blueether

very, about 16.5 - 17 deg IMG_20120131_164823 by nzbeeman, on Flickr

To stop the speculation about water our water is quite soft [EDIT]correction the tap water today is at 7.4 [/EDIT] as it comes off a native bush clad hill via rain. I suspect that with the pH at or below 6 this stopped the bacteria re-building up after the filter clean. Another mitigating factor is that it is a native tank so they are fed raw heart most of the time, this would have a very high oxygen demand to breakdown any small bits that get into the filter - this might have also added to the slow nitrification bacteria growth. tonight: pH at about 6.4 - 6.6 ammonia still about 2ppm off to do another ~20% W/C

I measured my cf1200 at ~650 l/h with full media trays and full length hoses

Got hold of a small bag of lime chip, ~3mm granule size, and have that hanging in there to try and bring the pH up towards 7 to help the bacteria along

Is this the one you are raving and spluttering about? http://www.trademe.co.nz/pets-animals/fish/fish/tropical-fish/auction-448160461.htm

Got around to doing the W/C to day (was fixing windows/weatherboards on the house yesterday). Before the W/C it looked like the ammonia had dropped a bit from the high of between 2.0 and 4.0 ppm to about 2.0, didn't test pH or NO3- untill after the W/C tests1 by blueether, on Flickr

I would have thought that 2kg of noodles would hold enough bacteria :facepalm:

@Graham/Mark: I have read conflicting things about DSB some say you need worms etc others say that the turning over of the DSB introduces too much O2, It did have our native snails that do turn over the sand but the fish keep eating them. There is a 5000 l/p wave maker pointing at the bottom/sand that should help move some water through the DSB I know that with cold water and a low pH that ammonium/ammonia balance is well in my favour. "pH appears to be below 6 on the graph, and that would stop the nitrogen cycle" That I didn't know, it is very close to a pH of 6 or below, chart only goes to 6. @Adrienne: Yes it was in tap water, always done them that way. Maybe it always does a mini cycle after I wash them, just have never tested the tank before

Just the cf1200, it has the media that came with it (ceramic noodles & bioballs) plus another 1.2kg of aquaone ceramic noodles. There is about 25 - 30 l of sand substrate. Cant see any dead fish, the filter has been running for about 1 year and the tank has been in its current scape for over 3 months. Will do a water change tomorrow to lower the ammonia... [EDIT] What may have changed is that the cyano is dieing off abit but I wouldn't think that it would be enough to raise the ammonia that much and it started to climb before the cyano started to die back

The only thing that has changed in the last 3 weeks is the new pump and washing the sponges :dunno:

facebook meh /me likes that

Would that be the dose for using them as tonic salts?

I haven't done a water change for about 3 weeks as I have been keeping an eye on ammonia / nitrate and todays test the NH3 is at above 2 ppm and NO3- has droped to below 5ppm, close to 0? tests by nzbeeman, on Flickr [EDIT] the NH3 and NO2- are 1/10 This seems odd to me. There is no planting (a little algae/duckweed) but there is a DSB of 80mm for about 1/3 of the tank (~600mmx400mm). Filter sponges/wool were cleaned 3 weeks ago, noodles/bioballs not cleaned. I have replaced the internal pump of the cf1200 with a 3200l/h pump that also drives the chiller, is there too much flow in the filter? I guess there would be ~2000 - 2500 l/h. Any thoughts?

Where we lived in the southwest of england the water was so hard that there would be precipitation in a pot of water by the time it came to the boil if the lid was off. Our water came off the chalkdowns.

Looks like it could be willow weed (Polygonum persicaria) or something in that family?

+1 I drive a truck as part oof my job so those medium strips are very handy on a busy road

A chiller should be more efficent than a heater to move the same volume of water the same temp. diff. That is why the same technology is used in heatpumps

pass, haven't been in for ages... There now

I get that on a bit or two of drift wood, I always thought it was BBA :dunno:

I hope you relise that we expect a travel blog, updated every time you look at a stream, river, the sea or a tank. With lots of photos :digH:

Hi and welcome Good to see another body that is into our natives. Oh Stella, I have also found a fool-proof way to catch torrent fish. Only downside is you almost always get your arm wet all the way up

Stella, you know where our drive is, although might not be bigenough for a camper - but there is the green space next door.

Stella, that was in one of the creeks that I was going to take you to that I hadn't been to :facepalm:

If it dosen't bring the plane down noone will know