ubr0ke

hc becomes buoyant as it grows...you need to keep it short or it will always want to float.

home depot..rona..lowes.nevermind none of those places carry it.. they have facilities in Calgary tho..probably not open today.. I would just go to Home depot and buy quickrete play sand..I use it in one tank.

how deep is the substrate?.... how thick is the hc.?...you may need to trim it.

adding nutrients will not immediately perk your plants up...it may take up to a week or so.. a diy co2 will help as well...theres an artical on tropica's website showing when adding co2 and non limiting nutrients plants can adapt to very low lights..you may need to add more nutrients when you do though...especially phosphates..

ive used one of those lights on a 15 gallon with no issues..plant growth is slow thats all...The reason i suggest flourish comp. is your supplying ur plants with a nitrogen source(ammonia) but thats just a small part of the ferts needed..flourish will supply the rest... try the ferts first..Im betting your lighting will be fine when you line with tinfoil...with ur plant list you would be pretty surprised how little light you can get away with..I find nutrients are far more important..

line the inside with tinfoil..bulbs shoudnt matter much.. then if ur not dosing any ferts...buy a botte of seachem flourish comprehensive...follow directions on bottle...

Sorry I should of been a little more clear with my question..what does the fixture look like?..

Some will say 6500k...but experimenting with different color temps, I found no difference in growth..Are you using flourescent or incandescent?.. do you have a link to a pic of the light or something similar?..I maybe able to suggest something

ada in Edmonton??..will this ever happen?

I wish I would have known it was that easy..I was in florida a couple months ago but thought it would be to much of a hassle.

obviously..Im asking the legit way of course.

how hard is it to cross the border with the livestock and plants?

what happened with the edge?

not possible..your best bet is a ro system..if the tank is small enough you could just buy ro water and mix with tap.. the difference between hard and soft water is calcium and magnesium..you have to filter out the calcium and magnesium..no chemical will do that and still be safe for fish.

Ya makes sense..thanks..

val...I don't use the python since I have rather small tanks..but once the syphon starts can you not just turn off the tap?

it cost about $1.10 for every 1000 litres of water you use..I wouldn't be too concerned...you could change 100% of your water once a week for $1.10/month...what wattage of lights are you using..Im willing to bet that cost you far more.

it all depends on bio load, filters, amount of plants etc.. you can change the water as often as you want..I suggest 1 big water change rather then several small ones..invest in a python or google diy pythons and make one yourself....it makes life easy when it comes to water changes...no more carrying buckets around... I have a low tech with no co2 running...I dose a quarter of what ei suggest once a week and only do monthly water changes..I usually change 50-70 percent of the water tho..I have no issues with fish health or algae..

Just dose 1/2 of what I suggested....then do monthly water changes..

it may lower the tds im not sure resin exchange

the dosing amounts are based on the maximum uptake of nutrients by plants...i suggest using ei when first starting out so you know what healthy well fed plants look like..when you get comfortable you can try limiting certain nutrients to see what deficiencies look like..or try different dosing regimes to see what suits your goals...mci, pps pro, pmdd are other dosing regimes you can try..just google or look around this site for more info.. Each dosing regime has its pro's and cons.. ei requires weekly 50% water changes...I forgot to mention that...

I tried to take pics for an update but my cam died.. I added a couple of vals. I have never had vals before..We will see if they stay..The crypts are starting to grow..the carpet should be filled in a month or two..the hygro is filled in quite a bit..the ludwiga is really starting to get red towards the tops... Ill try to add pics later tonight.

haha I was not aware of that..what year were you born?...i was born in 1980..

resin bags soften water but they replace calcium and magnesium with sodium..so I wouldnt recommend using them...

ya once hc gets really thick you have to mow it constantly or it rots underneath and floats up...Belem is invasive..my suggestion is use smaller pieces of manzanita layed on the substrate to section it off..kinda like roots coming off the big pieces...