missing in action

[Cavafish]

ooo....arent we touchy here today! GO TROPJUNKY! I'm on-topic with you.

Put in as many plants as is reasonable for the size of the tank. I personally think that you really need to also look at your stocking level as well as bringing down the amount of waste going into the system seems a lot more sensible than trying to compensate for it. In other words sorting the problem out at source rather than trying to fix it.

Please bear in mind that I do not know if you are current under or overstocked despite reading your sig as I am not experienced enough to know this sort of thing. Hopefully someone more knowledgable on this matter wil help out and make some suggestions (calling all Cheeses!)

I also dont know too many plants - either go to the plant part of the forum and pose the question there or go on down to your LFS and ask a load of questions. I do know that vallisernia is a rapid growing plant (it went MAD in my tank) and that these will use up more nitrate to grow than slow growing ones.
Try PM-ing one of the mods for the plant forum - this might get a quicker more accurate response.

Best of luck mate!

 

[Tjimbsoj]

witch-hunting again...

I was making the point that if all avenues have been exhausted for you to continue looking after the tank sufficiently, then ultimately you may have to look into more drastic, harsher methods.

Of course though re-assessing your stock levels, introducing more plants and more regular cycles can maximise the productivity of the tank.

What lighting are you running on?

You posted for opinions, I gave you mine...

 

[sandywatt]

Just wanted to say this,
If you don't like the advice someone gives you in a forum it doesn't neccessarily mean that it is wrong. What is wrong is that the guy was asking for advice & only a few members actually addressed his problems.

 

[clutterydrawer]

ello tropjunky

could you explain your problem a bit better? is the reason you can't do water changes so often because of shortage of time, or are you staying somewhere that makes it impractical, or what?

 

[Cheese Specialist]

Hopefully someone more knowledgable on this matter wil help out and make some suggestions (calling all Cheeses!)

Awwww!!!!

TJ, for the plants it depends on the lighting that you have. Vallis are always good IMO, grow easily and look great.

You say about RO water, is there something really wrong with your tap water that makes this necessary? 25litres is only 6US gallons and that's not very much to change out of a 125l/33US tank. In fact the amount you are changing probably doesn't achieve anything, especially as you are not doing it often.

 

[Cavafish]

Trop,

There is also a product by Tetra called Easy Balance. This is supposed to so all the things that a water change does so you can leave the gap between 'real' water changes longer.
Now I dont know if you trust in these sort of products or not but it is another alternative solution for you. It may be worth sving up and getting more RO water and using this stuff in between times. I have used it a few times when I have been unable to do a water change on the right w'end and I have had no problems.

What IS wrong with your water? Do your parameters start to slide if water changes are left out? Tell us more!

 

[Tropjunky]

witch-hunting again...

I was making the point that if all avenues have been exhausted for you to continue looking after the tank sufficiently, then ultimately you may have to look into more drastic, harsher methods.

Of course though re-assessing your stock levels, introducing more plants and more regular cycles can maximise the productivity of the tank.

What lighting are you running on?

You posted for opinions, I gave you mine...

I'm not dissing anyboddy and ur opinion was rather harsh tho.

my lighting is "medium".

i don't like using chemicals in my tank

 

[Tjimbsoj]

witch-hunting again...

I was making the point that if all avenues have been exhausted for you to continue looking after the tank sufficiently, then ultimately you may have to look into more drastic, harsher methods.

Of course though re-assessing your stock levels, introducing more plants and more regular cycles can maximise the productivity of the tank.

What lighting are you running on?

You posted for opinions, I gave you mine...

I'm not dissing anyboddy and ur opinion was rather harsh tho.

my lighting is "medium".

i don't like using chemicals in my tank

Whether my opinion is "out of order" or not is up to the moderators to decide and past judgement, not yourself.

I believe I was simply being realistic with what you say is having very limited time to look after the tank. It's a harsh reality, but if all avenues have been exploited, your only answer may be to loose the tank. Obviously though that is your decision completely, just make sure to act swift and appropriately.

Different plants thrive in different levels light, do you know the wattage?

 

[Timmy]

i tend to change the water every 2 weeks about 25Ltrs outa the 27.5Gl sorry but i use a barrel of RO water every time and it's £3.50 for 25Ltrs.

Your water must be pure RO by now plus whatever you put in the RO to make it suitable for fish.

I'd worry about the pH stability with this much RO. Do you have anything to buffer the pH and do you know what the pH is?

 

[Cheese Specialist]

witch-hunting again...

I was making the point that if all avenues have been exhausted for you to continue looking after the tank sufficiently, then ultimately you may have to look into more drastic, harsher methods.

Of course though re-assessing your stock levels, introducing more plants and more regular cycles can maximise the productivity of the tank.

What lighting are you running on?

You posted for opinions, I gave you mine...

I'm not dissing anyboddy and ur opinion was rather harsh tho.

my lighting is "medium".

i don't like using chemicals in my tank

Medium? Don't give to much information there! I don't think I can handle the overload. What wattage?

You are not changing enough water and it's no wonder you are finding problems. Many people do fine using tap water in their tank, even those that have bad tap water. You do not have very sensitive fish so I am at pains to understand. When your fish get sick, you'll have to use medicine it's no different other than missing out the sickness and stress.

RO is all well and good when it can be done properly. Oh and for the record, I agree with Tjimbsoj. He was being realistic. If you do not have time for your tank (which is understandable) you need to downsize or enlist someone to help you.

Adding plants will help levels but they are not little miracles.

 

[burn808]

I live in Peterborough and I just use the normal tap water treated with 'Safe Guard' to remove the chorine. Dunno about this RO lark - seems like a way to spend more cash thats not needed

I change 25% every 1 or 2 weeks. My tank has been going for over 4 years with no problems.

The barb, cory and danio are all from when my brother first got it!

 

[Tropjunky]

witch-hunting again...

I was making the point that if all avenues have been exhausted for you to continue looking after the tank sufficiently, then ultimately you may have to look into more drastic, harsher methods.

Of course though re-assessing your stock levels, introducing more plants and more regular cycles can maximise the productivity of the tank.

What lighting are you running on?

You posted for opinions, I gave you mine...

I'm not dissing anyboddy and ur opinion was rather harsh tho.

my lighting is "medium".

i don't like using chemicals in my tank

Whether my opinion is "out of order" or not is up to the moderators to decide and past judgement, not yourself.

I believe I was simply being realistic with what you say is having very limited time to look after the tank. It's a harsh reality, but if all avenues have been exploited, your only answer may be to loose the tank. Obviously though that is your decision completely, just make sure to act swift and appropriately.

Different plants thrive in different levels light, do you know the wattage?

Well who said i relied solely on hi-tec "gadjets" to maintain my tank. my tank may have an oversized filter but thats only cos i got it cheap and cos i wanted something that could keep my tank in relativly gd condition should i have to skip a waterchange. i would never put my fish in harms way.

if i can't change the water myself i'll get it done by installing an automated system.