New office setup for Crystal Red Shrimps

[o2bubble]

Bro, ever since i threw some crs to my tank, i begin to get addicted and thinking of putting some crs in a 1 ft tank in my office with temp ard 22-24c. I need advices on the basic setup such as soil/sand, plants, lights,no of crs to put in 1ft tank. Thanks!

BTW, do I need an air pump or overhead filter for the CRS? Where should I get all these equipments from? NA or C328?

[EvolutionZ]

ermmm... heres what i think of a basic simple set up
tank - 1.5x1x1ft ( the biggger the better) or at least 1ft cube.
substrate - ADA amazonia, Magic soil or GeX substrate.
lighting - 18watt? 13watt?
plants - Mainly moss on driftwood if you wanna keep it simple.
No. of crs - Depends on your filteration system. use a canister so that it can hold more media to cope with higher bioload.

[o2bubble]

Bro, thanks. But is substrate neccessary since I'll only be using mosses tied to ss mesh? Also, is an OHF sufficient instead of an external filter? The tank size I'm looking at is ard 40x20x20cm. Also, is attached light neccessary for mosses to maintain a very slow growth or not dying since my office has lights during office hours? sorry for so many questions as I hope to get the setup properly to keep those beautiful CRS soon.

[EvolutionZ]

yes substrate is needed to lower pH suitable for CRS.
OHF should be okay.. but external canister filter will be the best.
and yes, lighting is a must... will you be able to see anything if only your office lighting was on?

[o2bubble]

Thanks. But i saw some people using normal crystal like gravel thats neutral to ph for crs.. There one type of water conditioner call mosura bioxxx thats for crs can be used.

[o2bubble]

An update. I just bought a Eden501 filter, Mosura mineral conditioner, Mosura CRS food, GEX soil (800g). Still looking for a tank here, http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum...ad.php?t=35684

[EvolutionZ]

great start! you are a rich guy... can buy ada stuffs and mosura mineralplus... haha.. good luck bro! need any help can contact me at 9106-3934. im more than willing to help ya!

[o2bubble]

No rich lah. If so, i buy ada cube garden liow. Anyway, i got the tank and setup with filter running now. Getting plants and lights soon. Think have to cycle 2 weeks.

[doubleace]

ada cube tank is just like normal cube tank with white silicon and no background poster needed.. 1 thing different is that they have their own logo on the bottom right of the tank

[EvolutionZ]

you are wrong..
ada tank have very good workmanship, silicon is very thin..almost cannot see.. glass is some sort of very good quality glass..
if ada cube is just like any other cube tank. many people won't buy ada tank liao.
one more thing.. when used ada cube tank...somehow or rather.. your scapes, plants and fishes looks better.. maybe its due to the quality glass..
but still i wont pay such a premium price for a tank.

[doubleace]

Oh I see.. but i still think that not much different between ADA cube tank and other tank. Paying a higher price just for the name and clearer view? Maybe will work hard on cleaning my front glass tank everyday... If ADA cube is really that good then all those fish shop and tank makers got no money to earn already.. Just everybody preference to choose.

[o2bubble]

I tend to agree with bro evo that ADA tank is of better quality in terms of workmanship and clarity. I believe in the old saying that "you are paying for what you are getting".

[o2bubble]

Hey, back to topic since I'm new to nano tank. can advise me how to cycle my tank fast fast? Add a guppy and some nutrafin cycle? How much water to change? everyday or 1 week once? Should I add some moss already? Taiwan or spiky ok? Need to built up this CRS tank in shortest time possible... keke. Now my water still cloudy from the gex soil dusts. Btw, I bought the green packet, is it the same as red one except the color? the auntie told me red is brown and green is black only.

[EvolutionZ]

Oh I see.. but i still think that not much different between ADA cube tank and other tank. Paying a higher price just for the name and clearer view? Maybe will work hard on cleaning my front glass tank everyday... If ADA cube is really that good then all those fish shop and tank makers got no money to earn already.. Just everybody preference to choose.

people like me rather use normal cube tank which cost only less than a blue note rather then get an ada cube that cost $300?

[doubleace]

Hey, back to topic since I'm new to nano tank. can advise me how to cycle my tank fast fast? Add a guppy and some nutrafin cycle? How much water to change? everyday or 1 week once? Should I add some moss already? Taiwan or spiky ok? Need to built up this CRS tank in shortest time possible... keke. Now my water still cloudy from the gex soil dusts. Btw, I bought the green packet, is it the same as red one except the color? the auntie told me red is brown and green is black only.

How to cycle your tank fast?
You can use old water from other tank and put into your nano tank.
No need to add guppy or any nutrafin cycle.

How much water to change?
At least 20-30%.

Everyday or one week once?
one week once will do.

Should I add some moss already?
You can add in moss anytime. Best is when the water is not so cloudy.

Taiwan or spiky ok?
Any moss will do. Taiwan and spiky are fast growing moss.

Bro dont be too rush to setup your tank. If you rush later some where goes wrong your crs will have casulties. Patient is the most important thing.

people like me rather use normal cube tank which cost only less than a blue note rather then get a ada cube that cost $300?

Yup.. me too. The rest of the money still can buy more things.

[Quixotic]

How to cycle your tank fast?
You can use old water from other tank and put into your nano tank.
No need to add guppy or any nutrafin cycle.

Sorry, you cannot just cycle by just adding water into the tank and that's it.

Firstly, you need an ammonia source as food for the beneficial bacterias.

Secondly, IMHO, beneficial bacterias do not populate the water column as much as they colonise mainly on porous surfaces and materials. So the net gain isn't significant enough to cut short the cycling time by merely using old water.

You can cut short the cycling by
a) adding commercial beneficial bacterias (but you need to really know if these commercial products work)
b) resuing old filter material in your new filter setup (do not wash with tap water)
c) pack the tank with fast well growing plants

Do take some time to read more about cycling, http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum...94&postcount=2

However, patience is virtue, so I would suggest to cycle up to 4 weeks minimum to ensure the beneficial bacterias are well colonised to minimise any loss.

An alternative is to go for fishless cycling, http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.u...article_id=113 but it would also be advisable to cycle longer.

Tests your water for ammonia/nitrite before adding the shrimps, it should read 0.

[oblivion]

people like me rather use normal cube tank which cost only less than a blue note rather then get an ada cube that cost $300?

an ada 1 foot cube? not that expensive la
but of course its still significantly more ex than normal tanks

unless your dad sponsor you i don;t think sec school student usually can afford it yet!

[EvolutionZ]

i think $300 is the price for 2ft garden.. was quoted over $300 if im not wrong

[oblivion]

i thought you said a cube?

1 foot cube definitely not $300+
even normal 2 footer also not that expensive

but if its 2 foot cube, then $300+ is cheap

[o2bubble]

Guys, just check midori website for the prices lah.. Then discount about 20-30% loh.