CRS all died after introduction of plants and fish

[daversatile]

Oh.. Thanks for taking notice of my thread in other forums and well, its also that tank which made me realize some of the things which can be avoided to make a shrimp tank work out... been through shrimps dying and also lots of problems with water perimeters.. but when it comes to rocks, the shrimps will be very fine for a few months and nothing will seems like an issue, but GH will keep raising no matter how you try to bring down.. PH will also fluctuate depending on what rocks you are using as well.. i have hit a high GH of 14dGH (a good 14 drops of liquid test which is a total waste of test kits liquid) before and it is really too high for shrimps.. if you going back into CRS keeping, try remove rocks... it does helps or you can be like me, go against all odds to try make it work out.. haha..

but overall summary is, simple setup and avoid the 'itchy hand syndrome' which is like so hard on me... haha...

i think most probably like what you have conclude will be the ammonia spike when you accidentally stirred the soil.. another point also to point out that, although they state that those root tablets are fish & invertebrate safe.. but might not be CRS safe.. CRS tends to be very sensitive to even a very small amount of elements which they are not used to.. i have added fertilizer & liquid co2 before to my previous tank... and they seems fine... but that doesnt mean that they will be fine in another set up as well, so I cannot comment so much on this also...



So right now you are not going into CRS for the time being right? haha.. I did thought of keeping a small tank of figure8 puffers before for my girlfriend, but i am also worried that if I am caught staring at my shrimp tank for too long, end up 1 day, she might just catch 1 puffer into my shrimp tank and that single puffer will be having a buffet feast of shrimps...

but take your time, it takes awhile for tank to mature... I am currently injecting CO2 to reduce algae growth and promote plant growth... so really depends on setup to setup i guess..

for test kits, try to avoid getting those comprehensive test kits that test everything like test strips.. they are not accurate in their readings.. you can try going for SERA liquid test kits... but still have to purchase different test separately, but at least you know that you will be getting the correct readings from them..

Thanks for the tips on the kits Alvin.

After much hiatus and with work getting the best of me, I have finally decided to get back into CRS keeping and thus removed the puffers to another tank of their own. They seem to be very hostile in that tank but when I moved them to a simple low-tech setup tank with some moss thrown, they stopped being mean to one another. Oh well.. weird but funny creatures nonetheless.

OK, so here I go again, embarking on another CRS adventure.. but before I begin, wanted to highlight a few updates.

I've bought a GH kit and it measured 6 dGH or 107.4 ppm. So I've done some research, and that's probably why my second batch of CRS all died.
So am trying to bring it back down and I guess I might as well painstakingly scrape some small parts where there is green algae on the glass (the very slippery type? can anybody tell me what algea this is?). So I am hoping to cycle the tank again for some time and get the water parameter right/optimum before I introduce another big batch of CRS. CAn anyone tell me how I could achieve this in the shortest time span?

Aiming to remove some plants and leave the xmas moss and keep it simple. This time round I will use the drip method instead of stabbing holes into the bag for acclimatization.

[daversatile]

I think the fish you mentioning is either Neon Tetra or Cardinal Tetra.
I do not think they will harm your adult shrimp.
I had them in my tank with my shrimps and the shrimps population is growing.

So, it must be related to the planting.

No they are not the tetras, that I have in a seperate tank and I know they are harmless.

The fish I was mentioning are the badis badis.. the scarlet badis aka dario dario - the are very intriguing characters but lots of hostility when you have 2 males or more in a tank.. like mine.

[eviltrain]

hee hee, if i were you and planning to breed CRS, i will decomm every single thing and redo a tank just for crs only.

if you stick to the same tank, problems might arise and your poor shrimps may just die.

[daversatile]

Below is an updated list of my tank specs:- anything I have to worry about guys?

2ft tank - 30x60cm
ADA Amazonia II
ADA Power Sand
Eheim rainbar installed
Wondergrow Root tablet embedded
Driftwood with xmas Moss attached
Some Spiky looking plant... China xxxxxxxxx?
Seiryu rocks
Dwarf water lily
duck weed (growing exponentially)
Zipper/Java moss - REMOVED
Eheim 2032 - with bio ceramic rings added
ph- 6.3-6.8

[daversatile]

hee hee, if i were you and planning to breed CRS, i will decomm every single thing and redo a tank just for crs only.

if you stick to the same tank, problems might arise and your poor shrimps may just die.

You know what eviltrain ? I had gotten into this hobby in hopes that I could breed but after much dabbling of my feet in this hobby, that seems very far fetched now.
Reason why I feel so un-optimistic is because I've heard that you need a chiller to regulate temperature for breeding to take it's course? Is this true? I am not one who would spend like 2-300 $ more for a chiller and without the knowledge to breed them. Don't want to feel let down again.

I have spent so much on the my little friends ie. food, mineral plus etc.... let's hope this time round they could at least stay alive till they reach sexual maturity. haha

Does anyone have any tips on any links or websites like a step by step guide to breeding this little fellas? Ie water parameters (pH, kH, gH) , weekly water change %'s, suitable plants (love nests) to aide in the mating process?

[eviltrain]

this is the main problem!

CRS NEEDS temperature of 22 degree - 26 degree. even if you gets all the rest of the water parameter correct, the CRS won't survive the temperature of any (non cooled) room temperature.

even for grade C they also need 26-27 degrees.

[Numbskull]

If u cant buy a chiller, dont expect them to breed. In that case, buy cherry shrimps/sakura or fire red shrimps and get a clip on fan. And pray that they breed. Chiller is in the long run, break down the price and its not expensive at all.