Jbram63

substrate: contrasoil (black, fine) plants: -ludwigia super red (in back left) -Umbrella hairgrass behind and front left of the dragon stone -Myrio red (near the skimmer and not really happy or red) -The stem plants on the right that are shading the rock are from top fin at petsmart. I forgot the name of them. -And 1 cup of dwarf hairgrass (eleocharus pusilla) that seems to love the conditions and has spread throughout -I think there’s at least 2 brown cryptocoryne but they grow so slowly. I can usually see a leaf poke through after I trim the hairgrass livestock: -4 phoenix rasboras -6 shrimp (pairs of blue velvet, yellow goldenback, and crystal red) -1 olive nerite that looks just like the dragon stone

Alongside many fellow aquarists/aquascapists, I find myself dealing with surface film far more often than I'd like. Also alongside my fellow a/a's, I've spent far more money than I could have ever imagined when I first decided to grow underwater plants. In an attempt to arbitrarily draw the money line somewhere, at least until I gave a DIY system a try, I decided that purchasing a skimmer system for my "nano" tank was out of the question. Not to mention the lack of real estate in my 5 gallon cube, of which I decided HAD to have exactly half of its space taken up by substrate in an attempt to mimic something I saw in a recent Aquarium Hobbyist Mag—a decision I highly regret and appreciate at the same time. Surprisingly, the first attempt at a DIY skimmer worked! Now the question is whether or not the snorkel looks worse than the film it removes. Nonetheless, I've decided to show my work and how I did it, as well as my notes in case any fellow a/a would like to cheaply rid their tanks of surface film. Equipment: -Dymax Slim Flo HOB filter (the smallest they make) -length of 1/4” tubing (grab a piece longer than required, trim as needed) -scissors -patience Steps: 1: cut a small notch out of the 1/4” tube near one end. The notch will be a triangle shape with the narrowest part aiming down (toward the opposite end). My notch is about 1” in length and gets to as wide as half the tube’s circumference. 2: feed the other side of the 1/4” tube up the bottom of the intake tube to the filter. I had to cut a small opening in the intake tube in order for the 1/4” tube to fit through. 3: feed the 1/4” tube until one end is about halfway up the intake tube while the notch you cut from step 1 is at the waterline. Make sure to round the bottom of the 1/4” tube as it exits the intake tube so it doesn’t kink. If it’s too long, just trim it. Notes: -You’ll have to fiddle with the waterline on the notch as well as the amount of flow on the filter. You want a small amount of waterfall action. I found the best to be about 1” of a gap of air for the waterfall action (this is what brings the surface water into the tube) -The waterline too high on the notch and there will be no waterfall, so surface water will pretty much be stagnant unless you crank up the filter to max flow, but even then, you likely won't get surface water entering. -The waterline too low on the notch and you'll have a gap of air for the waterfall but surface tension will prevent water from entering the tube. -Filter flow too low and it won’t pull water from the tube into the filter. -Filter flow too high and you’ll get lots of skimming action but you might also suck in a tiny fish…like a phoenix rasbora…don’t ask how I know. -Keep in mind you’ll have to adjust the tube as evaporation lowers the waterline. -I routed my 1/4” tube in a quite visible location because I was fiddling with it and wanted to be able to move and see it easily. You can just as effectively route the 1/4” tube under the filter or behind some plants; something I’ll definitely do in the near future. -My tank is quite small, so, the 1/4” tube is perfect for me. Larger tanks might need a larger tube, but I imagine the same steps apply. Hope this was useful for anyone. If you make your own (using mine or a different setup) please share your project! Would love to see what’s out there. Cheers!

@DaveSamsell Thanks for sharing your experience. Glad I wasn’t the only one. I use this test for the same reason as you. I agree water chemistry can be quite complicated. Chemistry in general I suppose. Being that I just got the fertilizer, it’s quite possible that I may have overdosed somehow. I use a Kids Tylenol dropper that my kids no longer need. It’s about 0.1 mL per drop. I remember adding 3 drops but I wouldn’t be surprised if a few more drops got in there through other tools that may have touched the cap or alike. Still, I was quite surprised that there was any nitrite reading, let alone how high it was. It’s a very small tank, so accidentally overdosing a drop or two might just be something I have to take into account. It’s no big deal to me as long as it’s not true nitrite being added to the tank. I figured I’d write something up here just in case others have the same issue and to see if Easy Green triggers other tests too. Thanks again!

To no avail, I scoured the internet for the name of the Nitrite Reagent hoping I could figure out what it reacts with to cause the color change. I'm assuming it's secret or hidden in plane sight. But even the safety data sheets weren't much help.

@Irene @Hobbit Thanks for responding. I'lll try to upload photos of the test I just did that confirmed the findings. I used 3 wells this time. One well swabbed with a q-tip dipped in Easy Green, one well with a drop straight from the bottle plunger straw, and one with aquarium water only (AWO). I just did a water change 2 hours ago. Following adding the Nitrite Reagent, both of the Easy Green wells slowly turned magenta, no color change in AWO well. I allowed it to diffuse on its own. After 2 mins, I fully mixed the wells and the 2 Easy Green wells both matched in color indicating a Nitrite level somewhere near 2.5. No color shown in the AWO well indicating 0. I added the Nitrate powder to all 3 wells. I didn’t have to mix the 2 Easy Green wells since they both showed the darkest magenta on the chart within 30 seconds. The AWO well showed a slight color change indicating, at most, less than 0.2.

I just received my Easy Green this afternoon and immediately put the recommended dosing amount into my 3 gallon planted tank. It's been cycled for a few months but I still test for nitrites and nitrates every day using the Seachem test kit. The readings were normal yesterday (both 0) when I also did a large water change. Just now, about 4 hours after first putting in Easy Green, I tested nitrites and the test signaled on the high end of the test strip (if not beyond). I immediately did a 75% water change just in case and tested again. The nitrites were at zero. Curious, I googled if fertilizers might have caused this but nothing definitive came up. So I did my own test. I used 2 test wells to test the water again, but touched a q-tip dipped in Easy Green into one of the wells then added aquarium water to both wells; the control well only had aquarium water. As soon as I added the Nitrite Reagent, the Easy Green well went off the charts but the control well stayed at 0. Has anyone noticed this? What test can I use to monitor nitrites/nitrates while also using Easy Green? Or will using Easy Green always trigger the test due to the water soluble Nitrogen?