alanmin4304

The zeolite only removes the calcium/magnesium and replaces it with sodium, so it will not remove chlorine. Test the water before and after and recharge when it stops working. Super saturated salt is a solution that will not dissolve any more salt, pour off the solution and leave any excess behind then pour slowly through the resin and put to waste. The prefilter looks like a course physical filter as used in swimming pools etc. If your tap water is pretty good just put it through the resin. You can also put some of the recharged resin in a box filter in the tank to soften the water. Best not to do it to hard water with fish in the tank or you can kill them with the rapid change in hardness.

In my experience siamese algae eaters don't eat it. It is caused by an imbalance of phoshate/nitrate. Removing phospate or adding nitrate will help. squirting it with H2O2 helps. Flourish excell works but it takes a while.

It looks like zeolite which removes calcium and magnesium ions from the water and replaces them with sodium ions--hence the name ion exchange resin. It makes the water soft. When it is all filled up with "hardness ions" you pass a super saturated solution of common salt through it and it drops the calcium and magnesium ions off and replaces them with sodium again. Very usefull if you want soft water but totally useless otherwise.

Withdrawn by the site. I hope shops don't sell it.

They were selling it as oxygen weed so I asked what type it was and they posted a picture. You can tell it is Anacharis because the stalk is thicker and the leaves curl down.

I think the gas that builds up to dangerous levels is about the same risk as vampires. I have grown plants on virtually un siphoned sand for years without a problem. There are no vacuum cleaners in the Amazon

I have just reported the person who is selling Anacharis on that site (since they have not responded to my message) That is the fourth time I have dobbed someone in on that site for selling it.

The sag will block the light to the hairgrass (needs good light) and the hairgrass will block the light to the glosso (needs even more light) I have a miniature sag called microfolia which grows to about 50mm tops whereas S. subulata can hit half a metre. I also have glosso (grown emersed) I can give you a small portion of each to try out . If you want to try PM me.

If you are going to use it you will find it a lot cheaper to buy a 2 litre container. It is good for helping to control algae. The carbon aspect is the same as adding CO2 --You need established plants, micro and macro nutrients, a source of carbon and good light. Unless you have all of these you are realy wasting your effort on any part of the equation.

They test the male to see if he is strong enough to help raise the fry. A bit like humans realy -- that's why us mear males get to do the fry up on the barbie

Good one--I hope I was right. I will be curious to see what genes come through. Has that fish got a red eye? I can't remember. A pearl scale black veiltail might look pretty cool.

Your algae problems are caused by too much nutrient. CO2 will not help as it is only part of what the plants need to grow. Cut back on the light until the plants are established and using nutrient. Once the nutrient is being taken up you can add CARBON in the form of FLOURISH EXCELL because it has an algacidal effect as well. You can switch to CO2 when everything settles down and gets a balance. It is a bit like adding a heap of fish to a tank that has not cycled. You have to get the plants established before they will do anything and you want a low biological load (only a few fish) and frequent water changes untill the system stabilizes. To have a high light aquarium you need added fertilizers and added carbon from Flourish excell or CO2 as well as good light and lots of plants growing like crazy. Just having part only puts the system out of whack and feeds algae.

Short answer is you don't, and the plants will love you for it. Just siphon the the worst of the gung off the top now and again. You would not expect a pot plant to grow well in a pot of pre washed gravel or sand with nothing to feed on.

You might get away with it being only 30mm high but on the border---can but try.

I guess everyone has there own way of doing it but I think many people use far too much glue. I glue the joints glass to glass with no extra glue between. The glass is all pushed firmly together and held there till dry. 99 % of the time a tank like this will not leak. A small fillet of glue is added to the inside of the joint to make it easier to clean (rounded corners), to improve the looks and add a little more strength. If you look at the imported tanks made in china they use very little glue, look great and don't leak. We used to make 10-12 600x300x300mm tanks (12 gallon) with a cartridge of glue. The more glue you waste, the longer you need to wait.Very large tanks are of course a bit different.

Will need good light also.

Goldfish generally carry a lot of parasites that they are resistant to if kept healthy and in good conditions. The fry are so small that the parasites knock them around a lot more. You can treat the adults prior to breeding but many of the treatments cause temporary sterility so it is more usual to treat the fry.

The amount of acetic acid given off is no problem. I have always just put the tank to use next day without a problem.

You have the right idea--get the kids started at an early age. Welcome, your tanks looks good.

Did it travel OK coming up from Canterbury?

You would be best not to use it. Get Selleys glass and aquarium silicone sealant.

I think all of the above do as well.

Any acid will of course lower the pH but it is not likely to stay there. Most times you want acid water you want it soft as well and rainwater is a cheap and easy way to get both.

All the things I suggested will turn the water brown as it is the tannins (tannic acid) that lowers the pH.

So try to educate people on how to look after them whenever you get the chance.