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| Tools & Maintenance | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| After setting up the tank, besides feeding the fishes, regular maintenance is of utmost importance. Dedicate up to an hour per week for maintenance depending on the size of the tank. Here's a photographic account on the simple tools and materials that I use for the regular maintenance. |
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| Most important tools for planting and pruning are the tweezers and scissors. You cannot do away with any of these. This pair of S$20 tweezers can be bought at any LFS. As for the scissors, you need to get pointed ones so that you can maneuvre among the thick foilage, and sharp ones so that you can snip it off cleanly. I bought my pair at only S$3.50 from those HDB shops selling all sorts of things. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Spot algae will grow on the glass no matter how good your water quality is or how low the phosphates levels are. Get a good set of algae scrapper. Metal ones are better than plastics ones. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Water has to be siphoned off and replaced once in every 1-4 weeks. I change about 10% of the water every 2 weeks. If you want crystal clear water you need to change more and frequently. I am quite happy with the clear water with a yellowish tinge due to the dissolved organic carbon matter. |
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| I got this contraption from Thomson at S$12. It is a customised pipe made by the LFS owner himself. It serves both to siphon and to fill the water. Wonder why no commercial company is manufacturing this device. Hey anyone wants to file a patent on this ? Trust me, this contraption sure beats carrying pails of water or using the simple hose. |
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| And of course don't forget the anti-chlorine remover. Important to remove chlorine as it harms the fish and kills the beneficial bacteria. PUB water nowdays contains chloramine which is essentially chlorine bound to ammonia. So you should use those anti-chloramine types. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| When CO2 is injected, it is important that the water has about 3-5 degrees of hardness, otherwise you may experience what aquarists call a pH-crash. Personally, I have only these 2 test-kits which I find more than sufficient. Hey if you missed chemistry lessons back at school, you can buy the full range of tests-kits that measures all sorts of compounds including trace elements ! | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| If you have parents above 60 years old, chances are they will be taking calcium pills to slow down bone loss. Dissolve 1-2 of these calcium carbonate pills to raise the KH to 3-5 degrees which will be ideal for planted tanks with CO2 injection. This is better than adding baking powder which will introduce undesirable sodium to the water. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Ahh, not to forget weekly doses of liquid fertiliser. Read the dosage instructions and apply half of what the instructions say. The other half will be provided by the fishes excrements and uneaten fish food. I use Tetra FloraPride, there many other brands in the market. Take your pick. If you find one better and cheaper other than the PMDD (Poor Man's Dupla Drops) stuff, please let me know. I use this new product from Tetra called EasyBalance. It apparently does many things, go and read its functions in the Tetra website. I use it occasionally when I see that the water conditions are diverging away from optimal conditions. |
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| o Home o My Philosophy o Setting Up of New Tank o Pics of 5 foot Tank o Tools & Maintenance o o Harvest on Demand Riccia o Harvest on Demand Moss o |
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