A merry Christmas to everyone and to all our moist pets*.





* except Cyclops

I am going to use water from my aquarium at the next water change. Nitrates at this water change are between 5ppm and 10ppm with TDS of 112.
TDS straight out of tap is on average 56. So the bottle compositions will be
- 1.5 L tank water, 1ml fish mix and chlorella (dregs of a previous batch)
- 1 ...

Ooh you have another gadget


Yes ... and no! I've had it for some time but couldn't remember where I'd put it (it was actually in the most logical drawer, but deeply buried!). You've probably now caught up with what it is - just a measuring stick and a printed table! - but just in case you haven ...

While we await further news ...

Since I'm on the PC I took the opportunity to zoom Dooburg's pic to look at his Blackmoor and my eyes got hijacked by pareidolia, twice! I got a bear cub weeping uncontrollably ; and then, tilting my head 90 degrees clockwise, it turned into a seal.


Sorry. As you ...

Great device, FB - well played! And you confirmed the fact that I've been way overdosing on the Fish Mix. I'll have to get back to the original article to see if/how I misinterpreted the info on there.

I've taken the plunge and have changed to F2 fertiliser. Old contents of carafe now in bottles ...

Hello, Sarah, and welcome aboard!

Everything looks pretty clean, which could mean it's quite newly set up. I'm not familiar with goldfish behaviour, but sleeping during daylight isn't normal for fish that I do know better. So ...

... do you have current test results for ammonia and nitrite, please ...

I'm doing a rough comparison between Fish Mix and F2 fertilisers. It was the F2 that I'd been using in my previous failed attempts to maintain a Chlorella culture.

However I've just rejigged the lighting and, if F2 were to work OK with that, I could maybe ditch, or at least become less reliant on ...

Yes, I'm pretty sure they would (or Chlorella powder).

*Googles to confirm or otherwise* ... yes!

It's my reverse osmosis kit, YnF.

It lives outside except when temperatures are predicted to fall to -1C or below (its normal home is in a cosy corner, mounted on a wall of the house, so I don't panic if just 0 is forecast).

If the membrane gets frozen, it's FUBAR. So I bring it inside until it ...

... Climate Change :