Reply With Quote
looks like new plantlets to me at the java fern , try to trim the melting leaves if you can
Hey guys, pretty new to the scene.
It's the second week into my new tank and I just thought I'd post what I've done so far here to see if the pros can give any tips or words of advice.
Firstly some stuff about my experience in the hobby.
I kept a small desktop tank before, thinking I could keep some sakura shrimps in there with maybe some tetras.
Either I didn't cycle it properly, or the small tank means the water parameters fluctuated too much, and so everything i put in my tank died except 3 neon tetras which eventually died after a few months.
I ended up giving up and keeping the tank.
Zoom forwards a year later, and I decided I couldnt stay away from the hobby, so after a lot of convincing my parents (about electricity bills and stuff), I got a tank set from a nearby LFS (tampines).
So, yea. Low-tech tank, low expectations :/
Tank measurements are 45x30x30.
Aquasoil, 2 java ferns, an Anubias Nana (I think?) and some foreground plants which I'm not sure the species of but I'm hoping its Dwarf Sagittaria.
And a couple of small fake rocks.
Lighting is... 9 Watts Boyu PL-30, came with the tank set. Filter is a Dolphin F1200 internal filter which I think is 580L/hr (that's what the box says), also came with the tank set.
I'm planning to put in some Sakura shrimp and if those do well, maybe some CPD or Harlequins (I love these two).
Like I said before it's the second week. Fishless cycling. I'm not sure if its possible, but I read that amazonia aquasoil leeches ammonia so I thought I could use that for the cycle. Tested the water, and sure enough it was about 4.0ppm (I'm using API Ammonia test kit). Here's a few pics:
2013-11-30 18.57.14(edit).jpg
I only added the foreground plants last Sunday. A week later, looks like they're melting...
Hoping someone can help me ID these? I turn on my lights 6-8 hrs a day. Is that enough? I probably need more light, but if I added another light from my older tank, is it the same as having one light of a higher wattage?
2013-11-30 18.58.53(edit).jpg
Also, noticed some stuff on the underside of the Java Ferns. Would this happen to be some sort of algae?
2013-11-30 18.58.35(edit).jpg
Have been doing 50% weekly water changes. Well, only once of course, since the second week is from tomorrow. Doing another one tomorrow.
Well that's it so far. Any advice?
Hmm, is it normal for the ends of the plantlets of the java fern to be fuzzy? Some of them are a bit fuzzy at the ends.
Anyway, will trimming the melting leaves help prevent/slow the melting?
I cant see clearly from the photo, but I hope you did not plant java ferns and Anubias Nana on the soil. The rhizome should not be buried, it will melt.
Nope, didn't bury the rhizome. They were tied to some small wood when I got them. I just buried the wood part as they were kinda ugly. Roots and rhizome aren't under the soil.
very nice tank that you have
Currently in the fourth week of cycling, and my ammonia level is still around 0.8ppm (bought a new ammonia test kit, I'm using the Tetra brand one now). Doing more frequent water changes now.
Added a Xmas moss, spotted some runners from my foreground plant and melting has slowed.
Hoping ammonia and nitrites will fall to zero by this weekend. Is it feasible?
The fuzzy things at the tip of java ferns are daughter plants. Thats how java fern propagates.
Its hard to gauge light for tanks smaller than 2feet length as the usual 2wpg rule does not apply anymore but as long your plants adapted to the setup and not melting, you should be alright
It not uncommon for hobbyist to cycle the tank more than 2 months. BB growth depends on a lot of factors like aeration and biomedia effectiveness. Just keep waiting patiently, do wc regularly, add some fast growing plants... you are almost there... keep up the good work
Check out my Blog on planted tank, good for newbies ( i am lazy to retype all the info i know, so please click and read below link... i hope you don't fall asleep while reading)
Link to my Blog
I am not PERFECT but I am LIMITED EDITION !!!BIG Tank comes with BIG Responsibility...as they makan a lot of $$....lol
Tank finally finished cycling last week.
I did a water change and bought 10 sakura shrimps.
Did the conditioning thing where I slowly add my tank's water to the container with the shrimp for around an hour before putting them in the tank.
Quite a few of them started swimming around a lot and 5 died the next day, and another 2 died the next, and another one died the day after that.
Now there's 2 sakura shrimps left, though they seem to be doing okay, going around the tank and feeding normally.
Can't figure out what's wrong? I checked the ammonia again today and it's at 0...
Just added 8 harlequin rasboras today, hoping they'll survive.
Hoping to figure out what the problem was for the shrimps so I can add some more.
My first guess is that I didn't acclimatise them properly. That would explain the first few dying.
But then that doesn't explain the shrimps that died days after..
Sometimes it's just the tank still being new, so even though the main parameters indicate it's cycled, the water conditions are still very different from the super seasoned shrimp breeding tanks that the shrimps came from. The weaker shrimps that can't adapt in time either die quickly or die over a few days (usually due to inability to molt when placed in different water conditions), the few stronger ones who can adapt faster will stay alive long enough and molt properly.
Shrimps (even RCS) are generally alot more sensitive to changes in water conditions compared to fishes.
A longer drip acclimation period will also help (get some silicone air line hose and plastic valve from the LFS), try extending it to 2-3 hours and slow down the drip so that the shrimps can have more time to fully acclimatize to the new tank conditions.
You'll find that as your tank matures over time and becomes more stable, the survivability of new shrimps will also be much higher too.
Last edited by Urban Aquaria; 25th Dec 2013 at 03:23.
Ah well, thanks for the tip. I suspect it is as you say, since one of the shrimps died just after molting. Guess I was too hasty in adding shrimps since I read that the RCS were the hardy kind.
Kinda underestimated their sensitivity. I'll keep that in mind, and perhaps try again in the future.
What would you say the typical seasoned shrimp tank's water conditions will be? Just as a rough guideline?
Meanwhile, my harlequins are doing fine and so are the 2 remaining shrimps. Too bad both of the shrimps left are female though.
From my experience, for cherry shrimps its not as much the exact water parameters that affect them (they can adapt to different types of water) but the stability of it. I find that the survivability of new shrimps increases alot after a tank has been running for more than 3-4 months, not sure what is in the water that enables that but i guess its the tank naturally balancing itself after a certain period of time.Originally Posted by Nifster
Ok, thanks for the info!
Guess I'll focus on the current fauna in the tank. Seems I counted wrong, I have 3 currently surviving shrimps, though all female.
Interested in getting a group of beautiful CPDs too, though haven't had any luck in the east LFS.
The LFS near me used to sell them (Yun Feng Aquarium), but the uncle said that he lost contact with the supplier...
I think the plant is tenullus, it will carpet plant
Finally got my CPDs from Superstar aquarium in tampines. Had to wait a week or so for the stock to arrive.
Bought 10 of them, though they're still juvenile i think? Either that, or they're smaller in size than I remember them to be
Maybe I'll post a few pics when I get a nice shot of them. While I was there with my sis, she requested a pair of Amano shrimps as well. She says she prefers bigger shrimps. Sadly, none of my Sakuras survived, i suspect the harlequins bullied them while I wasnt looking, since they outnumber them, and my sakuras werent doing so well anyway... The shop uncle was really nice and knowledgeable. Asked me about my tank size and the other fish in my setup while I was making the purchase. And gave me a sera 2014 calendar too.
Currently have 8 Harlequin rasboras, 10 Celestial Pearl Danios (or Galaxy rasboras), and 2 big Amano shrimps.
Thing is, my harlequins are getting pretty fat every feeding time as they're really fast at getting the fish food which kinda worries me =/
And do Amano shrimps eat algae off the tank walls/glass?
the second plant is Echinodorus tenellus.
Any new pics?
If there is enough algae coating the tank's glass walls for them to grip on, they will also climb on it and eat the algae, just like the other dwarf shrimps.
Glad you asked, here are some just taken today with my crappy phone camera:
2014-01-07 18.13.40.jpg2014-01-07 18.14.13.jpg2014-01-07 18.23.58.jpg2014-01-07 18.21.22.jpg
The best pics of the skittish CPDs i could get =/
The E.tenellus are growing slowly and kinda long which is expected from a non-CO2 tank i guess.
Not much difference to the java ferns or anubias either, which is fine by me actually.
Thinking of adding more plants to the mix though, any suggestions on what would look nice?
I think I'm destined to not keeping shrimp =/
My Amano shrimps died. The first died yesterday. I saw its molted skin and its dead body nearby so i assumed its something to do with molting.
The second molted on the same day, a few hours later, but seemed okay yesterday. But today i found it near my moss, not moving.
I read up online that molting issues could be due to gH so i did a 5-in-1 test using the API test kit and here's the result if anyone can help me:
0 ammonia and nitrite
0-20 ppm nitrates
pH around 6-6.5
gH around 60ppm
these are from the water before i did the weekly 30% wc.
I did not change the water between the time i got the shrimps and the time they died, (which was roughly 6 days...)
The fish are still doing fine. Though now I have no cleaners in my tank, so I might be getting an oto...
Maybe any expert shrimp keepers can enlighten me on how they condition their water or something...
Posting Permissions
Bookmarks