My Small Planted Shrimp Tank Journal

[aaronnorth]

the HC will make a nice trabsition form the riccia. I cant believe you are changin the substrate all ready! Any reason?

TBH m8 it's more that its a pain while trimming, i uproot the plants and then when rooting again certain amount of the soil rises above the sand and makes a muddy mess, take then a further 2 water changes to clear it. It will also shallow out the subrate abit so it doesnt look so deep, in such a small tank i think the depth i have at the moment is a tad large, might work out better it might not... whats your thoughts?

If i dont do it with this tank i have a 2 foot one i could always use it on and make another planted tank while i sort out the 180 to be planted

As far as im aware eco complete wont need capping so all round i think it will make an esier job of tank maintenance

i think it is too deep - or at least it is at the front. If you change, make sure you slope it towards the rear, and probably keep the same depth you have know at the back.

 

[JenCliBee]

the HC will make a nice trabsition form the riccia. I cant believe you are changin the substrate all ready! Any reason?

TBH m8 it's more that its a pain while trimming, i uproot the plants and then when rooting again certain amount of the soil rises above the sand and makes a muddy mess, take then a further 2 water changes to clear it. It will also shallow out the subrate abit so it doesnt look so deep, in such a small tank i think the depth i have at the moment is a tad large, might work out better it might not... whats your thoughts?

If i dont do it with this tank i have a 2 foot one i could always use it on and make another planted tank while i sort out the 180 to be planted

As far as im aware eco complete wont need capping so all round i think it will make an esier job of tank maintenance

i think it is too deep - or at least it is at the front. If you change, make sure you slope it towards the rear, and probably keep the same depth you have know at the back.

Cheers for the tip aaron, so you think it's a good idea with the change over then?.

Ive got a 12x8x8 tank just sitting around aswell which i think ill just setup and have HC, Blyxa japonica and P.Herferi (sp), alittle bit like the feature scape on ukaps . Keeps me busy i guess lol

 

[milkton]

nice tank, but neons will eat the shrimp fry. atleast thats what happened to me.

 

[JenCliBee]

nice tank, but neons will eat the shrimp fry. atleast thats what happened to me.

The plan with neons went out the window and so did the shrimp after the other half decided she wanted a betta, so it's his new "planted paradise" i guess lol

Thanks for the comment

jen

 

[three-fingers]

Don't know how I missed this before, but you have a non-aquatic Selaginella willdenowii in there .

HC is going to look very good once it's filled in at the front, I'm thinking about getting a couple of pots for my tank soon!

 

[JenCliBee]

Don't know how I missed this before, but you have a non-aquatic Selaginella willdenowii in there .

HC is going to look very good once it's filled in at the front, I'm thinking about getting a couple of pots for my tank soon!

I presume u mean the plant on the left hand side just behind the riccia?, had wondered about that plant but then it started to really grow so i presumed it was aquatic..... i guess i was wrong lol

Cheers for the info m8, when i change substrate i will remove it and replace with somethink nicer

jen

 

[JenCliBee]

Righty then i have a question on drop checkers lol


Am i right in thinking drop checkers work by monitoring the PH and how much it drops in relation to how much CO2 is released into the water?


Well my PH drops from tap water of 7 down to 6 within a day or 2 anyways without CO2, so am i thinking that a drop checker would be pointless for me for measuring CO2 purposes?

I have rerally soft water which makes my PH drop drastically becasue it cant buffer the water.

jen

 

[aaronnorth]

Righty then i have a question on drop checkers lol


Am i right in thinking drop checkers work by monitoring the PH and how much it drops in relation to how much CO2 is released into the water?


Well my PH drops from tap water of 7 down to 6 within a day or 2 anyways without CO2, so am i thinking that a drop checker would be pointless for me for measuring CO2 purposes?

I have rerally soft water which makes my PH drop drastically becasue it cant buffer the water.

jen

with a kH of 4, and pH of 6.6 the CO2 will be approx 30ppm.
This is why we use 4dkh, as the CO2 gasses of from the tank water, and into the DC, it lowers the pH (to 6.6 - Green)

All questions should be answered in the guide in my sig.

But keep the DC, the pH of the tank water will be different to the DC solution because in the tank you will have other acidic substances. This is why pH/ kH tables are innacurate

 

[JenCliBee]

Righty then i have a question on drop checkers lol


Am i right in thinking drop checkers work by monitoring the PH and how much it drops in relation to how much CO2 is released into the water?


Well my PH drops from tap water of 7 down to 6 within a day or 2 anyways without CO2, so am i thinking that a drop checker would be pointless for me for measuring CO2 purposes?

I have rerally soft water which makes my PH drop drastically becasue it cant buffer the water.

jen

with a kH of 4, and pH of 6.6 the CO2 will be approx 30ppm.
This is why we use 4dkh, as the CO2 gasses of from the tank water, and into the DC, it lowers the pH (to 6.6 - Green)

All questions should be answered in the guide in my sig.

But keep the DC, the pH of the tank water will be different to the DC solution because in the tank you will have other acidic substances. This is why pH/ kH tables are innacurate

Argh rite i get you so it's actually working from the sulotion in the DC to get the CO2 level not the actual water from the tank.... i didnt think of that lol.

Right now to get some 4dkh sulution

Am i right in think then going by your sig tut, that you add the dkh solution as the water it recommendeds u use from the tank? and then add the reagent(sp) as per recommended and then put the DC in the tank ....or am i completely wrong with this..... my god i am slow with technical stuff lol.

BTW where can i get this dkh solution from?

thanks again aaron

 

[aaronnorth]

Righty then i have a question on drop checkers lol


Am i right in thinking drop checkers work by monitoring the PH and how much it drops in relation to how much CO2 is released into the water?


Well my PH drops from tap water of 7 down to 6 within a day or 2 anyways without CO2, so am i thinking that a drop checker would be pointless for me for measuring CO2 purposes?

I have rerally soft water which makes my PH drop drastically becasue it cant buffer the water.

jen

with a kH of 4, and pH of 6.6 the CO2 will be approx 30ppm.
This is why we use 4dkh, as the CO2 gasses of from the tank water, and into the DC, it lowers the pH (to 6.6 - Green)

All questions should be answered in the guide in my sig.

But keep the DC, the pH of the tank water will be different to the DC solution because in the tank you will have other acidic substances. This is why pH/ kH tables are innacurate

Argh rite i get you so it's actually working from the sulotion in the DC to get the CO2 level not the actual water from the tank.... i didnt think of that lol.

Right now to get some 4dkh sulution

Am i right in think then going by your sig tut, that you add the dkh solution as the water it recommendeds u use from the tank? and then add the reagent(sp) as per recommended and then put the DC in the tank ....or am i completely wrong with this..... my god i am slow with technical stuff lol.

BTW where can i get this dkh solution from?

thanks again aaron

add 3 drops of reagent, then add some 4dkh with a pipette.
4dkh is available from aqua essentials r you can make our own. Again more details on the guide.

 

[JenCliBee]

add 3 drops of reagent, then add some 4dkh with a pipette.
4dkh is available from aqua essentials r you can make our own. Again more details on the guide.

Cheers again m8, looks like i finally get it lol.... does take a while but gets there in the end

 

[AdAndrews]

did you say you are changing the substrate jen? why?

 

[JenCliBee]

did you say you are changing the substrate jen? why?

yeh m8, uprooting and replanting is a pain with capped siol, doesnt seem to matter how carefull i am i get a certain amount of the soil rise above the sand making it more hassle than its worth. eco should work much more easier when planting hopefully

 

[AdAndrews]

good for you you re-scaping or putting everything back into its current position?

 

[JenCliBee]

good for you you re-scaping or putting everything back into its current position?

Not entirely sure yet i wanted to do the origianl landscape i had planned, but now ive just setup a 12x8x8 tank for shrimp which this tank was originally for.

I'm doing the rio 180 which i might actually do my planned scape just on a larger scale lol.

I quite like this tank though so i might just redo this 1 as it is and just replace the cabomba(sp) really am started to not like it, but we'll see either way it will be more managable me thinks so hopefully all good .