Reply With QuoteNot really need for moss ball, i think the shrimp prefer java moss instead.Originally Posted by Dylan Chin
Shrimp Tank (9L) Result
Temperature - 24~25 degree
NO3 - Nitrate test-10
NO2 - Nitrite test-0
GH - General Hardness/ Total Hardness test-7
KH - Carbonate Harness test-10
pH - Acidic / Alkalinity test-6.8
CL - Chlorine test-0
Ammonia - 0
Not sure about my TDS. So far so good, water change 20% weekly. Top up only distilled water and dose with Mosura minerals plus / Seachem prime.
Not really need for moss ball, i think the shrimp prefer java moss instead.
My CRS berried ! Finally !
How did that happen?
Previously, i try to breed CRS.. not successfully. Maybe now the water condition and temperature is good.
Sometime when you are very concern on the parameter, they don't breed. But if you relax and let nature take it course, they breed like mad... haha.. I start off with RCS also, then now upgrade to CRS. I already foresee next should be bkk or prl soon.. haha
You mean no need to check water parameters?
Usually its because at the early stages of a tank setup, even if its cycled, the overall conditions still haven't achieved ideal levels yet... thats why people find that most of the shrimps that they add initially seem to die easily, as those are the ones that can't adapt in time or are too weak.
The beginning is when people panic and try all sorts of ways to check and re-check and dose this and that.
After a while, most people will start to not bother about checking and stop adding in more livestock, basically just leaving the tank alone, thats when the tank gradually and naturally mature on its own.
As the stronger surviving livestock start to become adapted to the tank, and as the the water conditions become stable and accumulate all the beneficial minerals and vitamins, the shrimps naturally start to thrive and breed too. Thats when those shrimps become hardy.
So its all a matter of letting the tank mature over time.
Haha so no need to buy test kit ?
You can also save it down to purchase other items. I didn't invest the test kit, but I went over to my buddy house to test my water if require... haha... API test master kit can test maybe 800 times, if I don't help him, his test kit expire still haven't finish.
Test kits help to detect obvious issues in a tank, like if it's still cycling or if there are unusual toxic spikes in parameters that need to be attended to. It helps to troubleshoot problems and minimise unnecessary deaths in livestock... otherwise if anything happens to them in the tank, you will just be guessing about random causes and trying multiple remedies that may not be effective.
The alternative to test kits is to add livestock and see their response (aka livestock are the test kits). If they die, buy some more and add, see response again... keep buying and adding until they eventually stop dying. This is where LFS and breeders get lots of repeat business, people basically using their fishes and shrimps to test water (with no clue what cause the problems), then regularly visiting shops every week to keep buying replacements livestock.
Test kit is good la. But i buy the 6 in 1 test kit. I know it might not be accurate, but at least some form of measurement, is like better than nothing right.. Haha.
For shrimp, i think the most important measurement is TDS right?
Yeah, shrimps do tend to be more sensitive to large changes in TDS, so its a very helpful tool to use too.
Nowadays i use my TDS meter the most often... mainly because its the easiest and quickest device to operate (i wish all water parameter tests were so easy to measure).
Normally once a tank is mature and stable, there usually isn't much need to do anymore water parameter tests on it (unless something odd happens), but its still useful to test the TDS as that can give a quick gauge on any unseen changes in the water condition. I usually test my tap water TDS every week before water changes, and i've discovered that sometimes our local tap water can jump from a nice 50-60 TDS to a weird 170-180 TDS in just the span of a few days, which indicates something has been added to the water by the water company or perhaps the water tanks or pipes were being cleaned and residue gets through to the taps (so i have add extra Prime and mix it with rainwater or distilled water to dilute whatever extra stuff is in it before using for water change).
I also test TDS whenever i buy new fishes or shrimps from the LFS too, if the TDS of the LFS water is very different from my tank water, i'll make sure to do an extended drip acclimation to ease the livestock to my water conditions. Saved alot of livestock because of it.
Which tds meter do you recommend to buy?
I use the HM Digital TDS-3 model. It works well, can measure temperature too.
Here is what it looks like:
Photo from Google Images.
Costs less than S$20 if ordered from Amazon.com with the AmazonGlobal Saver free shipping promo scheme.
So cheap ar !! Can PM me the link?
I guess i can just post it here, in case there are others who are keen on it too.
This is a search link with all the current selections on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_no...+digital+TDS+3
The particular seller i ordered from back in 2013 doesn't seem to be around anymore, but i found another seller with similarly priced units (and it is eligible for AmazonGlobal Saver free shipping too): http://www.amazon.com/iSpring-Digita...+digital+TDS+3
Note that AmazonGlobal Saver free shipping requires a purchase of at least USD$125 worth of eligible products in a single order to quality for the free international shipping service (otherwise you'll have to pay for shipping and it'll add to the overall cost).
Last edited by Urban Aquaria; 7th May 2015 at 17:08.
I just start a small tank at office abt 2mths ago.... Added RCS abt 1mth n occasional observed shrimp death. Jus added AC....color of RCS looks brighter. Also stop dosing iron....
Hmm I have two tank at home. One tank with chiller, usually shrimp survival rate is higher. Think shrimp are sensitive toward temperature too.
Thanks for sharing.
I have learnt something new.
I have a TDS meter to measure my tank but I never measure the water that i bought with the shrimps.
I bought a bag of shrimps yesterday and the tds reading was 43, so much lower than my 100+ tank water.
So I started acclimatising the shrimps but at a slower rate.
I'll monitor this batch.
Good tips and i appreciate your sharing.
from 14L to 8L tank.
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