Is it due to the fact that you are not using any filter ?
water are a little bit yellowish now.. you can see the different between the water color and the white A4 paper background.
I did 10-20% water changes alternate days, and it still come to the same color..
I read some about 'bacteria bloom', is it what i am facing now?
what causes it? too much shrimp food?
how can i get my water become clear again?
if i turn off the light, cover the whole tank without light for 2-3 days, will it helps? will my plant get affected without light for 2-3days?
Thank you!
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my 4 months old 0.5 ft tank with 1 pigmydory and 13 shrimps..
Is it due to the fact that you are not using any filter ?
Bacterial bloom is possible, but its usually a clear cloudiness... with such a small tank, the yellowish tint could also be due to the tannins being released by the soil or organic matter rotting, which is probably enough to tint the small volume of water. More water changes should help remove the tint. The cloudiness should gradually clear up once the bacteria bloom runs out of organic waste to consume, water changes and reduce feeding may help too.
Quite likely the ammonia, nitrite or nitrate levels are building up in the tank, so do add fast growing plants to soak up the excess nutrients.
I experienced that when i had a 15cm by 15cm small cube tank, for keeping a pair of guppy which is only decorated with white stones and a piece of driftwood tied with moss.
no filter except an air-pump hooked up to bubble air-diffuser. So i guessed the cause of the cloudy/murky water is due to lack of filtration in the tank and excessive food that rot and clouding up the water.
Same too, experienced that with a quarantine tank with no filter. Forgot to do water changes for 1-2 weeks and the water quickly became yellow and murky. Please consider a filter as shrimps are very sensitive to trace amounts of ammonia.
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tks for the tips, i will try to reduce the food and keep the 10-20% water change.. i hope i don't starve them and they start killing each other..
i do understand the important of the filter. However this is a very small tank that i keep in office, i would like to keep it simple(quiet) and low mantainance.. i hope monday-friday water change should be fine..
Y3H has a good point, the small hang-on-filters are easy to use and quiet, very suitable for small desktop tanks.
You can look at getting the Dophin H-80, costs just a few bucks and its a very quiet small hang-on filter (so quiet you'll sometimes wonder if its on), and uses just 2.5W. Just tune the flow adjustment to the lowest (since your tank volume is small) and it'll filter the water well.
I always keep one unit hooked to my tanks to maintain a viable beneficial bacteria colony, so whenever i need to i can just transfer it to any holding or quarantine tank to instantly handle the new bio-load.
With a small hang-on filter, the sponges will trap all the suspended detritus and your tank's water will clear up very quickly (and will be clear everyday), then you'll just need to do a partial water change weekly and take out the sponge periodically to rinse in the removed tank water.... certainly alot less work than having to keep doing water changes every day.
I find that my ocean free hof does not seem to suck up debris like floating rotting leaves etc very well..when turn up the flow, outlet water flow will become too strong that the flora dances..lol..dunno how also..lol
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Lol..This hobby is getting more and more interesting..chemistry + physics + botany + guesstimation..etc etc. .loving it!!!
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so.. i did 20% water change for the past 4days (weekend excluded), added in 2 stalks of plants(from colleague) and 1 mori ball (S$3 from c32, the shrimps like it... i also reduced feeding..
i think the water seem cleared now.. just hope everything in the tank can grow well..
Shrimp_20140617.jpg
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