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so i also got some Java Moss for the new tank and thought id show u guys the best way to avoid parasites getting into your tank.basically its like a quarantine tank for plants but way easier. you get a CLEAN jar and if your going to reuse a jar like i have dont use any bleach to clean it. you then add Soda water and put something down to weigh it down if necessary. ive used a spoon because i dont want to add copper to the tank in any way and the spoon is stainless steel. tomorrow im going to change the water and the same the day after that and then im going to add it to the tank. the idea is the Soda water is essentially carbon dioxide RICH water so any parasites on the plant will be killed off by the C02.

I know about the different types of filters, but wanted to ask more generally: 1)Mechanical filtration: You know that tan-brown gunk that usually gets trapped in the filter? Do you try to filter the water as much as possible, or rather let chunks of this get recirculated? I once saw a successful CRS tank with no mechanical filtration, the water had all kinds of debris and stuff floating in it, and the shrimp seemed very happy and picking at everything. 2) Biomedia: do u prefer sponge or any of the hard ceramic / rock / sintered glass things? Secondly, do you purposely try to go overboard with the biomedia (which is what I hear some Asian Bee shrimp breeders do) or just use as little as necessary? In my tank setup, the biomedia is actually after the filter outlet, where the stream of water sprays on a small pile of Biomax and lava rocks. It seems the shrimp like to gather there occasionally and pick at the rock. Plus I assume the rest of the surface area of the tank is also doing some nitrification. I have never seen ammonia nor nitrite after the initial cycle, but have been wondering if I should add some more biomedia "on purpose". 3) Do you run any kind of setup that is for de-nitrification, or do you just count on plants to do it? 4) Do you use any chemical media like Purigen? Basically, I am trying to decide between "low tech natural" and "super clean".

ok so everythings looking good so far TDS on both tanks have been stable and inhabitants of small tank which probably has about 13 fish and 50+ shrimp of various sizes all look healthy. I've done a water change and put the water from the old tank into the new. readings as follows:- Small (old) tank TDS - 230 Temp - 22C PH - 7.5 NH4 - Unreadable N03 - 1PPM N02 - 0.1PPM P04 - P0.5PM dKH - 3 dGH - 8 Large (New Tank TDS - 220 Temp - 23C PH - 6.5 NH4 - Unreadable N03 - 5PPM N02 - 0.1PPM P04 - 0.25PPM dKH - 2 dGH - 6 So i made a spread sheet to keep track off these reading and obviously to create graphs so i can see whats happening in the tank. its attached and I've colour coded it in what i have so far found to be the most important perimeters and obviously its currently filled in with my details, but feel free to add to it and adapt it however you feel free. I think it will help if you have multiple tanks and want to keep up with everything. so im pretty sure it was the Substrate being newly placed in the tank for the GH to to so high and im about to turn the tank up to 28C again but im wondering of i should add in another say 2 pinches of fish food to the new tank to boost the Cycle? Largel Tank Water.xlsx