to achieve, but it might help you.

Agreed, every tank is different. I have always had a low phosphate reading but I guess if another tank has a higher reading, the Phosguard might become exhausted much faster before making an impact on silicates. As I said, it took me three rounds before I noticed much of a difference, then it...