Yeah, there is always a chance the fishes will eat or harass the shrimps... its definitely disheartening to see expensive shrimps disappearing one by one.
If you are keen on introducing shrimps as clean-up crew on a budget, then go for the low grade cherry shrimps or malayan shrimps that are sold in bulk bags, those shrimps do the same jobs and retail at around $10 for 50pcs (actual prices may differ depending on supply and demand), here was a discussion thread on them for reference:
http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum...lk-bags-at-LFS
With a larger population of cheap shrimps, they will be more effective and even if some get eaten, at least its not so "wallet-pain".
Alternatively, you could also consider getting yamato shrimps instead (usually costs $1-$2 each), they are excellent algae eaters and scavengers, and they grow to much larger size than tetras, so are less likely to be attacked or eaten by small fishes.
Only thing with yamato shrimps is their larger size (up to 5-6cm) can look abit out of scale in smaller tanks, so it depends on your preference.
Hello again, thanks for the advice. I'm contemplating whether I should try feeder/glass shrimps in the tank since they are readily available and cheap too. Yishun & clementi LFS are too far for me, each journey probably takes around 1hr +
Wish I could have a bigger tank so I could organize my aquascape better... I will be getting some bio media later, hopefully it's cheap.. Perhaps I'll be lucky if someone comes by and sells me bulk cherries in my area. Haha
Update: 9 April 2015
I'm in my panic mode again. Tested water parameters this morning and I was horrified by the results. I've been doing daily water changes of 20% topped with anti-chlorine with aged water. Furthermore, I've been dosing the tank daily with Beneficial Bacteria from Super Battle Bacteria 8000. I don't get what's causing the spike in ammonia level despite dosing BB and planting more fast growing plants. I always ensure not to overfeed the fishes & try to remove leftover food.
Please assist me in this issue. I'm currently at my wits end T-T
PH: 6.5
Ammonia: 5mg/l
Nitrite: 0.5mg/l
Nitrate: 10mg/l
What's your tank water volume? and how much did you dose?
What's the total quantity of livestock in the tank now?
I don't know the volume of the tank but it's a bit more than 1inch x 1inchOriginally Posted by rakurime
Currently with 15 fishes, size of 1inch or smaller. Mostly neon tetras, and I believe the bio load is pretty low. I've got 4 mature Aqua plants in the tank, dosing plant fertilizers once a week. Because of the increase in ammonia, I've been dosing close to 10ml of BB daily. I've yet to get my bio media yet.
Bro no bio media spike will happen. Too much fishes without media. Should be 1ft not 1 inch? Otherwise is super super cramped like sardine can.
Sorry, it's 1ft haha. Well, is there anything I can do now? I'll do a WC 20% later when I'm done with my shift. Not sure if my mate bought the bio media for me. Would it be wise to add a coral chip into the tank? I was told that the tank's condition isn't too critical, mainly thanks to my low PH. My fishes are still active, swarming for food pellets etc. I do hope their health isn't affected in the long run due to my inexperience, makes me feel remorseful.
Keep it simple.
Don't add too many stuff. Also are you sure you need to dose bacteria daily?
Without media you are pouring it almost all away.
Fishes will be this way if you see them tired....chances are you are too late. Where you stay? Get media ASAP.
Roger, first priority would be the bio media. I'll do what I can to save my fishes. I live in The East, Pasir Ris. Not many LFS in this area. Farmway doesn't seem to sell the stuffs I need.
Pasir ris farmway 3 got OTF aquarium, farmway 2 got aqua empire you can try.
Well, 1 small fish on its own is low-bioload, but 15 of those type of fishes in a 1ft tank that is still cycling with small filter without much bio-media is definitely an unbalanced situation.
While those bottled bacteria products can help (to some extent), they are only temporary solutions... without an established and stable population of naturally occuring beneficial bacteria, all the poop and pee from the fishes will constantly push up the ammonia levels and overload the system. Also remember that the soil substrate will also release ammonia due to the organic matter too.
Do note that while 20% water changes are good, in your current situation, its too little to make a difference. A 20% water change only removes 20% of ammonia... so if ammonia is 5ppm, it only becomes 4ppm after water change, which is still at high levels. The next day the ammonia levels climbs back up even higher, so the small water changes end up not having as much effect.
With high ammonia levels and livestock, you should do much larger water changes, try doing 50%-60% water changes (or even more if your livestock can tolerate the changes) to reduce the ammonia levels faster and keep it at a more managable level for the beneficial bacteria to handle.
Although your lower pH is helping to keep a higher percentage of ammonia in its less toxic form, there is still a percentage that is toxic. Higher ammonia levels will still result in toxic ammonia being present which affect the fishes short-term and long-term health. So reducing it is a priority.
Do not add coral chips into your tank, they will increase pH and that will start converting ammonia into its more toxic form, which will be dangerous for the livestock.
Last edited by Urban Aquaria; 9th Apr 2015 at 15:07.
15 fish in a tank that is less than 1 feet is way too much, do a 50% WC to see the decrease in ammonia, remove the livestock if possible just keep it as low as possible while those fishes that being removed can be kept in a pail with airstone and airpump to sustain for the time being as your tank is in its cycling stage, very critical.
And for your super battle bacteria, i think you have added way too much for such a small tank and its not meant for daily dose, as it requires time for your mechanical/biological filtration to make it work and speed up the nitrogen cycle, hence its not a magic solution to get an "immediate-cycled-tank" in days, do take note bio-media and time is the factor here .
for a starter, dose it only when you do a weekly WC and dose it just a few drops depending on how much water volume your tank is holding.
Hello again, I've given some of my fishes away in bid to lower the bio load. Done some major water changes & all fishes are doing fine for now. I've been to some LFS but they don't sell any bio media. Thus, can anyone recommend any LFS that does, preferably in the EAST?
Thats odd... most LFS will usually stock various types of bio-media for sale. Did you check with the shop bosses about those items?
Anyways, i'm not too familiar with the east side LFS, but you could check at places like Seaview, not really "east" but they have a wide selection of equipment and media to choose from.
The last place i strongly remember seeing it is C328 and polyartz but thats west.aquatic avenue too.
else east side, Green chapter should have. Or you hop over to the road, freshnmarine. But Gc is bigger shop, better chance.
If you are in the 'far east'.
The various shops (freshwater or marine) at Pasir Ris Farmway 2 also have bio media for sure.
Once again, thanks all for the input. Heading to the farmway to check up on available bio filter media. Hopefully they do have the ones I actually need. Also, is it recommended to buy stress zymes or whatever it's called? I heard that it actually helps with the BB growth in the long run.
Been having problems with my Betta in the community tank. It attacks any living organism that it sees. Is this supposed to be it's normal behavior? I've isolated the betta & kinda sad that it shredded my shrimps... Worst mistake ever
Bettas are normally kept alone for its aggressiveness.... yeah
betta will usually disturb those with flowing long fins and slow swimmers.
My previous betta is usually the one that got bullied by my cardinals , harlequin .
As for shrimps my yamatos didn't have any issues, not too sure for smaller shrimps.
Dont invest on expensive items. Just keep the tank running for 2 weeks with fishes feeding and tank will get cycled. I never had any problems in my tanks on cycling.
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