Problem with Gex Shrimp and Plant soil (Red)

[wooty100]

Hi there, i am a new hobbyist for shrimp keeping and i have been gathering information for about 1month before deciding to try out.

2weeks ago i bought the Gex soil and a nano tank 20x20x25 (10L) for shrimp, i poured in about 4cm of soil and i left the country to cycle for 2weeks.

Initial pour in , the water was darken by the soil and i presumed it will settle and more or less ready when i am back.

However, the water remains darken and my filter has accumalate so much dirt and soil by the time i came back. My mom has complained of foul smell coming from the tank as well.

Yesterday i stopped the filter and did a 70% water change and clear out my filter and the water is totally black and not cloudy. I am using Gex hang on (S). No plants or livestocks are in the tank yet. I have no lighting placed as well.

Currently my tank is about 50% full, and i can still see that the water is dark(can see soil) but not clear water as i would expect.

Any advice ?

[wooty100]

tank.jpg

Here is a snap shot of the water ( after 12hrs of no filter )

[Dscheng]

During cycling. U nvr on your filter? As for me, I put ADA soil with plant. Flood with water, on filter, pour whatever fert. Within a day, the water is clear.

[sheng]

May i suggest you drain away the milky water. Before you top up water, cover your soil surface with plastic sheet. Top up your water slowly.

[wooty100]

It was like that before i left country for 2wks. I instruct my mom to not off filter until i come back for 2wks cyclying, but i was told that the tank gave a foul smell and was blackish prior my return a few days.

I came back to realise the water is still same condition and did not improve. My filter ran for 2wks and contain black water, presumely soil and stuffs. Nothing is clear at all. Could it be the soil problem?

[wooty100]

another problem i was thinking, is there a soil to tank ratio ? i might top too much soil in, the whole water cycling thing is too inefficent for my tank ?

[Urban Aquaria]

The soil volume looks okay for the tank size, just do a series of large water changes to physically clear out the excess dirt and dust in the water column (your small filter can only trap some of the dust, the rest will tend to get re-circulated back into the tank).

You may have gotten a particularly dusty batch of Gex soil, perhaps it could be old stock thats crumbling, so just need to do abit more work to get rid of the dust.

The cloudiness in the water could also be bacteria bloom from the tank cycling process too... hence the stinky smell. It should go away as the water clears up.

[Clamence]

Did u add the soil AFTER u filled the tank?

[wooty100]

grass.jpg

Nope, i add the water after the soil.

This is the current state. I remove most of the water, planted some grass, top back the water with a plastic to smoothen the flow. My filter runs and clouds the water like picture.

My friend says the current by the filter kicks the soils up which is apparent. Does soil kicks so much debris up? I gotten the soil from 24hr clementi shop

[Urban Aquaria]

My friend says the current by the filter kicks the soils up which is apparent. Does soil kicks so much debris up?

If the flow from the filter is kicking up the soil or digging a crater in the substrate, then it means the flow is too strong and you need to reduce it. The constant movement of the substrate will create a cloudy/dusty environment in the tank. Thats one of the challenges when using hang-on filters, their outflow direction is fixed so you have to find ways to buffer the current if its too high.

[wooty100]

I have reduced the filter flow to the lowest and i am waiting to see if there is any improvements to the water colour. I have also dispose of about half of my soil to minimise the level for my tank.

Question: If a slight disturbance will cause a stir of cloud and dust, then how do i vacuum the substrate in future ? Or i just need to do 10% water change for shrimp tank per wk regardless of the water conditions ? I intend to release 3 guppies later not sure if they will thrive in this kind of water.

[wooty100]

cloudy.jpg

This is the current status. Light is equipped and on for better gauge.

[Urban Aquaria]

I have reduced the filter flow to the lowest and i am waiting to see if there is any improvements to the water colour. I have also dispose of about half of my soil to minimise the level for my tank.

Question: If a slight disturbance will cause a stir of cloud and dust, then how do i vacuum the substrate in future ? Or i just need to do 10% water change for shrimp tank per wk regardless of the water conditions ? I intend to release 3 guppies later not sure if they will thrive in this kind of water.

For tanks that use soil substrate, most people don't vacuum the substrate, that will usually just end up picking up more soil particles and dust. The waste material is meant to be broken down (by the beneficial bacteria in the soil) into nutrients for plants to use. If there are no or very few plants, then you'll need to control the bio-load and feeding and do more frequent water changes to physically remove the excess nutrients.

Not a good idea to put livestock into the tank that is still cycling (especially with cloudy water), it'll just cause unnecessary health damage and death to the fishes.

cloudy.jpg

This is the current status. Light is equipped and on for better gauge.

Is your water level a distance below the filter's outflow ramp? If so, then water is just dropping vertically down into the tank, so its all concentrated in one spot... top up the water until the water level is just slightly above the bottom lip of the outflow ramp, that will allow the flow to travel across the water surface (instead of just dumping straight down into the tank).

[seudzar]

Actually, I would rinse the soil till the water is clear. Then I start to cycle

[wooty100]

Thx for fast replies.

My filter has been optimised to
1) Slowest filter
2) Almost next to the opening

so as to reduce the disturbance of the water flow.

As for soil substrate, i didnt rinse or wash because it was stated on the packaging that it was not required to. But now i m thinking twice if i should jus terminate the flow and restart the process first by soil rinsing

[Urban Aquaria]

If you are thinking of re-starting the tank... maybe consider other types of shrimp soil which don't crumble and don't release ammonia into the water column.

Can look at the Up Aqua Shrimp Sand, the "soil" granules are rounded and hard/solid. They don't crumble at all, so you will never encounter dusty water (i used it before for one of my shrimp grow-out tanks and it worked quite well, water was clear from the start).

Here is some info: http://www.eastoceansg.com/up-550-sh...il-p-1586.html
Example of use: http://eastoceanaquatic.blogspot.sg/...only-7750.html

[wooty100]

Hi Urban Aquaria, your suggestions are too enticing lol. I just cant wait to finish the process faster. Where do i need to go to get the soil?

[ARTRN]

Get a water clarifier from LFS and dose accordingly. You may double dose it depend on how bad the condition. It will bind pollutants in water and enables filter to work more efficient in traping those dust pollutants. With a couple of large water changes should clear up no problem.

[Urban Aquaria]

Hi Urban Aquaria, your suggestions are too enticing lol. I just cant wait to finish the process faster. Where do i need to go to get the soil?

You can get that brand substrate from LFS like East Ocean, C328 and Seaview.

Do note some additional details on its usage and cycling process in this discussion thread: http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum...080#post805080

[Dscheng]

cloudy.jpg

This is the current status. Light is equipped and on for better gauge.

Yours is really very cloudy. Do you slowly add the water? U should let the water clear first.. before adding live stock.