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chris_irl

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Posts posted by chris_irl

  5. Nitrate Skyrocket

    in Freshwater

    Posted

    hmm... I was not with it yesterday obviously.

    tested today again:

    Amm: 0ppm

    Nitrite: .5ppm (same as previous times, not 20ppm) :oops:

    Nitrate: 10ppm today

    I reckon I must have messed up the test, too many or too few drops

  7. Nitrate Skyrocket

    in Freshwater

    Posted

    Amm was 18mg per litre., added 20ml.about 2ppm overall Back to zero overnight. I'll check it all tmro anyway, off to womad today. No fish so no real danger, I'll change asuch as needed tmro to sort it and re test too in case I messed it up slightly.

    Thanks for the replies though, interesting stuff...

  8. Nitrate Skyrocket

    in Freshwater

    Posted

    My last test done was last night

    Amm: 0

    Nitirite: 20ppm

    Nitrate: 5ppm

    Changed 40% to remove snail rid dose and did some work on the tank, adding weights to the driftwood to hold it down and moved a plant or two. Added a little ammonia solution (20ml or so) just to keep bacteria turning over

    Test it this morning again

    Amm:0

    Nitrite: 20ppm

    Nitrate: 160ppm+ (as dark a colour as the scale goes)

    Changed another 20% this morning, no fish in tank yet it's still cycling.

    Any reason the nitrates would skyrocket like that? The substrate is peat under sand, would disturbing it to bury the weights released that much nitrate?

    I'm confused.

  15. Cory prices: what are the rates

    in Freshwater

    Posted

    I will be looking for a group of cory (15); ideally sterbai, trilentus or leopard in the near future.

    The LFS quoted $14.90 per sterbai :an!gry

    that just seems insanity to me, or is that the going rate in NZ? That's about 10 EUR each, I could get them for half that at home, plus a little off for a bigger buy.

  17. Killing Snails: No Fish YEt

    in Freshwater

    Posted

    I need to try and get rid of a few snails before the become an infestation, the tank is nearly cycled but no fish yet. There are plants in it though, obviously where the snails came from.

    Just been down to the LFS and but they've no nasty chemicals that'll kill them....

    What's my best bet to get them dead before I add fish, they're a mix of common pond snails and ramshorns. I don't really want to go down the road of loaches as I'd like to add some apple snails at a later date and they'll just get chomped too

  20. Substrate for planting

    in Aquatic Plants

    Posted

    No you do not wash the peat moss, just mix it with clay and wet it and put it on the bottom and cover it with sand. Also if you microwave it then it would probably catch fire. It won't have any beasties in it, and just make sure that you get the stuff with no added mould or fertilisers.

    ok, no need to be so over catious so :slfg:

    Sounds like the best plan then, a layer of peat / clay and cover it in sand. :)

  22. Substrate for planting

    in Aquatic Plants

    Posted

    Be careful with the beach sand as it may have bits of shells in it, and also wash it thoroughly to remove the salt.

    That's the plan, thoroughly wash and dry it a couple of times to remove all the nasty stuff, or try and source elsewhere if easier and cheap, maybe mitre10 may have something suitable for example

    I would also recommend some sort of nutritious substrate underneath the sand or gravel, like peat moss and clay or laterite. You could also just use JBL balls and replace them when they have been used.

    can you just use garden centre sourced peat moss for example, again once washed (or mircowaved to zap any beasties???). Again with the limited supplies in pet shops around here it's not something I can source from them without paying an outragious amount for a one off order.

  24. Substrate for planting

    in Aquatic Plants

    Posted

    I've a 220l that I intend to run a tropical setup in, looking to plant it fairly heavily.

    I have a bucket of 5-10mm rounded gravel that came with it but intend to use sand as substrate. Is there any benefit to a layer of gravel as a base and then top up with sand, or just go all sand. My previous effort I just used sand and it turned out ok but I changed things several times before I got it right. Want to make sure this time I get it right first time, it's a much bigger tank to change up.

    Will probably obtain some of the black beach sand from around here, and pickup a nice bit of wood as a centre peice.

    Plants will very much be a case of picking them up here and there depending on availability and what looks nice

  25. List of stores and locations?

    in Beginners Corner

    Posted

    Hi All, is there a list anywhere on here of aquarium stores and their locations, being in a relative isolated part of the country I'd like to take advantage of having a nose around in shops where possible when I'm travelling to other areas. I know of the couple of local ones, but it'd be great to have a list of store, city and address if available. Still not too sure where everywhere is over here yet :roll:

    I already know I'll be in Palmerston North and Taupo over the next 6 weeks, anywhere there that's good?

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