Thanks again for hosting April. Had a good time and learned quite a bit along with tips, tricks and adjustments that I'd like to test. All in all, it was good to match faces to usernames. Some highlights:
1) There are some serious fish enthusiasts, over 20+ tanks all with custom built stands and whatnot. Much respect hahaha.
2) It would not be a bad idea to run multiple filters on tanks. This way you can clean one without worrying about any bioload issues - as well as take one off to start on new tanks immediately.
3) A dirty filter can cause more than just flow issues - from a VAHS member's (I think Dave) past observation of BBA due to a clogged up filter at a LFS. A potential supplement/improvement over ceramic balls for biomedia is hydroton (from Anthony) - which is porous enough for beneficial bacteria to grow while dense enough to foster anaerobic bacteria to take care of the dirtier parts in the filter. Please correct me if I'm wrong here but definitely interested to adjust my canister filter with some hydroton. My 60P does have some BBA despite all parameters being quite stable. I've been meaning to do this but I have just been delaying...
4) Plants melt for various reasons - one might be that of shock. Karen was explaining that sometimes plants that are known to be a bit more sensitive don't melt at all - but due to potentially extreme temperature changes during the shipment it could affect the plant cells in different ways. My mass DHG mini melt could've been due to the fact that the shipment was re-routed to Manitboa (where it is frigging cold) and then back to Vancouver.
5) And of course I couldn't leave without buying some plants - all of which were looking quite healthy!
