Garhan

Is there an Oxypro shop in town. In Edmonton we fill there at Oxpro.

Schultz Aquatic Plat Soil AKA Profile. Canadian Tire 6.99 / 10 kg bag.

What is your KH value ? As without that a 6.5 Ph doesnt mean anything as we can not determine the ppm in your tank for the C02 levels. There are several safe number that can be reached here provided the you do not exceed 30 ppm of Co2. If you look at a C02 chart it gives you values in a relationship between Ph and KH to determine C02 levels in your tank. Find one based on your base water KH and adjust the C02 flow into your tank to achieve the desired and appropriate Ph level to give you the right amount of C02 levels in your tank. Dont start messing with KH or GH if you do not need to. I would also remove the zeolite as it will absorb most of the ferts you add. Again here you would not be able to get true ppm readings on your N03 and P04 levels let alone K ratio to your nitrate would be out of wack. Discus after treatment can be comfortably be kept at 84 f or even less like at 74-78 F, which is still warm for most plants, but both the plants and fish are able to do well at this temperature. Of course over time some plants will adapt to a higher temperature, but they will struggle at that deperature and I wouldnt expect any rapid growth. As for the lighting anything over 2 watts per gallon with 4400-6500 K ability is acceptable for good growth on most plants depending on the tank depth. C02 input in my opinion should be added on any heavily planted tank regardless of the light levels within reason of course. Garhan

If you are concerned about your fry being taken into the filter, then I would suggest you cover the intake with a prefilter (sponge used in a sponge filter will likely fit over your intake) I also agree with the filter volume statement as it is a basic rule of thumb that is applied to most planted tanks.

Inject your water type fertilizer witha syringe into the substrate.

Home Depot or Rona, it is known as mineral wool and is used for attic insulation. A bale is 25.00 or so. or smaller amounts at Hydroponic shops.

Several different types, but all have either the expensive florite or laterrite. But the best and most econmomical for me with great success is the Schultz and is topped with a 3 mill gravel/sand for astetics.

Not sure. They will make good feeders though. -roll-

Be carefull with Jobe's.

About a week to 10 days ago my Geophaugus juliensis dung another 5 " pitt in the 150 gallon, made a huge mess with plant and substrate matter complete blocking off my trickle filter prefilters and primary sponges and laid eggs again. Up rooted several well established 24" sword plants and cryts that have been in place for 1 year....rrrrr :cry: . So thinking that the predators would be having a feast soon after the eggs hatch, all would be ok. :beer: They hatched 3 days ago and guess what ? There are still about 500 fry in the community tank full of 8 Adult angels, 2 discus 5" 3 African Bubble Bee cats at 6 " each a half dozen other GJ and 4 Geophagus brasliensis. Man I am surprized how well these two parents protect there young in this enviornment. :boxer: So today I syphoned off about 400 fry and the hose took a beating with my hand. :bang1: Complete with tooth marks on my hand of course. I left about 50 fry :thumbs: with parents just to make them feel a job was well done. If some of those fry make it then great if not back to my original thinking :shifty: ...smorgasborg in South America.. :smokey: Garhan

85 mg/l converts to 11.9 degrees hardness on the German scale system. So 12 degrees at 7 Ph would equal 36 ppm. You may want to reduce your C02 input slightly to increase your Ph to 7.1 or 7.2 which respectively would give you a C02 reading of 28.6 or 22.7 ppm of C02 saturation and this will be save for your fish. Your difficult lies with in your incomplete fertilzing of macro nutrients and possibly to much micronutients from the Trace. Your NPK ratio is way off and until that gets into check little will help. Garhan

Check out Bedrock Supply on south side Edmonton. You may have to get into the yard to checkout the bulk inventory.

Thanks for the info. I also have known Rudy for quiet a few years. Thanks anyways.

Both cutting down the roots and or trimming out leaves on crypts is fine. Leave at least 1/2 the root ball if possible. When trimming the leaves take off about half while the plant is still planted and this will stimulate more robust growth.

remove them from the rock wool and plant into your substrate. If the plants are already root bound in the pot and wool then trim off about 1/3 of the root ball. Or if you desire repot the plants into a larger container if you are container holding plants. Add peat and Aquatic potting soil with a 1 " top substrate of gravel.

keep up the water changes and increase your lighting to 12 hours per day. As for the Iron in a 33 gallon tank 6 drops is suffient every other day. Jobe sticks will also give you a algae out break if they are disturbed or exposed to the water colum. Jobe sticks have a large source of urea and that will be a major problem. I use Jobe sticks in potted plant containers for my sword plants and crypts, but they are never disturbed while the pot is in the tank. A non C02 tank is Ok, seeing that you are dosing a liquid carbon or are you. What is Flourish as this is a product Trade Name. Is it Flourish - Potassium or Flourish - Carbo or...

Any would do as far as plants go. None of your fish would be overly hard on the plants. Although Barbs will eat some plants. The question is what style of aquascape are you interested in. I have lots of plants if you need extras. How much light do you have and have you read {Plants 101 in the pinned section of this forum. I agree with the EI dosing methods or the PPS system works well also.

I was just at Dads and there is nothing there of any unusual or uncommon macrophytes.The exsisting stock has also been there for sometime as it is noticable in the plants themself's. As for Rudy keep in mind that he is a wholesaler and not a retailer. His buisness survives on large retail store purchases and wouldnt likely sell to private buyers that only have a tank or two. I dont think he would jeoprodizy his wholesale customer base. Nor should he for a couple of bucks from an enthusiast. Garhan

I agree but I was hoping someone may have seen some in there current travels. I might be able to get some via a more direct source, but will have to see. Thanks Milan.

Guess not....lol.

I have been looking for Tonina style plants. Does anyone have a source on the following Ludwigia sp Pantanal, Tonina sp Belem, Tonina fluviatilis, and Eriocaulon setaceum please let me know.

So Val, if you had to break down the dosing of your ferts. What are you exactly dosing in a NPK ratio. Just because you dose K doesnt mean that the plants are getting the appropriate amount :bang1: . Also if your P04 is out of wack, then this could be a limiting factor in uptake of the N and K. We need lots more info to be of any help to you. So dont keep us guessing :well: . What are your water parameters in your tank, P04, Nitrates, Trace (Fe), tank size (real volume not theoretical). What are you dosing, how much and how often. C02 ppm reading, Ph, KH and soon, lighting, filteration and media in filter.

I agree with Milan. Before you go chasing the chemistry. Check out the gravel. It is well recognized as a problem area. I dont mean to be contradicting anyone, but as long as you have 2 watts per gallon on tanks over 20 gallon, you can grow most plants with a good fertilizer program and C02. There are few exceptions to this as a rule. Garhan

Wrap the end of the stem in a thin filter matierial or foam. Then wrap a strip of lead around the whole works and push that into the substrate. Is the lead safe ? garhan

Deluxe Daylight to be specific Garhan