My beginner tank

[w3iw3n]

Dear all, i have just started on my planted tank and encounter some issues that i hope you guys can help me with. Tank pix attached.

First thing first, my setup:
- Tank size 60x30x30
- Eheim Classic 250
- GEX substrate
- LED lighting 15watt
- Lilypipes
- CO2
- livestock: 2xottos; 7xcardinal tetras; 12xcrystal shrimps - large; sakura shrimp
- tank setup roughly 1 month ago


1) i realize that recently, there are some casualties with my fish. 1xotto and 1xtetra suddenly went dead recently within 1 day after another. Coincidentally, i have added 10 crystal shrimps the day before the these death starts occurring. I am wondering could it be the feed (Shirakura brand) that is polluting the water? Or could it be the large influx of crystal shrimp that causes stress to the fishes? Its counter-intuitive since shrimps are usually the weakest link in the tank but they are surviving and instead my fishes are dying.

2) my monte carlo dont seems to be growing. They are just not spreading out. I read that for every gallon of water, there should be 2 watt of lights. So technically a 2 feet tank, i should have 30watts? is my 15watt too low?

3) is my understand of co2 release right? one bubble every 2 sec and turn it on half hour before and after the light comes on? Before this, I typically only turn on co2 for 2-3hours maximum a day with around 6 hours of lights.

4) positioning of lilypipe should be side by side right? (as in the outlet and inlet lily pipes are on one side while co2 should be at the extreme end of the outlet). Seems like i got my position wrong.


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[Urban Aquaria]

1) i realize that recently, there are some casualties with my fish. 1xotto and 1xtetra suddenly went dead recently within 1 day after another. Coincidentally, i have added 10 crystal shrimps the day before the these death starts occurring. I am wondering could it be the feed (Shirakura brand) that is polluting the water? Or could it be the large influx of crystal shrimp that causes stress to the fishes? Its counter-intuitive since shrimps are usually the weakest link in the tank but they are surviving and instead my fishes are dying.

Since the tank was only setup for a month, you should check the basic parameters like ammonia, nitrite and nitrate to make sure the tank is fully cycled before adding in livestock. Without tests its all guesswork, and any toxic spikes will affect the livestock. Sometimes it can also affect fishes rather than shrimps as the toxic spikes occur at different times, or could also have accumulated and affected their health over a period of time.

2) my monte carlo dont seems to be growing. They are just not spreading out. I read that for every gallon of water, there should be 2 watt of lights. So technically a 2 feet tank, i should have 30watts? is my 15watt too low?

The watt per gallon rule is rather out-of-date and was previously only used for old type florescent lights. LED lights don't really follow that rule due to their improved power efficiency. Your current Up Aqua Z-Series light is sufficient for growing those plants in your tank, though if you want faster growth, you could also look at higher wattage models. But do remember that you would also need to increase Co2 and nutrients to match higher lighting to achieve faster plant growth.

3) is my understand of co2 release right? one bubble every 2 sec and turn it on half hour before and after the light comes on? Before this, I typically only turn on co2 for 2-3hours maximum a day with around 6 hours of lights.

As for the Co2 injection, you should be running it during the active photo-period, usually it follows the same duration of time as the lights, just that it starts abit earlier (to build up Co2 in the water) and ends abit earlier (to allow leftover Co2 to be used up). Just running 2-3 hours of Co2 injection seems rather little considering your light photo-period is 6 hours. Try running the Co2 injection at 6 hours too, but you can still adjust it shorter if you find that it works better.

Do note that with a 6 hour light photo-period and less Co2, the plants will also naturally grow slower as they are limited by the shorter period of light and Co2 limitation, so if you want to speed up plant growth, try gradually increasing the light and Co2 periods.

Make sure your drop checker maintains a lime green (light green) color when the lights are on. In addition, ensure that you mixed the indicator solution with 4dkh reference water (not aquarium water), or use pre-mixed indicator solution, otherwise the color readings will be wrong. Also note that drop checker color readings are delayed by 1-2 hours so what you see is not exactly "real-time", have to forecast.

4) positioning of lilypipe should be side by side right? (as in the outlet and inlet lily pipes are on one side while co2 should be at the extreme end of the outlet). Seems like i got my position wrong.

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Yeah, ideally the lily pipe outflow and intake should be on one side and the Co2 diffuser on the opposite side, so that the flow can move in a circular pattern and push the Co2 bubbles down and across the substrate where the plants are.

Like this:



Photo Source: http://www.ukaps.org/index.php?page=...h-planted-tank

[happydanio123]

Hi there! Your fish may be dying due to the fact that there is high levels of Ammonia or Nitrite in the water. Personal experience tells me that Ottos are especially prone to dying out in the first few weeks due to temperature or water parameters fluctuations. (Ottos are not very hardy fish). Your tetra could have died of stress or because it was harbouring diseases when you bought it from the LFS. Did you quarantine the fishes before adding it in? It is a good practice to quarantine your fishes before you add them into your aquarium. It is also a good idea to add Seachem paraguard to your quarantine aquarium when quarantining your fishes as Seachem Paraguard helps deter and kill any diseases that your fish may be harbouring. As for the Monte Carlo, it may be "melting" due to the fact that it has been "shocked" after being transferred from the LFS to your auarium. The CO2 position, as what UA said, should be at the opposite end although I like to put it next to my outlet pipe since my aquarium is a 3 ft. You may want to up your lighting but you have to corrospond with your nutrients and Co2 dosage.