Reply With QuoteI laughed when I saw the pic of the bamboo poles! That's too extreme!
My dad dun allow us to keep that bamboo plant..
A few year back, we bought a few mini bamboo lucky plant.. and they manage to stay for 5 min... then my dad immediately throw theM into the garbage.. he say bad for feng shui
Sent from my GT-I9305 using Tapatalk
I laughed when I saw the pic of the bamboo poles! That's too extreme!
That's bad for feng shui? I thought it should be the opposite?Originally Posted by IrvineChen
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I also believe should be good... from that day onward, we never buy it again..
Sent from my GT-I9305 using Tapatalk
Interesting thread. I will have to try out the bamboo idea next time!
I used to have a similar problem too. I got overconfident as I thought my tank was well planted so I didn't bother to check my nitrate level, just do a fortnightly 20% water change. In the end, when I finally got around to checking it, it was at the 80ppm levels too. Tried to do frequent water changes but it resulted in alot of shrimp death. Ultimately, before I can bring down the nitrate level, my tank started leaking badly so I have to redo my tank haha.
TS can consider using water hyacinth. It's a floating plant, so it won't obstruct your view of the shrimps, and it's supposedly one of the best at removing nitrate besides algae (I was reading this thread: http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/sh...ad.php?t=61804). Plus since it's floating, you can easily remove it once you bring down your nitrate levels or put it back if need be.
Anyone knows where to get clean water hyacinth? I know you can get it for free from public ponds but I worry about contamination. Thanks!
Yeah, ADA aquasoil does contribute to nitrate levels too, especially in the first few months as its mainly designed to feed and boost dense plant growth in aquascapes (compared to shrimp soil).
After a while as the soil's nutrient levels deplete, the nitrate levels would also naturally taper off too... though the majority of accumulated nitrates would still be from feeding and shrimp waste.
Try floating plants like frogbits, they are compact size, closer to the lights and draw Co2 directly from the air, therefore can grow fast and soak up lots of excess nitrates, and they are easy to regulate and remove too.
Last edited by Urban Aquaria; 25th Apr 2014 at 10:44.
You can get them from most LFS like Y618, Seaview, C328 or Polyart, they sell them in large packets... though you still need to wash them thoroughly too as they are also harvested from outdoor grow-out ponds at plant farms (there will be insects and critters hiding in the dense roots).
Note that water hyacinth need alot of light (almost like full sunlight) to thrive.. and they are huge plants, just 2-3 would already be abit of a squeeze in a 1ft tank.
Water lettuce is another smaller alternative too, soaks up nutrients and abit more manageable.
One alternative i proposed to my friend for his 2ft is to buy and install a external satellite breeding container. instead of putting live stock in, place hornworts in.
it helps prevent your shrimps from being hidden, at the same time, grows hornworts by reducing nitrate levels significantly.
I am balding but i am still young!
Thats a very good idea... like the refugium systems that reef tank owners use, they put powerful light just blasting on the external box with macro algae inside to soak up excess nutrients.
A big hang-on filter would work well as an external refugium too, get some additional filtration and can put emersed plants in it.
For those interested in trying out the lucky bamboo idea, below are a couple of links taken from youtube that might help.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7e8AYLv8oo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jE9LiyToYdE
It's highly unlikely that the nitrate levels can be that high if you are doing regular water changes. Is the test kit reliable and tested against a standard solution? I would not trust the reading without a test against a known standard solution.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Plant Physiology by Taiz and Zeiger
How mature is your tank????
best advice is lower feeding frequencies or u can completely stop a few days and change your water.
Frogbits frogbits and more frogbits.
My tank is about 3 months old. I'm scooping up 2 tau huey tub of water and topping up with 4 daily now due to evaporation from fan. feeding wise about one piece of grow to 30 odd shrimps daily.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Frogbits are effective from my experience, but I have some problems keeping it healthy. Firstly, I have too much surface movement, which is not good for Frogbits. Too much light they don't do well do and turn yellow. Hornworts are also effective, but have a problem keeping them floating at the surface as they keep sinking down and makes the tank looks not so neat.
I read that most fast growing stem plants are good for nitrates but very few are low tech, I could only find water wisteria. Other nicer ones require ferts or CO2, which is not good for shrimps.
Keeping waters near perfect for shrimps is so challenging!
Posting Permissions
Bookmarks