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Ok so here are my results from using Dymax. Tank produced 0.25 of NH3 after 7 days.After 14 days it was zero. Crystal shrimp were put in on day 1.No deaths.The only thing I noticed was that there was some foamimg of the water surface for 2 weeks. In my Co2 planted tanks the existing plants were removed and Dymax replaced the exhaused ADA substrate.All plants were replanted the same day.Every plant has done extremely well and I am very impressed with Dymax. It is my new favourite although a little more expensive.The water stays crystal clear upon refilling the tank.No need to use the existing substrate bag on the bottom to prevent cloudiness. Pics taked 20 mins after filling the tank. Cheers Mark/AquaCare Aquarium Maintenance Services.

Salt is good too. Pool salt is very cheap. If I want to remove snails from a tank I remove all the livestock drop the level of water to 30-50mm above the substrate. I lie the sponges down on the shallow water and put in a few cups of salt to make a solution that is about 40-50ppt (more than sea water). I keep the sponges in and I stir up the gravel and wash the side of the tank down with the salty water. After a good overnight soak I siphon out the salty water and give one quick rinse, siphon again then refill the tank and start again. Generally I throw the plants in the compost and get new pieces from a "clean" (snail free) tank. I use an EC meter to check TDS so this is a quick way to check how well rinsed everything is. The advantage of vinager and salt over bleach is that both rinse away easily with fresh water.

You don't need to dilute vinegar. Full strength vinegar should kill any nasties. Just rinse everything well and leave it to dry in the sun. If you are reusing the gravel, boil it or pour boiling water on it. If you were using planted substrate, replace it with new substrate.

✌️ Absolutely only use bleach as the last resort, with nothing in the tank. (6parts water to 1part bleach for future reference). Even white vinegar is safer and probably just as effective for removal of planaria and worms. After you clear the old tank of gravel, give the glass a quick wipe with a vinegar soaked kitchen paper towel. Rinse and let dry in the sun. Use vinegar if that wasn't clear. Set up the new tank as desired. If your other tanks are free of pests, you can use the filter media to seed this new tank. Wash the filter media in the water of the new tank. Yes, it will be dirty for a while, but you will have seeded it with millions of beneficial bacteria and probably cycle the new tank in a week. PRL, real PRL, are pretty rare in Aus. They will demand a high price for them, so check the legitimacy of the PRL. Find out the PRL history. Nice looking CRS is not the same as PRL.

Hi all. I'm a newbie. I'm keeping a 90 litre tank with cherry shrimp and daphnia together. I'm feeding them spirulina and commercial shrimp food. Does anyone know what else I should be feeding them? Anyone else have this mix of tankmates?

Melanotaenia praecox seem like a good candidate for shrimp. They almost never feed off the bottom, and are a mid to high swimmer. These fish do best in groups of 10 or more. Minimum 5. Always have more females than males. How large is your tank? ? Oh no, get the Apistos out now.

Hi all. shrimps added in 1-7 October final report. everything looks good for now?? I will report again in 2 months.

Do you mix the yeast with water or do you sprinkle it dry?

Hey @Baccus, I know it’s been over a year since u posted this, but I’m looking for a colourful, relatively large and active (yet still shrimp safe!) fish to replace my Apistogramma Njisseni pair, whom I fear will soon be able to eat my shrimp very easily (if they aren’t already the reason I can’t find 3 of my shrimp!). Do you still recommend dwarf neon rainbows? And what’s the minimum group size I can keep them in for them to be happy, a pair, a trio, or a larger school? Cheers!

Thanks. I was feeding the daphnia yeast before I put the shrimp in. I am nervous about the shrimp and the yeast though. Do you think it is safe?

Hey FMuscle, I know it’s been a while since anyone posted on this page, but I was wondering how you went with honey Gouramis and shrimp? I’m considering replacing my Apistogramma Njisseni pair with some of those to avoid predation upon nano shrimp.

Good stuff Grubs, forgot about that.

Hey Guys I have had huge success with my Taiwan bee tanks, currently using HOB aquaclear , ADA Amazonia substrate, breeding very successfully.. but I am trying to set up another tank, my 6th tank actually ? and want a different colour substrate. I am worried about my ph, might be too low using africana or Amazonia light, has anyone had success with either it will be another pure TB tank. Instagram @24shrimp

If you are worried that pH will drop too low, then Africana would be a better choice as that does not have the same pH lowering and buffering capabilities as Amazonia light.

I'm particularly worried about the amphipods which have become a bit of a plague and burrowed into the substrate. But i guess removing all the aquasoil should resolve the issues. Hence why i want to run a diluted bleach compound into the system to ensure everything is taken care of. Would I be able to do the same with vinegar; running a diluted solution of water and vinegar into the tank and this will eradicate the problems for a restart? I actually didn't think of this; I will definitely give this a go; i rinse out one of the dual sponges in the CBS tank with the aquarium water and use it to seed the tank. Great idea! Thanks @jayc I was going to try a reputable breeder in QLD; but agree with you. Especially for someone very amateurish as me; i'd be easily fooled into buying the wrong type. Thanks again for the advice!

Thanks. Think I'm going to order from Pro Shrimp, get 5 cheeries and 3 amano, just to play it safe.

Hi Simon, Thanks for the warm welcome! I've been using the GenChem No Planaria; honestly it worked so well the first time and most of the snail population/worms all disappeared and i tried to remove most of the larger rotting worms but didn't have a single casualty, they were Neocaridinas and i guess they were much hardier. But i did notice the packet wasn't sealed properly when I went back to use it a few months later. I haven't seen the SLAqua Z1 available in Australia before. I used to own a marine aquarium previously with fish only; then i changed after a few years to a planted aquarium with CO2 and then to a smaller set up with shrimp. Currently have three tanks (2 foot with RC Shrimp, 1 foot cube with BB and another 1 foot cube with CBS); I've never had to really restart a tank but would rather consult SKF then have a crack at it myself. I wasn't use if using bleach to rid of all the hitch hikers was the right method. And i have no idea what ratio of bleach to water I should be using for a 27L cube. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Yeah i think RO water at stage 6 would be a bit over kill; especially with the time it takes to make the water. Thanks for that. I've got about 40-50 with about 10 as breeding adults and the rest as juveniles still; I'm not a picky person when it comes to culling; I'm enjoying the hobby not as breeder to sell to others. I'd figure it would be good fun to pass the time, water changes and watching the little fellas shrimp around picking and prodding at things. Also i have no idea about the F1, cross breeding, taibees, taitibees, etc. just more interested in seeing the differing colors. I set up the CBS and BB tanks at the same time which also sit next to each other; the CBS population has exploded to about 100+ shrimp where the BB is a bit slower. Is that quite common; are BB more fragile? I thought about trying to have a got at PRL. Any advice? Cheers, Dan Hey jayc, Thanks for that; phew lucky i bought a spare way nack. Yeha i have lots of denitrate left over. Also hello fellow Sydney-Sider! Dan

There are so many varieties of food you can be feeding them. Have a read of this Food & Nutrition section for more ideas. Leaves, flowers, vege scraps. Frozen bloodworms. Bee Pollen.

Cherries don't do much, if anything, to help with algae clean up. Amanos are much better here. So get a few for the tank, maybe 4 for the size of your tank.

You run the risk of reintroducing planaria into the new tank if you reuse your old media and sponge filter. That's the only thing I would alter out of your list.

Thanks again for all the help. I was only really getting the amanos to help with algae and plant maintence, but maybe I should just get a few more cherries. If I got another 5 this weekend, should I look into getting some shrimp food? Thinking about fish in the future (another week or 2), what would you suggesting stocking. I was thinking about a few green neon tetra's and maybe 2 otos.

I can't recommend rainbowfish enough! There's a rainbowfish for every situation, I swear! You get ones that take brackish water, soft water, hard water, ones that get gigantic, ones that are tiny, ones that take the cold and ones that like it hot... and don't even get me started on the colour forms of the same species you can get!

On Saturday last weekend I had a visit from my 5 year old grandson, mum & dad. After the initial excitement of visiting pop on the boat and a thourough inspection of my new tank set up upstairs,( and of course some 5 year old advice on how to do things better) down we came to see my baby yellows and to have a cuppa. Now at the mention of food young Jake is usually the first one there, but not this time, I saw him in the room with my yellows quietly crying to himself. To cut a long story short,he eventually came out with the question as to why all of his shrimpies were dead? I was very supprised because he has had them for about six weeks now. I decided to pay him a visit on Sunday with some more shrimp and to check out what had gone wrong. It turns out that Dad is an over zelous shrimp/fish keeper with a bad record of fish stock dying on him. this is what I found wrong. Dad cleanes the fish tank inside once a week? great ,but uses the commonly used sponge and scourer from the kitchen. Dad changes water every week? about 80% with straight tap water. Dad cleans the filter every week? rinces it with straight tap water. Tank has a heater set at 29 deg? tank sits alongside a west facing window with no backing ? tank gets very hot. algea love the conditions. My advice for dad, ( what I do) Move the tank away from direct light, reducing algea growth. Only top up the tank once a week and do 15% water changes once a month. Age the water change water by leaving it outside in the bucket for at least 24 hours Turn the heater down to around 25 deg. will suit the shrimp and his tetras DONT!!! touch the filter, unless it is absolutely necessary, then only rince in the tank water that you have removed from the tank before doing a water change. Now to see if the lesson sinks in. Enjoy! Footnote: My son inlaw recons I am wrong Because he is only doing what his mate has told him to do, and "HE" keeps fish. OOh Well guess I had better retire, can't put an old head on young sholders so the saying goes.

Hell Yeah! Apistos will snack on shrimps like there is no tomorrow. There are so many things you can feed your shrimps. Go have a read of a few posts in the "food & nutrition" subforum.