crs new tank set up

[Mitch91]

hi all im going to make a tank up just for my crs shrimp i am thinking of this:

1. Tank 4ft x18 x1. 

2. Filtration Aqua One Canister filter aquis 1000 model, while also adding 2 sponge filters

3. substrate i am planning on going with ADA Aquasoil amazon now with this is the 9l bag big enough to cover the tank?

4. a few bits of cholla wood and a medium sized piece of Malaysian drift wood

5. Heater 300w

6. plants/mosses

 

so thats what i have in mind i know ill need to invest in a chiller later on since winter is coming ill hold off on that for now currently my tank sits at 23.5-24.5 degrees thats in a room with aircon. but does this sound okay for crs ?

[jayc]

58 minutes ago, Mitch91 said:

3. substrate i am planning on going with ADA Aquasoil amazon now with this is the 9l bag big enough to cover the tank?

 my tank sits at 23.5-24.5 degrees thats in a room with aircon. but does this sound okay for crs ?

#3 - have you thought about using Cal Aqua Labs Black Earth Premium instead?

I find it a better substrate than ADA Amazonia.

 

23.5 - 24.5 deg C is ok for CRS. If you can get it down to 22.5 - 23.5 deg C, that would be even better.  Just need to turn down the heater a little.

[Disciple]

2 hours ago, Mitch91 said:

hi all im going to make a tank up just for my crs shrimp i am thinking of this:

3. substrate i am planning on going with ADA Aquasoil amazon now with this is the 9l bag big enough to cover the tank?

so thats what i have in mind i know ill need to invest in a chiller later on since winter is coming ill hold off on that for now currently my tank sits at 23.5-24.5 degrees thats in a room with aircon. but does this sound okay for crs ?

Hello @Mitch91

Welcome to SKF.

I think you need 2 to 3 bags. From memory I used 2 bags of normal and one of fine in my 4fter.

Please do invest in a chiller before the it starts getting hot. I can not recommend chillers enough as I believe daily temperature swings up and down which would be difficult to monitor is has a huge effect on shrimplet survival rates.

[jayc]

You can roughly work out how much substrate you need by

(Length of tank (cm) x depth of tank (cm) x your preferred height of substrate(cm))/1000 = Amount of substrate needed in Litres.

eg take a 4 footer (120cm) x 1.5 foot  tank. 4 cm substrate height wanted.

 

120cm x 45cm x 4cm = 21600/1000 = 21.6 L of substrate needed. 

Or

If the substrate comes in 9L bags, then ... 21.6/9L = 2.4 bags.

Edited May 9, 2016 by jayc

[jc12]

I second Cal Aqua Labs Black Earth Premium. I use them with good results for my shrimp and planted tanks.

I bought them all from our sponsor Tech Den. Great price and great service.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[OzShrimp]

What is so good about that substrate i see alot of people talking about it now when back in the day the rave was for benibachi ? I am interested to know :)

[jc12]

2 hours ago, OzShrimp said:

What is so good about that substrate i see alot of people talking about it now when back in the day the rave was for benibachi ? I am interested to know :)

I have never used ADA or Benibachi so I have no experience to provide a good comparison.

From what I have read and experience myself, there is little to no ammonia spike when I use Cal Aqua Labs BEP, water clears up quickly in a matter of hours or a day with just a sponge filter and plant growth is nice.

My avatar picture is a tank I am currently running for around 1.5 years with no CO2 and just Cal Aqua Labs BEP and some dino dung root tabs. Lighting is the built in LED light in the Aqua One Ecostyle 61 tank.

I had a carpet of pygmy chain swords which I dug out when the tank was about 1 year old and replaced with crypt parva. All that digging and pulling of roots with a tank of TBs with no deaths and I assume no ammonia spike or ammonia gas pockets being released, or I have a super efficient filter perhaps? Haha. Minimal clouding of water and cleared up in a couple of hours.

Super no drama substrate in my experience but I have heard of a few who bought a bad batch or two. So far I have used 6-8 9L bags all bought from Tech Den with no dramas.

Sorry long winded reply but hope this helps you. :)

[OzShrimp]

@jc12 not long winded at all thank. so from what i read on the tech den website there is no mention of ph buffering abilities is this the case? 

[jayc]

47 minutes ago, OzShrimp said:

no mention of ph buffering abilities is this the case? 

Not at all, CAL BEP will buffer pH to 6.5 or lower (if you use more substrate).

I have used many types of substrate, ADA amazonia I, II, benibachi, Up Aqua, etc.

And I always return to CAL BEP.

I'll just give you a quick summary.

• Low ammonia release, unlike ADA, so much faster cycling.
• Very clean, no twigs, and floaties, unlike ADA.
• Buffers pH just like ADA, and I have 1 tank that is still buffering after 2 years. My other tanks that use BEP is still young.
• Substrate granules are rounder than ADA or Benibachi. Looks better plus better for ground dwelling fish like corys.
• Minimal clouding when replanting. Doesn't cloud as much as ADA.
• Does not crumble into fine dirt when crushed. It will still crush if pressed hard, but not as soft as ADA.

Cons:

Costs more than ADA.

 

Cant think of anything else.

Edited May 10, 2016 by jayc

[jc12]

36 minutes ago, OzShrimp said:

@jc12 not long winded at all thank. so from what i read on the tech den website there is no mention of ph buffering abilities is this the case? 

Not specifically buffering per se. Quote (same on both Cal Aqua Labs website and Tech Den website):

"Creates slightly acidic water conditions
Black Earth Premium is made from natural, highly-fertile earth which is rich in humic and fulvic acids. As a result, it creates slightly acidic water conditions which is optimal for keeping aquatic plants and most freshwater fish."

I just looked back on my notes (yes I am a geek and record my WPs... haha), PH was around 5.5 when I first set it up in December 2014. Over three months it moved to 6.0 in March 2015 and have stayed between 5.8-6.4 since. FWIW, I used one bag (from memory was 10L at that time (9L + 1L bonus or special promotion???)) for a 2ft tank.

[OzShrimp]

@jayc So would you say overall better then Benibachi as i never used ADA and dont intend. I was planning on getting benibachi though when i resetup next year lol so yeah

[jayc]

24 minutes ago, OzShrimp said:

So would you say overall better then Benibachi

At roughly the same price as Benibachi, then it's a no brainer. I think you get more CAL BEP in one bag.

CAL BEP is better than Benibachi from my perspective.

Edited May 10, 2016 by jayc

[revolutionhope]

I can't offer any comparisons experience here but my first experience with substrate is using black earth premium and i literally dumped a bag of it directly into a tank.. jayc told me to add it slowly and I took roughly 5-10 minutes to add it in.. the tank was cloudy but not shocking like I've seen in journals where people have used other substrates.

The key thing is that I had a fairly newly established filter and the CRS I had that were berried in the tank stayed berried and didn't lose a single berry :-)

love n peace

will

[Cornell333]

On 10 May 2016 at 0:20 PM, jayc said:

 

• Low ammonia release, unlike ADA, so much faster cycling

That isn't a bad thing? If you were to set up a new tank with a new filter and let the tank cycle. Better to have lots of ammonia for the filter to cycle properly and know that after all your water changes and so on when you test the WP the tank is complete and ready for your shrimp. 

I use Africana, up aqua soil and a few other of which do not leach ammonia and I still always get a couple hand fulls of Amazonia and put it in a net and let it hang it the tank to help cycle my tanks. Rather it take a month and be good rather than rushing. 

I had one tank that I rushed and it was fine for a few weeks and then about $200 dollars of shrimp started dying :( 

[jayc]

That's true Cornell.

i always cycle with plenty of access to existing aged filter media available from one of my many tanks and canisters, so waiting a month for ADA to cycle is usually a con for me. But for someone starting out from scratch, ADA can be a good option. Then again adding ammonia manually is also an option.