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If you are setting up a new aquarium, here is a short primer on how to set up your aquarium properly and efficiently. It may seem daunting at first, but assembling your new aquarium is easier than you think. Get all the aquarium materials ready First get all the aquarium materials ready by washing them thoroughly with warm water. Don’t use commercial soaps and detergents as they are toxic to fish. Stick to the most common and the simplest aquarium ornaments. Sift the gravel over a bucket and drain, repeating the process until you are sure that the gravel is debris-free. Fill your tank with water and set up equipment The next step in the process is to fill your tank with water. Initially fill around 30% of the tank using room temperature water. You can add the rest of the water right after the internals such as airline tubing, live or plastic plants and other ornaments are added. The air tube is an essential part of the aquarium as it helps with the oxygenation of the water. Plants are generally added to hide equipment, help with the aqua scape or simply aid in the tanks biological ecosystem. The air pump, power filter, and heater are other types of equipment that should be added. De-chlorinate You need to treat the water in the aquarium to remove chlorine, which is harmful to your biological filter and could be lethal to your fish. It is important not to overdose on de-chlorinators, as they can have an impact on water chemistry. Cycle your aquarium When an aquarium is cycled, it means that you cultivate or grow a bacteria bed in your tank, specifically in the biological filters. The filters will grow bacteria that digest ammonia which converts to nitrite, which is naturally produced and lethal to fish, shrimp, and coral. Controlling these lethal elements is done by introducing healthy nitrifying bacteria into the aquarium. Before you add fish or shrimp, an aquarium must be cycled properly. This is called the fishless cycle. If you place all your fish or shrimp inside the aquarium without the cycling process, chances are they will probably die within a few days. Cycling your aquarium takes time and it’s important not to rush it. In some cases, it has taken 6 – 8 weeks to properly cycle a tank. Adding the inhabitants Before adding your livestock, it is imperative to test the water. Specifically, the levels of ammonia and nitrite. You need to make sure that these two toxic nitrogen compounds are non-existent in the tank. Wait for two months before cleaning your new filter to allow significant growth of good nitrifying bacteria to populate. Acclimatise the livestock Acclimatising your livestock is a very important procedure because it helps your newly-acquired fish or shrimp adjust to their new habitat. Even a minor relocation can affect them because of changes in water parameters. Setting up a new aquarium takes a lot of planning and patience. Just follow the basic guidelines and the recommendations in this primer, and you will find that owning an aquarium is fulfilling and enjoyable. View full article

Nice quick and easy guide. I was busy working on something similar but it started getting to technical and then I started getting confused so scraped it[emoji23] Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hey guys I have a few riffles ATM and the move to where ever the highest flow is. If you get a small power head filter with only a small filter piece in it like a pond pump and place it in the front corner of the tank they should come out to the nice fast flowing water. I find where ever the fastest current is the come to that place sometimes my filter falls off the they back of the tank and and the flow is at the front of the tank when I wake up in the morning there's about 20 of the largest riffles sitting right at the front of the tank the are sometimes even sitting on top of each other to get to the current lol. Once the moderators approve my post I will try post some videos as I can deliberately put the the filter at the front of the tank if I like ?. I believe in the wild they do feed during the day but under rocks and at night they come out to the sides of the rocks and sometimes on the tops(I have observed this at on location with a torch) once the riffles are settled into my tank the come out and feed all day some just walk around and feed others sit directly in the flow of the filter I hope this helps you out in getting to see your riffle Shrimp a bit more. I love sitting and watching my riffles pushing each other around for the best position in my tank and watching there little hands (fan like filters) sitting out in the current catching the tiny food the eat I also believe that riffle Shrimp help a lot to prevent white spot as they eat them before they can get to the fish in the tank. However I don't have any proof of that it's just a theory lol so please don't think it might be a cure for white spot.

Hey just wanting to know if anyone knows what to feed the baby riffles have three females that are berried up to the max and one that let go of her babies about a week ago but only about 20 have seemed to survive ?Any help would be greatly appreciated cheers.

If this product works like NO PLANARIA, a small dosage is enough to get rid of hydras, no need to follow the dosage to kill the planarias. I use less than a quarter of the recommended dosage and all the hydras are gone in 24 hours and never come back.