turned sponges around and nitrite spike

looks like another money making product to me. if these companies had their way we would be adding countless products to our aquariums weekly. at the moment i add precisely zero products, not even dechlorinator.

i agree kev as from to day i will not
be useing dechloronator any more
as my HMA filter turned up yesterday

2 or 3 stage hma? Where did you get it from? I use one myself.

whats a HMA filter and if it means i dont have to put anything in my water where do i get 1 from

Hma stands for heavy metal axe. It's a filter you use to run your water through which gets rid of dissolved metals and chlorine/chloramines. Makes.the.water.a lot better for.your fish and puts your mind at ease that any parties are took out the.water. Google osmotics and they have a website there.

I was thinking of getting one of these. Looks like they do there job well.

i got mine of eBay thanks to mick
and i can get replacement cartridges
at paddock farm well i used to get them
there lol

Lol il have to see whats on ebay then

How much are the replacement filters from padlock farm biff?

I get mine from Steve galley at Durham discus. He has a aquarist classifieds ad in Th e Durham section.

there was plenty on there even were i got
mine from i will pm you the link

the last time i got them was about
five years ago mark got them for me
it was about £15 for both of them i think
but don't quote me on that as my memory
is as good as mick the fish
there's plenty of cheap replacement
cartridges on eBay Kev

Ok cheers biff

You get the hma up and running biff? I've noticed such a difference to the fish since I started using mine. The discus are less sulky after changes and they are spawning every 5 days now.

got it up and running done water changes
and lost two bristle noses two hoplos
and seven pygmy Cory's thinking of
ripping all my tanks down and starting
from scratch again

All from same tank? From the fish you've been losing recently it sounds like a case of contaminants or similar. Has they been any common symptoms with the fish?

common symptoms from all the fish fine one day
dead the next tanks stats fine just don't know
what happening cant test for anything else just fed up

thinking of calling a day of it again

Keep going biff dont give up

can you set another tank up biff? this one on tap water using dechlorinator just as a mad idea like?
there should be no reason for a problem but not sure as i lost one of the platty young the other day which didn't come as a great suprise (never expect to rear the whole batch mate) but it was one of the larger ones which DID seem a trifle odd however it may just be something to do with the base water so i've moved the corys and the plecs to the other tank (it's not got a light but plecs and albinos don't really need one for their sakes so that should be ok) talk about a going over to the dark side!!
check your pm inbox by the way biff!

all my tanks are set up on tap water
with dechlorinator thought the filter
would help but it's something else that
causing them to die but don't know what
it is all the test tell me that everything is OK
so its nothing that cant be picked up by tests

Just one of those things. Its not knowing what it is whats a pain.

try fresh gravel out of sealed bags mate just in case you never know mate

it sounds like contamination to me something in the tankmaybe from previous owner perhaps

I'd be tempted to strip it down and bleach it myself. You'd be surprised what nasties can survive in little or no water. Chin up biff you'll bounce back.

Well i've moved the remaining fish in another tank and stripped the other tank down. I've took out all the plants and moved them to the other tank as well. I've took out the gravel and washed the tank out.
Biffster thinks it could be contaminates on the hood. It has been sealed but it might be sealer that has fungicide in it and so when the condensation drips into the tank that might be the problem. I'm going the sand route and i'm changing the hood so fingers crossed.