Office Space

[seangee]

Oh cool! This is the one I got and it's pretty intense. I'll throw that switch into my basket now - thanks!

Yup - pretty sure that's the one both Russ & I have.
Edit: There is a dual channel timer that would allow you to control both white and blue on timers - they were out of stock when I ordered and I could not be bothered to wait.

 

[AilyNC]

You recommended to me

 

[AquaBarb]

Its great. Running at 50% for 9 hours. Any higher than that and I get cyano in the water sprite roots, but perfect as it is.

I was considering getting a dimmer but everything seems ok without at the moment for me.

Not found a decent lid yet tho. Was looking over the weekend. The delivery cost are awful on the Polycarbonate sheets. Was thinking about getting some peace lillys and pothos plants to try and grow from the surface but wanted a better lid first

 

[AilyNC]

I was considering getting a dimmer but everything seems ok without at the moment for me.

Not found a decent lid yet tho. Was looking over the weekend. The delivery cost are awful on the Polycarbonate sheets. Was thinking about getting some peace lillys and pothos plants to try and grow from the surface but wanted a better lid first

Would somewhere like B&Q have some locally? They could cut it size for you in store.

 

[seangee]

I was considering getting a dimmer but everything seems ok without at the moment for me.

Not found a decent lid yet tho. Was looking over the weekend. The delivery cost are awful on the Polycarbonate sheets. Was thinking about getting some peace lillys and pothos plants to try and grow from the surface but wanted a better lid first

Ended up chucking out the poly sheeting. It was way too flexible and scratches easily. I have 3mm perspex now. Not going to change it just for fun but it still bends a little, probably would have gone for 6mm if I had to do it again.

 

[AquaBarb]

Ended up chucking out the poly sheeting. It was way too flexible and scratches easily. I have 3mm perspex now. Not going to change it just for fun but it still bends a little, probably would have gone for 6mm if I had to do it again.

Glad youve mentioned that because i was looking at 4mm. Ill carry on looking or Might even pop to screwfix or B&Q and save the 14 quid postage

 

[seangee]

Updated plant list to save me looking them up next time someone asks

• Hygrophila polysperma
• Ludwigia repens
• Ceratopteris thalicroides + c.cornuta and c.fein
• Echinodorus reni
• helanthium tenellum
• heteranthera zosterifolia

I was reminded just how sensitive fish are to changes in light. I increased my lights from 50 to 60% to give the helanthium a boost and to compensate for the fact that I have a lot more water sprite than when I set them. The otos have completely disappeared when the lights are on. I know that in my community tank (ok then other community tank) they start coming out as soon as the lights start dimming, which is long before I can see any difference.

Edit: Light are out now and as if by magic they have all re-appeared.

 

[vanalisa]

Feeding time means I can get all the species into a single shot
View attachment 115904

The chilies against the coryadora really give a good idea of the relative size
Are those larger ones the Embers? Can't be they look huge!
I have a 20g high, wish I had a long one, too!

 

[seangee]

The chilies against the coryadora really give a good idea of the relative size
Are those larger ones the Embers? Can't be they look huge!
I have a 20g high, wish I had a long one, too!

Yes they are. Highlights how small everything is. I know when I sit in front of the big tank I now think the cardinals are massive, and as for those monstrous pepper cories...
This one is really turning into a fascinating community. Its just full of tiny fish

 

[seangee]

Battle stations

And of course full battle dress

 

[AquaBarb]

Hi Sean, not been on for a while.

Hows your tanks going? Love your sparkling gourami's

 

[seangee]

Hi Sean, not been on for a while.

Hows your tanks going? Love your sparkling gourami's

All good as far as I can remember , spending a couple of weeks in deepest darkest Devon so nothing to report ATM as they are all fending for themselves.

 

[seangee]

All change again. Got fed up with the helanthium tenellum cos it wasn't doing much. So I ripped it out and replaced with alternanthera rosaefolia which seems to be doing nicely. The hygrophilla got a hard trim at the weekend.

I have also given up on the water sprite. This was actually doing fine but as I am still dealing with recurring BGA it is too bitty to keep removing and replacing while I vaccum the sand. When I do it sheds all over the place. Also when I wash it in an H2O2 solution (out of the tank) I end up with bits everywhere. So i chucked it out today. In a day or so when i am sure it is all gone I will put in some frogbit as that is easier to manage. It also means if the roots do get infested I can just throw it out and replace as my community tanks still produces enough surplus frogbit to supply several tanks in a week.

I also added the little slimline internal filter which has been sitting in a box for several years. The sponge filters are great but as they are not renowned for mechanical filtration I am hoping this helps remove surplus organics (mostly water sprite bits at the moment ). At some point I will either remove it or the sponge filters which are now turned down to minimal flow. Technically I don't need to worry about cycling the new filter as I only have the filter for mechanical filtration and circulation (its an acidic tank), but I will run them in parallel for a few weeks while I decide which to keep running.

 

[Retired Viking]

You tank looks a little empty after all that. wish my frogbit was doing as well just a few new small leaf offshoots after almost a month. Nice to see your embers look healthy.

 

[seangee]

You tank looks a little empty after all that. wish my frogbit was doing as well just a few new small leaf offshoots after almost a month. Nice to see your embers look healthy.

I know what you mean. I had to think hard about whether I wanted to post the pic because the tank looks unfinished without the floating plants, and even more so as the hygrophila was all growing up through the surface before the weekend.

Fish are doing great. They are all busy re-establishing their territories now that the geography has changed