First 2ft shrimp, comments are welcome

[xconnect.]

My tank is a pure distilled fan powered two ft fire red tank.Things I encountered nitrate build up. To counter this is to add Frogbits they grow like nobody's business ^^Since it is a two feet tank we can afford pure distilled water setup for me 5$ every two weeks which is ok for me.but you have chiller so your cost will be lower however I would encourage you to water change as your water don't evaporate as fast as mine.my tank every week 10% evaporated if I do water change I fear I spoil water parameters Therefore I just add distilled water.so far so good shrimps are all breeding well even one of my three yamatos are berried -.- . Gh wise very low like three tds 130. My distilled water is shop and save brand.I did not my check ph because fire reds are more hardy compared to the rest. Plant in my tank are only mini Fiss on wood and charcoal tubes for hiding and frogbits which the roots grow until like covering half of tank which is ok I guess I can see spider shrimp heheh.Filters using is 2224 filled with bio home plus. I'm adding a 2026 I just recently bight from a bro here also filling it with bio home plus and the washed original ehiem mech and ehiem substrate(old school).over killing abit but due to increasing bio load no choice.

[spkentchai]

Very nice setup...good to see

[Dscyth]

It may be a good idea to monitor your tds and ph during the initial few months of setup. Once the tank is mature then you can do it less frequently.

Just topping up water without changing could lead to very high gh values. If you intend to just top up then maybe do a distilled water top up regime. However it is still recommended that you change water to remove unwanted build ups in the water.

Should I do water change now while tank is cycling or after? Will I be removing stuff that helps in the cycling and introduce stuff that slows it down?

My tank is a pure distilled fan powered two ft fire red tank.Things I encountered nitrate build up. To counter this is to add Frogbits they grow like nobody's business ^^Since it is a two feet tank we can afford pure distilled water setup for me 5$ every two weeks which is ok for me.but you have chiller so your cost will be lower however I would encourage you to water change as your water don't evaporate as fast as mine.my tank every week 10% evaporated if I do water change I fear I spoil water parameters Therefore I just add distilled water.so far so good shrimps are all breeding well even one of my three yamatos are berried -.- . Gh wise very low like three tds 130. My distilled water is shop and save brand.I did not my check ph because fire reds are more hardy compared to the rest. Plant in my tank are only mini Fiss on wood and charcoal tubes for hiding and frogbits which the roots grow until like covering half of tank which is ok I guess I can see spider shrimp heheh.Filters using is 2224 filled with bio home plus. I'm adding a 2026 I just recently bight from a bro here also filling it with bio home plus and the washed original ehiem mech and ehiem substrate(old school).over killing abit but due to increasing bio load no choice.

I think you have convinced me to use distilled water! I have only 1/3 cannister of 2nd hand ehiem substrate and 1/4 cannister of Mr Aqua CR. Is that sufficient? Biohomme seems really expensive.

Very nice setup...good to see

Thanks spkentchai. Hope the shrimps can turn out as nice too!

[xconnect.]

If your canister is filed then it is ok.However when you do distilled water change don't change so much 20% max

[cheetf]

I think you can just leave it be. Now is the fun part if you are the type that likes to monitor parameters. You can start monitoring ammonia, nitrates and nitrites to see the cycling process. Alternatively you could just leave it be and monitor one parameter after about a month.

[rascal]

agree with bro cheetf. Just monitor your parameter and try not to add stuff in your tank as you would get constant reading with your parameter.

[xconnect.]

Yeap agreed with the above now is the waiting game and temptation training hehe.

[Kimo_8410]

Nice tank and clean setup!!

[Dscyth]

Update on the 3 week old tank:

PH: 6.0
Ammonia: 6.0
Nitrate:5

I think cycling is far from done.
The patch of HC in the foreground is growing taller but some parts are melting. Should I get rid of the HC totally?

I am getting impatient, put in 3 horn snails and 2 small cherry shrimps for 3 days. All still surviving. Could it be my test kit is spoilt?

[mt09]

Ph 6??any typo error,if not it is very high

[cheetf]

Ph 6??any typo error,if not it is very high

Very high? What do you mean?

[mt09]

Very high? What do you mean?

I meant ammonia 6,type wrongly

[Dscyth]

After 4 weeks, the ammonia level is still at 6ppm. I read some websites that said this was too high as well. Maybe the ammonia from New Amazonia substrate is too much?
I didn't want to wait anymore and did 30% water change, replacing with distilled water. I measured ammonia level after 2 hr and the reading became 2ppm. Let's see if it continues to fall.

Different types of algae are starting to turn up on the glass. Should I scrap them away?
I added 5 yamatos in the hope they will eat up the hair algae.

[shawnc9]

Good to see the ammonia level is dropping. I started cycling my tank the same time as you (same tank, same soil, bought from the same place ). And my ammonia is 0 ppm and nitrate at 25ppm as of now.

My ammonia peaked at 10ppm around 2 weeks back, so its a matter of time before it drops. My ammonia dropped drastically after I added a 2217 as a dedicated bio filter, driving a 2234 as the prefilter (excessive I know). It could be the cycle really kick started then, or the addition of 2217 helped, will never know.

I have frogbits soaking up nitrates so I don't have algae growing at the moment. Won't be adding livestock until the end of the week.

[Dscyth]

My ammonia is finally zero after 5 weeks.

Putting in some A grade CRS to test water together with 3 otos.

[j5651]

nice tank bro !

[haywas_35]

3 otos are too many, only 1 will do the job. They can do harm then good. The young one is good enough.

[alvin235800]

Wa! I hv 5 otos in my 2ft tank....
Anyway, I need comment fr all brother here. I am using new Amazonia Ada soil. I take about 10 days to clear my ammonia by use zeolite. I add in the zeolite in day 9, 10. Yesterday add one 1st batch shrimp. Inside have crs, cherry, rili, snow white and rainbow. Any problem for this setup?
ImageUploadedByTapatalk1345344117.696066.jpg
They are fighting for their 1st breakfast!



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[sam mark]

any FTS photo?

[alvin235800]

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1345348652.896471.jpg

The zeolite still inside the tank.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk