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New additions today, got some more sand to cover the rest of the plants roots up.

I have also just came home with another Hydor Ario 3 to help the 1st one, and also to have more oxygen in the tank

Also some soaked marsh root *will i need to boil myslef* and 3 bits of red sparkly rock *2hour boil?*

and some API Leaf Zone for the plants to grow better and look better too.

The Rocks:


The Marsh Root:

slakey wrote:Hmm so Im in abit of a pickle then really... nothing that I can do about it.

Apart from RO, nitrazorb or Anaerobic bacteria is there any other way to reduce my nitrate?

In short, no. If there was a simple way to do that, it would be done by everyone owning an aquarium.

If not could someone tell me what you need to do to use RO water?

You need supply of RO water - either from your LFS or by purchasing an RO unit, which is connected (temporarily or permanently) to your water supply.

You will also need somewhere to store the filtered water, and a waste-drain for the waste-water (on unit of RO water produces about 5 units of waste-water). [The waste-water is fine for watering plants, flushing the toilet, washing the car, or anything else that doesn't require perfectly clean water - just bear in mind that it's no longer clorinated, so bacteria will grow more easily in the water].

An RO unit consists of a set of "pre-filters" (carbon filter and sediment filter). These remove unwanted chemicals (such as chlorine) and solid particles respectively. Then there is the actual RO filter, which is a "thin-film membrane", which lets through water molecules, but blocks most other things. It operates on a pressure differential, and uses the waste-water to flush away the unwanted matter.

Fancy units also have a water-softener, which converts hardness into sodium chloride to make it easier to filter in the RO membrane.

You can find RO units from about £60-70, and the smallest ones would be fine for your one or two mid-size tanks.

Finally, if you use RO water only, you will need to re-mineralise the water with trace-elements, and add something to keep the pH stable, and it's probably advisable to get a TDS meter so that you can keep track of the mineral content in the water.

Buying water from the LFS will set you back a few quid per 25l (plus a few more for the 25l container), and of course, every water change, you'll have to load up the car with a few 25l containers and go to the LFS - particularly annoying if you need an unplanned water-change [although that can also be difficult if you have a temporary setup of RO unit].

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Mats

I think I won't do the RO Water.

I'll ask how my LFS got their nitrate to 10ppm as thats as low as I'll be able to get it I think.

The Tank Now:


Baby BN Pleco *female I think*:


Pair of GBRS:


The Male:


The Female:


Enjoy.
P.S I never knew that Marsh Root floated :@ Had to weigh it down with some plant weights a lil rock and the smaller filter lol

slakey wrote:I never knew that Marsh Root floated :@ Had to weigh it down with some plant weights a lil rock and the smaller filter lol

surprise

in NL many plant weights are lead based - and thus unfit for populated tanks. I have no clue whether this is also the case in Norway, so perhaps I should warn you - to be safe - against using plant weights. A second rock might do the trick better

Bas Pels wrote:

slakey wrote:I never knew that Marsh Root floated :@ Had to weigh it down with some plant weights a lil rock and the smaller filter lol

surprise

in NL many plant weights are lead based - and thus unfit for populated tanks. I have no clue whether this is also the case in Norway, so perhaps I should warn you - to be safe - against using plant weights. A second rock might do the trick better

Yes, lead weights are often used in the UK (Where Norwich is located ;) ), but lead is significantly less toxic in high pH conditions [as you are probably aware], as the lead-oxide forms a inert surface on the lead - I'm not saying "Build tanks from lead", but it's less bad than in a tank with a pH of, say, 6.0.

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Mats

well hopefully it won't be too bad, my pH is 7.6

also I have basically a choice of two tanks.

A Rio 180 or a Ambience 101 *http://www.aquatlantis.com/uk-frame-pro ... produto=61&

Which one should I go for?
Reason I'm asking is because I've never seen or heard of the Ambience aquariums nor their filters that are called BioBox...

It has no nitrate removal sponge, only the blue, white and black sponge then these little balls at bottom of filter called "AquaClay"

The tank looks like a pretty much equal to the RIO 180 tank. I have no idea of which filter is better - the AquaClay sounds like one of the Eheim Substrat products - not sure which is the most comparable - it's good stuff, but nothing revolutionary.

I'd say that they are pretty much "the same" from different manufacturers. Like comparing a Ford Focus with a VW Golf - costs about the same, does about the same, and it's mainly which one you like better that will decide what you choose. Sure, in both comparison cases, some details will be different, but overall, they are pretty much the same.

As evidenced before, the nitrate filtration probably has a minimal effect anyways.

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Mats

MatsP wrote:UK (Where Norwich is located ;)

Ok was just wondering.

On a side note, my LFS (Lynchford Aquatics, North Camp, Hants) has the Ambiance series tanks in stock, and as far as I can tell they look nice.

You can really only tell once you have owned the tank for a reasonable amount of time. There are only two things that have gone wrong in my RIO 400:
the filter pump gave up just after Christmas this year (3 years after I got the tank).
I replaced the internal fitler with an external TetraTec EX1200, which is hidden inside the filter box of the original Juwel filter.

The heater thermostat "permanently on".
No matter what temperature setting I used, it would stay on all the time, which became a problem last spring/summer when the tank reached 32'C, so I replaced it with a VisiTherm (slightly less expensive than the Juwel replacement product, and in my experience at least as good and reliable).

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Mats

I've had one thing go wrong with my Rio 125 not even owned a year, bought it as new and the filter pump went :/

Was really hard to find the right one aswell!

I can get the Rio 180 for £220 from a LFS or £180-£190 on a site but cant remember which one postage was free aswell :'(

Guess what I've got to do next week! Feed about 50 cichlids or more!!!

A man I know is going on holiday and all his tanks have cichlids in them. He's converted both of his garages into fish rooms. From what I could tell he has a rio 240 a vision 180 or 260, maybe a 8 or 10ft lond tank, then loads of fish store type tanks in the wood casing, if you get me? and some other nearly 3ft looking tanks stacking on top of eachother, and he has more empty tanks around the room lol!!!

He has adults, fry, sub adults, young, and also 2 of the females in the 240 tank may well be holding.

There were also brown synodontis catfish with black spots in the bigger tanks.

And I need to feed his other pets aswell!

Only 50?

I got over 1100 fishes of which some 120 are catfish, and 250 are life bearers. The rest are, guess what, cichl ids

Well that's only a rough guess really lol, didn't have time to count them all!

Also I'm thinking about setting up a 2ft x 1ft x 1ft breeding tank for my rams, should I go through with it or not?

And some positive news!!!

I think my dad may let me have a Rio 240!!! Since it does fit

Posts on the subject of RIO300 is now in a different thread.

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Mats

On my API Leaf Zone bottle it says I should put some in every week.

Could I put more in, say every other day or every day?

Also the new plants I bought we're kind of tacky and still are, so I was wondering could I snip the bad bits off, and then would the grow back?

Also the same for algae infested leaves on my old anubias nana?

I made the mistake of removing all the guppies from my display tank. I started to get different types of algae I had never seen before. So I rounded up all the extra males I had in my grow out tanks and put them back in. They were all at work today to solve my algae problem, but I think it will be a while before the algae is irradicated.

Do guppies clean algae?

slakey wrote:Do guppies clean algae?

Yes, they will eat some types of algae.

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Mats

On my API Leaf Zone bottle it says I should put some in every week.
Could I put more in, say every other day or every day?

I would follow the instructions, and add no more than once a week.

Your plant growth is not being limited by nutrients, but by carbon dioxide concentrations. This can be increased by buying a kit from the LFS or by reducing the amount of surface agitation from filters and airstones (not recommended with oxygen loving fish like plecs).

Also the new plants I bought we're kind of tacky and still are, so I was wondering could I snip the bad bits off, and then would the grow back? Also the same for algae infested leaves on my old anubias nana?

Yes, you can snip the bad leaves off, just make sure you use sharp scissors so you don't damage the stems too much.

If you are getting algae, you certainly have too much light. Try reducing the photoperiod to 8 hours and consider some floating plant like Amazon frogbit (Limnobium laevigatum) or hornwort (Ceratophyllum demersum) to suck up the excess light. Tannins also reduce algal activity without seeming to bother the plants.

Your bristlenose will also assist you.

racoll wrote:Your plant growth is not being limited by nutrients, but by carbon dioxide concentrations. This can be increased by buying a kit from the LFS or by reducing the amount of surface agitation from filters and airstones (not recommended with oxygen loving fish like plecs).

If your plants get too little carbon dioxide you will, most likely, have too little fish to provide this

In stead of using apparatus (cstly apparatus) which migh malfunction (and are not able to be installed on a natural amaount of the stuff) I'd rather say: take a few more fishes

Your tank is 125 liter, than you could add 3 or 4 small ones (assuming light will not be the limiting factor)

Carbon dioxide is potentially harmfull - in high doses. A planted tank with enough fishes and not too much pants does not require the addition of this, the art is just to find a balance of how many fishes / how many plants

Ok thanks for all the info.

For some reason I'm having some problems finding my BN pleco, and I will search for ages in the morning looking for him/her due to previous deaths with them.

Hope he/she isn't dead

I see the Kuhli Loaches more easier then my BN pleco :S

Is this normal behaivour for a baby bn pleco?

It is quite normal that they hide during daylight, yes. They are more active at night.

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Mats

Just found my BN plec dead

I just don't understand whats the matter, like why the Rams are surviving but the supposedley hardy plecs aren't :s

Just doesn't make sense to me.

Should I just give up on plec's totally and try get different algae eating fish?

I doubt there are many algae eaters that are better than in "durability". Not sure what to recommend.

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Mats

Surely I'd expect my Rams to go before a plec...

The only thing I can think of is my Nitrate which is 40ppm the ammonia was 0 last week and the nitrite was 0 last week aswell.

40 ppm nitrate is low compared to what my bristlenoses were BREEDING in before I got the RO unit. Nitrate will slow down the fishes growth, but unless it's extremely high (or the fish are particularly sensitive), they will not die from high nitrate. If your nitrate gets to hundreds of ppm yes, but not at less than 100 ppm (for common bristlenoses at least).

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Mats

That has restored my confidence, but I still don't understand...

Could it be the LFS I'm getting them from? They normally last 1 week and then die?

Should I infact try one of the bigger species they have there? If I go get the name and research them?

If they are captive bred (which is likely if they are small), then they are most likely as those are regularly available in shops, either from wholesalers or hobbyists breeding them. If you weren't so far away, I'd offer one of mine for half the shop is charging for the same size [I've got every size from 15mm upwards to a good 100mm SL].

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Mats

The last two Bn's i've had have had white tips on tail and top fin.