Concerns on my 1st CRS tank

[Aquaculture]

Please advise on setting up my first crs tank. It would be a small shrimp tank occupied by mainly crs and oto. I have allowed the tank to cycle for the past 6 days.

I have tested the water parameters to be;

PH: 5.8
KH: 3
GH: 3
Temp: abt 26 degress
Don't know about Ammonia or Nitrates as I have not purchase the test kits (though I learned that they are of utmost importance to be as low as possible).

So far, am I on the right track? Any particular brands of test kits that can be recommended? As Ammonia & Nitrate are of great emphasis, think I should get a more reliable model.

I have planted mainly mosses in the tank. Used Flame moss for the background and Riccia as my foreground. Hope the crs would be happy with the layout. I am hoping that the moss thrive and am considering of adding plant nutrients, mainly Seachem range. Does anyone know whether adding plant nutrients is harmful to the crs?

I have spoken to one of the fish shop owners and one of them adviced me to put carbon as part of the filter medium (prevent and minimise ammonia and nitrate build up). But won't this kill the active bacteria? I am at the crossroads of either school of thoughts.

Lastly, I am puzzled on water change. Some advice to change 40% - 50% each week whereas there are also suggestions of 10% - 20%. Shrimps are in general hyper sensitive, what are your recommendations so as I can minimise stress caused by changes in ph?

Thank you for taking the time to read my rather long list of concerns.

[uklau]

As far as I know, activated carbon will not kill the beneficial bacterial (BB). In fact, it is a good medium for the BB to colonised. If I don't remember wrongly, activated carbon is good in removing (via absorption) organic waste. These include fertilizer.

[leeruisheng]

I performed 1/4 water change every 2 weeks. With no casualties or color run. It's a heavily planted crs breeding tank. On a regular dosage of Tropica Master Grow, seachem Phosphate and Nitrogen after each water change.

[Aquaculture]

On a regular dosage of TMG, seachem PO and Nitrogen after each water change.

May I know what is TMG?

[leeruisheng]

Sorry it's tropica master grow. Previously, I was using ADA liquid fertilizer also work out fine with the crs.

[michaelmah]

My crs seem to not active and even 1 crs die after I add Riccia, but after removed riccia they extremely happy, marching out, look for food and fight for the limited food .

Maybe riccia look to bright under the light or newly contain excess fertierlies from producer ?

GH 3-5 is recommend.

For your case,about ammonia and nitrite (nitrate not so dangerous as it below 0.5mg/l) this can be control be not feed crs so frequent.

Feed them with less food than require and assume your other water parameter is fine (temp and ph), thus you may not so worry about ammonia and nitrite.

Better to have that test kit for breeding crs, try API which is cheap and have big quantity bottle compare with other



Prefer to do wc weeklly, my nano tank I do top water few hours after feeding every as the clip fan seem dry off the water.

[fishpoo]

Hi bro,
In my opinion, crs tanks should be chemical free, which means no ferts. If you are keeping mosses only, they do not need ferts to thrive, as for the riccia, if you want to see bubbling effects you will need CO2 injection. However crs being sensitive creatures will prefer higher levels of disolved oxygen, so you will have to trial and error in this aspect.

For water changes, 40%-50% may not be recommened unless there's something very wrong in the tank, there are people who do not change water for a few weeks and their crs are still thriving.

I personally use API test kits and have not encountered any problems.
Lastly, to keep nitrate in check, I use floating plants like frogbits and salvinas.
Hope this helps

[michaelmah]

Yes Fishpoo,
My tank is ferts free, riccia is growing slow in my ADA soil, and I just have DIY co2 and for solve o2 problem, I installed the air stone when the light turn off.

Beside that,I experience some Gh tester have expired date which it does not stated in the bottle thus it is spoil and the color doesnot to desired effect, so read before buy.

For some my nano tank keeper, I think the floating plant will block the light to surface and which the brightly light will help make the shrimplet skin go hard and increase the frequency of molting process and hence molting they expose to maturation but nor doubt the plant will help in to absord nitrate and excess light for normal tank.