AndrewM

@Link2Hell @MFF - Thank you both, I will not bother getting one.

@Skippy - thanks, good advice. They are burried, see the photo of the aquarium in the other post. Although I also think the depth within the substrate might also affect the results - so I might get some more sand to top up the levels. Well until the cichlids decide to dig them out.

Does anyone use a UV aquarium sterilizer? I am sitting on the fence about buying one, which is not a cost thing, it's more around how much value it adds.

@Skippy - Actually the CO2 came up when I started to wonder why I could not stabalise KH, until someone mentioned that CO2 can be a contributing factor. It's very early days, but when CO2 drops, KH drops and when CO2 increases KH increases. I might add the above is purely an observation based on a test kit, that I don't know whether to trust. So I will continue to observe it and see whether that is a correlation or it is simply a coincidence.

@Link2Hell - Thank you. I am in Camberwell (south east). I will have a look online for some info about the cluds and when the restrictions ease I will attend some meetings. I appeciate the steerage.

Thanks, I will post results for anyones curiousity.

Ha! you ask the difficult questions. I was thinking of capturing a baselined of the tank in 6 months time, then take them out and see what happens over a month or two after that. If there are any interesting differences, I will repeat it a couple of times to see if there is a correlation between any change in tank chemistry and when the rods are in or out of the tank. What do you think, any suggestions on how I could test it?

@MattG_Sydney - thank you and yes the lockdown has been an opportunity. Although sourcing fish is proving to be a little more difficult under lockdown, mainly as I do not have any good networks yet. @Skippy - No I am not dosing with CO2, I did not think I had enough planted material to require it. Once cycliing has finished, if I have enough fish in the tank, do you think they will produce enough CO2?

Thanks, good to know

I decided to experiment with some anaerobic metabolism by trying to grow anaerobic bacteria laying down spiral bio rods in the substrate, unsure if it will work but seemed like a good idea to me. Anyone else tried to do something similar?

For interest, other bits and pieces: 1 x Fluval FX6 (v2) Canister Filter 1 x Aqua One Nautilus 2700 Canister Filter (will replace with another FX6 in the future) 1 x inLine aquarium heater I estimate that I am turning the tank over at about 6 x /hr, if you average out the losses due to pipes and filtration materials - but I will get a flow meter and test it.

Thanks, yes I have prepared myself for distruction, although I am targeting juvenile cichlides so it might last a few months. I did have a tigre Oscar in a 4f for a very long time (when I was a teenager) and anything I put in the tank would be ripped up, so it ended up just been gravel, the Oscar and a lonely floating thermometer.

Just sharing my COVID project. I decided to setup a new aquarium - nudging 4 weeks cycling - only a few weeks to go! 6x2x2 (~580 L of water in it) Temp: 24 PH: 8.2 GH/KH: both at 12 degrees (~215 ppm) CO2: ~15 ppm (during the day) Ammonia: 0 ppm Nitrite: 2 ppm (poor fish) Nitrate: 5 ppm Being locked up in a house (working & living) tends to warp the mind a bit, hence the dashboard for tracking water quality. I did do two water changes, mainly to get rid of tannins from the driftwood. Unfortunely thoughtout the cycling period I have lost some feeder fish, but their deaths go to a greater cichlid cause. My goal is to establish a Lake Malawi cichild tank - mainly Peacocks and Haps (maybe including a yellow lab Mbuna). I can tell you are laughing at my planted material (Anubus, Vallisneria, Tawian Moss & Milfoil) - we will see how long they last.

I just joined the forum, so hopefully I can contribute something useful.