Jump to content

My big tank. The coffin - shrimp house.


FMuscle

Recommended Posts

I'm trying^^^
Progress slowed down a bit. I'm waiting for some mesh to arrive and for the aforementioned special plastic part before I can put substrate and water in the tank. And my substrate has to arrive from AOA. I completed the sump intakes, added a plastic mesh and floss to the sump. I cemented about a third of the return line, I'm waiting for a return pump and the mesh I ordered before I can finish the return side.

IMG_7409.jpg
IMG_7403.jpg

I sourced a 2ft light at Bunnings for $3.53. It's a 7W LED tube-like fixture. Discontinued model, got the demo at half price, plus I had a voucher... :cool:It'll be going under the stand, but for now it lights up the plants in the 3ft.

IMG_7406.jpg

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not coffin progress, but in 24hrs I lost my Guppy (as in vanished without a trace) and lost an Ember Tetra (as in I found the body this morning... and the head this arvo.)
I hope everything that had to go wrong did and I won't lose any other fish... Still got saddles and berries on my cherries, but no births yet. I noticed berries only two weeks ago...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

I lost track... I have some baby tears, blixya, hairgrass, I forget the names of the others... I'm new to planted tanks, so I'm not yet familiar with all the species.

On other terms, I wanted to do a small update. I took possession of six boxes at the post office last week. Included was my substrate and xmas prize from @ageofaquariums (thank you!), my t-shirt prize from the crossword comp (Thanks @NoGi), a TDS meter, a pH meter, my return pump, a temperature controller, and other non hobby stuff.
I had a few more boxes this week, finally got my mesh. Got that special piece I was waiting for, however it is not quite ready to be installed. I also received the supplement for the substrate and plants.

I saw eyes in the berries of the first one I noticed, the one with the most eggs. Unfortunately that female died and my efforts to save the eggs failed... I also hope the last 2 days of 40+ won't affect them in a bad way. (still looking for a chiller)
I did find a few shrimplets when I added an IAL to the tank, so I guess they don't really mind 28+ degrees. I still have lots to come, saddles and berries everywhere.

IMG_7430.jpg

IMG_7438.jpg

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Looking at potential stock, and the current state of my current tanks, would a lone assassin snail be lonely in my coffin? I don't want snails, but I have a few come with my plants and even if it's not invasive, I want to keep them at bay. I'd only get one assassin to not have babies.

And speaking of plants, they seem to be dying, most are melting. I noticed it happened more in the potted plants, my cuttings are in substrate and the melting isn't as noticeable. I moved the pots to the hex with my Cherries today so they're in better light.

As for the coffin, I'm almost ready to put the substrate in. I just need to clean the tank first and a final touch in a corner.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I know this journal is in dire need of updates. For now, I can't (or won't:nope:) say much. I have been shuffling things around a bit, the hex tank still has my shrimps in it, but they lost the croc. They gained a few plants for now, I've been moving plants back and forth between tanks ( @Disciple thanks again for the hairgrass, but that thing refuses to stay put! haha) 

I had misadventures with my ember tetras, I'm down to 6 from 16, I will not restock them. I'm open to other suggestions for tankmates for my cherries. Including input on my previous post ^^^.

I guess I can share a pic or two... hahaha
IMG_7358.jpg

IMG_7359.jpg

 

What's a coffin without bones? Or skulls?

IMG_7465.jpg

Edited by FMuscle
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On ‎24‎/‎01‎/‎2016 at 9:19 PM, FMuscle said:

Looking at potential stock, and the current state of my current tanks, would a lone assassin snail be lonely in my coffin? I don't want snails, but I have a few come with my plants and even if it's not invasive, I want to keep them at bay. I'd only get one assassin to not have babies.

And speaking of plants, they seem to be dying, most are melting. I noticed it happened more in the potted plants, my cuttings are in substrate and the melting isn't as noticeable. I moved the pots to the hex with my Cherries today so they're in better light.
 

I don't think we can get assassin sales in Perth.

What type of lighting are you using for your plants? what type of plants aare melting? Do you have any pictures? What are your water parameters?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Disciple said:

What type of lighting are you using for your plants?

That's the problem. No light. I mean, they had indirect sunlight sometimes, the tank is by an East-facing window with a wall to the North and a carport roof above, but that blind is mostly kept closed.

I moved them to the hex, which is a blue planet with the stock light, not sure of the specs. But that was only temporary... :cool:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

haha you shall see shortly. But the hangers, or part of them, are a very important part of the tank. :crazy:

I did not, however the killings stopped for a while at 10 fish, but I'm now down to 6, I don't believe it was murder this time, I neglected my 3 ft and the wp are probably off the charts. I won't look, as I'm in the process of closing that tank down.

12654257_10207382141023548_2164035703084

 

*Yes, behind the stamp is a blurred picture of the actual tank.*

Edited by FMuscle
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Today is the day, now is the time. @perplex you should get your answer for the coat hangers haha!
Although not the result I was anticipating, I present you the Coffin.

If the youtube video above isn't working, click here.

Thank you for watching.

Edited by FMuscle
fixed youtube stupidity
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Video removed..... Violation of youtubes policy on killer tanks, pun intended!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah @Foxpuppet I'm on it... The bastards removed it, but there's nothing in it violating the terms of use. I didn't put audio to be sure not to violate copyright.

Go figure.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

well lucky me, i got to watch it before it got taken down... take was looking really good untill that happend omg..... any idea why?

 

btw i still dont know what the hangers are for LOL, maybe i missed it

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well it should be fixed now. @perplex look at 43 seconds... you can see the hanger's cross sections.

I don't know why or how it happened, the pump was stopped and restarted a few times without issues and has been running for long periods, so I doubt it was is. Nothing moved in terms of scape or plants, and there's no way my tetras did that. Complete mystery. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

oh no wonder i didnt see :P they are on a different angle than i was expencting

 

could you of had a big are bubble under something, then that just came up and moved it all around?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nope, every time the pump stops, air gets in the pipe, and as the return is inside the cave, as the pump starts the air is pushed out of the return and made its way through the cave ceiling. Every time I started the pump, bubbles came out of the substrate. Never had any, or minimal dirt coming up. 

I thought the cave could have collapsed, but it was still standing as of its first day when I drained it.

It has been running for a week, started the pump on monday the 1st, and during the night between sunday 7th and monday 8th it happened. The dirt clogged the mesh and I woke up at 3am to water dripping on the floor.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

no. if air doesn't go through, it would go out near the left where the plastic canvas arches above the cave entrance, it's the highest point of the cave and the exit path is only blocked by java moss.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

i like the shallow style tank dude so many options for emergent plants and vivarium aspects you could use! good luck with the redo!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Looking good. Did you workout what was making it cloud up or disturbing the soil?

Good luck with the change was looking really nice

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now

  • Join Our Community!

    Register today, ask questions and share your shrimp and fish tank experiences with us!

  • Must Read SKF Articles

  • Posts

    • beanbag
      Update to say that after a few gravel vacs, front wall scrub, moss / floating plant trim, that the condition seems to have improved.  My current theory is that it is due to waste / debris management, where "stuff" like that brown mulm accumulates in the substrate and behind the HMF filters.  Maybe some tanks can somehow deal with it, but mine can't.  Also another experienced shrimper suggested that maybe those "shell bugs" don't just live on the shrimps but also in this debris.  Maybe this is the reason some tanks fail due to "old tank syndrome" where all they need is a good gravel vac? Also, I am guessing that plant trim helps too because now more of the nutrients and light go into growing algae instead of more plants? Well anyway for this tank I will try weekly water change and monthly gravel vac / plant trim.  For my next tank, I'm thinking of something like an under-gravel system where this mulm can fall down and I vac it out.
    • sdlTBfanUK
      Good to have an update and good to hear you are getting shrimplets, so hopefully your colony will continue and you may not get to the point where you have to cull some to stop over population. These type of shrimp only live 12 - 18 months so the adult deaths may be natural? If you have the time I would do weekly 25% water changes, adding the new water via a drip system and do some vacuuming clean of the substrate each week, even if only a different bit each week! See if that helps in a few months and if it does then stick with that regime? It should help reduce any build-ups that may be occuring!
    • beanbag
      Hello again, much belated update: The tank still has "cycles" of 1-2 month "good streaks" where everybody seems to be doing well, and then a bad streak where the short antenna problem shows up again, and a shrimp dies once every few days.  I am not sure what causes things to go bad, but usually over the course of a few days I will start to see more shrimp quietly standing on the HMF filter, and so I know something is wrong.  Since I am not "doing anything" besides the regular 1-2 week water changes, I just assume that something bad is building up.  Here's a list of things that I've tried that are supposed to be "can't hurt" but didn't prevent the problem either: Dose every other day with Shrimp Fit (very small dose, and the shrimp seem to like it) Sotching Oxydator Seachem Purigen to keep the nitrates lower Keeping the pH below 5.5 with peat Things that I don't do often, so could possibly "reset" the tank back to a good streak, are gravel vac and plant trim, so maybe time to try those again. One other problem I used to have was that sometimes a shrimp would suddenly stop eating with a full or partially full digestive tract that doesn't clear out, and then the shrimp will die within a few days.  I suspected it was one of the foods in my rotation - Shrimp Nature Infection, which contains a bunch of herbal plant things.  I've had this in my food rotation for a few years now and generally didn't seem to cause problems, but I removed it from the rotation anyway.  I don't have a lot of adult Golden Bees at this point so I can't really tell if it worked or not. Overall the tank is not too bad - during the good streaks occasionally a shrimp will get berried and hatch babies with a 33-50% survival rate.  So while there are fewer adults now, there are also a bunch of babies roaming around.  I guess this tank will stagger on, but I really do need to take the time to start up a new tank.  (or figure out the problem)
    • jayc
      If that is the offspring, then the parents are unlikely to be PRL. I tend to agree with you. There are very few PRLs in Australia. And any that claim to be needs to show proof. PRL genes have to start as PRL. CRS that breed true after x generations doesn't turn it into a PRL. Neither can a Taiwan bee shrimp turn into a PRL despite how ever many generations. I've never seen a PRL with that sort of red colour. I have on Red Wines and Red Shadows - Taiwan bee shrimps. So somewhere down the line one of your shrimp might have been mixed with Taiwan bees and is no longer PRL. It just tanks one shrimp to mess up the genes of a whole colony. 
    • sdlTBfanUK
      Sorry, missed this one somehow! The PRL look fantastic and the odd ones look part PRL and part Red wine/Red shadow in the colour. They are still very beautiful but ideally should be seperated to help keep the PRL clean if you can do that.  Nice clear photos!
×
×
  • Create New...