Your current Fish tank Setups!

the dreaded brown algae is starting too appear in my new tank on the glass at the rear and on some ornaments :( lights are on for 8 hours total sunset and dusk 3 hours i have fluval aquasky the white light led set too 50% green and read at a 100% blue 20% maybe i should bump the white up ?

failing that thinking of buying a uv sterilizer this one.

https://www.fishkeeper.co.uk/product/fish-r-fun-internal-uv-sterilizer
 
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Brown algae normally passes in time on its own. I would change more water if you want it to pass faster, I wouldn't buy a UV its completely unnecessary.

When you say 3 hours dusk are you running the blue light on its own in a 'night' mode? If you are I would get rid of that because it will cause algae issues.
 
I posted about brown algae in my cold water tank a couple of pages ago. It was pretty bad, covering about 75% of the gravel in a thick furry coat.

I increased the frequency of my water changes and kept the light off for about a week and it's improved massively. My tank isn't planted though so I could get away with it, might be a bit different if you have plants that need light.

edit... In fact, it was you b0rn2sk8 who gave me that useful advice so thanks very much :)
 
b0rn2sk8 said:
Brown algae normally passes in time on its own. I would change more water if you want it to pass faster, I wouldn't buy a UV its completely unnecessary.

When you say 3 hours dusk are you running the blue light on its own in a 'night' mode? If you are I would get rid of that because it will cause algae issues.
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no i turned blue light too 0 at lights out ,I'm dosing aquascaper-complete-plant-food daily 2.5ml got about 20 Amazon sword plants in will try a 50 % water change tomorrow. and keep that up weekly or perhaps every 5 days for a bit?

just want too nip in the bud before it trashes the plants.
 
Yes, that sounds good, you want to agitate the algae and get it into the water before you change it.

Are your swords fully converted to underwater yet? You want to cut off all the above water leaves once its get established and the under water leaves are coming though. Letting the above water leaves slowly die off in the tank only adds to the algae early on.

If you are using a soil based one they release a lot of nutrients early on and its normally a good idea to do lots of water changes early on. If your not get some root tabs in there to keep those plants fed, swords take up most by their roots (liquids also help).
 
the tallest one is a good 5 - 6 inch underwater so a while too go yet, I'm using limpopo black sand for substrate i did put some Tetra Crypto root tabs in at the time of planting hopefully they will help i put 10 in so may have over done it. ta for advice.
 
Ah I think you may have confused what I meant. Most aquarium plants are grown above water so when you buy them they mainly have ‘emerged grown’ leaves. What you want is ‘submerged grown’ leaves.

The emerged grown leaves are round, shorter and on the end of long stems. Where as the submerged ones are narrower, long and on short stems.

Here is a couple of images from google.

Emerged:
https://images.app.goo.gl/q8Rb6bzCxpGvtCSm6

Submerged:
https://images.app.goo.gl/pSx7N91fGrvy8a69A
 
oh right mine are emerged then only been in about 10 days 1st time have had Amazon swords in a tank, had vallis in the past that grew too fast for my liking great back ground plants though.
 
Makes sense, you should see the old leaves start to die back, cut them off once you start seeing replacement leaves. If any start melting back cut them too.
 
Hi guys,

Sorry bit off topic but I have a full 200litre set up plus RO unit etc that I need to get rid of as soon as possible. Where's the best place to sell as I don't really fancy the eBay route?

Thanks in advance.
 
Ok after taking some advice from you guys... I've decided to scap my internal and buy a half decent external.

I can only go to £100, in the middle of paying for a holiday and finshing my back garden thats all i can spare.

I have a 200ltr tank. This is on offer atm..... Do you guys think its worth it? Or can you link me to another?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fluval-Number-306-External-Filter/dp/B005QRDDWY/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2ROAKRL26NUEK&keywords=fluval+306&qid=1555191236&s=gateway&sprefix=Fluv,aps,151&sr=8-1
 
[TFU] Thegoon84 said:
Ok after taking some advice from you guys... I've decided to scap my internal and buy a half decent external.

I can only go to £100, in the middle of paying for a holiday and finshing my back garden thats all i can spare.

I have a 200ltr tank. This is on offer atm..... Do you guys think its worth it? Or can you link me to another?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fluval-Number-306-External-Filter/dp/B005QRDDWY/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2ROAKRL26NUEK&keywords=fluval+306&qid=1555191236&s=gateway&sprefix=Fluv,aps,151&sr=8-1
Click to expand...

Eheim Classic 250 External Filter https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000A2166A/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_nPMSCbKZW398J

You wont find a better filter for the money than an eheim classic. They rarely go wrong, 99% of lfs stock spare parts for them and they last forever.
 
Fluval 306 has just been replaced with..... Fluval 307.

A 306 should work fine fine but like I said there is a new model coming. I really dislike the hosing on Fluval filters, it's that horrid ribbed black stuff and the white rubber connectors are not great either.

NoobCannon said:
Eheim Classic 250 External Filter https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000A2166A/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_nPMSCbKZW398J

You wont find a better filter for the money than an eheim classic. They rarely go wrong, 99% of lfs stock spare parts for them and they last forever.
Click to expand...

That Ehiem classic is only rated for 440l/hour, not really suitable for a 200L tank. Really should be aiming for a flow rate of 800L-1000L/hour to avoid the need for something else to provide supplemental water flow.

If you are that short on money just leave the internal as it is, changing the filter isn't suddenly doing to make your fish keeping experience better unless its broken. What tank do you have and what internal filter are you wanting to replace?

If you really need to buy something Oase and Ehiem make decent filters, just the one linked above doesn't move enough water for a 200L tank. The Fluval range is 'fine' and I do own a 306 (running on a 180L), I just wouldn't buy another over an Oase or Ehiem...
 
b0rn2sk8 said:
Fluval 306 has just been replaced with..... Fluval 307.

A 306 should work fine fine but like I said there is a new model coming. I really dislike the hosing on Fluval filters, it's that horrid ribbed black stuff and the white rubber connectors are not great either.



That Ehiem classic is only rated for 440l/hour, not really suitable for a 200L tank. Really should be aiming for a flow rate of 800L-1000L/hour to avoid the need for something else to provide supplemental water flow.

If you are that short on money just leave the internal as it is, changing the filter isn't suddenly doing to make your fish keeping experience better unless its broken. What tank do you have and what internal filter are you wanting to replace?

If you really need to buy something Oase and Ehiem make decent filters, just the one linked above doesn't move enough water for a 200L tank. The Fluval range is 'fine' and I do own a 306 (running on a 180L), I just wouldn't buy another over an Oase or Ehiem...
Click to expand...

Also the water flow rate is important. You're right.... When i've looked online that seems to be a major factor.

My internal filter is broken, my tank is destroyed. Fish had to go back. The filter was free with tank. Fluval 4 internal.

EDIT: Jesus Christ.... Double the price for a Oase!

I think i'll just order the 306, i'm not tight by any means.... Paying an extra £30-40 fair enough... but not double!

This or the 306?
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Eheim-2036...eywords=Ehiem&qid=1555201338&s=gateway&sr=8-1
 
Also, I live in Wales, i literally have an abundance of rivers, waterfalls and lakes. I go hiking loads with the kids, have seen tons of driftwood, partically the roots. Can i use this? Can i treat it myself and use in my tank?

Any guides?
 
Weve been wanting to get a fish tank for a little while now so Im keepin an eye on gumtree and the likes
220L too big for a starter tank?

Don't want the bother of changing when we decide the tank isn't bit enough and want a larger one.
I've found one that I should be able to get for about 50 quid

can anyone recommend a pump/filter for around this size?
 
[TFU] Thegoon84 said:
Also the water flow rate is important. You're right.... When i've looked online that seems to be a major factor.

My internal filter is broken, my tank is destroyed. Fish had to go back. The filter was free with tank. Fluval 4 internal.

EDIT: Jesus Christ.... Double the price for a Oase!

I think i'll just order the 306, i'm not tight by any means.... Paying an extra £30-40 fair enough... but not double!

This or the 306?
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Eheim-2036...eywords=Ehiem&qid=1555201338&s=gateway&sr=8-1
Click to expand...

Your paying extra for the build quality with Oase, also they are silent and not all external filters are.

You'll also need to take the whole thing to bits for cleaning on that where as on the Oase canisters you don't.
 
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