vinceandrobyn

Thanks for your help.

Thanks for replies. We've also been considering leds as they seem like a cheaper option. But we don't know alot about lighting so trying to do some research. I also wondered whether leaving the light on for longer could help plant growth or would it upset the fish

This is the tank at the moment:

Our tank is 375L and 69cm deep. It came with 2 T8 30w bulbs ( tropical and sunlight). We want to grow a good range of plants and fish and are thinking we will need to upgrade our lighting. Does anyone have any suggestions we are not keen to go down the CO2 path yet. Have a mixed sand/gravel base can use fert.

Yes bristle nose, you can see one on the front of the glass in my pic. They are about 5cm at the moment. The tank has cleared pretty good now.

Ok dont have a test kit, will get one tomorrow. We have done a water change. Thanks

Thanks we are just starting to plant up, not much yet as you can see. Also have 3 BN in there, they are busy cleaning tracks all over the driftwood. We thought this was likely to be part of the cycling process and have only been using the lights for a few hours a day since noticing the algae. Won't get any more fish for a week or so.

We have a 390L tank. Have eheim pro 2028 come 2nd hand with the tank. We've had the filter running for 4 days now the water is still cloudy, also appears to be a bit of algae growth. Is this normal and likely to settle/ go away?

Our tank is 390L 105cm long. Not sure of hardness as havent got a test kit yet (any recommendations), but it is rainwater from roof, stored in a concrete underground tank.

We would like to keep rainbows in a community tank, sounds like they are peaceful fish. We found a website that lists the parameters they prefer as far as ph, temp etc go and it appears they like much harder water then most fish (9-19kh). My question is how important is water hardness? Also what fish could be put in with rainbows?