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What is everybody's typical full 5lb bottle pressure? My first was near 900, lasted 4 months, my second 2 were barely 700psi. Those only lasted 3-4 weeks. And to bypass the "you might have a leak" topic, there isn't a leak if I submerse the entire thing in h20... Also take in to...

Before... nothing special, only algae covered crypts... And after higher lighting, new substrate, background, and Co2 reactor... I'm no aquascaper, but I can sort of grow plants, and have some control over my algae thanks to everybody's help here, I hope to add another pic in a few...

Imagine three identical tanks in every way, even fertilizing. The one difference: tank1 HARD WATER 15+ tank2 Mix hard/softened(sodium) tank3 100% softened water(sodium) Which tank will grow plants best, how much better, and the reason I ask about the mix, is because I have softened 'hot'...

There are 2 tanks in this post... pic 1 = tank 1 pic 2 and 3 = tank 2. Tank1 -----------is a feeder guppy tank that only gets fish food, and water top-offs. 10 gallon, lit by 2 screw in cf's, fluorite. Other than dirty glass, and some algae on leaves, the plants are normal and slowly...

Help! I ordered some potassium nitrate, and some potassium chloride, and the CSM+B ferts from Greg. They arrived, but how do you guys do your conversions for example... lets say I already have 5ppm nitrate in the tank how do I know how much to dose to make it 15 for example How do you read...

I bought a juvenile amazon sword, rougly 4 -6 inches tall, it had long stems, and mostly round/spade shaped leaves. Over the last several months while trying to create a 'balanced' fertilized tank, the sword leaves died off and new leaves slowly grew - these new leaves are short stemmed, and...

I've been so far unsuccessful getting rid of algae, and growing STRONG plants in my 55 gallon so here's what I want to try... I have an extra 10g sitting around doing nothing. I will soon try to convert in into a planted (algae free) tank maybe to support some feeder fish. Here are my...

I've always used the pebble/pea gravel for my substrate, but for you, who use sand. What keeps your water from getting all cloudy, and how do you gravel vac! Do plants do better in sand? I see many also recommend laterite for a substrate, can you mix the laterite with gravel, or is it an...

My test kit has a high ph and a low ph. I test my water with lowtest and get a blue color which corresponds to a 7.6, which is the limit of the test. I test my water with hightest and get a brown, -similar to 7.8. -the lower limit of this test. For those of you have these kits, which do...

While experimenting with my DIY CO2, I had used the hagan ladder, with minimal change in water parameter (unmeasurable before/after), I tried piping the co2 into my whisper filter and noticed how much it busted up those bubbles... but, I can dial back the water flow, and by doing so, I...

Was at the store yesterday, and saw a 4ft flourescent bulb made by philips, labeled for plant aquaria use. Out of curiosity, I looked up the K rating at it was only 2600. The box said the wavelengths were 'tuned' to promote plant growth/absorbtion. Why do we/you(Aq. Adv members) recommend...

Planted Tanks High light vs Low light I"ve been taking notes on what has been recommended conditions in ppm for high light tanks... here... HIGH LIGHT 2.5W or more per gallon Ammonia = 0 Nitrite = 0 CO2 = 20-30 Phosphates(P) 1-1.5 (1/10 of nitrate) Nitrate(N) 10-15 (also 10x the phosphate...

Higher water temp reduces it's capacity to store O2, is there a similar effect to CO2? and if so, by changing the water temp also change it's PH, by gassing off, or taking on additional CO2...?

Here's my 55. Here's my trouble... algae of various kinds These are all the tests I can do now... Ammonia = 0 Nitrite = 0 PH=7.6, 7.8 (test is a little vague here) KH = 250ppm GH = 50ppm Nitrate = 0-5ppm Using the #'s above C02 works out to 10.55ppm I use an XP2, dual 30W fluorescent...

...and is there a test for them? Is it true that .5ppm and1.0ppm for planted tanks is best? Is a nitrate level of 30ppm, too high? Am I encouraging algae with this value? Is 10 better? And, is the only thing to do to reduce this is more frequent wter changes. -oh yeah 60 watts normal...

My 55 tank has an XP2 filter with submerged spraybar. If it is directed below the surface, within a few days I get a film developing on the water surface, if the water is aggitated, the film gradually dissapears. I'm trying C02, and have heard it's bad to aggitate the water surface. What do...

Hi, This is my first post after, many months of reading only.. Cant wait to benefit from everybody's experience... Here's my first question. 55gal, planted, no ferts 4 cichlids', 1 pleco 60W of FL (10 hours/day), average of 1/5 to 1/4 water change per 2 weeks...as schedule allows I...