Miscellaneous Ramblings Feb 2026

[techman81]

Ugh.. that sounds bad.... so does being in OSMC for 3 weeks as well. I have a scratch in my glass. Not sure how it happened. Got it a couple months ago. I don't want to make my glass white. What I'm using hasn't caused any problems. THESE I'm not going to apply undue pressure, but these pads make me nervous. It is like a kitchen cleaning pad.

I use these aquarium algae pads The dimensions in the description are correct. The images make them look larger. I like the smaller size and the pack of 24 will last a good while because they hold up well for many uses.

 

[Koan]

Any reason not to just use melamine?



On a stick?


AI generated

Low iron glass is not softer than standard glass

 

[techman81]

Any reason not to just use melamine?

View attachment 14054

On a stick?

View attachment 14055
AI generated

Low iron glass is not softer than standard glass

The Seachem algae pads are essentially magic erasers and I've found that they disintegrate fairly quickly, like magic erasers do on walls.

 

[gnatster]

Any reason not to just use melamine?

Microplastics. They shed https://www.acs.org/pressroom/press...sponges-shed-microplastics-when-scrubbed.html

 

[Count Krunk]

I just use a razor blade if its too much for the mag float.

 

[Koan]

Microplastics

Yea.. pretty sure that ship has sailed

Microplastics in Drinking Water: A Review of Sources, Removal, Detection, Occurrence, and Potential Risks - PMC

The emergence of microplastics (MPs) in drinking water supply systems has become a significant environmental challenge. Although the potential impacts of MPs in drinking water on human health remain incompletely understood, the ingestion of MPs ...

pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

I'm on well not city mains water here, but use plastic bottled distilled water for top off anyway. God only knows where Walmart gets it

 

[Naturescapes_Rocco]

I once scratched the SH*T out of my tank with a green scrubber. Beware!!

Article Thread 'How to repair scratches on low-iron glass with Cerium Oxide, WITHOUT removing hardscape.'

May 13, 2025

This thread is for the general discussion of the Article How to repair scratches on low-iron rimless tank with Cerium Oxide -- WITHOUT removing the.... Please add to the discussion here.

• Naturescapes_Rocco
• Replies: 2
• Forum: Planted Aquarium Discussion

 

[BenB]

I'm trying to find something that keeps me from putting my hand in the tank all the time for gda.

 

[techman81]

I once scratched the SH*T out of my tank with a green scrubber. Beware!!

Article Thread 'How to repair scratches on low-iron glass with Cerium Oxide, WITHOUT removing hardscape.'

May 13, 2025

This thread is for the general discussion of the Article How to repair scratches on low-iron rimless tank with Cerium Oxide -- WITHOUT removing the.... Please add to the discussion here.

• Naturescapes_Rocco
• Replies: 2
• Forum: Planted Aquarium Discussion

Yeah, one of those misinformation debates I had with someone on FB when I first got into this at the end of 2024. Someone asked about cleaning aquarium glass and one of the responses was green Scotch Brite pads. I immediately responded that she nor anyone else in the thread should do that. The green Scotch Brite pads aren't just plastic, they have added abrasive and will absolutely scratch glass. She responded I was wrong, she had been using them on her tanks for years and had no scratches. I just said she wasn't looking at her tanks very closely or she would see all the swirls of micro scratches. That was exactly the problem with the 90 gallon tank I got from my work associate.

 

[bradleysryder]

A couple questions about transitioning emersed grown stems:

1) how much submerged growth should I wait for before topping, replanting, and pulling the bases?

2) how long should I generally expect it to take to transition to this point?

I currently have some ammania pedicellata stems that I got emersed from Aquarium Plants Factory. I know this is a tricky plant. I am starting to see new growth with very bright golden color, but it's taken 22 days to get to this point, and the leaves so far are small...maybe like 0.5-0.75 inch each. Does this seem on track, or slow/concerning?

 

[Koan]

it's taken 22 days to get to this point, and the leaves so far are small...maybe like 0.5-0.75 inch each

Ammania can respond with stunting under certain combinations of fertilization and water parameters :

Sensitivity of species to heavy water column fertilization in combination with high KH water.​

A number of species face stunted tips regularly when combining heavy water column fertilization (i.e. EI method) with alkaline water. This list includes many Rotala species, such as Rotala macrandra and its variants, Pogostemon erectus, and most Ammania species. The higher the KH, and the heavier the water column dosing, the greater the chance of getting stunted tips.

For the above species, they can grow well in more alkaline water tanks (5-8dKH) as long as they are being substrate fed with lean water column dosing (i.e. NO3 levels <5ppm).

 

[*Ci*]

Just to double check - is it okay to dose calcium chloride flake and epsom salts directly into a tank, dry, and let them dissolve slowly on their own, or is it absolutely essential to mix them up first?

 

[Koan]

On an unrelated February note,

 

[Art]

Just to double check - is it okay to dose calcium chloride flake and epsom salts directly into a tank, dry, and let them dissolve slowly on their own, or is it absolutely essential to mix them up first?

I do this all the time but it's not a huge swing in the levels. If it was a material shift, I would mix them up then add to the aquarium.

 

[BenB]

Question: Sometimes when I need to test my tank at a certain time, but I don't have time to do it, I just take a cup of water out and leave it until I have time to do the testing. For NO3 and PO4, I really don't think this is an issue, but a little paranoia in me says, well just ask what others think. Yeah, obviously for CO2, this isn't going to work. I feel like if there is any bacteria in the cup from the tank, they might take up NH4 and change it to NO3, but even if that happened, I don't think it would be a significant enough amount to alter our already not so accurate tests anyway. What do you think?

 

[NC AL]

Flipper plastic scraper

This is what I use weekly on my reef tanks. I use a melamine sponge and elbow grease once or twice a month.

 

[Aquajack]

A stupid question maybe but what method do you all use for calculating volume in regard to fert dosing purposes?

I know different people use different methods including:

• Tank volume minus substrate minus hardscape plus filter volume (this is what I use, although of course a fairly rough estimate)
• Standard full tank volume
• Water change volume

On another matter I now use the IFC fert calc to determine dosage. The calc is awesome and for the most part is much easier and quicker than Rotala Butterfly. Its also freely available. I can attach an excel if anyone is interested.

 

[Naturescapes_Rocco]

A stupid question maybe but what method do you all use for calculating volume in regard to fert dosing purposes?

Determining ACTUAL tank volume with a water change and a TDS meter​

This will give you a far more accurate method than just estimating!

 

[BenB]

Ha! Finally sitting down to my email and saw the question. Figured you had already replied before I replied with your method.

 

[Aquajack]

Determining ACTUAL tank volume with a water change and a TDS meter​

This will give you a far more accurate method than just estimating!

Thanks yeh I did read that post not long ago. I just need to pick up a tds meter. its reminded me now to actually do it