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Hello everyone, could someone please take a photo of the end of their t5 and their fittings? i presume they are not the same fittings as the t8's and as thats all my ufo880 can take i think i will "edit" it so as it can take t5's Basically I have found that they come in 22", 34" and 46" tubes, and I have made a plan on my light hood for the outlay of them, i just need to know more regarding fittings, and how many I can run off the two switches (and three starters) that are currently in my light hood, any information would be greatly appreciated as google does not want to seem to show me the ends, only the length and the package Also if anyone has done this before then any tips would be greatly appreciated! thanks! :lol:

ok, after turning off the c02 overnight ive done a pH reading thismorning and is B.L.U.E - top of the chart. so major swing from overnight... I will redo the c02 to a quarter a tsp of yeast and leave it on 24hrs, add some shells today see if that helps it out

thanks Alan, given my lighting and tank size, what would be a good doseage of each product with c02? I dont mind doing daily doses if thats possible and beneficial update: pH - still down the bottom, will start turning off at night as of tonight and monitor the pH levels GH - about 5ish drops (50-100ppm) KH - 2 drops (0-50ppm) Ammonia - 0.25ppm (but the tank is due for its weekly WC) Still have not added shells to the tank as unable to find where I put the ones I used last time..

cool, im not after a heavily laden, super planted tank, i just want my plants to grow well, be healthy, and pearl if i can, I didnt mean to start a argument or a feud, so ill just see how things go, the pH is starting to come back up, its 6.4 this afternoon, so I will see again how it goes, if it doesnt raise much I will add shells, which will increase the kH and with regular waterchanges should bring the pH back to a nice balance, if not ill just can the whole c02 idea and get a puppy. Thanks

tubes are only about a month old, if that, just replaced them as the old ones were c.r.a.p.p.y ok, is the flourish excel better? will 80w do the job for a very lightly planted tank? and its only 305litre i believe, ufo 880, minus substrate, wood, rocks, etc prob about 280ish litres of water, maybe less.

im dosing weekly with Leafzone, and there are three lights in the tank, all t8's, two of them are 30w, 36inch, one being a "sunlight" bulb which says on the packet that its good for plants, the other is the "tropical" type which again has the picture of a plant on there, and the last bulb is a 20w 23.5inch "tropical", but they do not have the Kelvin rating of what they produce. are these good enough? i will get a gh/kh test kit today and let everyone know the results

thanks everyone, my apologies for not understanding this sooner! I have done a pH test thismorning with it very low (6.0 on my chart - as low as it will go (yellow)) and another thisafternoon with the exact same results, i have some crushed shells somewhere (maybe in my other tank) that I will grab and put in here, this tank is a 305litre, lightly planted with a pretty average stocking level, i think i will leave the co2 on 24hrs for the next week or so and see how things go, and if im still not happy with the swings then ill shut it off at night and see what happens, everyone agree this is a good idea?

haha thanks, yes im 21 however im much more of a beer man however I was under the impression it took alot longer to brew beer and wines than the runtime of my fishtank co2? haha thanks ph is still down thismorning (bottom of my chart) so maybe it will stay lower rather than higher? am i correct in saying shells raise the pH slowly and naturally? thanks

haha that sounds easy thanks Phoenix, your a wealth of information

ok, so the pH should settle down over a few days, take a reading and adjust with shells or something else if needed to keep a constant pH? Thanks for the help everyone, i feel a bit dumb on this :facepalm:

ok. so why should I have less pH swings if I leave it on overnight?

thanks, i was just going to open the lid slightly so the co2 goes into the air rather than into the tank, but i dont want pH swings, even if it is safe sooo.. ill just leave it running, cross my fingers, and do a pH test in the morning With your co2 from a bottle, what is the advantage of turning it off at night? do you get pH swings? im wanting to go to a sodastream setup soon with a regulator and solenoid so it can be with the lights

oh thats good news then so leave it running overnight? the plants were pretty much dead, and today they appear much greener (on the parts that arnt brown haha) maybe im just seeing things though

hey everyone, this is also posted in the DIY section but thought I might get answers faster in here Ive added co2 to my tank (via DIY) and its working great, however overnight the pH went from 7.0 to about 6.2, which is the 2nd lowest on my chart, this afternoon when i checked it its up to about 7.4, bit too much of a pH swing for the fish to be happy with? Should it calm down by itself or is there something I can do to stop it fluctuating so much? ive read that if i stop the co2 overnight it can fluctuate just as much? thanks for the help

Thanks SamH, ill see how long this lasts, so far it was going all night, and day today, quite a high output (although most of it is probably being wasted) Problem i now face is my pH fluctuations (cant spell haha) it was really high thismorning, and very low this afternoon, is there anything I can add to the water to help reduce the swings? dont think my fishies will be too tolerant if the swing keeps going... next question, do i leave it overnight again? ive read that turning off the co2 overnight can make it swing just as much? Thanks

yeah it was pretty wierd.. there was a few bubbles to begin with but then pressure droped off completely, anyway ive redone the lid (made it incredibly airtight) and redone the bottle. Method used is : 2cup sugar 1tsp yeast (mixed it in with lukewarm water alot) 1tsp baking soda 2/3rds full of warm water. Put it in a bucket of warm water, now getting beautiful little bubbles after a hour of it being connected. 2ish hours later and now its producing a good rate of bubbles, will see how long this lasts.

hey everyone, ive started up my diy c02 again, im using a 2.25l sprite bottle, a check valve and a bubble stone to diffuse. Just wondering what the best combinations people have cme up with for a good amount of c02 and long(ish) lasting? i did the bottle at approx 1200 today, 6cups water, 3/4 cup sugar, and 1tsp of yeast, and its pretty much almost dead - most unimpressed. Any stories (successful or not) would be great to hear! thanks!!

sweet thanks

hey everyone, ive got grumpy with my plants dying again so ive done the normal co2 with ferts, question is, can you OD on ferts? Im using API Leaf Zone, and it says to dose 5ml per 10gal, or 38 litres, and to dose weekly, but this doesnt appear to be enough to make the plants live let alone thrive, any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks! PS my LFS said that you can overdoes and kill everything in there.. but they have been wrong before..

Stresscoat, and two bottles of startsmart, id still boil the water, better to be safe than sorry, what filter do u have? Is it already cycled? Good luck, we all r feeling 4 u guys n gals :tears:

Bombing went as scheduled today, equipment was 2x Mortein 9mth flea bombs, 90m of gladwrap, frontline 6week flea stuff from vets, and alot of cursing and worry. The only fleas we have seen today have been dead or begging to be put out of their misery. And the greatest new? NO DEAD FISHIES!!!! I am now a bit worried bwt airpump though as i didnt bag it, but its in a cubboard? And its intake is a tiny piece of white filter wool at the bottom of the pump... mite just pull that out 4 now? Will see what the morning brings.. UPDATE: everythings fine today :happy1: :happy1:

Great thanks guys, will get bombs 2moro and bomb on friday, will uodate as to how it all goes, thanks again :dunno: :love: Ps : sorry 4 the spelling mistakes, typing on new phone :happy2: :facepalm:

:an!gry our lovely felines have bought home the dreaded fleas.... we have tried just treating the animals, to no avail, we have tried doing them and this shake stuff on the carpets.. no luck. Only option now is to bomb.... how do i safely do this with my fish?? Quite worried bout doing it with tbem.. thanks 4 your help!

my tank went up from 27ish to 31ish over two days, even with cold(ish) water changes it didnt drop until the weather cooled down (took about 4 or 5 days), is your room ventilated during the day? Do you have a desktop thermometer or something you could use to measure the temperature in your room? you may be suprised My fish all survived the heat raise, although they loved it when the cold water came pouring in during my frequent waterchanges Hope that helps If in doubt, Waterchange!!

haha, its allgood too P44, thanks alanmin4304, Im getting a few more clown loaches, odessa barbs and a Sword this week if my LFS has them all in stock and we can go from there