Distilled Water

[Urban Aquaria]

Good to know is harmless, but just wondering how they get into the tank..

They hitchhike in with soil, plants, hardscape etc... their eggs are pretty much everywhere. They usually form the basis of a tank's living ecosystem, along with copepods.

[jimbo73]

Thanks for the advice. Added two Grade A CRS and a snail and they are doing very well for the last three days. Will be introducing better grade CRS in about two weeks time. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Attachment 42004Attachment 42005

Just realised my commando Grade A CRS produced a few shrimplets. i believe my tank is fully cycled after 5 weeks. Will be dropping by Chatuchak this weekend to get some EBI PRLs. Having said that, i'm kind of sad to part with my commando CRS. Will be letting go my 2x Grade A CRS and 2 x SSS CRS from C328

[Arron]

I thought people normally leave commandos in for a week or too just to test the water before adding proper shrimps haha looks like yours are not really"commandos"

[jimbo73]

this batch was introduced after 2 weeks of cycling. Fortunately, they turned out well and i didn't remove them. Surprisingly, they even reproduce. Must thank the owner of CRS Haven for his advice and selection of the shrimps

[Arron]

I nvr really go to crs haven because I didn't believe in their 2 week cycle without test kits

[burp]

you are lucky. i got my products from another shop promising to put shrimps in 3 days but now after 3 months, my commandos are still dying. my PH had remain consistent and stable at 4.6 from day one though it is supposed to buffer erat 5.8 to 6.6 and when i queried with them the respond i got from them was impossible. i only put my shrimps in after more than one month. I'm left with 3 shrimps and I'm waiting to dig out and redo everything within these 2 weeks.

[Arron]

Did you use rac soil from aquarist chamber? I hear that's one of the only soils that can cycle in 3 days

[burp]

used borneowild shrimp soil.

[Arron]

I used that too and cycled for 2 months

[burp]

do you get ph4.6?

[Arron]

Nope, 6.4 ph all the way

[burp]

Lol ok. seriously puzzled.

[Arron]

Only soil I know that can do that is ada

[burp]

now I'm clueless. 3 months and still sub 5 ph. wasted money.. killed shrimps.

[Arron]

Did you add anything else?

[burp]

Added what was advertised. humic, Minerax, vigor and Bacter crystal.

[Arron]

I'm certain it's the humic, after adding humic my water dropped low

[burp]

humic supposed to buffer at ph 6.2. Lol so more puzzling!

[Arron]

That's the thing, anyways I think it's not the ph that cause your shrimps to die. My kk and redwine lives in 5.2ph. What filter media are you using

[burp]

I'm using normal ceramic rings.

for more than 2 months the tank did not cycle enough to zero ammonia. consistently 0.5 to 2.0ppm.

recently added in purigen.

my shrimps died due to gh. slightly over dosed of low key minerals. They molted, turned pink with soft shells and died.