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G'day Jgreen, Welcome to the forums. I hope you will enjoy yourself and learn from here as much as I do. First thing I will do is direct you to www.Shrimpydaddy.com he has an extremely detailed and very good step by step article on how to set up and cycle a tank. It is a very good read and he also sells a whole lot of products that from the reviews i have read are very good. Also there are a lot of good tank journals on the forum that has helped me. In my opinion we have some of the best shrimp keepers in Australia that have done journals just steal their ideas haha. As Kizshrimp has pointed out if chlorinated tapwater is not the best option if you plan of trying CRS or CBS (but I have heard of some shrimp keepers doing well using it). I learned this myself because when I first started and got some crs I was using tapwater. I was able to keep them alive but other then that they didnt not get berried or thrive. Once I join SKF I learned about GH, KH, TDS so I started testing these water parameters and found my tap water was way off what they needed. So if you can afford it I would recommend an RO unit, if not get a hold of rainwater. This way you can remineralise the water so it is perfect for the CRS/CBS. In my experience it made a huge difference within a couple of weeks of using RO water the females started to get berried. There are a lot of products that you can use to remineralise but it seems Salty Shrimp is the most used for our members. There is also DIY recipe JAYC put up for a remineralising liquid. I have no experience using Cal aqua Black earth so i cant comment on it. I have heard it is good when a couple of other members have mentioned it. I myself have been using ADA amazonia in my two tanks. It was recommended to me and I have had no issues with it but I have only been using it for 9 months. A lot of other members swear by Benebachi Soil. The guys that have recommended it are long term members that breed amazing shrimp. So I guess the proof is there that its good. There are a lot of forum sponsors that stock the soil and sell it at very competitive prices. I use a 60cm Up Aqua Pro on my 2 footer and I am planning on getting one for my 4 footer. I have had no issues with this light and my dwarf hair grass and mosses grow at a crazy rate. I actually had 2 60cm ones on my 2 footer because I was growing HC and some other high light plants but I dont think the shrimp like it too bright so i stopped using one. One thing I have read in this forum over and over again is over filtration is it best thing you can do. I would also recommend that you consider using a cannister filter as well as you HOF. lol In my 2 footer I am using a 2215. In my 4footer I am currently using 2 2215 and i tossing up for a third LOL what can i say I love my shirmp. But if fund do not permit then maybe think about adding a couple of sponge filters. I also use MK BREED balls and compared to the Boss Aquaria balls they are bigger. I have actually just bought myself a couple of packets of Boss aquaria balls to replace the MK Breed balls as they only last about 6 month so they needed replacing and for a cheaper price I could get the Boss Aquaria balls that last 2 years so why not. I am pretty sure they are the same as Benebachi Balls too. I think Squiggles has a post showing an experiement he did of two tanks cycling. One had the boss aquaria balls and one didnt and there was a huge difference. Plants I really think use some moss's. I have Christmas Moss and US fissen, I think they look great and the shrimp love it too. Java moss it good and they only need low to medium light. Not sure how much you need in $ but I brought some Christmas Moss at LFS for $25 and I got a bit of US fissen (dont think I spelt it right) what I bought some shrimp. I have just let it grow trimmed it and tied the trimming to other things now I got heaps. I also have a journal Showing how I am setting up my new 4 foot tank which you can have a look at but I am still quite new and learning lol. So shrimpydaddy.com as i said before. Look up Squiggles, Dean's or Bluebolts set up in the tank journals. Anyways I hope that sort of help and explains some of your questions.

Hi guys, my name is Emre from Istanbul, Turkey. I just wanted to share my tank with you which has been on since Oct/2014. I have got limited numbers of Taiwan Shrimps but got so many babies. Size: 70x35x32h (84 liters) Filter System: - HMF Filter - Sunsun Hw 603 B Mini Cannister Filter - Undergravel Filter (PoweredWith Air Pump) Lighting: Daylight, blue and white LED Water chemistry: RO water + GH+ Mineral Substrate: ADA Amazonia Normal type (1 package aka 9 liters) Others: Mangrove, Mini Java Fern, Indian almond and some other seasonal leaves, Borneo Wild Bee Ball 1st days setup: 05/10/2014 pH 5.3 TDS: 220 microsiemens GH: 6-7 kH: 1 Temp: 24 C - Since I had used HMF Filter (because it makes maximum bio area) I had to use high density sponge to make sure shrimplets will not pass through the sponge. Here below you can see the sponge I used: - For the substrate: Bottom 0: I had used Borneo Wild Minerax and Enlive at the bottom Bottom 1:Undergravel filter Bottom 2: A thin mosquito net to make sure shrimplets will not go to the bottom Bottom 3: Sera Siporax Bio Ring Bottom 4: ADA Amazonia Normal Set Up Day Pictures Present Pictures A short video:

No worries, happy I could help. There's plenty of potential problems with tapwater. As you correctly guessed, regardless of how soft it is (unless 0), over time replacing evaporative loss the hardness will climb. There's also high potential for unacceptable copper or other levels, some not testable. Don't even consider tapwater unless the GH is virtually 0 in your area. The poor man's alternative to RO is rainwater. A brita filter should be ok, essentially I'm using the same - a poly prefilter followed by a carbon core in 2 standard 10" housings. I use a big pond pump to force the rainwater through the filters or run tapwater through them at mains pressure. Beware that some carbon filters really spike the pH which means you then have to store that water long enough to bring it back down before use. A cheap RO unit is about $100, not much more than my setup and a much better idea. Squiggle has posted a link to a good RO unit supplier a couple of times. Sorry I don't have that link handy. When I first kept CRS they were kept in a 3' tank with laterite substrate under normal gravel, lots of plants and an air-driven sponge, tap water changes. No problems. That population exploded quickly but also crashed again when I began to neglect the fishroom due to personal issues. Nonetheless I had CRS in such conditions for about 4 years. So it can be done simply but I don't recommend it. These days we can do much better. As Disciple says, over-filtration is good. If a canister is truly out of the question then definitely add an air-driven sponge or 2. The shrimp love to graze them anyway. You'll need a sponge on the HOB intake too. When you read through Squggle's journal as recommended above, you'll not the spare changeover sponges in the tanks. Good idea and more passive filtration area. The substrate itself will help too. You could buy some low density marine pure - the rocks, cubes or rubble and have some just sitting in the tank. That will help a lot. Check out our sponsor The Tech Den for these. They're a great supplier. The Benibachi substrate is reported to last around 2 years which seems as good as it gets from these active substrates. They lose their buffering ability over time and eventually start to break down to powder. I think the Cal Aqua might physically hold up longer but that remains to be seen. My advice is not to rely on their buffering ability and control the water parameters yourself. The Cal Aqua is designed for plant growth but works well for shrimp. The Benibachi is designed for shrimp and as I said before, is the choice of our best breeders. Read through the journals that Disciple recommended, check out ShrimpyDaddy and see how you go. We're all here if you have more questions after that.

Very nice Emre. I like the way you setup your tank. I love the way you've used the Hamburg matten filter as a prefilter for the canister. It works well to hide the heater too. I guess you never really need to clean your canister? Your shrimp are beautiful too. Thanks for sharing.

They liked a white plastic tube(2cm diameter ) on the bottom of the tank. Temp 26-28degrees centigrade. Light flow in the tank. Ph 4.7-4.9. One pair is responsible for most of the fry while my second pair produced a few which leads me to think that many of these wild caught fish are affected by the pollution in their natural habitat. Either that or they were just rubbish at it!

Wine red Shadow panda Hybrids

I currently have around 100 of the liquorice gourami fry growing on at different stages. Their location of collecting was unknown, were labelled as gunawani but certainly aren't. Best description i can give is parosphromenus of bintan group. Maybe dua? I have 2week old channoides fry at the moment and 2 males holding. Also have simplex fry of various stages and 1 male holding. The simplex have great character.

The Cal Aqua substrate looks great, you don't need the fine one. Regular is fine enough. The Benibachi soil is the most popular choice for good reason. I don't use the Z series lights but plenty on here do and they all say great things. Search the forum for "up aqua z series" if you want to read some glowing reviews. (anyone like that?) I don't like hang on filters. Some people use them but I don't know of anyone who would swear by one. If you have to use one the Aquaclears are the best, or they were once anyway. You could easily use a small canister like an eheim 2213 on that tank. More media is always better and your options are really limited with a hang on. In fact there was a recent thread about setting up the media in a 2213 filter. A feeding tray is a good idea. The balls well, thats a matter of opinion. I recently added some Boss Aquaria balls to my tanks but they ran fine without them too. I think the Boss balls are the best value if you want some. There's a thread on the forum here about the MK balls - I think they're very small and possibly a different thing. Plants could cost you more than the rest of the equipment! It depends what you want. I think a moss and a floating plant are a good combo. You could start with good old Java Moss (spawning moss) which shouldn't cost you more than about $5. That could be all you need. Or you could spend rather more on different types of moss. Fissidens is beautiful but not fast growing. Peacock moss is faster and so cheaper. I've always liked water sprite as a floating plant. These days frogbits are popular too. Sometimes people on here give frogbit away for free. Small Anubias varieties like nana petite, Java ferns and most Cryptocoryne are also good low light, low maintenance plants. Bucephalandra are awesome but better start saving up if you want them. Dechlorinated tapwater will probably lead to issues eventually. Rainwater is acceptable. I use both (and no RO) but all my water goes through a carbon filter before it gets to the tanks. Better wait for someone else to answer re the cycling aids because generally I don't like them. They don't add proper nitrifiers (nitrosomonas, nitrobacter) but other bacteria (Bacillus strains) that need constant replenishment. I do have Mosura BT9 here and add it occasionally for immune stimulant reasons rather than cycling. Hope that helps.

Nice addition. Good tag team effort.

To add to what JayC has already said, KH (carbonate hardness) is really only required to regulate the pH. If you need the pH to be higher, you need to increase the KH value. Most people keeping high grade CRS and Taiwan bees run very low pH levels and 0dKH, so a KH boost is not required. Therefore just the GH+ is normally recommended for these.

I recently bought a Aquael PFN 10,000 after a lot of research, for my new TB rack. Great pump. Outstanding quality and it has variable watts/water flow. It is a bit of and investment as far as initial outlay but it will quickly pay for itself on the power bill and longevity.