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Apologies, that's what I meant - just a rinse out, not a thorough clean ;)

Well, the Aquarium Fairies came on Thursday night; everything seemed to happen at once. Cycle finished, with textbook readings and pH remained stable for 3 days at 6.5 (and has remained there for a further 2 days). Did a 30% PWC and all readings were good afterwards, so added a Siamese Algae...

Got ADA Power Sand & Aquasoil so don't really want to be getting rid of that. I was thinking about putting a thin layer of sand on my soil, to get rid of that "mud brown" effect, so may swap out the filter coral for coral sand in the tank itself, but then I'll have the issue of replacing the...

So, the readings rollercoaster continues... NH4 down to 1.5, NO2 up to 1, NO3 steady at 40, KH up to 6, pH down to 6... Put another 200g of coral in the filter last night (400g total in there now - weighed it all last night and no signs of loss yet) so hopefully can get a decent buffer into...

Well, pH back up to 6.5, ammonia still at 5ppm but Ites & Ates have spiked to 0.8 and 40 respectively. Can't seem to get pH above 6.5 though... Will run another set of tests tomorrow and perhaps add another 50g or so of coral, see if I can break that 7.0 :)

Thanks again mate. I read somewhere that my KH needs to be around 75-100ppm in order to successfully buffer a constant pH in the region of 7.0-7.5. If I'm reading that right, then my KH of 5mg/l (?? 5ppm ??) is WAAAAAY below that level. Looking forward to another full test tonight - will...

Ok, I'll cut the CO2 and keep monitoring the pH. As a guide, how often should I be looking to top up/replace the coral? Or, once I get that "buffer" (??terminology??) in the water, will it stay there? All your help is much appreciated on this guys.

Didn't get chance to add any coral yesterday but retested this morning and pH had dropped back to 6.0 overnight. Added another 100g to the filter, so will retest tomorrow and monitor for any further crashes. Got my CO2 kit installed today as well, so will see what changes that makes.

Ok, so the 100g of coral bought the pH up to 6,5 in 24 hours and seems to be stable. I'll add another 50g today, retest tomorrow and see how that goes. Thanks guys! PS as an indication of what I'm up against here in Dubai, the LFS guy basically refused to sell me the coral when I told him it...

Okay...so, grabbed some coral and put 100g in some of the wife's old tights, in the filter. Will wait til tomorrow and take a full set of tests, then daily pH to see what's happening. If no joy, I'll increase by 50g a day until I see some change. JLK - no sign of leeches or eggs in the filter...

Thank you both - will grab some crushed coral from the store tomorrow. Was going to do a PWC tomorrow evening, and have already prepped my new water, so will look at swapping that out and adding the CC while I'm at it. I have a jar of tap water ready to test tomorrow so will revert with...

Brilliant, thanks again. One re question and I'll leave you alone, lol! Will I need to top it up if levels begin to fall again, or will it be a set & forget once I've got back up to 7.0i

Ok, cool. I wanted to add a sand covering to my aquasoil substrate (not too keen on the brown gravel look...) - could I introduce the coral this way, mixing it with the sand, or does it have to be straight in the filter?

Ah, ok, thanks. Is there any way to get it back up, naturally? Don't wanna use chemicals if I can avoid it

Hi all, My 32g tank's been cycling for about 4 weeks now, and this was my last set of readings;NH4 = 5ppm / NO2 = 0.05ppm / NO3 = 40ppm / pH 4.5 / KH 5 / GH 4. I'm using a full chemical test set, not strips and being uber careful of my tests and readings. Finding it strange that my nitrAtes...

Thanks for the tip - I have a great pair of S/S herb scissors in my kitchen, so I'll buy another pair of those

Thanks - that's my weekends' activities planned! :)

Wow, thanks guys - really looking forward to the Wisteria transformation; it certainly looks prettier when it's in the fully aquatic form. Was thinking my LFS had sold me some sort of water thistle, lol! I currently have my moss tied onto the logs with green fishing line; I'm assuming it'll...

Can anyone please advise on this plant; believe I've mistakenly identified it as Cardamine, but looking at other photos, the edges on this one appear too 'spiky'. Advice appreciated in advance, thanks.

Roger! :)

Thanks again JLK - didn't get chance to call the vet, but will try tomorrow. Still hoping I can get my mini puffers though! No sign of any of the little versions tonight, nor any more egg sacks. I'm due a PWC on Friday, so will brave opening the filter as well...will update if anything leaps...

Jessica - thanks; I'm going to call the vet later to see if she will/can sell me some. If I can get it, I'll, keep it on standby - still fingers-crossed that these are crud-eaters only. If I need to add it, what dosage should I use and would it be best to leave plants/décor in there to treat...

Sorry JLK - I've got an external filter but found all these little cases just lying on the soil. I haven't worked up the heart to open the filter yet....

OK, 20 minutes & one hunt later and I've fished out & destroyed 4 more egg sack/ball things! The wife is seriously unimpressed... These are about 3-5mm across and difficult to distinguish from the ADA Power Sand substrate, except that they're a lot more spherical with a more regular surface...

Yeah, kinda creeped out myself - not feeling too keen about sticking my hand in there for PCWs, lol! I'm keeping optimistic; given they're already there and seem to be multiplying without a meaty food source, I'm thinking (hoping) they're detritivours. Is there any particular fish that will...