journal wot_fan's 1st shrimp tank

[wot_fan]

Day 11 1/8

I received some more moss in the mail.  I am a little concerned since the weather has been so cold.  Yesterday the high was -2°F.  They look ok right now.  The next few days should tell the tale.

 

Assuming the sellers didn't fib to me, I now have the following moss in the tank:

• Mini pellia moss
• Flame moss
• Anchor moss
• Java moss
• Subwassertang moss
• Fissidens Noblis moss
• Peackcock moss
• Rose moss

I also added BorneoWild Bee Balls.  My guess is that their presence really isn't required until I have shrimp but I want to see if they would have any impact on WPs.

 

Water parameters

TDS: 152ppm

Temp: 81.9°F

GH: 7

KH: 0-1

PH: 6.4

Ammonia: 0.25ppm

Nitrite: 0ppm

Nitrate: 0ppm

 

Edited January 8, 2015 by wot_fan

[jayc]

Nice.

That's a lot of mos for such a small tank. Once the moss starts growing, you might find it dominating the tank and obscuring your view of the shrimp. Looks nice now however. Just something to be aware of for later.

[wot_fan]

Nice.

That's a lot of mos for such a small tank. Once the moss starts growing, you might find it dominating the tank and obscuring your view of the shrimp. Looks nice now however. Just something to be aware of for later.

That's what I was afraid of.  This is my first experience with moss other than java.  I wasn't sure which moss would work in my setup.  That combined with my weakness for impulse buys lead to me ordering so many different kinds.  I will try to keep them trimmed and I will probably remove some of the tiles.  For now though, I like it .

[wot_fan]

Day 12 1/9

The BT-9 arrived today.  I did a 50% water change and then added ammonia to bring the level in the tank up to 1ppm.  I then gave the tank a double dose of BT-9.

 

Water parameters before WC

TDS: 148ppm

Temp: 82.4°F

GH: 7

KH: 0-1

PH: 6.4

Ammonia: 0.25ppm

Nitrite: 0ppm

Nitrate: 0ppm

[wot_fan]

Day 13 1/10

The ammonia level dropped a little so I added more.  Unfortunately, I didn't check the final ammonia level.

 

Day 14 1/11

I added more BT-9.  Since I don't know what the ammonia level ended up being yesterday, I don't know if the ammonia level has changed.

 

Here are the WPs for the last week followed by a graph covering the 2 weeks the tank has been set up.

Edited January 12, 2015 by wot_fan

[buck]

Hows it travelling?

[wot_fan]

Day 15 - Day 21 (1/12 - 1/18)

There is still no sign that the tank is cycling.  I increased the ammonia level to bring it up to about 2ppm.  I performed a 40% WC on 1/16.  Yesterday I seeded the tank again with squeezings from a sponge from one of the canister filters on my community tank.

 

A brown algae problem has begun this week.  You can see it in the pictures below.  For the last few days I have been spot treating it with a 10mil syringe of 3% H2O2.  From what I have read, this will kill the algae I dose but I still need to find out why I have the algae in the first place.  The only thing I can think of is that there are extra nutrients being released by the AS.  I am going to add water wisteria in hopes it will use any extra nutrients before the algae is able to.  I also reduced the time the lights are on from 8 hours to 6 hours.  Any other ideas/suggestions.

 

In general the mosses are doing well (except for the algae infestation).  The exception is the suberwassertang.  it is melting away.  I am not sure why.  Do I need to add ferts or excel? I had hoped these wouldn't be required for the sake of the shrimp.  Is having a planted shrimp tank without fertilizers or excel an unrealistic goal?

 

As always, I appreciate any comments or advice.  Thanks.

 

[kizshrimp]

Hi wot fan, I've found subwassertang to be a bit sensitive to H202. Perhaps you've hit it a bit hard. You definitely don't need ferts or excel to grow it beautifully. I think it will just outgrow any algae covering it once the tank has settled. If your temp is still up perhaps it doesn't like that, I don't know. Either way it will get it together again eventually. 

 

I think Wisteria, other Hygros or any other vigorous plant is a great idea and will help keep the algae at bay. The brown is likely diatoms but same same. I'm a fan of Ceratopteris (we call them water sprite and lace fern here in oz) as floating plants for bulk nutrient uptake, everyone loves frogbits it seems, Hydrocotyle leucocephala and Cardamine lyrata are good too, all floating. Essentially what grows fast will do the trick. For me that's never Hygro difformis unfortunately. 

 

In my current bee shrimp system I had the lights down at about 6-8hrs when it was new because I was getting BGA problems otherwise. Had to run water sprite to suck the nutrients out. Now it's back up at 10 where I like it and everything is going fine, no water sprite anymore either... 

[Shrimpy Daddy]

If your lighting intensity is too high, reducing the lighting period will not help at all. If your lighting is adjustable, reduce the intensity. Or else, hang/ place it much higher.

 

Diatom bloom is normal for any aquasoil. All aquasoil will leech a massive of organics and silicate during the first month, which are the main fuel for diatom.

 

To combat this effectively and naturally, here are my recommendation:

1. Reduce light intensity like I mentioned above.
2. Perform 80% WC every week. There is no test kit to available to test specifically for organics. Hence it is easier to do 80% WC every week. Given said that, if you have ORP Probe or silica test kit, you could measure for H+ ion (decrease of pH and increase of oxidation potential) and/ or silica increment. When AS releases organic substances to the water, it will increase the H+ ion and silica level too.
3. Add otocinclus to keep the diatom constantly checked. Diatom is their top favourite food, they will wipe all out within a few days. 

Edited January 19, 2015 by Shrimpy Daddy

[wot_fan]

@kizshrimp

Thank you for your reply.  I am glad to hear that hope is not lost for my suberwassertang.  The H2O2 may be part of the problem but it was melting before I started treating the algae.  As you suggested, it may be a combination of adjusting to new WP, temperature and H2O2.  For now, I will lower the tank temp a little and hope for a recovery.

 

@Shrimpy Daddy

Thank you very much for the information.  I can adjust the brightness on the LED lights I have on the tank.  I will lower the intensity.  

 

It is good to hear that my algae bloom is normal for aquasoil.  I will follow your advice and do an 80% water change after work.  I have otos in another tank.  I will add a couple to this tank as soon as it is cycled.  

 

Thank you both again for taking the time to help me out.  I really appreciate it.

[Shrimpy Daddy]

No worries. ;)

[OzShrimp]

Are you using any commercial beneficial bacteria like seachem stability by any chance to help you cycle your tank ?

[wot_fan]

Are you using any commercial beneficial bacteria like seachem stability by any chance to help you cycle your tank ?

I am using Mosura BT-9.  It is supposed to add beneficial bacteria.  Should I be using something in addition?  I am open to anything that will get this tank cycled .

[jayc]

Diatom or brown algae isn't a problem. It's unsightly, but the shrimp will love grazing on it. When you eventually add shrimp it, they will have a ready source of food. Don't treat it with H2O2, I would just leave it. 

 

Presence of brown algae might also mean that biofilm is growing. So it's all good.

[wot_fan]

Thanks jayc.  It spread so fast that I kind of freaked out a little bit.  I turned the light intensity down and did an 80% WC per Shimpy Daddy's advice.  Hopefully that will slow it down.  I'll leave it alone now that I know the shrimp and otos will eat it.

 

Thanks again.

[Squiggle]

Tank looks awesome dude & the journal is very detailed, great work!

[wot_fan]

Thanks Squiggle.  My hope is that including as many details as possible will give those trying to help me all the info they need as well as provide other newbies an idea of what to expect when setting up their first tank.  Hopefully it will help others avoid my mistakes. 

 

Thanks again for the kind words.

[wot_fan]

Day 22-24 (1/19-1/21)

Nothing has changed with the WP.  Still no indication that the tank is cycling.  If nothing changes by tomorrow, I will go gets some Seachem Stability.

 

On Day 22 I did an 80% WC and today I did a 50% WC.  So far the WCs and reduced lighting have not had any affect on the algae expansion.  I hope the tank isn't completely overrun by the time it has cycled.  Today I added some Water Wisteria.  Maybe they will out compete the algae for nutrients.

 

Edited January 22, 2015 by wot_fan

[OzShrimp]

I am using Mosura BT-9.  It is supposed to add beneficial bacteria.  Should I be using something in addition?  I am open to anything that will get this tank cycled .

Im not sure exactly how that works but look at something like Seachem Stability its beneficial bacteria in a dormant form and when you add it to the tank it aids in the cycling process by establishing your bacteria colony. You also use it when you do water changes as well just as a lower amount

[wot_fan]

Im not sure exactly how that works but look at something like Seachem Stability its beneficial bacteria in a dormant form and when you add it to the tank it aids in the cycling process by establishing your bacteria colony. You also use it when you do water changes as well just as a lower amount

I think I am going to pick up some Stability tomorrow.  I have read some very good things about it since you mentioned it.  Sounds like it is good stuff to have around.  Thanks for suggesting it.

[OzShrimp]

There are other similar products but I have always gone back to seachem stability. There is even one that claims to cycle a tank in 24hrs which is called start smart complete 24hr but I don't trust it, have used it when I had high ammonia in my bristlenose tank to aid the filters but not sure if it worked.

[Disciple]

Good stuff man.

 

Your tank is looking very nice too. Looking at how thorough you are with your updates I would say if you could easily keep "harder" shrimp straight away

 

Keep it up.

[OzShrimp]

what are you feeding the tank with to cause the ammonia is it only the soil release ?

[wot_fan]

what are you feeding the tank with to cause the ammonia is it only the soil release ?

From what I can tell the AS is adding about 0.25ppm of ammonia.  I am adding cleaning ammonia to bring the ammonia level up from there.  I have cycled another tank using this ammonia so I am fairly sure it doesn't have any additives.

 

Good stuff man.

 

Your tank is looking very nice too. Looking at how thorough you are with your updates I would say if you could easily keep "harder" shrimp straight away

 

Keep it up.

Thanks.  I would really love to keep CRS shrimp someday.  If the Rilis I get thrive, I will definitely try something harder.

[Disciple]

Yeah I will be suprised if they didnt thrive.

 

I got rili's just after I got my CRS haha although I got 20+ compared to 10 CRS. Now I got a stupid amount of rili's and 20 CRS :S. probably should cull 40 or so rili's but now sure what to do with them.

 

enjoying the updates. Cant wait for the shrimp pics.