nemines

if you have ammonia and a high pH then that could have caused your ram's death, as ammonia is toxic above pH 7

wats the pH of your tap water? wats ur KH? you could always try CO2 fertilization, which will lower your pH and help your plants.

could you use drontal, the cat and dog worming tablets?

got a deltec mce 300, after having no skimmer. replaced my eheim compacts with tunze nanos, changed air intake for skimmer so it draws cooler outside air. removed sand, and started adding the Seachem amino acid supplement.

i'd have to disagree with you, evil. your plants should be using the nitrate as it is produced thus giving you a reading closer to zero. high nitrates can inhibit plant growth. nevertheless, a nitrate reading of 10ppm isn't really going to cause much, if any, trouble. however, if it keeps going past 10ppm, it could mean that there is an imbalance in the aquarium, i.e. too many fish, or too much food. regarding the use of fine filter pads and filter wool, i've heard that they are not really necessary and if you use them then they should be replaced frequently, as they'll contribute to a nitrates problem. i don't use them myself and my water is just as clear.

firstly, wat sort of algae is it? with the amount of food you're putting in i'd recommend 40-50% water changes a week. rinse your frozen food first and probably feed a little bit less. IMO a planted sump would be a bit useless, the algae already has a head start in the main tank and any additional nutrients would simply encourage algal growth, as plants take a while to settle in and take root. your sump would therefore become covered in algae too. so, IMO, feed less, change more water and also maybe try rowaphos or some sort of phosphate remover. i'd also buy a nitrate test kit just so you can figure out how often you need to change your water. nitrates should be as close to zero as you can manage. further, wat media do your filters contain? if thhey contain fine filter wool, how often do you change it? hope this was useful.

pH up is sodium hydroxide...drain cleaner...and no matter how diluted i still wouldn't put that in my tank. 7.2 should be fine, pH really doesn't worry the majority of fish, provided that extremes are avoided. a high pH can, however, be more dangerous as ammonia will be in a toxic form, whereas at a pH lower than 7 more ammonium is present, which is not as toxic and makes a great plant fertilizer. so, for a higher pH just make sure your filtration is adequate.

hope they go well for you, Johannes. i may be leaving home or new zealand at the end of this year...how large is your aquarium; perhaps you could do with a slightly larger colony? :lol: stunning pix

great news... i wish we could get more of the MP aquaria in NZ, the ones made by the eheim group...they're probably super-expensive though

they may be fine in a malawi set up, though they may not be aggro enough. a tang tank may push their limits a bit due to water chemistry IMO. you could always experiment... synos seem to do all right.

you should probably sell them, they have different feeding requirements to most africans and could eat your cichlids. as malawiman said, they also inhabit significantly softer, more acidic water.

i think it looks wildishly authentic

who knows...? but they do prefer fast flowing and cooler waters (more oxygen) your filter should always cater for the needs of your fish. plants will do better with more current too as it washes away waste from the plants' leaves.

or you could try a new zealand native, lilaeopsis novae-zelandiae. i recently set up a planted tank 60x30 and completely covered the substrate with it. or you could maybe try some small crypts as they can still flourish under lower intensity lighting...

i'll have to find some shrimp....i don't wanna overload the tank with fish cos it'll draw attention away from the plants.... not sure anyway, i've still gotta cycle it :lol: i'll probably go for a very dark navy for the background. i only set it up yesterday lol how are your beardies going? how many arowana have you got?

Red Sea is good for both test kits and CO2, Dupla if you can get it is very good too. Eheim CO2 unit would be good too i'd imagine, i think there's even a tunze CO2 system. API test kits are good too.

got any pix you can show off, vindy500?

here is a pic...

yeah! my 100th post.....i've recently set up a cold water planted nano... atm ive just got lilaeopsis novae zealandiae growing in it. lighting: x2 24 lifeglo t5 HO filtration: atm aquaclear 30, soon eheim 2213 substrate: Red Sea Flora Base co2: will transfer pressurized dupla gear from other planted tank once ive got the 2213. planned fish: 3 borneo sucker loaches will post some pix very soon, just gotta wait for the dust to settle...

duboisi, geophagus, and have kept mbuna so 'all of the above'.

i'm going to set up a rearing tank from now on...i tried a breeding trap and all my young fry (6) got sucked through the tiny holes by the adult fish! :evil: anyway, s'pose it's all part of the learning curve. i now have one baby and i'm taking all measures in my power to ensure that it survives. meanwhile my females are gradually learning how to hold, i hope, as they still swallow after about 3-5 days. maybe my male's a smoker?

i wanna try and get as much continuity as possible. IMO i would prefer not to have a temperature fluctuation of over 1*C. i might just save up for a chiller...

i've tried two kinds of thermometers and i got the same temp on both. however, my temp doesn't seem to change much at all even when the lights have been off, so i'm beginning to think that maybe my powerheads are heating the water excessively. ive recalibrated my heater and it's working fine now (i tested it in a bucket). how much are chillers? i don't really have much room on top for fans the tank's surface area is 60cmx30cm. i am using an aquaone MG 600 unit and a t5 unit and as we are renting, i can't suspend them over the tank. i've turned off the main power head now and will see if the temp drops, if so ill probably go and buy an eheim 1262 which can sit outside the tank and therefore not heat it. thanks for you help

thanx ill try recalibrating my jäger...

hi, my nano is getting to 28-30 degrees and i want it at 24-26. do any of you guys know a cheap method of cooling the water for an 80L tank? the tank gets no direct sunlight, however, my room is small and the lighting is probably the culprit. how much would a small chiller cost? any other suggestions? thanks, hugo