Retirement and forum shutdown (17 Jan 2022)
Hi,
John Howell who has managed the forum for years is getting on and wishes to retire from the role of managing it.
Over the years, he has managed the forum through good days and bad days and he has always been fair.
He has managed to bring his passion for fish keeping to the forum and keep it going for so long.
I wish to thank John for his hard work in keeping the forum going.
With John wishing to "retire" from the role of managing the forum and the forum receiving very little traffic, I think we must agree that forum has come to a natural conclusion and it's time to put it to rest.
I am proposing that the forum be made read-only from March 2022 onwards and that no new users or content be created. The website is still registered for several more years, so the content will still be accessible but no new topics or replies will be allowed.
If there is interest from the ITFS or other fish keeping clubs, we may redirect traffic to them or to a Facebook group but will not actively manage it.
I'd like to thank everyone over the years who helped with forum, posted a reply, started a new topic, ask a question and helped a newbie in fish keeping. And thank you to the sponsors who helped us along the away. Hopefully it made the hobby stronger.
I'd especially like to thank John Howell and Valerie Rousseau for all of their contributions, without them the forum would have never been has successful.
Thank you
Darragh Sherwin
jbl manado, aquasoil alternatives etc etc
- fourmations (NIall SMyth)
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ive been fairly inactive recently
is there any update on getting aquasoil over here
or is there any better suppliers or anything?
anyone tried the new JBL one? or any others for that matter
im sick of my substrate (peagravel over flourite sand) and want a one shot wonder
i dont want layers, just one single size substrate
for the planted tank,
colour and small grain size is more important than nutrients
as i dose ei
rgds
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- platty252 (Darren Dalton)
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The tropica soil dosent look bad with its mixed grain size but a lot of it is very light (dusty). I can give you a small bit of this to try in water.
I would still go with the Amazonia but i think you still have to send away for it.
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- fourmations (NIall SMyth)
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i have seen the manado in the flesh and
was dubious about the colour myself
but as stated it looked nice for planting etc
where is the best place to get the AS then?
rgds
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- platty252 (Darren Dalton)
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I dont know. It's been a while since i ordered it.
EDIT; Have a look here
www.aquasabi.de/index.php?tab_id=0
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- fourmations (NIall SMyth)
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(zig, sorry i PM'ed you on this
and only noticed this after)
I was led to believe that the jbl is inert
and was just a "sponge" for whatever is in
the water column
i have a load of cherries
so thanks for the heads up on PH!
regards
4
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- platty252 (Darren Dalton)
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I was looking for something to increase the hardness and i was going to use seiryu stones but they are pricey.
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That's interesting that it increases ph. Do you know if it has any effect on the hardness?
I was looking for something to increase the hardness and i was going to use seiryu stones but they are pricey.
Darren heres a copy and paste from UKAPS forum by a member from Belfast, actually think he may be a member here as well not sure of that though.
"Bad news for shrimps keepers. JBL Manado raises pH and gH but no kH. How do I know?
I put 5l of manado into the bucket. I added RO water [kh 0, gh 0, pH below 6] After 24H I`ve checked pH, kH and gH:
pH 6.6 [RO was below 6] after a week stir -> 7.5[!!!]
kH 0
gH 6[!!!]"
The issue first came to light on some German shrimp breeding forums there were lots of complaints to JBL apperantly, they are said to be looking into the matter!
Having said the above there are people on UKAPS who are happily growing plants in the substrate, the Ph issue seems a bit odd though and maybe a little bit extreme for my liking.
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"I soaked Manado for a month in RO [changed every week]. Last readings -> TDS=50-80ppm, PH >7, gH 3-6"
So basically this is the result when the substrate stabilised, perfect for growing plants I have to say especially if your tap water is soft to begin with. I will give it a go and report back in a few months how I got on but it looks all good to me, a few water changes will sort out the initial pH spike. It could be what you are looking for Darren.
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- fourmations (NIall SMyth)
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im going to try akadama
(i've read the 17 page thread on ukaps..phew)
akadama is 30e, aquasoil(+ post) is 150e
i'll let you know how i go
rgds
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- Katherine (Katarzyna Glebocka)
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I wanted to put 2 cm of substrate and then cover it with 3 - 5 cm of tinny black gravel with bigger size gray gravel spots on it.
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- fourmations (NIall SMyth)
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the stuff we are talking about is generally
associated with heavily planted tanks
and heavy nutrient demands
im assuming you have a standard light in your hood
i personally would not use a mix of substrates
when you are starting out as you will
want to move things around as your plants grow
and you get new ones etc etc
you will stir all the different substrates up
and things will get messy looking fairly quickly
if you use a soil-type under gravel it will cloud up
the water everytime you plant or move anything
in my regular tank i use bog standard pea gravel
and add a little fertiliser once a week
rgds
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- Katherine (Katarzyna Glebocka)
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- fourmations (NIall SMyth)
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my gravel is just an example, pick whatever you like
just to clarify, the soil would
certainly not do any harm,
im just saying its not really a must
and will get stirred up
playsand looks great as well
but can get too compacted
dont be tempted by coloured gravels though,
you will hate them within about a week
get something natural looking,
rgds
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- Katherine (Katarzyna Glebocka)
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Obviously, I won't buy coloured gravel as I cannot look at it

You're absolutely right that I'll be reorganizing, replanting my tank (I move my furniture quite often so why shouldn't I do it in the tank?). My ideas are changing everyday and obviously mixing soul with gravel wouldn't give a good result at the end.
Probably I am not an example of a pedant but I don't like mess.

So, if soul is not necessary for plants good-being, let it stay in a shop.

Thanks and regards,
Kate
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