Warren

Hi Dawn & Welcome, I'd leave everything alone. The biggest problem most people who are new to keeping fish have it changing things. I'd leave the light as-is for now to see if the plants are ok with it. A stronger light will have a tendancy to create algae. Because the tank is quite shallow the lamp you have just might do the job. It is also rich in the colours that are good for plants (red and blue - hence the pink colour). As for the KH, I wouldn't worry either. If you do regular water changes (30-40% every 2 weeks) you will replace the KH with the new water. You will end up with an average equilibrium somewhere below 20mg/L. As long as the pH stays fairly stable all should be ok.

Oops, I meant sodium bicarbonate, - thanks for picking that up Rob!!!!! Have edited the previous post to correct.

I agree with Derek, I use very low micron filters on all my tanks 100% of the time. They only remove mechanical waste. They do however improve the water quality a lot. By regularly cleaning the filters (every 4-5 days) most of the organic matter that would normally decompose is removed from the system. The only water too pure for fish is RO, DI or Distilled. Virtually any other source should be ok if the pH, Hardness, Chlorine ... levels are ok. Most natural waterways (with the exception of some African and some Central American) are very soft and very pure with less than 400ppm TDS (ref The Optimum Aquarium (Kaspar Horst / Horst E Kipper) ISBN 3-925916-02-4).

Its never been a problem. In the wild, fish swim from hot to cold and cold to hot areas regularly and they are ok. Within reason you can have different temperatures throughout the tank with no problems.

Hi Pegasus, In this case, it is most probably not the soil making the plant grow. This type of plant does not need to be rooted to grow well (although it does help). I've had this plant growing 100mm per day even when it wasn't rooted into the substrate (just held down with lead). The potting mix however does produce really good results. I've used it several times as the bottom level of my substrate. It is relatively cheap too. I put about 50mm of potting mix and 35-50mm of hard gravel over the top. If the tank does not have a level substrate, I use hard gravel first (because it is cheap) to create the profile I want (minus 100mm), then add the potting mix and final gravel layer. It lasts about 2 years befaore the nutrients are all used up, then you have to add solid fertiliser tablets or start again.

Midas means 10ppm which is not quite 1dH (1dH=approx 15.5ppm). If you look down through the test tube with white paper behind it, the colour is a lot stronger. The KH & GH test kits are meant to be used this way. Also it is not the intensisty of the colour you are looking for it is the colour change. The indicator changes colour to tell you you've reached the point where all the KH or GH is used up and therefore reflects how much there was in the sample. If you continue to add the titration solution once the colour has changed the colour will get stronger but this only wastes the test kit. As previously said, it is the colour change, not the colour intensity that matters. If one drop is all it takes to change the colour, you have less than 1dH of KH. I'd expect you also have a pH of 6.0 or less. With a KH this low, you could have a lot of trouble with pH crashes. Adding some baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) will increase the KH and add some pH buffering. Approx 1 teaspoon per 1000L will increase KH by 1dH. Add the baking soda to 2-4 Litres of water. Set a very thin siphon tube to slowly add the dissolved baking soda to your tank in a high flow area. It needs to be introducted very slowly (30 minutes or longer) as the baking soda can react with acids in the water to produce CO2. If it is added too quickly the CO2 level can rise and be dangerous for the fish. Adding it slowly allows the CO2 generated (if any) to dissipate. Also the blood salt levels in the fish need time to adjust so they do not suffer from osmotic shock through their gills. You will know if it is being added too fast as all or some of the fish will gasp at the surface.

Try setting up a 2400x800x680mm (8' x 3' x 2.5') tank very densly planted. Move 6000L (1500gals) an hour through the filter and then see how much the temperature differs. You will be surprised to find over 3'C difference in some areas. The plants block much of the water flow in some areas and you're only left with convection flows. In a barely planted tank it is not a problem as even light water movement will keep a very constant temperature.

I've got one too. Works well for quick tank clean-up jobs.

I supose it is quite smelly. I'd forgotten about that part. I've made this stuff dozens of times now so I've sort of gotten used to it.

Hi Ira, Might be a bit late, but I'd use Gluten flour. Caryl is right, its in the Healthfood section, or sometimes hidden in amoungst the baking needs section, but almost never in the Flour Section. I've never tried normal flour so can't comment.

Thanks anyway Andrew, but I've already got another offer. Cheers, Warren

Nope, thats the beauty of this food, it does not cloud the water at all. The gluten flour completely binds everything and stops the couldiness. As previously mentioned, it is cut up into squares and stored frozen in bags in the freezer. The lumps stay whole even after they have thawed in the tank. The fish don't seem to care if it is still frozen, but I usually wait until it is just starting to soften before feeding it.

Not a problem in a Discus tank. pH is less than 7 (6.5-6.7) so there should be very little free ammonia, - mostly ammonium which is much less toxic. Discus are a lot tougher than you think however. Of all the fish I've ever kept, I've found Oscars, Discus, Tiger Fish and Uara's the easiest to keep long term.

Sounds like a good book Derek. Wish I'd known about it earlier. Is it still available? I want to try to get my article as accurate as possible so it does not have to be edited too often. I've just had a reply to my glass thickness article telling me I made a mistake in the formula. Just the typical typo type stuff, - a bracket in the wrong place or an extra '0' sort of error. Its no major, but I will be editing it soon to fix it up. Good that someone picked it up however. I like feedback of this sort, it helps keep you on your toes. The information I've gathered (and worked out) is pretty much along the lines of what you've suggested. The constant 24 will be replaced by a variable in my findings and it will have some bearing on the colour spectrum of the lamp. The d (wastage factor) is what I'm currently stuck on. Trying to correlate the effect of colour loss with depth and the effect it has on the plant. Initial colour spectrum and effect on depth are inter-related however... hmmm. Caryls question is interesting. Does a low light plant do well at the bottom of a deep tank with relatively bright lights, or in a shallow tank with soft lighting. In both cases the plant will receive approximately the same brightness of light, but completely different colour spectrums. Also what is the effect on stem plants in deep tanks. I know in my own tanks, the red plants are redder at the top and more faded at the bottom. Is it related to light intensity or light colour? Hopefully I'll have all the answers in the article.

I'm not going to pay for it!!!!!!!!

Oh yeah, put me down for one of those printers too.

Yip, meat is all raw. Why don't you ask your butcher for a small amount. I've never had trouble getting them to cut either hearts or liver into a smaller bit. I usually buy hearts at 5kg a time. You only get about 50% max once all the fat, membrane and sinue is removed.

I've never had trouble with paint fumes either. I've also had to do emergence repairs on the filter pipes with Marley Gold Glue. No time to wait for the glue to fully set. You could smell the slovents coming out of the water, but no dead or even fatigued fish. I wouldn't recommend doing this as there is no knowing what the long-term effects are. Paint fumes seem ok however. Disclaimer: This infomation is based off my personal eperience and does not claim a steadfast rule of thumb.

Oops, forgot that bit. Once food is frozen, separate each layer and chop it up into suitably sized squares. Put the squares into bags and back into the freezer. It does take about 4 hours to prepare the food, but you go and buy this much premade frozen food and see what it costs!

Did you check the amount of ammonia in the filter? Checking the tank after an hour may not have shown anything if the ammonia had all been converted. What was the ammonia level 2-3 minutes after restarting the filter... However, you're probably right about a low level of ammonia. Keep in mind however, - it only takes 1ppm to wipe out your tank. Ammonia is also more toxic as pH goes up (look out africans). Probably depends on the type of filter media too. The more afficient it is, the bigger the problem. Before I had a UPS that holds up all my tanks for a minimum of 3 days, I got away with just starting up the filter a few times too. I am only suggesting a method that is a safety measure. Do you really want to gamble a few minutes of work on all your fish??????......???? Please see my disclaimer from previous post.

I use the following: 2.5kg Beef Heart (all fat and membrane removed - takes ages to prepare) 1.0kg Raw Shrimp or Prawn - no shells 1.0hg Fish 0.5kg Liver (all membrane removed) 5 Bananas 3 Pears 1kg Peas (very lightly cooked) 4 Carrots (very lightly cooked) 750g Gluten Flour Optional: Flake food, Tetra Bits (or similar), Crumble (make water cloudy though). Puree all ingredients (except the flour or dry items). Mix very thoroughly then add the gluten flour (and other dry ingredients if used) to bind it. Leave for 6 hours in the fridge for the flour to react (and turn into glue). Spread on a tray to approx 6-8mm thick. Add plastic and next layer. Keep layering until all used up. The sides may need some support if the mix is too thin. This food is suitable for nearly all omnivorous fish. Fish that exclusively feed on vegetable matter do not do so well on this diet alone. It lasts about 3 months (I've got lots of fish). The recepie can be scaled to make as much or as little as you like. Disclaimer: I use this food with excellent success. I got the recepie from freinds who also use it with the same results. This does not guarantee you will get the same result however.

You got it Ira, it does seem that some heater are not made very well! Oops, forget my disclaimer on that post, - stupid me.

What type of rocks are you trying to stick together?

If your heater is not in a strong flow area, sticking your heater straight up and down will cause it to turn on and off more and the tank will have a different temperature to sticking it sideways. Also the height of the heater will effect the temperature. The colder water is at the bottom of the tank and warmer at the top. In heavily planted tanks, the temperature in the tank can vary wildly from one end to the other and from top to bottom. To keep a fairly constant temperature, put the heater in a high flow area and have some reasonable flow throughout the tank. Then it will not matter what orientation it is in. You should however observe the maximum depth markings on the heater. A lot of heaters get water inside them because they are installed deeper than designed.

If the power is off for more than 1 hour, most filters have a certain amount of dead bacteria in them. This produces ammonia. If the filter is restarted as soon the power comes back on, tha ammonia will wash back into the tank and the fish will suffocate. Ammonia impeads gill function. If the power has been off for over 1 hour, it is best to flush the filter. If it is a canister or trickle or fluidised bed filter (the types most prone to bacterial death) the flush method is easy. Take the return hose from the filter outlet and flush 4-5 times the filter volume of water down the drain. This will remove more than 99% of the ammonia build-up. The filter can now be reconnected to the tank and the tank topped up. If it is not a trickle filter, just gently wash the filter media in a bucket with some aquarium water in it. Empty the bucket and do a repeat rinse. Disclaimer: This method works for me, but is not guaranteed to stop fish duying after a power outage. If you don't want to be effected by power outages, buy a UPS.