New IQ3 pico tank setup

[Goldfisher]

Hi guys,

I am setting up this pico tank. Currently, day 2 of my cycling process. Is 30 days the normal convention of cycling process?

Next I have this problem of planting the plants in my soil. They keep floating up. U guys got any solns?

[hellomyfriend]

Hello. Cycle the longer the better usually 1 - 2 months depending on your level of patience

[Goldfisher]

LoL. Seriously I am the kind of person who wanted to see results fast. I choose to cycle the most for 1 month. I can't wait to put shrimps in it. LoL. I heard crystal shrimps are quite hardy right?

[lizhien]

they are not the easiest of shrimps to keep. Hardy shrimps are cherry and snowball.

[felix_fx2]

What is the clump of plants?
You need to split if their growing from runners. Then have to plant them in abit so the root have something holding on (or rather to me the substrate holding down the roots)
Then slowly take out the pincer.

P.s: I was taught by a steady bro to lightly shake the pincer before taking it out, so there is some substrate fall on the roots. Just my .50cents. Opinions may vary with individuals.

About the crystal red, think you may have been mistake. Crs are sensitive to conditions. (1 of my 1st 5 died in the 1st hour in a 2 month old tank). Are you meaning cherry red shrimps?

[Goldfisher]

I read about Crystal Red Shrimps aka CRS from here http://www.fishyou.com/shrimp-crs.php. Pretty informative.
Alas, they are high sensitive to water condition. I guess I will not start with this first as I am a total newbie to shrimps. I saw cherry and snowball at 328 today. The color is not as nice as the CRS.

Felix: The clump of plants is what I found at Seaview. I cannot see properly because the staff handwriting is too "cursive". I think it starts with G... You can identify it?
I was thinking to get a very long pincer that is able to dip into substrate without splashing the water out. Have not really find the pincer yet. One of my colleague told me about shrimp is as hardy as goldfish but I think he do not know there are different species to it.

So what is the general hardy nice looking shrimp you would recommend to me to start?

[RonWill]

The clump of plants is what I found at Seaview. I cannot see properly because the staff handwriting is too "cursive". I think it starts with G...

Glossostigma elatinoides??

[Goldfisher]

Yesh. You are correct. You identified easily even the photo is not very clear

[ZackZhou]

Haha, read more before you start putting shrimps. Root plants can't be grown in that way.. Everything is hardy if your tank is stable. Head down to Gc when you are free, they do have a tank smaller than iq3 and with crs berried in it

[felix_fx2]

Keep cherries 1st.
I'm keeping glosso in my iq3 also, I just feel the temp Is quite high if it's not cooled.
Also I'm not using the packaged led lights, using some gex light I bought off another fourmer.

[Goldfisher]

Where and what is GC? Their focus on shrimps ?

Thanks for the guidance Felix

[Ukiya]

Nice setup! The LED lights provided won't last long soon you'll have to change a new one!

[felix_fx2]

Where and what is GC? Their focus on shrimps ?

Thanks for the guidance Felix

Gc is the lfs by the name of green chapter. It is a nice place.

[rcw]

nice cute tank. You need some tall driftwoods.
Try using java mosses, they are the easiest among all.
Shrimps love mosses

[Goldfisher]

I hope my LED last longer. Is the dynmax LED so lousy? Haha. Pls don't fail me.

You got the address of GC? Is the price lower than 328? I went 328 these few days find it quite competitive. There are 2 shops at 328 and is selling 1.5 for cherry and 5 for CRS.

I intend to get the moss ball for the shrimps to hang on it. I think it will be quite hard to put a driftwood in the small tank. I intended to put some nice snails, tetras in it. U all got any ideas what snails to get?

See my new tank. I got a long pincer to plant in the roots. Damn hard to keep the glosso not to float up!!

[RonWill]

You got the address of GC? Is the price lower than 328? I went 328 these few days find it quite competitive

When (and I don't know when) you get to see what can be done to a humble IQ3, IQ5 or a feature-packed Lumiq tank, you *might* understand why prices at GC are a little dearer than the other more popular LFS.

I reckon they're not out for price wars but striving to provide a more personal level of service to a (unfortunately) too-niche market but personally, I think they might be on a positive formula that only time will tell.

If price is the only determining factor (you might want to read this), then probably other LFS will serve your needs better.

BTW, trimming off that yellowing blade of pennywort (Hydrocotyle) will make a better picture and your glossos are still planted too tightly.

[Goldfisher]

For the glossy, how should I really plant the glossos?

[stormhawk]

There is no instant gratification in this hobby. You can either learn it the hard way, or the easy way. Patience is key with fish keeping, as well as proper researching on the subject aka focus animal you wish to keep in the tank, along with whatever plants you wish to grow. Do understand that not everything will turn out the way you want. Not everything the LFS tells you is the truth. It is difficult to find a responsible shopkeeper who is not out to fleece you by using your newbieness against you. Therefore, it is best to study the fishes via posting questions on basic husbandry and also using the Internet to get the answers you require. As always, some answers are just 1 Google search away.

To plant some tiny rooting plants, a method I read about in the past was to weave them slowly into pieces of gunny sacks, which are then placed on the gravel bed with some gravel sprinkled over it to weigh it down. This allows the plants to root over time, since the piece of sack will rot slowly and thus disappear without any issues to the animals or plants.

[felix_fx2]

For the glossy, how should I really plant the glossos?

Normally will try to plant them evenly across the desired place.
I do recommend to leave it as it is, it will grow runners. If you see it growing up more then 1.5cm (only a gauge) it should be light issue.

Quite good for 1st try frankly. Rome was not built in a day, right

[Goldfisher]

Thanks felix for the encouragement. And appreciate tomkhawk for the valuable pointer

I just got a moss ball, 1 horned nerite and 2 cherry shrimps.

It is fun watching them swim around!! Intending to get 6 more tetras. Hehe.