Rocks and such for a CRS tank.

[match]

Hi to all,

I am setting up a tank for crs shrimp. At the moment I have a clearseal 18x12x15 tank, 100w fluval heater, 45 cm arcadia stretch led, 2x4kg of shirakura bee sand, a jbl crystal profi m with extra module and also 2 x dennerle dosators and v30 and v7 plant food. I also have a dried Bonsai tree eg. https://www.shrimpcorner.co.uk/aquarium-bonsai-driftwood/ which I hope to hang off weeping moss. I have other bits; like almond leaves, bee max and bee+ additive to to recondition my RO/DI. Will the lights be low enough not to require CO2? or should I account for that? Also, which rock will be suitable? I rather like the black and white agate but will this leach anything into the water? I did fancy Seiryu rock but have read that it hardens the water, not a good thing with crs so I believe. Any help would be gratefully received. Thanks.

Mark.

 

[Madmerv]

21 hours ago, match said:

Hi to all,

I am setting up a tank for crs shrimp. At the moment I have a clearseal 18x12x15 tank, 100w fluval heater, 45 cm arcadia stretch led, 2x4kg of shirakura bee sand, a jbl crystal profi m with extra module and also 2 x dennerle dosators and v30 and v7 plant food. I also have a dried Bonsai tree eg. https://www.shrimpcorner.co.uk/aquarium-bonsai-driftwood/ which I hope to hang off weeping moss. I have other bits; like almond leaves, bee max and bee+ additive to to recondition my RO/DI. Will the lights be low enough not to require CO2? or should I account for that? Also, which rock will be suitable? I rather like the black and white agate but will this leach anything into the water? I did fancy Seiryu rock but have read that it hardens the water, not a good thing with crs so I believe. Any help would be gratefully received. Thanks.

Mark.

 

G'day Mate

Sounds like you are pretty well set up. With regards to the rocks, it is pretty hit and miss depending on where the rocks come from. I'm in Perth and almost all local stone has some limestone in it. That is bad especially if you are using a lower PH. 

The only way to be positive the rock is not going to affect the water is to test is by putting it in your desired water and monitoring.

I have some Seiryu stone in my RCS tank and it has not affected the water at all but i run PH 7.2 TDS 200-300. If it has increased the TDS by 20-50 or so i would not be able to tell and the PH is not really low enough to seriously dissolve any limestone between water changes for me to worry. Oh just a side note, i think all Seiryu stone now is not the real thing as the Jap government banned it's mining. This means it could have differing properties depending on where it was mined.

Would love to see some photo's of your set up, even if it is just the tank with all the gear in boxes pilled in there. A set up journal is always best when started that way...Lol

[match]

G'day Madmerv,

Thanks for your reply. Here is a shot of the stuff I have now. Taken on my phone so the quality is definitely LQ. The only thing missing is the benibachi bee max but that is in the fridge till needed. I would love Seiryu stone but have read that it would raise the pH and hardness. I will be using RO/DI and adding GH+ so it may be possible to use less GH+ to get the pH to around 6-6.2. I am aiming for about 150 TDS. I am now looking at black+white agate but think this may have a similar issue. Another option may be slate. Don't fancy Dragon or Manten stone, although I may have to go down that route if I must have stone. The best option would be no stone but I want to use it to add false perspective, if at all possible with only 12" front to back.

Mark.

[match]

Yes, I do have what I said I have. Just need some rocks , or not, before I start filling the tank. I want to add some small fish eg. nannostomus mortenthaleri; coral red pencilfish or maybe celestial pearl danio.

[Madmerv]

G'day @match

Love those little trees. I think in a small tank they will look super. 

How did you go getting stone?

Adding fish will impact the shrimp as all fish, in my opinion, will eat the shrimpetes.

Edited January 4, 2017 by Madmerv
Add some more.

[match]

Hi Madmerv,

The rocks below are at the top of the list so far...........but the list may change ;-) I have put off getting more stuff for the tank as I am going into hospital soon and I will need some recovery time. I will then decide on plants. I was thinking of weeping moss V. ferriei for the 'pads' on the bonsai and a more upright form for the base, something that will grow in shade. I don't know how bright the light will be but that will decide the other plants; probably java moss, crypts and anubias. I would like to avoid co2 but I will be using v7 and v30 ferts from the dosators so I will monitor for algae, then decide. I agree about keeping fish with shrimps but I am not after breeding to sell so some sort of natural culling may be needed (I would not want to do it!). This assumes  I can give them a habitat that allows this and although I will try my best, I do not take anything as a 'given'. The N. mortenthaleri were chosen as least likely to chow down on the shrimplets and the c.p. danios were chosen as I love the look of them; they may perhaps grow too big to have more than a few so I would go with the N. m. Thanks for your interest.