Reply With QuoteWhat is the temperature in your goldfish tank?
There's 10% off off product storewide going on at GC, so i bought these 2 liquid ferts to boost the growth and vitality of my hardy plants~
After discount is cheaper than c328 etc...
Bought Nitrate test kit too, but not from GC..
Test readings:
Ammonia: 0 ppm
Nitrite: 0.25 ppm
Nitrate: 5~10 ppm
PH: 7.5 (so high??)
Bought and dose Oceanfree Super Battle Bacteria 8000 as i want the tank to speed up the nitrogen cycling process as there's no livestock to produce ammonia -> nitrite > nitrate and so on...
Will continue to take & monitor the reading again tomorrow...
Bought big and small frogbits from GC as there's 20% off for livestock & plants, combed the foreground reef sand to the back which create a slope, perspective view.
Diagonal view, the foreground area on the left side is about 1cm thick, which is designed for pygmy corydoras to "perform"
Side view, the depth at the back reminds me of *scape skateboarding zone
I noticed after 2 days of dosing Essence K and Lush, the java fern became greener and taiwan moss is growing very well..
Could it be due to the help of using CO2 tablets too? Been dosing it for 2 days too...
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What is the temperature in your goldfish tank?
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Looks good!
Your alkaline pH is due to the higher ratio of sand and lava rocks versus the ANS planta soil (which greatly reduces the soil's pH buffering ability)... so the pH will lean more towards following your tap water parameters which is most likely in the 7.4-7.6 range too (our local tap water pH usually ranges between 7-8+).
The soil should be releasing some ammonia initially to help build up the bacteria colony, but i guess with the small quantity of soil being used in the setup, there isn't much being released to be detectable by the test kit and its probably been converted already. Your use of seasoned bio-media and bacteria solution also helps in speeding up the cycle process.
Once the tank is cycled, do remember to add the livestock progressively in smaller batches, its mainly to avoid mini-cycles occurring, as the tank's bacteria colony would still be relatively small due to the low ammonia levels during the cycling period (compared to a bacteria colony that cycled in a tank with higher ammonia levels).
26-27 degrees~Originally Posted by BFG
So pH level shouldn't be an issue here right?Looks good!
Your alkaline pH is due to the higher ratio of sand and lava rocks versus the ANS planta soil (which greatly reduces the soil's pH buffering ability)... so the pH will lean more towards following your tap water parameters which is most likely in the 7.4-7.6 range too (our local tap water pH usually ranges between 7-8+).
The soil should be releasing some ammonia initially to help build up the bacteria colony, but i guess with the small quantity of soil being used in the setup, there isn't much being released to be detectable by the test kit and its probably been converted already. Your use of seasoned bio-media and bacteria solution also helps in speeding up the cycle process.
Once the tank is cycled, do remember to add the livestock progressively in smaller batches, its mainly to avoid mini-cycles occurring, as the tank's bacteria colony would still be relatively small due to the low ammonia levels during the cycling period (compared to a bacteria colony that cycled in a tank with higher ammonia levels).
I've also this read somewhere in this forum, to add the livestock bit by bit... and i was calculating the amount of livestock to add,
2 male guppies
4 female guppies
6 pygmy corydoras or 6 habrosus (depending on which one i can get)
2 oto
2 yamato (medium or small size)
Will this amount overstock the bioload?
Yeah, the pH you are getting looks normal based on the tank setup (it depends on your tap water pH). I also tend to get neutral to slightly alkaline pH for my sand based tanks too.
Your stocking ratio seems okay for the tank, as long as you do regular tank maintenance and water changes, the tank should be able to handle that bio-load. Just have to take note that only 1/4 of the tank is planted, hence their total nutrient take up rate is also lower... it's good that you have frogbits to help soak up more nutrients though, they will be your best allies in keeping the tank in balance.
Putting male and female guppies in the same tank will result in breeding and increases in bio-load, so you'll have to prepare another tank to shift out livestock once it gets too crowded.
As light is shining on large areas of bare sand in your scape design, at some point your sand may gradually get covered in various types of algae, so you'll have to manage it as it occurs. Eventually as the tank matures over time, the top layer of the sand will turn slightly darker in color too, so if you want to maintain the original lighter color, simply refresh it periodically by shifting the sand or siphoning out a little of the top layer and re-filling it with fresh sand.
Btw, yamato shrimps are great algae eaters but they might look abit too large for your tank size, quite likely they will eventually grow even larger than your guppies, so the livestock combination may look abit out of scale.
Thanks for the thoughtful advice, yeah i understand that overtime the sand will eventually turn darker tone, or even got mixed with soil (from the back) or grow algae in it.Yeah, the pH you are getting looks normal based on the tank setup (it depends on your tap water pH). I also tend to get neutral to slightly alkaline pH for my sand based tanks too.
Your stocking ratio seems okay for the tank, as long as you do regular tank maintenance and water changes, the tank should be able to handle that bio-load. Just have to take note that only 1/4 of the tank is planted, hence their total nutrient take up rate is also lower... it's good that you have frogbits to help soak up more nutrients though, they will be your best allies in keeping the tank in balance.
Putting male and female guppies in the same tank will result in breeding and increases in bio-load, so you'll have to prepare another tank to shift out livestock once it gets too crowded.
As light is shining on large areas of bare sand in your scape design, at some point your sand may gradually get covered in various types of algae, so you'll have to manage it as it occurs. Eventually as the tank matures over time, the top layer of the sand will turn slightly darker in color too, so if you want to maintain the original lighter color, simply refresh it periodically by shifting the sand or siphoning out a little of the top layer and re-filling it with fresh sand.
Btw, yamato shrimps are great algae eaters but they might look abit too large for your tank size, quite likely they will eventually grow even larger than your guppies, so the livestock combination may look abit out of scale.
What medication or conditioner do you recommend for balancing/controlling such situation?
Is it correct that, one way of preventing or slowing down the growth of algae in the tank is by reducing the duration of photoperiod aka shorten the duration of the lighting time (eg from 8 hours cut down to 6 hours per day?)
Should the frogbits continue to multiply in time to come, the whole surface of the tank will be covered by them and i don't think the bare sand part will be directly expose to the light itself by judging the right side of the tank now.
what other types of algae eaters do you recommend ? that can keep in small sizes
You could look at ways to improve flow and circulation in the tank (helps to shift dirt and debris away from the sand area) and regularly do sand vacuuming to keep it cleaner (wave a small siphon tube just 1-2cm over the sand to suck up the debris).
Though as algae, dirt and mulm will still naturally accumulate and coat the sand grains, it will still turn abit darker over time, so inevitably it'll still need to be refreshed every once in a while (or you can also just let the sand mature into a seasoned color, some people like that effect too).
Having a shorter photoperiod will help slow down algae growth, though that will also slow down plant growth too, so its a matter of adjusting the lights to get the best balance.
The frogbits will provide shade so they will definitely help reduce the light intensity, but once they start covering most of the water surface (more than 75% of the surface) start removing a portion of the excess growth regularly as a form of "nutrient export", give them more space to continue growing and to maintain sufficient surface air exchange.
As for smaller algae eaters, can just stock RCS shrimps (there are many different variants) or even other interesting species like malayan/baubaulti or red nose shrimps... and since your tank pH is on the higher side, maybe can even try keeping a few sulawesi cardinal shimps too.
Tests reading for today:
Ammonia : 0 ppm
Nitrite : 0 ppm
Nitrate : 0 ppm
pH : 7.0
Now looking forward for Nitrate to increase, am i supposed to be happy to see such a reading?
Anyway i have transported 2 pygmy from my main 2feet tank into this newly setup guppy tank~
sticking together as a pair
solo shot
sticking together again~
camouflage very well as i couldn't find it at a glance until i took a closer look
seems like the driftwood/bogwood is gonna be a good resting spot for the pygmys~
This morning did a 10-15% water change, and dose the usual ferts (Essence K, Lush & OF BB 8000, Flourish)
Let the tank continue to "cycle"
Took the test just 5 minutes ago,
And today's reading:
Ammonia : 0 ppm
Nitrite : 0 ppm
Nitrate : 0 ppm
pH : 7.5 (increase again)
Look who's posing??
Looks like your tap water pH is on the higher side, so whenever you do a water change, it shifts the pH abit higher (then naturally lowers over time).
A shift of pH between 7.0-7.5 is still okay, taking into account your test kit measures in larger steps of 0.5, so it could be 7.1 (but read as 7.0) and 7.4 (but read as 7.5) so the actual variance might actually be not that large.
Even between day and night there will be some small variations in pH levels too.
hmmm, so the pH level is gonna stay at 7.0-7.5 if i don't intend to add in more driftwoods or lava rocks?
Other than sulawesi shrimps, what other fauna will thrive in such pH level?
I'm still waiting patiently for the Nitrate to increase but on the other hand my hand is itchy to add in more livestock in...
Yeah, your tank's pH levels will most likely be hovering around the slightly alkaline range, which is okay for most fishes. Over the longer term as the tank matures, the pH levels will slowly decrease abit from the bacterial activity.
You could look at livebearers (ie guppies, endlers etc) which are hardwater/higher pH fishes, they will naturally do well in your tank conditions.
In my sand based tanks, the pH levels are also similar and i keep boraras, tetras, RCS, CRS, otocinclus etc... many of those livestock are softwater lower pH species, but they can also adapt to slightly higher pH without issues (as long as you gradually acclimate them to the water parameters).
Your pygmy cories are also softwater lower pH fishes, and they also seem to do well in the tank too.
Today's test reading results:
Ammonia : 0 ppm
Nitrite : 0 ppm
Nitrate : 0 ppm
pH : 7.5
Bought these vibrant color guppies from C328 today and decided to choose 2 yellow male and 2 red female to add on to the contrast of the scaping.
They are too fast, couldn't snap a nice still shot of them...
Good thing they helped to clear up the leftover food which i fed the pygmys last night... nothing left after the guppies were introduced to the tank.
Love this angle~
Finally a good shot of them~
Added 2 otos together with the guppies too~
Went GC after dinner to check out the livestocks there.. and saw "pygmy corydoras" label on the tank and i thought i saw the actual fauna in the tank were habrosus and i was very certain, so i asked about the price, the shop master told me its pygmy that they have right now. So i went ahead and catch it myself and my gf caught 3 of it while i caught 5 of them.. that makes it 8 in total~
Was just wondering how come the staff doesn't know its salt & pepper and labelled them as "pygmy" instead, puzzled by it as they have a distinct different pattern on the body that makes them really stand out with each different variations.
Did the usual acclimating procedure, spent about an hour or so with the lights off.. didn't wanna add on the stress on them while adding the tank water into the bag while still floating in the tank.
Here are the random shots, was filtering some photos which i've taken and most of them are being "photobombed" by either guppy or oto lol
Oto and pygmy joining the fun lol
They are still quite shy, moving and foraging together on the sand, and i really love seeing them doing the same movement together simultaneously, what a sight~
The above shots are taken under the "night mode" as i don't wish to scare the newly joined fauna with the bright white lights~
Test reading for yesterday :
Ammonia : 0~0.25 ppm (couldn't tell if its near 0 or 0.25)
Nitrite : 0 ppm
Nitrate : 0 ppm (was wondering why it didn't go up as there's no nitrite)
pH : 7.5
the guppies~
corys busy feasting~
the guppies trying to snatch a bite but outnumbered by the corys~ even pygmy and oto trying to join in at the same time
a pygmy shot~
oto's new meal partner
Oto, pygmy and habrosus are doing well together~
Readings for the past 2 days:
Ammonia : 0 ppm
Nitrite : 0.25 ppm
Nitrate : 0 ppm
pH : 7.5
1 of the yellow male guppy died 2 days ago, due to an infection on the tail (red dot)
and after that i've discovered the other yellow male guppy with wound/red patch on the lower tummy so i quarantine it in an external breeding tank, added salt to treat it 2 times a day, (morning and night)
have yet to do a water change for it though...
Current strength :
Guppy : 2 female & 1 male (male guppy in quarantine tank)
Habrosus Cory : 8
Pygmy Cory : 2
Oto - 2
Last edited by rakurime; 22nd Feb 2015 at 12:49.
It's been a month since this project started, and this is the current progress~
Left top, Sudo Satellite breeding box for housing pregnant guppies (2 of them).
Left bottom, external breeding box for incubating newly born guppy frys~ (18 of them).
Right, main guppy tank which consists of the following fauna:
10 lampeye killi, 7 guppies, 8 habrosus corydoras, 2 pygmy corydoras, 2 otocinclus
Taiwan moss growing well without CO2 injection, apart from the CO2 tablets which was added only for the first 2-3 days.
Daily dose of Essence K and Lush for plants to maintain it's bright color especially java fern...
1 of the guppies gave birth!
Day 01 for the guppy fry~
2 more guppies are now in the breeding box waiting for their due
nice, neat and tidy
all my 3 tanks in my room~
this is set up in your spare room or balcony?
Very nice set up.
I think the initial fish deaths could be partially attributed to the tank still in cycling (added stress).
Good to see its going well now.
Any special food for the baby guppies?
Thanks!nice, neat and tidy
this is set up in your spare room or balcony?
this is the setup in my room, where i spend most of my time in (other than at work)
the initial death could be really stressful for the newly added guppies, so far 3 death while the rest are doing well, the best reward is after doing a water change, where you can see the crystal clear water while the fishes are swimming around...
i'm feeding the fry with this Hikari first bites which i bought last year for my platy frys.
4205520095C.jpg
Very Nice and Clean Setup! One of my favourite styles of scape.
For fry food, you could try a bit of ANS Decapsulated Brine Shrimp Eggs (Decap BSE). A bit expensive though, but my Apisto fries are growing well on them. Saves time and effort having to hatch BBS.
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