Excited Newbie!

**staplerman** · 26th Jun 2012, 21:55

This is my tiring attempt at scaping after I saw a damselfly nymph in my previous terrarium (cause the scaping and conditioning isn't done, so no fishes yet). Tank is 1ft. Driftwood and rocks are from Blue Planet. Not enough hairgrass.. so.. got balding for now. Hehe.

SAM_2714 (Medium).JPG

This set up has no CO2 and fert yet. Just done today. Super tired le. CO2 is DIY, so it's kind of.. fermenting right now? Fert..

haven't buy. Intending to use liquid fert. Okay, can suan me for the breeding filter, cause I have intentions to make this into a shrimp tank. So, I can just put it as part of cycling process I guess?

**derek_wong86** · 28th Jun 2012, 17:09

Hi, welcome to Aquascaping field~~ it's a life long hobby..

care to share your whole sets of gears?
1. Substrate?
2. Dimension for the aquarium? (30cm X ?cm X ?cm)
3. Filter?
4. Lighting? (T5 or PLL or LED)

Indeed your aquarium seems to be lack of greens.. are you using some sort of black sand? (*if it is sand itself.. I dun think it contains sufficient nutrient for the grasses.. and your grasses looked a little yellowish..).. Better get to know about the plants u planting.. and also the nutrient you gonna provide to it...

if you planned to make it some sort of shrimps breeding tank.. you better ensure the substrate & plants are shrimp friendly..

**derek_wong86** · 28th Jun 2012, 17:11

opps.. sorry for the double post.. perhaps my area was having some sort of network issues...

looking forward for more updates from you~

What species of shrimps you will be looking forward of breeding? CRS?

**staplerman** · 28th Jun 2012, 17:16

Well, in fact, I've changed the scape a little but have yet to take any pictures because of cloudy waters.

1. I did not use substrate because I didn't have it when I started out on this.
2. The dimension of the tank is 30cm X 19cm X 21.
3. I am still choosing the filter to be used. In the picture I am using a sponge filter paired with a pump. Mostly for shrimps or fry breeding use. I do have HOB, submersible pump and powerhead to choose from.
4. I'm using LED. I am aware of the lack of measurements to check the power of LED lightings for now, but mine is the AquaZonic Double Bright G2 LED.

The hairgrass has just been planted on and they should be growing quite well, but would not be sure until a few weeks later. The black gravel is actually inert quartz. Definitely not sufficient nutrients. Currently, I am using Co2 tablets, which I am considering to replace with Flourish Excel. And also a few drops of Flourish comprehensive. Both the substrate and plants are shrimp friendly, just not sure about the filter and fertilizer.

**derek_wong86** · 28th Jun 2012, 17:31

perhaps u need more greens.. for the shrimps to have sufficient place to roam and hide... hmm... ever think of adding some HC or Java moss? they love it...

CO2... dun think your hair grass need that much of Co2... unless you want it to grow faster.. but Co2 must comes with the suitable amount of light that you gonna blast 'em into the tank so that photosynthesis can be taken place right away....else u will be expecting some unwanted visitor to your tank... Algae..(having too much of light and less Co2) Moreover, whenever you do your partial Wc for the tank... fresh water do contains Co2..

For the gravel / substrate or base for your aquarium... it's more like you need to get ready to test the pH and the hardness of the water since you are using it.. gonna maintain the pH & nitrite level as shrimps are very sensitive...well, having suitable / good substrate saves you from all the unwanted troubles... why not using soil? some soil like Gex guarantees for clear water even during first setup, stable pH, and is shrimp breeding oriented.... (GEX in Red color packing..).. Or you can use ADA Amazonia since the price is quite the same..

**staplerman** · 28th Jun 2012, 17:44

Haha. I'm planning to cycle the tanks for a max of a month before introducing any livestock. The testing will come after. I've thought about plants, I've got Java moss too, but after a lot of thinking, I realise less is still simpler. Yeah. I'm looking to carpet the gravel with hairgrass, that's why CO2. I can keep my lights on for as long, but only if the plant is ready to grow. I usually keep the lights on for 10 hours, putting a CO2 tablet after 2 hours.

I did research on soil and they usually come in 5-10kg, of course there are a few brands of smaller packaging, but I thought to start with what I have before buying what I need. So, that explains why I realised I did the scaping before the fertilizer. I do hope the liquid ferts will be enough.

**staplerman** · 28th Jun 2012, 17:45

Haha. I'm planning to cycle the tanks for a max of a month before introducing any livestock. The testing will come after. I've thought about plants, I've got Java moss too, but after a lot of thinking, I realise less is still simpler. Yeah. I'm looking to carpet the gravel with hairgrass, that's why CO2. I can keep my lights on for as long, but only if the plant is ready to grow. I usually keep the lights on for 10 hours, putting a CO2 tablet after 2 hours.

I did research on soil and they usually come in 5-10kg, of course there are a few brands of smaller packaging, but I thought to start with what I have before buying what I need. So, that explains why I realised I did the scaping before the fertilizer. I do hope the liquid ferts will be enough.

**diazman** · 28th Jun 2012, 17:49

The quartz is inert. You can go for GEX substrate. Not sure if liquid ferts will be enough. GEX come in 1L/3L if im not wrong, just enough to cover a 1ft.

**derek_wong86** · 28th Jun 2012, 18:03

Originally Posted by diazman

The quartz is inert. You can go for GEX substrate. Not sure if liquid ferts will be enough. GEX come in 1L/3L if im not wrong, just enough to cover a 1ft.

yep... that's right... It will be perfect if you use the GEX red color.. or ADA Amazonia ... Liquid fert definitely insufficient.. you gonna need some base fert.. .ever see those fertilizer in stick form? you gonna buy those... (if you continue to use back the same gravel you bought previously).

Seriously, your greens is too few... and Co2 is not necessary .. and over-long period of light blasting is not good either... plants need to rest too... it goes the same to your shrimps..
Too less green, too much lighting - your shrimps will be stressed.. how does a stressed shrimp going to make babies?? ha ha ha~
Lack of hiding spots - your shrimps will be stressed too..
Too much Co2 - your shrimps gonna have hard times too...
Having to understand your water parameter such as pH , nitrite, hardness level.. is critical for shrimps breeding tanks.. because shrimps are very sensitive. If you know your water are not quite shrimps friendly.. perhaps it is time for you to get some pH, water hardness up / down... you need to have total control of the water parameter before you ever introduce any livestock to it~ it will be kinda risky if you decided to perform your water testing after you introduce livestock into the waters..

I saw GEX in 2kg packing, perhaps 4kg is more than enough for your tank... you can place the old gravel at the lower layer too since you already have it....

well, just my 2 cents..

**staplerman** · 8th Sep 2012, 00:37

Well guys, this is one of my two newly established tank. Had been months since I last posted, been spending a lot of time to plan and cycle. As the landscapes and layouts I researched kind of confused me, I've decided to just stick with what I have. Note that the JBL Aquabasis beneath the gravel is kinda.. useless, since I have not planted anything with roots into them.

The white stuff around is bread, which surprisingly ghost shrimps liked more than the pellets I dropped in for them.

I've went to upper pierce reservoir after my gf told me there are shrimps and lobsters there. I figured the tank can host some occupants since I am planning to only introduce more expensive shrimps after planning on what kind to keep. Why not see if my low tech set up worked?

Bear in mind that I do not have CO2 injection, have not dosed any fertiliser or SeaChem excel. The water had been aerated for as long as I remembered once the tank is filled with water, and during water changes, to drop about 4 drops of JBL Biotopol C.

The above image is what we caught - a lobster breed which is called yabbies, but released them after taking pictures. There is also another tank filled with about 10+ ghost shrimps, but I only brought 6 home. My tank is only 3 gallon, and I am very careful about the minimum space sea creatures needed, so the yabbies (lobsters which can grow up to 30cm) was not an option.

Here's one of the two larger ones.

And a tiny one resting on the rings away from the bossy bigger shrimps.

If you noticed on the left of the last image, there's a little serving dish for them! I went to Blue Planet (or is it Green Chapter) to look for their food, but after some thoughts, ghost shrimps aren't really that high investment yet, so I held back. But I had been wanting to get a dish to monitor the food intake and also to ease clean up, but was discouraged by my gf not to spend the S$10.

Had dinner at some buffet steamboat and the jelly dessert that came in shot glass had a plastic container which would be discarded after the jelly is gone. So I packed some home, fired up my Dremel and cut away most of the top. I washed it clean and dropped it into the tank, which the shrimps would curiously come and see. Poor workmanship I would say.

But I consider myself to be quite reckless luh, thinking that 'if it's food safe, it should be aquarium safe too!'. Well, that's it for now. Bio rings doing their job as playground. I guess they'll just use the little dish as a chilling corner instead of eating in it.

**BFG** · 8th Sep 2012, 13:04

Staplerman, was it easy catching the yabbies?

**staplerman** · 9th Sep 2012, 11:39

Yes. they're pretty easy to catch. You just have to take a stick (satay or chopstick) and roll a ball of bread onto one of the ends. Then place it between some rocks, or near rocks. The lobsters won't come out if it's right smack in the middle of an open area. After a while (if there are lobsters under the rocks), you will see curious antennas and pincers. Once they found food, they will be tempted and would make quite a distance if you tried to lure them by giving and pulling away.

Once you think you have enough space for your nets, go for the catch. There, you'll have it. There's a beautiful bluish yabbie though. But had only one pincer. Didn't manage to catch it. Poor thing.