KirkyArcher
Fish Addict
Just using the simple guide of 10 parts nitrogen to 1 part Phosphate, so if you're at around 20ppm nitrate should be balancing it with 2ppm phosphate!
KirkyArcher
Fish Addict
Yeah it's just a very rough (bib and braces) guide, to balance nitrogen and phosphates without going into atoms and ions, to get good plant growth and prevent algae going daft, I've recently had to up my phosphate (hadn't been testing)
as I had a bit of green spot algae forming on my Crypts dosed phosphate back up to 2ppm against my background and constant 20ppm nitrate, and GSA is rapidly going already a week later!
I added 2 Amano shrimp to the tank today. Really nervous about it as I've never had shrimp before and I'm afraid they won't like my water. At the moment they're just clinging to the corner of the glass so I'm not convinced they look totally happy.
KirkyArcher
Fish Addict
Only thing I'd suggest is to check what's in your ferts IE copper, low levels of Chelated Copper @ 0.0005% can be tolerated by shrimp! Mine spend a lot of time hanging on the heater guard and I've had them for about 20 months now. yours are probably just acclimatising themselves to their new environment
I hope so Kirky! It's probably too early to read anything into behaviour yet!
I believe the copper in my chelated trace mix is too small an amount to bother them. The previous owner of the tank may have used a copper-based treatment though. I hope they're just settling in, fingers crossed!
I believe the copper in my chelated trace mix is too small an amount to bother them. The previous owner of the tank may have used a copper-based treatment though. I hope they're just settling in, fingers crossed!
Phew I just spotted a shrimp, alive and well.
They disappeared the day after they were introduced and all I could see was what looked like a half-eaten shrimp on the sand - it took me a while to realise it was probably just a shed exoskeleton! I found one shrimp wedged in a clump of moss at the back of the tank, where he stayed motionless for two days straight. I'd just convinced myself he must have perished and then he disappeared again.
Anyway I've just seen a shrimp hiding deep in some thick moss and looks like it is happily feeding away!
To be honest there are so many hiding places in this tank, my bright-red platies can completely disappear for a whole day before I see them again so I won't be surprised if I don't get to see much of these little brown guys!
They disappeared the day after they were introduced and all I could see was what looked like a half-eaten shrimp on the sand - it took me a while to realise it was probably just a shed exoskeleton! I found one shrimp wedged in a clump of moss at the back of the tank, where he stayed motionless for two days straight. I'd just convinced myself he must have perished and then he disappeared again.
Anyway I've just seen a shrimp hiding deep in some thick moss and looks like it is happily feeding away!
To be honest there are so many hiding places in this tank, my bright-red platies can completely disappear for a whole day before I see them again so I won't be surprised if I don't get to see much of these little brown guys!
Various bits of old & current news to keep the journal up to date:
Video
First, I think a lot of people have already seen this video I put together from another thread, but I wanted to include it in the journal for completeness! It's my attempt to show the growth of the tank over its first four months.
http
/www.youtube.com/watch?v=A46WpFawQf0
Shrimp
Both shrimp are still alive after two weeks in the tank which is a relief. Call me paranoid but I half expected my tapwater to be lethal to shrimp or something
The bad news is that they're both hiding, I never see them and I'm not convinced they're eating much. I'm wondering whether to buy more shrimp to try to increase their confidence or just accept that this tank is just a scary place for shrimp and they won't ever be happy in it
Fish
I was really pleased with the results of this photo of my male threadfins in February FOTM, considering the high quality of the entries I was very happy to get joint 3rd place! Not bad for someone who can't take fish photos!
Thanks to everyone who voted!
CO2
My diffusion saga continues! For a while I tried a wooden airstone with decent results after the usual airstones started crumbling into my tank. I've also found and fixed an air leak around the top of my scrubber bottle, then decided to try the glass nano diffuser again - finally I've had some bubbles coming out of it! Hopefully this means I can now use a proper ceramic diffuser instead of airstones! I'm now waiting to see if I can get a decent colour out my DC with it. I notice some BBA sneaking on to my filter intake this week so I really need to settle on a diffuser and stop mucking about with it!
Here's a photo of my CO2 setup. You may notice my yeast reactors are named Clive, Kirky and Tom (because Yellow, Red and Blue got boring) - some of you may recognise the names
all giants in the world of plants & CO2
Plants
It looks like the Narrow Leaf java fern I originally bought from Aquaessentials is a mini variety and doesn't want to grow any bigger. I thought all Narrow Leaf java fern was the tall-growing variety when I bought it
. At least I have some of the tall stuff which I managed to get from someone else's tank! I've taken some of the short stuff out and hopefully the long leaves will have more space to take over as intended.
Sadly my Cryptocoryne Undulatus brown seems to have mostly melted away. I had high hopes for it as I love crypts and the Beckettii in my other tank looks beautiful, but this never really managed to get established. I fear it may have been out-competed for light by the Java fern explosion. I'll be placing an order within the next week for some new plants to try out. I feel this tank needs more plants!
Video
First, I think a lot of people have already seen this video I put together from another thread, but I wanted to include it in the journal for completeness! It's my attempt to show the growth of the tank over its first four months.
http
/www.youtube.com/watch?v=A46WpFawQf0Shrimp
Both shrimp are still alive after two weeks in the tank which is a relief. Call me paranoid but I half expected my tapwater to be lethal to shrimp or something
Fish
I was really pleased with the results of this photo of my male threadfins in February FOTM, considering the high quality of the entries I was very happy to get joint 3rd place! Not bad for someone who can't take fish photos!
CO2
My diffusion saga continues! For a while I tried a wooden airstone with decent results after the usual airstones started crumbling into my tank. I've also found and fixed an air leak around the top of my scrubber bottle, then decided to try the glass nano diffuser again - finally I've had some bubbles coming out of it! Hopefully this means I can now use a proper ceramic diffuser instead of airstones! I'm now waiting to see if I can get a decent colour out my DC with it. I notice some BBA sneaking on to my filter intake this week so I really need to settle on a diffuser and stop mucking about with it!
Here's a photo of my CO2 setup. You may notice my yeast reactors are named Clive, Kirky and Tom (because Yellow, Red and Blue got boring) - some of you may recognise the names
Plants
It looks like the Narrow Leaf java fern I originally bought from Aquaessentials is a mini variety and doesn't want to grow any bigger. I thought all Narrow Leaf java fern was the tall-growing variety when I bought it
Sadly my Cryptocoryne Undulatus brown seems to have mostly melted away. I had high hopes for it as I love crypts and the Beckettii in my other tank looks beautiful, but this never really managed to get established. I fear it may have been out-competed for light by the Java fern explosion. I'll be placing an order within the next week for some new plants to try out. I feel this tank needs more plants!
KirkyArcher
Fish Addict
Deeply honoured to be thought of as a bottle full of Farting Fungi
Good news and bad news...
The good news is that my shrimp are doing well, I now have six Amano shrimp who are all out confidently exploring the tank and looking very happy as far as I can tell - although I only ever see five at one time, I can't be sure the sixth is still alive until I see all six together!
I absolutely love watching the shrimp, they are definitely the stars of the tank now. The kids and even the husband find them fascinating too - my husband who has no interest in my fish will now actually spend time watching the tank to see the shrimp!
Shrimp casing cast off in my anubias petite!
Yep that's GSA on the anubias - no idea why that's appearing! Although after all that mucking around with the CO2 I'm not surprised there's a bit of algae. At least the shrimp are doing a fine job of cleaning my tank for me!
The bad news is that some of the fish have a cottony substance on their lips - suspected cotton mouth or columnaris. I think it was originally introduced along with the harlequins from the LFS but quickly disappeared. However now one of my platies is suffering from an injured lip - I think due to bullying by another platy - and the disease has regained a foothold and is affecting some of the threadfins as well. I'm treating the tank with Melafix.
The good news is that my shrimp are doing well, I now have six Amano shrimp who are all out confidently exploring the tank and looking very happy as far as I can tell - although I only ever see five at one time, I can't be sure the sixth is still alive until I see all six together!
I absolutely love watching the shrimp, they are definitely the stars of the tank now. The kids and even the husband find them fascinating too - my husband who has no interest in my fish will now actually spend time watching the tank to see the shrimp!
Shrimp casing cast off in my anubias petite!
Yep that's GSA on the anubias
- no idea why that's appearing! Although after all that mucking around with the CO2 I'm not surprised there's a bit of algae. At least the shrimp are doing a fine job of cleaning my tank for me!The bad news is that some of the fish have a cottony substance on their lips - suspected cotton mouth or columnaris. I think it was originally introduced along with the harlequins from the LFS but quickly disappeared. However now one of my platies is suffering from an injured lip - I think due to bullying by another platy - and the disease has regained a foothold and is affecting some of the threadfins as well. I'm treating the tank with Melafix.
Woohoo all six shrimp confirmed alive and well!
Fish still have signs of mouth infections. The Melafix appears to have helped somewhat but it hasn't cleared up completely. I will continue treatment for a second week but then I might have to start looking for a serious antibiotic.
Fish still have signs of mouth infections. The Melafix appears to have helped somewhat but it hasn't cleared up completely. I will continue treatment for a second week but then I might have to start looking for a serious antibiotic.
Great looking tank daizeUK, the centre piece works really well and now that it's had some time to establish itself it looks very natural.
Am I wrong or is the sand is looking much better? Is that down to the shrimps?
And finally, how are the fish? You mentioned they are showing signs of cottony mouths.
Blessings
Am I wrong or is the sand is looking much better? Is that down to the shrimps?
And finally, how are the fish? You mentioned they are showing signs of cottony mouths.
Blessings
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