creekbottom

Definitely not. It's a tall tank and at the most I only do a 25% change. I'm careful adding the water back in so that I don't disturb the sand on the bottom. With it being a planted tank I'm pretty careful about pouring it in so that I don't mess things up too much.

Interesting. I use Edmonton city water, and the Big Al's brand of water conditioner. I'm fertilizing using the PPS Pro method, but this was happening way before I started to fertilize.

No no, I don't mean Edmonton city water is so polluted. I use a dechlorinator and let the water age before it goes in the tank. I mean that the bacteria already in my tank take off every time I add new water.

It doesn't happen instantly, takes maybe about an hour or so to develop. I just topped it off this morning so it's already starting to clear up. By tomorrow morning it should be back to normal.

I'm pretty sure it's not tiny air bubbles. The water looks like it's dusty, I'm pretty sure its a bacterial bloom in the new water but how can I prevent this, and why does it only happen in the one tank?

It is milky cloudy. As for how long - that depends on how much water I added. Usually it clears up by the next day. One thing I forgot to say was that when I do a water change (less than 25%) it will cloud up but will also get all over the glass and I have to clean it. ???

Ok, this is crazy! I have a 20g tall, have checked all the water parameters and they are good, running a marineland penguin 150B HOB filter with the carbon removed cause I'm fertilizing, it's a planted tank. Sand bottom, plants everywhere, snails, Amano shrimp, fish, algae..... Everytime I put water in the tank, for a water change or just to top it off, I get cloudy water. Everytime!!!! I put in 2 liters today just to top it off.... cloudy. I have a 10g planted and this does not happen. What am I doing wrong? any advice is appreciated.

I've got my 20 gallon set up as a planted tank, although I still have room for more plants. I'm still deciding what to put in. I am running 2 T5HO 18W bulbs about 11 hours. I'm thinking of bringing that down, they're on timers. All water parameters are good and the fish are happy. I'm using a marineland penguin 150 HOB, I took out the carbon and used the insert as a barrier between some filter floss and bio media. I've been fertilizing with pps pro mainly because I don't want the massive water changes of EI. I'm also running DIY CO2, the drop checker indicates that things are good. I had to leave for a few days, so no dosing happened and when I came back things looked alot more algafied! Any tips? I'm hoping that with the return to a regular dosing (everyday) schedule the algae will begin to disappear. I want to get this figured out because I've got a 10g shrimp tank that is looking awesome but could use some ferts too, minus the algae. thanks.

No worries, I scrapped the diffuser. Even though it is supposed to work with DIY CO2. I put an air stone on the end of the line and am getting really tiny bubbles

Thank you!

I notice you have a nano diffuser in the corner. Have you had any problems with it. Pressurized or DIY co2? My air pump won't even push air through the ceramic plate!

Awesome, thank you so much! Keep us all informed of your progress.

I put a post about a moss wall, I meant to put it in the planted tank forum, instead it went into the swap/give away section. I can't seem to find how to move it, or even delete it and start over. Does an admin have to move it? Thanks

I checked out this link from the library: http://www.aquaticpl...carpet#comments This looks amazing and I would like to try it. Does anyone have any comments about this? I'm thinking it will take a little longer than 5-7 days, and does anyone know where I can get that moss? Fissidens splachnobryoides. Please don't make me order from aquaticmagic.

Looks closer to hornwort. It won't form real roots as it usually floats around. Push it into the sand a ways and see how that works.

It took some thinking and some hands on from good ole Dad but the cup is on the checker and staying! Now if I could get the nano diffuser to work. Not even an air pump will get bubbles going!

I have just put Ember Tetras in with my cherry shrimp. Embers are a small fish, right now they're about the same size as some of the shrimp (about). Pretty sure this is going to work out.

I just got my parts from Aquatic Magic, finally! Just waiting on a few other things to come in and I can get my DIY CO2 running! How do I get the suction cup to stay on the drop checker? The hole on the cup is small, the knob on the checker is larger. I can get it in and then it pops off a minute later, not going to work in my tank. suggestions?

You think that is going to be enough for a planted tank?

I have been doing some browsing, All Seasons is out of 2 foot T5HO right now, should be in tomorrow. How do you put those on your tank? And incidentally my tanks are both only 20" wide, not the much more common 24". You say the ones from Lee Valley come with mounting hardware? It looks like that is for screwing them under something. With more looking around on the web I'm considering going with a glass top or no top most likely and if All Seasons or Lee Valley don't work out I may end up buying fixtures online. The ones with the fancy legs that sit above the water. Enormous shipping costs, can you get those in Canada? http://www.ebay.ca/itm/T5-Aquarium-Light-Strip-20-Freshwater-Plant-Discus-Tropical-Fish-36W-6500K-10-G-/110818614536?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item19cd4ddd08#ht_1449wt_802 There is an LED set up there as well for cheaper I think but it seems like T5HO is the way to go. Does anyone have experience with the Hagen glo electronic ballast light kit. I can't find pics online to find out how that is going to fit on my tanks.

This is crazy! I've been doing so much reading my brain is mush from all the info. I have a 10 gallon and 20 gallon tall, both planted tanks. They are both currently lit with 2 10watt CFL bulbs each. The kind that screw in to an old incandescent fixture. I am in the process of hooking up yeast CO2 and doing research on how to fertilize. After much reading I'm concerned that I don't have enough light, especially in the 20g. By the watts per gallon rule, absolutely not! I could upgrade the bulbs to 20 watt but the length goes from 5 inches to 8! Not really going to fit in the hood. So besides not having enough light, I'm also worried I don't have enough intensity. Which is why I want to increase the watts as well, but good luck finding higher watt bulbs that will fit the hood. Then I started to look at DIY lighting systems, specifically the ones from AH supply. Is that a good idea? Will it work? I originally wanted to go with real florescents when I purchased the last hood because I thought the bulb selection was greater but the guy at the LFS didn't think that was a good idea, even for a planted tank. Not sure about that, considering what I've read. The 20 gallon has been running for a while now, since November. The vals are really slow growing, the crypt has put out some new leaves, and the sword? (forgot the name) has done nothing! Any advice? I would rather change the lighting than be limited in what I can grow. thanks

Thanks for all the suggestions! I went to Rona looking for something and came out with exactly what I wanted. I found this roll of black plastic mesh that fits over the gutters on your house. Has the hole size I wanted, is exactly as wide as I was looking for cause I'm not looking to completely cover the wall, and it was cheap!

I would like to make a moss wall in my tank but I can't find anything that I think is suitable for it. I picked up some burlap at Canadian Tire because it had the hole size that I thought was suitable. When I got it home I realized that it's an organic fiber and will most likely fall apart in the tank. I hope I can return it! What about that non slip carpet stuff you can get at hardware stores? It has a good hole size and is pretty flexible. I've read about using screen but those holes are so small! What should I use?

I picked up some driftwood pieces from the LFS, soaked them for a while to get the tannins out and put them in my tank. NO worries... I brought home an Anubias nana, tied it on and plunked it back in the tank. Even better! Several days later I noticed that there is this semi clear jello growing ALL OVER the wood! What is it and how can I get rid of it? I took the wood out once and rinsed it off but that didn't get rid of it all, and also left a bunch behind in the tank floating around. Any help would be appreciated

I'm new here on Alberta Aquatica, there should be a glossary of jargon and anacronyms for the new people out there. CONFUSION!!!! Anyway, I have a 20g community tank: 5 cardinals, 5 blood fin tetras, 3 white cloud minnows (I think) and 2 harlequin rasboras; plus all the snails that hitched a ride on my plants. Starting a new 10g planted tank for rcs (I'm figuring this out ha ha). It's mostly planted now and just introduced 10 shrimp. Waiting for some parts so I can start my own DIY CO2 thingy!