journal Nano Renovation

[Josho]

Hi guys,

Just received all the gear for re-scape.

Original tank: 11W light, inert course river gravel, crypt, java fern, java moss, drift wood.

Re-scape: 36W compact, 4L of Ista Shrimp Soil, HC, HM, Japanese Hair Grass, java moss, 1L Pressurised CO2 system (with solenoid), Iwagumi Style rocks.

Gear supplied by Age of Aquariums, ******, my LFS (Annerley Aquariums), and a few items from when I lived in the UK (from the Green Machine for those who know the Youtube videos) and also from a recent trip to Hong Kong.

Objective of the re-scape was to make it suitable for CRSs, and CBSs in the future (will require RO, chiller, and external filter), remove snails, and re-plant with plants suitable for a nano tank.

Here's the original. Obviously over-run by plants and snails. Ignore the algae in the back. I leave it on the glass in the back as something for the shrimp to graze on.

New equipment. The black sheeting is from the Green Machine in the UK. It's used at baffles to prevent substrate from falling down when attempting to build a slope.

Hard Scape

In with the plants. Also inserted 6 Flourish Root tabs.

Flooded after 1hr. Water cleared up might quick. Used 10L of original water and same filter to speed up cycling. Also added in Benibachi Bee Balls and Benibachi's Active Shrimp Water. Dosed the water using Seachem Prime, Flourish Comprehensive, Excel and Iron.

Close up photo

Didn't test the water initially (3rd of April) but tested it yesterday.

pH: 6.4

Am: 0ppm

Nitrite: 0ppm

Nitrate: 10ppm

CO2 was going at just under 1bps. Permanent indicator says it's low so I bumped it up slightly and will monitor. The HC was already pearling yesterday to my surprise.

Looks like it has cycled but I will leave it for at least a few more days before I add in the shrimp.

I used my phone to take these photos so it's not the best quality. I've got a new macro lens on order and should arrive when the shrimps go back in. Will update then.

I also plan to get some fire and sakura grade to breed. About half of my population is sakura. When transferring them to the temporary tank found 5 to be berried. Hopefully they won't be too stressed out.

[Josho]

Tested the water today:

pH: 6.0 - 6.4

Am: 0.25ppm

Nitrite: 0ppm

Nitrate: 40ppm

KH: 2dKH

Attempted to test the GH but I think the tester is faulty. No change in colour after 20 drops. Decided to squirt in more of the regent and pretty much filled the test tube. No change in colour.

CO2 permanent indicator showing 'sufficient' levels of CO2. Using a CO2 chart from pH and KH readings I have slightly over desired levels. Gas was at around 1.5-2bps. Turned it down to 1bps. I have found the regulator to be a bit sensitive. Any changes to the regulator has a long delayed reaction (probably due to the 4m of hose).

Diffuser is working much better. Initially it had some large bubbles but majority now is a very fine mist. Plants are going very well. Not sure if its just me but they appear to be growing upwards. Lots of pearling from the HC and HM so that's a good sign.

Put in 1ml of Excel today and also got 1 takeaway container of water from the temporary tank and put it into the newly renovated tank to help it cycle. Also did it visa verse to help the shrimp acclimatise.

[Squiggle]

Looks very cool dude, can't wait to see it full of little shrimpies, should look awesome! :encouragement:

[Josho]

So I've been away from my tank for a week now and my family had said it was all going good until overnight a bloom of algae occurred.

They sent me this photo.

From the photo it looks like diatoms. I guess it's a sign that the tank is cycling.

I just told my family to change 30% of the water, up the Prime dosage by 50% to remove any excess ammonia (I use tap water), a dose of Seachem Stability (to boost good bacteria), and change the light timer down to 6hrs.

Hopefully that will reduce the progress. I'm not too worried about the diatoms (as I believe it's part of the cycling process) but I also see some blue-green algae (or something similar) patches. I'll have to remove them. I assume cherries eats the stuff? In the last setup I've always had some strings of hairy green algae at the filter outlet but never in the tank. I just always assumed that the shrimp ate them.

I'm amazed at how fast the HM has grown though. I'll have to give them a trim when I get back.

I do look forward to releasing my shrimp in there. Any down side putting shrimp in a tank with that much algae (assuming I have acclimatised them to the water). I'll obviously remove as much as I can but just wondered if I should wait a few days before transferring the shrimp.

[BlueBolts]

Thanks for the thread, and updates, looking awesome..... I'd test the TDS, to ensure its suitable for CRS/CBS. The roots tabs may raise it. Looking fed to more updates :clap:

[Squiggle]

Definitely looking awesome, can't wait to see more updates & hopefully you get the algae sorted! :encouragement:

[Josho]

I get back to my tank tomorrow, what are the signs do I look for that shows my tank has finished cycling? I know you have a spike in ammonia and nitrites but I've been away for 2 weeks so I haven't tested the water.

[Squiggle]

If you have a nitrate reading & zero ammonia & nitrite then the cycle has probably finished. :encouragement:

[BlueBolts]

Once the initial cycle is completed, the tank will go through mini cycles as stock is introduced etc.....just keep testing for nitrate levels, and do regular WC over the initial few weeks, until you're comfortable the tank is stable..... :-)

[Josho]

Got back home a few days ago and found my tank still with some diatoms and BGA.

Looks like my family had attempted to change the water but in doing so dug up one of the HCs as you can see from the top right corner of the tank.

Tested the water:

pH - 6.4

Ammonia - 0 ppm

Nitrites - 0 ppm

Nitrates - 40ppm

I cleaned out the tank manually removing the diatoms and BGA as much as possible. Initially I would just stir up the water to get the algae into suspension and then scoop out the water. Majority was easily removed but some of the BGA was stuck quite well to the plants. To get some of the more stubborn algae I used a 20ml syringe to suck them up. The Purigen in the filter was brown as anything. I've never seen it so brown.

In total I changed out 30% of the water. I left the water to circulate in the tank for about 7 hours before I tested it again and got the exact same results. Nitrates were still high for my liking. I assumed that the Purigen needed to be renewed. Luckily the next day I received a delivery of Macropore. Placed it in my tank and tested the water yesterday and the nitrates dropped to 10ppm. Much better!

Plan ahead is to spot treat the remaining BGA with H2O2. This is then followed by another 30% water change. Tomorrow start moving shrimp into the tank.

The only bit I'm confused with is even though I had high nitrates I read the BGA hates nitrates. I assume that the BGA only formed when the tank had low nitrates.

Should I have the Macropore before or after the ceramic rings? I ask because I'm not sure whether that the resin would eat up the food source for the beneficial bacteria. I originally had Purigen run in parallel to the ceramic rings but now it before the rings.

[Squiggle]

I always put it on the top of the canister so it's the last thing the water goes through before going back into the tank, polishing the water. :encouragement:

[Josho]

I always put it on the top of the canister so it's the last thing the water goes through before going back into the tank' date=' polishing the water. :encouragement:[/quote']

Thanks Squiggle. I was a bit lazy before with the Purigen because it would mean I would have to move all the ceramic rings (not bagged) and the Purigen would not sit flat across the filter. Now with the Macropore in a large bag I can put a thin layer in a bag below the ceramic rings. Next time I will put the ceramic rings into their own bag so it's easy to remove the Macropore for cleaning.

A few days ago I manually removed more BGA and diatoms from the tank. I also spot treated the BGA with H2O2. It didn't look like it had an immediate effect that I was expecting. They just bubbled a bit. Some lifted off but some remained. I let the H2O2 sit for 30mins then changed 30% of the water and spot treated the remaining BGA with Excel.

I left the tank running then took a sample of water to my LFS to confirm my own test results. They confirmed that it had cycled and was fine to re-introduce the shrimp. They also confirmed that there was nothing wrong with my gH indicator. Apparently it is hard to get a gH reading with Brisbane water.

Went home and began acclimatising the shrimp to the new water. It also looks like all the shrimp that went into the temporary tank berried have hatched. I probably fished out about 15 juvenile shrimp. Took over an hour to get all the shrimp (being so small and hiding in some of the 'dirt' and filter in the tank). Once acclimatised they were introduced to the tank.

Initially they were a bit shy all bunched up not moving but over time they explored their new surrounding and started grazing. All are now roaming the tank and all look healthy. I put in some shrimp tubes with java moss. So far I've only seen one shrimp in one the tubes. They're not scared of the bright lights or their new environment.

When transferring into the new tank I found 2 planaria in the bucket and some tiny 'flea' like critters in the temporary tank (black dots buzzing around like aquatic flies - anyone know what they are?). Hopefully none made it into the new tank but just in case I will be purchasing some No Planaria and giving the tank a treatment. Previously I had only seen one planaria in the tank (over a year ago) and removed it. This would also explain why my population declined months ago.

[Josho]

I've been a bit slack with updates lately with work and all.

 

The shrimp have been going great. A few weeks after being introduced into their new layout about 50-100 eggs hatched. The ones that won't berried at the time became berried.

 

The Hemianthus micranthemoides grows fast! It grows about 2cm per week so I have to trim it often. It also sends out runners so it interfere with the HC. The plants seem to love the Ista Shrimp Soil. Whenever I pull some of the plants out the roots have imbedded themselves into the substrate. To me the Hemianthus micranthemoides is taking over the tank too fast so my plan is to remove it from the tank and put it into my 50gal tank. I'll then replace it with more HC. As the tank is already flooded I think it's best to not separate out the HC into smaller clumps but just to use their weight together to be shallow buried in the substrate to let the roots take hold.

 

There is one problem I'm having with the tank. Since introducing the java moss from the previous layout I have had a break out of green hair algae (I've never had it before). It was easy to remove initially but with time the filaments I disturbed got caught somewhere else. When trying to remove them from plants it also pulls the roots and substrate with it. I've have to remove all but 1 clump of HC today.

 

To slow the growth of the GHA I had not dosed any ferts for a month and increased CO2 (indicator shows just above 30ppm). Today I did a 40% water change blacked out the tank and turned off the lights. Planning to leave it for 3 days and see how it's going. I've had to turn off the CO2 because the tank need a refill which I'll get tomorrow but have substituted with Excel.

 

I had thought about removing the Hemianthus micranthemoides as it has a bit of GHA in it but I decided to leave it because it's helping remove any excess nutrients.

 

Any other thought on removing GHA? Should I turn on the CO2 during the blackout all will that only lead to excess CO2 in the water column as plants won't be using it up? I've heard ghost shrimp will eat it. Are they just the Feeder Shrimp/Prawns that aquariums sell?

 

I picked up my new macro lens a few weeks ago and did some practice with it. In the photos you can see the shrimplets and the GHA.

 

 

 

[Squiggle]

Looks very cool dude, well done! Definitely reduce any excess nutrients to get rid of the algae & the blackout shout do the trick nicely, might need a few more days than three though, but just check each day & see how you go.

[petfish]

no co2 during blackout, just oxygen. nice tank. you could also spot dose the exel strait on the GHA with syringe.

Edited July 5, 2014 by petfish