journal Maiden Shrimp Voyage

[eternalc]

Finally after so much readings into shrimpy thing, i decided to start one. went to my local aquatic pet store and talked to the owner of what kind of tank i wanted.



this is the initial setup that we came up with. the drift wood will be eventually tied with moss, on the top middle perhaps some stem plants, and the bottom right some carpet plant.

so we used amazonia as first layer, then scattered some bacterial powder on it, and top it off with another layer of amazonia. poured some purify on top of it. and let it dry cycle for 3 days.

stones and driftwood to be put in after 3 days.

so back at home, a day before putting in the stones and driftwood, i washed them and soaked them in water for a day.




this is what it looks like after water had been put in. i made a little adjustment on the stones placement. now the waiting game begins. 21 days of cycle before i tie the moss on the drift wood and putting some carpet plant, probably fissiden fontanus. lights will be around 6 hours per day.

[NoGi]

Looking great

[eternalc]

3 minutes ago, NoGi said:

Looking great

thanks! still have a long way to go before any major update lol

[larrymull]

@eternalc what kind of shrimp are you putting in there? Just remember ada amazonia substrate cycles twice, so you can get spikes even after you think the tank has cycled.

[DemonCat]

IS there any particular reason tfor not putting the moss and plants in now?

 

Looking forward to seeing how you. I am only six months in to my first shrimp tank (and first aquarium for a very, very long time!) so will be ridding out the wave with you!

[eternalc]

1 hour ago, larrymull said:

@eternalc what kind of shrimp are you putting in there? Just remember ada amazonia substrate cycles twice, so you can get spikes even after you think the tank has cycled.

was thinking of putting neos, typically those RCS or some blues. i know that amazonia contains lots of amonia during the early stages of cycle, but not quite understand on the cycle twice thingy. can u elaborate more? thank you :)

 

50 minutes ago, DemonCat said:

IS there any particular reason tfor not putting the moss and plants in now?

 

Looking forward to seeing how you. I am only six months in to my first shrimp tank (and first aquarium for a very, very long time!) so will be ridding out the wave with you!

oh, i just want to avoid any algae for the time being. but since the rocks has some moss sticking itself to it, lets see if it does manage to revive itself or not lol.

 

glad to be on board :)

[larrymull]

1 minute ago, eternalc said:

was thinking of putting neos, typically those RCS or some blues. i know that amazonia contains lots of amonia during the early stages of cycle, but not quite understand on the cycle twice thingy. can u elaborate more? thank you :)

 

 

From many previous reviews and discussions on ada amazonia substrate, I have the following recommendation:-

ADA AS has 2 stages where it releases massive amount of ammonium and organics. First is when it is first water logged, second is about 1 month later after the grain are totally soak and loosen.

 

As such, don't be deceived by the test reading saying 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite will be safe for shrimp. The best way to gauge this is by observing the critters's population and activity. When you see their population bloom and increased in activity, that means the first stage one completed. After awhile, their population will decrease tremendously. This signify the start of stage 2. During this stage 2, perform regular 20 to 40% water change. Once you see the population and activity of the critters bounce back, then it is the almost time for stage 2 to complete. After that, perform approximately 80% water change (drain the water until 4cm above the highest point of the substrate). Let the water run for 48 hours before adding in the shrimp.

 

If you want to speed up the leeching of ammonium and organics, use mild alkaline water. Approximately pH 7.6 or 4dKH.

 

Once you are done with cycling, you should flush your water (80% WC) one week before putting the shrimp in. This will reset our water parameters and also additional dissolved stuffs. As such, don't think too much about the water parameters except keeping the pH up.

[eternalc]

10 minutes ago, larrymull said:

From many previous reviews and discussions on ada amazonia substrate, I have the following recommendation:-

ADA AS has 2 stages where it releases massive amount of ammonium and organics. First is when it is first water logged, second is about 1 month later after the grain are totally soak and loosen.

 

As such, don't be deceived by the test reading saying 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite will be safe for shrimp. The best way to gauge this is by observing the critters's population and activity. When you see their population bloom and increased in activity, that means the first stage one completed. After awhile, their population will decrease tremendously. This signify the start of stage 2. During this stage 2, perform regular 20 to 40% water change. Once you see the population and activity of the critters bounce back, then it is the almost time for stage 2 to complete. After that, perform approximately 80% water change (drain the water until 4cm above the highest point of the substrate). Let the water run for 48 hours before adding in the shrimp.

 

If you want to speed up the leeching of ammonium and organics, use mild alkaline water. Approximately pH 7.6 or 4dKH.

 

Once you are done with cycling, you should flush your water (80% WC) one week before putting the shrimp in. This will reset our water parameters and also additional dissolved stuffs. As such, don't think too much about the water parameters except keeping the pH up.

many thanks for the input! by the way what do they mean by "critters"? those diatoms floating in the water?

 

so looks like i'll need to cycle the tank longer than i anticipated 

[larrymull]

Yes the diatoms and other little critters that may be around. Also put the temperature up to 28degrees, that will help too. If you can't get the ph near 7.4 you can always dose with bi-carb.

[eternalc]

38 minutes ago, larrymull said:

Yes the diatoms and other little critters that may be around. Also put the temperature up to 28degrees, that will help too. If you can't get the ph near 7.4 you can always dose with bi-carb.

ok. thanks very much for the suggestion :)

[shrimpaholich]

i dont know how true it is, you can do your own research, but i hear tourmaline balls (made in japan only!!!) will buffer ph to 7.0-7.5 depending on how many you use per gallon. more raises it i assume and less makes it stay more to 7.0

[jayc]

My tap water is 7.8+ ph. Perfect for cycling tanks.

You should check your own tap water. You will be draining the water anyway after the cycle. Fill it with RO water after that.

 

If I ever go back to using ADA substrate (I'm using Cal Labs Black Earth Premium now), I would soak it in a large bucket and leave it out in the garden. Once I see mozzies in it, I will know it's safe for use. 

Edited January 8, 2016 by jayc

[eternalc]

hey guys. its been a while since. 

so after 3 weeks, i did a 50% water change. tested for ammonia, with good readings. then i added in some "wizard water" aka water conditioner and let it cycle for another day to let the minerals break down.

so the day after, i tested the water again for ammonia, with good reading. ph was 8, kh and gh is good too. time to put some commando shrimp in!

so i got myself 4 velvet blue shrimp and a fissiden tied to a rock. 

 

basically this is what my tank looks like now

the white thingy on the drift wood there is fungus, which is harmless for the shrimp. after a while it will turn into green algae which the shrimp would eat. i'm planning to tie some moss on it after the fungus settles down and get eaten.

then there's the big ass glass bowl at the bottom left for the food section. yeah i know its kinda big but thats the best i could find here. for a $1 it aint that bad. 

on the right there's the fissiden tied on a rock. 

 

introducing the family members!

 

i think this is a female? i still cant really get to know how to differentiate male and female. the seller says one of them are going to be berried soon from the look of the yellowish thing at the back of their head. this one kept going around the tank when i put them down. 

 

this is a guy that i can be sure of, since the size is smaller than the female.

 

i'm not sure what sex this one is. it has been very quiet when i drop it down. not much moving.

 

i guess this is another female too?

 

this morning i checked on them and could only saw 2 of them, the rest must be hiding somewhere. if everything is find, gonna add on another batch after a few days time.

Edited January 29, 2016 by eternalc

[DemonCat]

No doubt hiding - they probably blend in well too, Red Cherries are easier to spot as they stand out against black, green, white etc.

 

Best of luck!

[eternalc]

16 minutes ago, DemonCat said:

No doubt hiding - they probably blend in well too, Red Cherries are easier to spot as they stand out against black, green, white etc.

 

Best of luck!

Thanks! hahaha. The blue was not as blue as i expected. maybe i need to feed them certain things to bring the blue out of them? 

[DemonCat]

I dont know much about the blue ones - others will be more knowledgable on the forum.

If they are anything like Red Cherries, there are differing grades of colouring depending on how they are bred. Mine got a bit more colour the more they grew and from what I understand a good diet also brings out some more colouring too. 

For example, here is a grading chart for Red Cherries:

 

[Disciple]

11 hours ago, eternalc said:

Thanks! hahaha. The blue was not as blue as i expected. maybe i need to feed them certain things to bring the blue out of them? 

Blue velvet's are suppose to be that colour. If you want the navy blue cherries they are called Blue Dreams. Well in Australia anyway not sure what they call them in Malaysia.

[eternalc]

On 1/29/2016 at 10:00 PM, Disciple said:

Blue velvet's are suppose to be that colour. If you want the navy blue cherries they are called Blue Dreams. Well in Australia anyway not sure what they call them in Malaysia.

i see. indeed it is to be of that color. i shouldnt be too greedy hahaha

[eternalc]

another quick update. while i was gazing at my shrimps, i noticed 2 things.

 

1. there's some micro organism crawling on the glass wall of the tank. only moves after awhile and not far from each point. shaped like a bug but on a micro scale. and it moves pretty fast too.

 

2. another micro organism which is slightly smaller than the one above. but this one move around a lot more and can even jump on the substrates. yes, it jumped. a few times too. 

 

anyone have these experience before?

[jayc]

Can you get a picture of them?

 

[eternalc]

2 hours ago, jayc said:

Can you get a picture of them?

 

i've tried. but its too small for my camera to capture them, or rather, focus on them. it shows up in the camera like a little bubble lol.

[jayc]

Have a look on on google for Seed Shrimp (Ostracod), Hydra (Coelenterata) and Planaria.

Those are the most common bugs in the aquarium.

Is it any of those?

[eternalc]

10 minutes ago, jayc said:

Have a look on on google for Seed Shrimp (Ostracod), Hydra (Coelenterata) and Planaria.

Those are the most common bugs in the aquarium.

Is it any of those?

i dont think its what you mentioned. i did a further readings and i suppose that there are a lot more of micro "bugs" that i never heard of. the one i usually heard are of what you mentioned, or rather the "popular" ones lol. 

 

the bugs that i saw was pretty slim and agile, so i dont think its planaria. 

[jayc]

1 hour ago, eternalc said:

the bugs that i saw was pretty slim and agile

Now I'm curious. Too bad you can't get a picture.

[eternalc]

6 minutes ago, jayc said:

Now I'm curious. Too bad you can't get a picture.

yup hahaha. i was petrified to be honest. i thought that this could be some babies of those notorious bugs like dragonfly or others of that sorts. 

 

imagine something the size of a termite, but smaller, and it jumps on the substrates under the water. kinda cool, but i hope its nothing harmful.