Leaderboard

It's been about 3 months since start up and the aquascape aquarium and filters weren't new. The aquarium had been empty of fish but water and algae were all growing in it for couple of years prior to that. So, I think it's safe to say it is cycled by now.

i'm trying something and wondered if anybody else have tried it. I have seen from many fellow aquarium keepers that, to lower PH in your water, adding driftwood, leaves, etc. will reduce PH and the tannins in the wood and dried leaves will do the trick. So, I thought, black tea might do the same. I drink black tea and, since I have used teabags every time I have tea, why not try it in my higher-PH aquarium and see. I checked with simple strip and, indeed, the black tea I was drinking was more less acidic, below 6.8 PH. My well water for my aquarium (30 gallon) is about 7.2 PH. While it is fine for my fish and shrimp, I just wanted to experiment a bit. Seeing that black tea is safe to drink, it should be safe for fish tanks as well. I guess if you want quick result you could use a fresh new teabag but I thought that might be too strong. Anyways, just thought I put it out there and see. My result is, yes, it does reduce the PH but slowly. I am cautiously checking and see if my fish/shrimp will behave differently in lower PH.

Here is a picture of what they have sent me! They sent me this photo and they looks to be a lovely mixture! I already have 2 red wine and a couple of blue steel shrimp and a red bolt - that I know about! I will take a photo or two of them at some point in the tank IF all goes well this time! Simon They're in the tank and all went well with that!

If fresh foods don't attract the snails (it doesn't mine either) they go after fish food wafers, algae wafers etc in my tank so if you have some of those it is worth a try in a shallow dish so it is easy to remove the food and snails after an hour etc! Fresh food worked for detritus worms but snails seem to prefer shrimp/fish food - well mine do for sure! That TDS has risen a fair bit, any idea why and how long that took? Do you TOP UP the tank with pure RO water (No GH+}, as it doesn't have a cover? I don't see anything that may cause that in the picture? Simon

Nice shot of Neons and Neos (caridina).

@Crabby Yeah I'm not interested in them, if they were legal I'd look into them but they aren't. I have a piece of cucumber in the tank at the moment actually, no snails on it, couple shrimp have taken an interest, although curious I tested the TDS and is now 164.

Usually just do a top up with RO water, don't use any additives. I'll have a look for some wafers, see how that goes.

BIG DAY here today, expecting the (Final) Taiwan bee shrimps today! I shall set up the dripper etc ready for their arrival! I plan to do only the shrimp today so it shall hopefully go well - I am determined to give it my best shot as this is the last attempt before turning it into a fish tank.. My previous tank setup started breeding mid March (spring here now, just) so hopefully that may happen this time but that will depend on whether the shrimp are old enough and live long enough! Simon

I’ve found them for sale a few times on gumtree and stuff, but it’s probably not the best idea to be owning something illegal. They are here, just not meant to be.