Reply With QuoteForgot to add, substrate is a thin layer, around 1 cm of UP black sand substrate, last used in my 1 ft tank, but has been washed since 5 months ago for this new set up.
Hello to all bro, I need some advice on my tank as cherries is continuously dying even after about 5 months.
I have a 2ft tank, with powerful aeration 24hrs on. Tanks have quite some plants and DW, was set up 5 - 6 months ago. I did weekly water change of 10 - 20%, tap water left overnight and treated with mosura shizen.
Lights - 2 x24w on about 8 - 10 hours each day
Filter - Gex hof (m) slim with bio home+ and CR, filter set to max flow
Plants - us fissiden on DW, java fern, weeping moss on DW
No fertilizers were added
Bro Ecalyte was very nice and he drop by my place to help me took the readings with his test kit.
PH - 6.0
GH - 6.0
Temp - 29 - 30 degrees
Nitrites/ nitrates - around 25 ppm
Ammonia - 0
With the above readings, I have experience almost 1 - 3 deaths of my cherries and Sakura daily. (have a few hornworts to control the nitrates etc)
I have 4 x Otto and have around 50 cherries previous, and the cherries keep dying and I keep topping up the number of cherries, currently have around 30 in my tank.
I am still experiencing death from my cherries and I hope some nice bro can give me advise as to what can I do to minimize death, and my cherries didn't breed, and if they did, their newborn can't survive( as I have never seen any in the course of 5 months)
Please help me out bro! Thanks all in advance.
Been awhile since i last kept shrimps/ fishes, please give me your kind guidance!
Forgot to add, substrate is a thin layer, around 1 cm of UP black sand substrate, last used in my 1 ft tank, but has been washed since 5 months ago for this new set up.
Been awhile since i last kept shrimps/ fishes, please give me your kind guidance!
Ur temp is right at the limits of ur shrimps can try down a bit? If not u need fan no choice like my 2 ft fire red tank. Hope this helps
I tried putting a fan to bring down max 1-2 degree for a few weeks already, but it seems like the death still continues...
Been awhile since i last kept shrimps/ fishes, please give me your kind guidance!
Your pH is a bit low for Cherries. They do better at pH closer to 7. Also your GH is a bit on the high side which might cause moulting problems. Try doing continuous water changes with distilled water to bring the GH down. Cherries normally breed like rabbits.
Hmm... I was thinking of distiller water... Would it make a huge diff as to me using tap water?... I see I see so my stat got problem ...
Been awhile since i last kept shrimps/ fishes, please give me your kind guidance!
pH 6 - Okay .. my FR also at that range, but can try to up a bit progressivelyPH - 6.0
GH - 6.0
Temp - 29 - 30 degrees
Nitrites/ nitrates - around 25 ppm
Ammonia - 0
gh - 6.0 - abit high, monitor molting shell is complete (head and body split open), mix with distill for PWC
Temp - 29-30 actually okay for cherry/sakura/FR
Nitrate (i assume 25 ppm) abit high .. take some floating plants or hornwort from me
ammonia 0
nitrite - assume 0
last thing .. lower your aeration to minimum. shrimps dont need so much oxygen. when i on my airstone max, the shrimps and brigittae went abit crazy and 2 brigittae died . I think the turbulence may be too stressful for them
if you need surface agitation, position the airstone just below surface.
when lower oxygen, CO2 may rise, ph may go down further. but may be very little as your tank is low planted
sum, i gave FR cull to my friend which is a super low tec noob tetra tank with no water monitoring at all. they all survived. So i assumed cherry family are indeed hardy.
WTS barang barang
http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum...ore?highlight=
Cherry family are indeed very hardy from my experience and they will even breed in a big jar with average water qaulity.Originally Posted by marimo
I assumed your subtrate is lowering the PH?
If not, leave the PH at 7 unless you are having CRS inside as well.
I do not think it is problem with aeration, I throw some cull in jar with aeration filter, they seem to be doing well and no death.
Please show a picture of your tank, it will give us more clues on what is wrong.
Bro marimo, my currents are not very big even though i do on my aeration to half - as i leave the air stone very near to the water surface. I do understand that Cherries are indeed hardy hence the death in my tank is considered quite weird...
Bro hyun, i am not too sure if my substrate will lower the PH, as it is "said" to be inert, brand is UPS black substrate/ sand. I am suspecting it might be my driftwoods which are lowering the PH due to them releasing tannins, but then again, i soaked, washed and boil them with hot water before using them.
As i do not have a computer at home, i will try my best to post a pic up soon, as it is a pain to post pic from my iphone.
- currently i still see 1 / 2 deaths everyday in my tank, another thing which brought to my attention might be the shrimps are not properly accumlitized? but most have been survivng till they die 1 by 1 ....
Been awhile since i last kept shrimps/ fishes, please give me your kind guidance!
Bro, firstly, please stop "topping up" until the deaths can be resolved.
Secondly, the reading are not perfect but should not be fatal to cherries. Daily deaths suggest something very wrong with your tank.
I suggest you test your TDS. If you do not want to invest in a TDS meter yet, you can bring a water sample to a bro with a meter to test. If you're near Queenstown or Bishan, pm me, I have a TDS meter if you're willing to meet at my convenience, mostly at nights.
If you're on good terms with certain LFS *wink wink nudge nudge*, you can also bring your tank water there to test.
My best guess is TDS issues, or something toxic (copper, pesticides, hydrogen sulfide) leeching into the tank.
My fire reds can survive GH as high as 8, so I doubt thats the reason. If the ottos are fine, its probably not ammonia, especially not at pH 6.
By the way, what are you feeding them?
haha bro, i have since stopped topping up already - was a very big mistake on my side as i though it is common for them to die off.
I have been reading up but i am still not very sure what TDS is.. i do stay near queenstown, i am staying at redhill/ tiong bahru, perhaps i will try to meet you up soon - thanks alot..
How do i check what is the toxic substance that is leeching into the tank? - i mean other than the normal test kit i see in the market, the 3 that you mentioned, i have never seen any test kit for them. Thw tank is in my room, and i dont spray any perfume inside my room etc. I do not use any fertilizers, and all the plants are already in my tank for almost 3 months minimum already. May i ask what can i check for if there might be a chance of the harmful substances leeching into the tank?
I feed my cherries some cheap shrimp food with no brand - it is just labeled with "shrimp food" small container kind, bought from Colorful. I also feed them hikari algae wafers, which i will break into smaller pieces before putting them into the tank.
Thanks alot bro for all the advice and help here.
Been awhile since i last kept shrimps/ fishes, please give me your kind guidance!
Move the shrimp other place stay.
If never add water still have deaths. Source of problem is in the tank or filter or attached items.
Learning the hardway, not the highway.
Photo Blog - impervious-endeavors.blogspot.com
Semi-Active currently
"if he cant be bothered to take the time to write his question properly, why should I take the time to answer him."
Thanks bro felix for the advice, but i do not have any extra tank currently... only got 2 X 2ft tank... need to move them else where abit difficult for me...
Been awhile since i last kept shrimps/ fishes, please give me your kind guidance!
http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum...HM-TDS-3-Meter
Bro Zack is selling for $20 only
When i was over i tested his TDS, its 180-190. Cant remember the exact number from memory.
Ecalyte, does that mean good or bad?
Pardon my question, only have seen and heard what a Tds do from Eviltrain but don't own one.
Learning the hardway, not the highway.
Photo Blog - impervious-endeavors.blogspot.com
Semi-Active currently
"if he cant be bothered to take the time to write his question properly, why should I take the time to answer him."
To be honest, I have no idea...
We don't even know what we're measuring for. It's just an overall picture of moving molecules. In fact, TDS meters does not even measure all dissolved solids in the water, only electrically charged ones. But we can get an approximate gauge of certain contents..
But I've heard numbers being thrown about that 100-150 is good, some say 160-200.. I really can't give you an accurate answer. To me when I'm measure TDS, I just make sure it's not some exaggerated figure like 10, or 500.
While we're on the topic, here's a few FYIs.
KH - Measure of bicarbonate in the water
GH - Measure of ions in the water that carry a +2 electrical charge and then expressed as calcium carbonate per volume. Some examples of these ions include Calcium and Magnesium.
In fish keeping, GH is not very relevant.. but in crustaceans we're very concerned about the Calcium content of the water. They are very important in the development of the exoskeleton. Too high and the exoskeleton becomes too hard which causes the shrimps to get crushed within its own shell due to its inability to molt. Too low, and the underlying exoskeleton may not be developed enough after a successful molt and cause the shrimp to die.
That's pretty good TDS readings actually. You're making house calls Dr Ecalyte? Hehe.
Then I'm really stumped. Perhaps some activated charcoal/carbon filters can be added to see if there's any improvements? If there're toxins, the charcoal should soak up the stuff and lower death rates
Haha! I was just there to pass him the No Planaria when he told me about the problems. I couldn't just do nothing.. so I came back the next day with my full test kits and helped him to measure them. I was really stumped. I initially expected the pH to be above 7.4 seeing he only has such a thin layer of substrate, and according to him it was inert! Then when I measured 6.0, it was really something else. It's good to take note though that the lowest my API pH test kit can go is 6.0, it could actually be lower.. much lower. Unfortunately, that's the test kit I had
The only thing I can think of is the temperature.. Initially I saw anubias nanas in there, when I told him that their sap is definitely toxic to shrimps he removed them. But if the stems haven't broken at all.. will the sap still seep into the tank? He also has some Java Ferns tied to driftwood. Now from what I read around google, only rhyzome based plants will secrete these toxic-to-shrimp sap, I'm not sure if java ferns fall under that category. However, I am 100% confident that Anubias Nanas is..
He had an orange rock in there previously but I got him to take it out. Seeing how the GH is 6, I think it's safe to say the rock isn't the cause. A GH of 6 is near the limit of extra-hardened shrimp shell, but it's still very molt-able conditions.
Now if the Nanas was the cause, then active carbon should do the trick.. however, he mentioned to me that this cherry death problem is not a recent occurance.. it's been happening for a bit. Really need to help him, I'm completely stumped. I really can't put my finger on anything else. He even treats his aged water with shizhen, and most shrimp keepers (including myself) swear by it.
This is certainly puzzling bro.Haha! I was just there to pass him the No Planaria when he told me about the problems. I couldn't just do nothing.. so I came back the next day with my full test kits and helped him to measure them. I was really stumped. I initially expected the pH to be above 7.4 seeing he only has such a thin layer of substrate, and according to him it was inert! Then when I measured 6.0, it was really something else. It's good to take note though that the lowest my API pH test kit can go is 6.0, it could actually be lower.. much lower. Unfortunately, that's the test kit I had
The only thing I can think of is the temperature.. Initially I saw anubias nanas in there, when I told him that their sap is definitely toxic to shrimps he removed them. But if the stems haven't broken at all.. will the sap still seep into the tank? He also has some Java Ferns tied to driftwood. Now from what I read around google, only rhyzome based plants will secrete these toxic-to-shrimp sap, I'm not sure if java ferns fall under that category. However, I am 100% confident that Anubias Nanas is..
He had an orange rock in there previously but I got him to take it out. Seeing how the GH is 6, I think it's safe to say the rock isn't the cause. A GH of 6 is near the limit of extra-hardened shrimp shell, but it's still very molt-able conditions.
Now if the Nanas was the cause, then active carbon should do the trick.. however, he mentioned to me that this cherry death problem is not a recent occurance.. it's been happening for a bit. Really need to help him, I'm completely stumped. I really can't put my finger on anything else. He even treats his aged water with shizhen, and most shrimp keepers (including myself) swear by it.
I wouldn't be dosing "No planaria" now though...I had no problem with it, but a bro lost quite a number of shrimps which may or may not be due to it?
Unless the pH is lower than 5.5, the shrimps should still be able to take it. I once had cherries in a pH 5.5 tank and they survived, although some snails died when their shells dissolved and were full of holes. Might need to get a digital pH meter on the case?
Hydrogen sulfide is unlikely since Shizhen was used all along.
Java fern should be safe. I've had rhyzome plants like java ferns and Bolbitis heudelotii without mishaps (and I cut/trim them underwater all the time).
Yup, I'm stumped too.
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