A newbie on a 2 ft tank

[j.c.koh]

Thanks UA, really appreciate it.

[j.c.koh]

Today I did the treatment the dripping method with the up aqua buffer barrel recommended by UA.



I took out a liter of water from my tank and into the barrel, poured in the paraguard, mix it and let it drip slowly, takes about 45 minutes.
I went for the full dose.

The difference is night and day.

yesterday when I poured the med directly in the tank, after a minute or two some went into panic mode.
they were swimming all over the place as if trying to find a way out of the tank.
I had a emergency bucket of aged water beside me, if anyone of them flips, I would do the water change immediately.
thankfully nothing happens.

Today when using the buffer barrel they were calm through out the whole time.
no hiding, not jumpy, just shrimps doing their daily shrimp things.

Thanks again UA, I couldn't imagine stressing the shrimps daily for the next 2/3 weeks.

[tetrakid]

It's acclimatisation. Conversely, if fish are raised in a tank with gradual increase in toxicity, they would be comfortable, whereapon a big water change with clean water will also present great shock and stress.

[j.c.koh]

@tetrakid,

Yeah it kind of reminds me about the frog in boiling water vs the frog in cold water slowly heating it to boiling point experiment.

[j.c.koh]

I never thought I would ask this question but here goes,

My shrimp has been breeding at alarming rate.
The eggs had just hatched not too long ago and now they are all pregnant again... At this rate sooner or later the tank will get overrun by them.

This there a way that I can control their breeding behavior?

If not is there any place where the water conditions are suitable for them? I plan to release some into the wild when the time comes.

[jackychun]

I never thought I would ask this question but here goes,

My shrimp has been breeding at alarming rate.
The eggs had just hatched not too long ago and now they are all pregnant again... At this rate sooner or later the tank will get overrun by them.

This there a way that I can control their breeding behavior?

If not is there any place where the water conditions are suitable for them? I plan to release some into the wild when the time comes.

Hi bro JC,

Congratulations on the success!

The shrimps normally has very low bioload in the tank, so that should be alright just leave them there IMO.

To reduce the quantity, you can put some predators in the tank to control it, if you want. But please don't release it to the wild (like longkang). It might change the ecosystem in nature. It sounds big, but that is what people said. Haha.


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[fireblade]

congrats on your success on breeding the shrimps.
please do not release them in the wild... it is as good as flashing them in the toilet.
Firstly, Based on your experience, do you want to use the dripping method before releasing the shrimps in the wild?
Secondly, I think once you pour them in the wild, they'll become food for other bigger fish in there.

unless your "wild" is a school pond or condo pond, I think you should refrain from doing that.

I think many people out there will like to adopt your shrimps. just post it ... but not here in AQ because you are not allowed to.
if you stay near Tiong Bahru or Clementi area, I am more then willing to help you take care of them...

I never thought I would ask this question but here goes,

My shrimp has been breeding at alarming rate.
The eggs had just hatched not too long ago and now they are all pregnant again... At this rate sooner or later the tank will get overrun by them.

This there a way that I can control their breeding behavior?

If not is there any place where the water conditions are suitable for them? I plan to release some into the wild when the time comes.

[j.c.koh]

@fireblade,

Thanks for the reply, Im trying to find ways that would discouraged them from future breeding.

the population is still in control for now.
If it continues like this, it will be an issue.

The things that I'm afraid about posting adoptions on other forums is, some might adopt the shrimps to feed it the their fishes. If that's the case I would rather they take their chances in the wild.

If you are able to help me take care of them, I'll pm you when the population gets out of hand, probably in 6 months time if the breeding rate continues like this.

[fuurrr]

Hi J.C

Instead of putting them up for adoption, you could also impose a fee for potential caretakers or newbies to get a chance to try out keeping these shrimps.

[fireblade]

another way is bring to LFS to exchange for plants or food.. some of them do take in ...

[Urban Aquaria]

It's good that your tank conditions are optimal and stable enough to allow the shrimps to breed well, this is how a healthy tank should be.

Most of my tanks also have actively breeding shrimp populations too (oddly the most productive ones tend to be those that are neglected). Once production is in full swing, their numbers usually double every 2-3 months. What i do is simply pick out the lower grade ones in batches and sell or give away to other hobbyists (just join any shrimp chat or facebook groups to trade). This is also a form of constant culling to improve the grade and color of your shrimp population.

Note that not all shrimplets that hatch will make it to juvenile and adult size, newborn shrimps still have many challenges ahead as they grow. There will be a percentage of each batch that will naturally die off along the way at each stage of growth, so its normal to see some attrition rate. Its survival of the fittest in the shrimp world.

[j.c.koh]

Guys, thanks for the suggestions.
I'll choose one of them when the time comes.

[j.c.koh]

Guys, I'm having some problems with my green neons, any help would be appreciated.
I'll first do a update on my current state of the tank.

today is the end of 2nd week of the ich treatment, no casualties.
during the 1st week there's a sudden outbreak that had all fishes covered in multiple white spots.
today upon close observation, all white spots are gone. I'm going to run the treatment for a other week for safety measures.

Now for the problem, my green neons had not been eating since last week. ( 7 days )
I usually feed my fishes once a day before i go to work, they will always go nuts over the food.
but since last Friday, all of them stop eating, eating and spiting out immediately.
the fish food have not expired and I seal it tight after every feeding.

this is the food I use :



On day 4 I got worried, maybe they are sick of having the same food everyday.
I went to the LFS and brought the new life spectrum thinking they will like the change.



I was wrong, I crushed the pellets to tiny powder-like before feeding. they don't seems interested at all. I've tried switching food daily but without success.
By now some of them should be dead already but they are still around, swimming around full of energy. what's up with them??

I can only think of two explanation:

either the medication is making them behave this way or they have been snacking on the shrimplets making them uninterested with the fish food.
How do I get them to start feeding again??

[j.c.koh]

I've added a few new members to my tank, I'll do an update.


The ich problem has been resolved after 2 weeks of medication, all my fishes survived.
Shrimp population went down 50% due to the green neons constantly eating the shrimplets. The shrimplets were good at hiding, is just that the green neons plays a better game of hide and seek. Eventually the shrimplets outgrown the size of their mouth leaving them no choice but the feed on the food I offer.


Green water is no longer an issue, I added a double dose seachem purigen in my filter and it clears up in a day. it might not be green water after all, maybe it's something in the set up that taints the water since day one, that would explain why the UV sterilizer had no effect on it even when on for 72 hours.


With the tank at it's tip top shape I decided to add more fishes into the tank. I went over to AA one evening for a look and brought home these followings:

6 clown killifish - 3 male, 3 female.
4 gertudae - 2 male, 2 female


I read that clown killifishs likes little flow in the water so I switched the normal lily pipe to the spin type that I had with me for a full day to relief some stress for them while in a new environment.

For gertudae, it's the 1st time I brought home a fish with zero research, I don't know what they are, I just look at them in the display tank and said to myself " I have to bring them home! " I later found out it's common name is spotted blue eye.



Pardon the messy carpet, I've been busy lately, haven't trim it in weeks.
This is the first time I'm using the spin type lily pipe and this is what I think:

I would not recommend anyone using it on a 15 gallon or more tank, it has little to no water movement.
Can't help but to think large amount of water has been neglected on the far side and too many dead spots.

I think it would only be useful if you run a big filter on a 45cm or less tank.

On the first night one of the male clown killi decided to jump out of the tank. what causes it is a mystery because no one went out to scare them that night. Now I'm left with 5.





These are two of my clown killis, on the second day when I switched back to the normal lily pipe, they are all not used to it, always swimming against the flow. I had to off my filter for a few times for them to catch their breath. Eventually they are smart enough to figure out which surface area had little flow so they can do their "parking" here. and now they are not as jumpy as they used to when I first introduce them.
they recognize my face as the "food machine".





These two are my spotted blue eye, currently at their juvenile stage, once matured it's top and bottom fins will open up like wings. (base on google image). love them for their tiny wings on top of their head. I had no problem with them. The moment I introduced they start looking for food. it seems they are able to take care of themselves.

I bought some marimo balls for my shrimp's entertainment. usually I put the balls behind the main rock hidden away from view. but from time to time they get moved around during night time.

[j.c.koh]

my rocks starts growing these nice algae on them. I really like the look. I think in a few months time it would look better.



this view you can see the killis at their parking spot.

I think that's all for now, if there's anything new I'll post an update again.

[jackychun]

The tank looks very lush now JC! Well done! How are the clown killies and spotted blue eye doing? I am curious about those fish and might take a try.


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[j.c.koh]

Thanks bro jacky!
They are doing fine, I think you should try them, they are interesting to watch and they do show affection towards the owners. And given your nice tank setup with lots of shady place, you should have no problem housing them happily.

I will share with you the things I learned from the 20 something days of having them, hopefully I will be able to answer a few of the questions should you decide to house them.


At first I do had my doubts about keeping the clown killis, every info on the web says that they are good at jumping and best to have a lid on the tank. I decided to take the risk anyway and this is what I learned from them so far.

The first 10 days is the most important upon introducing them. I recommend putting in some floaters and lower the water volume 3 cms down before the intro. After my last update I had a close call with one jumping, hitting against the tip of the tank then falling back to the water. Then I decided to lower the water for a week till they really settle down.

At first they would jump just about anything. Sudden movement, loud noise, sudden on/off of lights etc. You have to be careful not to make sudden movement in front of your tank, they will get less nervous day by day and before you know it, they will start swimming in front of the tank, wagging their fins welcoming you when you go to check on them.

I don't know about your tetras, but my green neons had some serious trust issues, after all I had done for them they still hide from me the moment they saw me. But for the killis and spotted blues, whenever I feed or do maintenance with hands above the tank, they would swim below the hands following it, it's quite comforting to know that they do not view me as a threat to them.

I'm guessing they could still jump out if they want to, but if there's no threats and feels secure they didn't have to.

the killis prefers gentle to no flow on the surface, some areas on the tank should have little flow. Mine likes to stay near the lily pipe outlet and inlet. But I would suggest not too much surface agitation for the first few days as they need time to figure out the suitable place to do their parking.

As for feeding I had no problem using new life spectrum and Dr Baseleer, they started eating on the second day and they only feed on the surface.

Ways the enhance their color is still a mystery to me. mine are just average in brightness and no way as colorful as those on google image. I don't know if feeding live food would help but I might try it someday.


Now for the spotted blue eye, I think they are the easiest for me. When I put them in they immediately started searching for food, shows no signs of distress. When feeling time they are always the first in line. However one male do show aggression, especially during feeding time. A big bully towards every tank mate. It's not the to the death type but he's still disturbing the peace.

I read that adding more spotted blue might solve the problem. The magic number is 8. I'm going to add some more next week.

They don't have preferences as to where they swim, they covers all top to bottom.

As for their color, for the first few days they appear transparent with a bit of blue, after a week they starts to get more and more yellowish.

The fins are growing day by day with spotted patterns on them. They are not in their final form yet, it would take some time.


I got mine at Aquatic Avenue, I went down 3 times this few months but only saw them the last time I'm there. if you're buying from them please call before going.

I hope I'm able to help, cheers!

[jackychun]

Thanks bro JC for your detailed sharing. I will do more research and consider them in my next batch. Cheers!


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[torque6]

10 characters

[mdm]

nice...

any more updated photos of how the tank has grown?