Recent content by Bluestman

Thanks guys, most of the fish have been taken away yesterday. I have put 4 hatchet fish in my 5 gallon along with the common pleco. I know the common pleco is going to be too big for the tank in a couple of months and when he starts reaching that size I'll rehome him. I am most gutted about my...

Cost so far is incredible. Guy from LFS is coming to pick up the fish for free. Guy coming to take broken tank £20. Guy coming to fit new carpets on Friday £833. Estimated cost of repairs to downstairs flat £200-£300. Chances of me getting another aquarium and remaining married - nil. Still...

So it's just gone midnight and I'm in the kitchen making a drinl, suddenly I hear a loud crack!! I don't know how but I knew what it was. I look into my lounge and see my 30 gallon tank draining onto the floor. Shouted for the wife to get towels, she throws me 2 tea cloths lol. I grab all the...

Lovely crayfish, I would get another but my wife won't tolerate a tank with "just a lobster" in it. I have had to get fish and plants to keep her happy :(

Not seen one of those before but it does look very nice :)

Just to update on this, I hate unresolved threads where you read from the start and never get a solution!! I started changing 10% a day from my 20 litre tank and replacing with spring water described in previous post. After around 10 days of this nitrates dropped to <10 ppm. Even though I...

I was recently in the same position with a small 5 gallon tank I was cycling, the ammonia was being processed but the nitrite stalled at ridiculously high levels. At the point where all the ammonia was being processed in 24 hours I reduced ammonia to around 2ml per day, sometimes skipping a...

@ Jsoong : With regards to chemicals, this stuff isn't treated with any chemicals, it is natural spring water and chemicals aren't allowed near it. But as you said the water conditioner is a good insurance. @ Crepe : I'm not looking for 0 Nitrates, I just want a lot less than the 40ppm that...

Still waiting on the RO water from LFS. I have found some water and looking at the data it should work fine. Typical Values TYPICAL ANALYSIS mg/l Calcium 55 Magnesium 19...

I received this today for the LFS where I have been getting water : Hi Thank you for your e-mail. Although I would never garrantee that our water is zero Nitrate, I would have expected it to be lower than you tested it. I have tested it today ( after my return from a short break) and it...

For various reasons rainwater is not a viable method for me. I have been looking at Nitrate removal sponges but as they seem to remove nitrite as well, will this kill my cycle by starving the nitrite eating bacteria?

The river is very cold so it's gonna take a long time to acclimatise.

I've been looking into Nerite snails as I have some recurring green spot algae issues but the ones I can find in the UK are seriously expensive. I have however found a River Nerite which I could probably find in my local river (fast flowing high calcium river) which suits their habitat...

Well I did a 10% water change and retested and there was no change. Then I tested the RO water I bought and found it had >25ppm Nitrate. I was under the impression that RO water had 0 Nitrate. Will contact the shop tomorrow when it opens and see what the situation is.

I have ordered a generic mix of 50 plants online. These should arrive in the next few days. Obviously some of them are going to be entirely inappropriate for my tanks so will be dumped. Hopefully the remainder will help to lower nitrate levels in the tanks. The java moss in the 5 gallon is...