Advice Needed!

[jdprice1988]

hi all

i am looking for information on water parameters for my local area. i have had a look on the net but i could not find anything really. i live in swansea and was wondering if there is anywhere i could find this sort of information?

also, i want to put a sand substrate for my tank. i was wondering how i would go about cleaning and if i could use a gravel vacume or siphon? also, what is the best method to use?

all advice will be greatley appreciated. thanks guys

 

[mattlee]

you should be able to get readings from your local water supplier from their website, have you looked on there?

sand substrate can be cleaned using a length of hose, just hover it above the sand about half an inch so not to suck up the sand and swirl the end around to loosen the dirt etc and it will be sucked away i use a siphon bulb bought from lfs and a length of filter hose to do mine. the hose is about 4 meters long so it can go straight from the tank into the garden as my tank is in the conservatory. the bulb is just a rubber siphon starter and with a few squeezes it starts the water flow from the tank and means no sucking is required

 

[jdprice1988]

i shall have a look on ebay for some bits now. i wanted to make a diy python so could i use a length of half inch pipe to attatch to the end so id have a bit more control over moving it over the sand. would this work?

also, i looked on the welsh water website but it says that the online water quality search for my area is temporary unavailable so it is there. just hope that it works again soon. i might try and ring them ill see now. thanks