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bort's tank chronicles


bort

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So after having a horrible first experience with shrimp, plecos and planaria. I decided to start up a new tank late Dec 15.

So heres the setup.

Tank: 3 Foot Komoda 90x45x45

Filter: Aqua one Ocellaris 850 (in box media) + Large single bio sponge filter

Lighting: Up aqua Pro Z 90cm

Substrate: Mr aqua soil 8L x2 + Up aqua shrimp sand 5L (had it leftover so i just chucked it in)

Co2: Yes. Inline atomiser.

Heater: None (will get one as soon as winter comes)

Cycling process - Just used water straight from the tap and added some Api stress zyme and squeezed wool from an established tank into the cannister. After a week Ph 6.6 Nitrate 0 Nitrite 0 Ammo 0. TDS = didnt check Gh/kh = didnt check. So after about a week i added some neons to speed up the process.

Could not wait any longer so i took my chances and added some pandas and CRS within the fortnight. No deaths thankfully ?

Since then i have added Oebt + MBB + BB + SW + GB and ottos.

Issue #1 Micro organisms. Had a mini outbreak of planaria first week within cycling. Probably due to plants added. Solved with manual removal. Battling limpets daily. Solved by giving up squashing them. Lol. Last week saw a hydra killed it. Solved, none since. Nematodes, copecods (cyclops) and possibly seed shrimps starting to appear after introduction of new driftwood last week. Harmless so mostly ignored.

Lesson learnt = WASH YOUR PLANTS AND WOODS BEFORE ENTRY.

Issue #2 Algae. Had an outbreak of string/hair, green spot and BGA within the first fortnight. Most likely due to excessive lighting periods and poor circulation from the Aqua one cannister. BGA fixed with less light time and manual removal. Currently on 2nd dose of Algaefix. Seems to be working on most of the string/hair algae. Not so on the green spot.

Issue #3 Ph rising. Not sure why it has gone up to 7.2 in the last fortnight. Possibly excessive seiryu stones. Left 1 in there only now. Could also be from poor substrate. Also treating with IAL and mulberry. Alder cones on the way aswell.

Deaths: 1 MBB and 1 Otto ?

Here a some recent pics.

20160131_195121.thumb.jpg.340f1ec92559a620160204_230519.thumb.jpg.f117f877a2fca5

20160204_230711.thumb.jpg.4683823e94a53d

 

Can anyone recommend some nice background plants for my set up ? And should i use fulvic grains to try and reduce Ph ? And should i just buy a new cannister filter to increase water circulation or just buy a wavemaker ?

 

 

Edited by bort
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31 minutes ago, bort said:

or just buy a wavemaker ?

No ! Not unless you want minced shrimp.

 

pH rising will be due to the Seiryu rock. Would be interesting to see what your TDS reading is as well, since that rock will also raise TDS.

Edited by jayc
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Also @bort, can is so what filter media you are using? 

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On 10 February 2016 at 7:32 PM, jayc said:

No ! Not unless you want minced shrimp.

 

pH rising will be due to the Seiryu rock. Would be interesting to see what your TDS reading is as well, since that rock will also raise TDS.

yeah i have a wavemaker in my big community tank, just cherries in there though so the losses are acceptable ;) they mostly avoid getting pulled into it though, could be the fact that its completely coated in subwassertang and moss :)

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17 hours ago, newbreed said:

Also @bort, can is so what filter media you are using? 

Just the ones that came with the Aqua one cannister. Pretty standard. Rings, balls, sponge and wool.

Edited by bort
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  • 3 weeks later...

Just got back from 9 day holiday yesterday. Most of my shrimp disappeared. Found 1 carcass. The rest are either hiding really really well or they died early on from the heat in my apartment and the bodies got eaten up by other shrimp, neons and other living things in the tank. ?

 

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Sorry to hear that news.

You had some nice looking Taiwan Bees and CRS in there too. 

Sydney temps are hovering around 30 for the next 7 days. That means the shrimp really need some sort of cooling.

Hope you find some shrimp still alive. Hopefully they are just hiding.

 

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This is my worst nightmare whenever I go on holidays.

I also hope you will find some hiding.

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Sydney temps are hovering around 30 for the next 7 days. That means the shrimp really need some sort of cooling.

Thankful my tank runs a chiller!

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Yep confirmed most are dead. Less than 10 remaining. From about 30.

Had 2 berried females the week that i left too. Neither in sight.

Usually its fine on a daily basis as we usually run the ac throughout the hot & humid days.

Totally shouldve invested in a chiller.

How long does it usually take for a dead shrimp to be fully eaten ? Cause ive just found 2 bodies.

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10 minutes ago, bort said:

How long does it usually take for a dead shrimp to be fully eaten ? Cause ive just found 2 bodies.

Not long at all especially in this heat. Their bodies decompose rather quickly. And since you have fish, they probably hastened the process by eating the dead shrimps.

 

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Get some Sulawesi, which were passed in at auction, and you won't have this problem again :crazy:

Just saying. If you are going to spend $400 on a chiller for one tank, that similar amount could have got you 10x sulawesi shrimps. 

Sulas like their temps 28deg C +

Food for thought.

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  • 3 months later...
Update.

20160612_221353.jpg

Neglected and overgrown for about a month.

What's your foreground plant?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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18 hours ago, Foxpuppet said:

What's your foreground plant?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Not sure what they are.

I bought 2 HC pots when i set up the tank and planted them and these grew like crazy.

Initially i left them floating after i trimmed and they kept growing but they blocked out my lighting so i threw em out.

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1 hour ago, NoGi said:

Looks like some great growth there. When are you getting more shrimp?

This tank has failed as a shrimp tank so just gonna leave it as a planted tank with various fish.

Getting started on a new tank but havent had much time to set things up.

20160612_220355.jpg

Fluval edge 46L.

Substrate = Black Earth & Bee max

Still deciding on the layout and what i need to make it work as it only has like a 18x13cm opening at the top.

20160612_220304.jpg

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