Really Dirty Fry Tank

[arielsworld17974]

Well I do add aquarium salt. About half the recommended dose. I don't normally trust them because I have heard that they're not very informative. This lfs I trust most of time though. They seem to have been correct on most things. Although I always try and do my research. If they do decide to have babies, then oh well, they buy fish and other aquatic creatures from me.
Oh yeah, why else would I come to you guys if I didn't fully trust what they were saying? (; I love this site for great information!

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Then you may love this.... There's no need to use aquarium salt on a regular basis. It's best used as a general tonic when a fish has an injury, or for external parasites, but it isn't required, and can actually be harmful in the long run if used continually.



I wouldn't worry about it, but would just leave it for now, and just not replace it as you do your water changes.

 

[arielsworld17974]

Are you serious? They had told me that swordtails need aquarium salt. ): maybe I don't trust them. Although they seem to be fine with the salt, for now I guess.
I feel very ignorant. I had read so many things about people using it but also have read so.many things saying not to.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Swords are fish that prefer 'harder water', that doesn't have to be achieved through salt, but simply through minerals dissolved in the water.

Having swords, it's ok to have it, but it's certainly not necessary. If you know what your tap water is in terms of kH and gH, that would be enough to confirm what would be necessary for them. The 'salt' thing is a fairly old myth that gets passed around, just like some folks will tell you that you can't keep mollies without salt. Also false. While mollies are fine with salt, in fact, they are actually capable of dealing with full marine salinity, and have been found in full marine environments in nature, they do not require salt. They do prefer hard water, but do not require 'salt'.

 

[arielsworld17974]

Well I didn't know this. My water is pretty hard to begin with. So I guess that alone will be fine. But I put it in my main tank as well. With angelfish, gourami, rainbow shark, barbs, etc. Hopefully I haven't hurt them by using it

 

[eaglesaquarium]

They are fine with a bit, but those fish prefer softer water. I'd suggest that they will be fine, just remove it through regular water changes... Generally, soft water fish do a little better in harder water than vice versa.


The next water change you do on that tank, just do a littler larger, up to 50%.

 

[arielsworld17974]

Well I'm due for a very good cleaning and water change tomorrow so I will get to it thanks so much!!

 

[eaglesaquarium]

You are very welcome.

 

[Baccus]

From the two pictures of the shrimp it looks like you have at least two females, if the third one has less colour and is smaller than its a good chance its a male. There is a chance that the reason the shop told you the cherry shrimp would not breed in your tank, because they might only be stocking females. Its hard to do unless the shrimp where all adult when they arrived. Generally most people want the females more than males since the females are generally slightly bigger than males and its the females that often have the best colour.
If you do have a mix of sexes then they will breed, but the beauty of that is depending on how big your fry are the newly born shrimplets can be another food source for the fry.
If you get really interested in shrimp you can then start selectively breeding the shrimp that suit your tastes best. Right now I am in the process of re-establishing my dark red cherry shrimp and in the process I am getting a tank of chocolate and black cherry shrimp which will create their own breeding groups and I am also finding the odd green, yellow and blue which if I had the room and time would also get seperated out into tanks of just one colour.
Cherry shrimp make great breeding projects, because their gestation is quick and you can quite quickly see colour improvements with each generation.
 
With the aquarium salt I would stop using it, especially if your water is naturally hard, also most of your other fish are soft water so the salts where not necessary for them. I would gradually wean the fish off the aquarium salts until your just using your  locally supplied water. But keep an eye out for any distress or illnesses that may arise once the aquarium salts have stopped being added..

 

[arielsworld17974]

I wouldn't mind them breeding. It's always fun to raise babies. the other shrimp is a lot bigger but doesn't have much red at all. So could it still be a male?

 

[Baccus]

It could still be a male, can you see any usually yellow or orange colouring just behind the head of the shrimp? About where a saddle might sit if you imagined a horse wearing a saddle, This is the unfertilised eggs inside the female which is helpfully called the 'saddle'.

 

[RCA]

For cleaning out the bottom of your fry tank try a turkey baster

 

[betta fish]

From your pics I'd say you already have a male there, on the left, the female is on the right, they are great shrimp! I bought 3 around 2 years ago now, one male and two females, and have had many young from them and still have a healthy population going now after not adding anymore fresh stock, though they have slowed down a bit.
Looking at your pic your tank doesn't look all that dirty 

 

[arielsworld17974]

Yeah two are really red and the other isn't really red at all. So.maybe 2 females and one male
My tank doesn't look that dirty?? It looks so filthy to me! There's like white hair growing on some of the rocks. And leftover food everywhere! I'm glad it doesn't look that dirty to others. Maybe it's because I'm a clean freak.

 

[RCA]

For cleaning out the bottom of your fry tank try a turkey baster

Get that uneaten food out or it will cause issues for all inhabitants in the tank. In my fry tanks I do not have any substrate, that way it is easier to clean and get out uneaten food etc. You will also be able to see if any pass away, before the shrimp get them that is . I would also feed less but more often to prevent this issue of uneaten food.

Can you post a full picture of your fry tank, maybe even a before and after.