TheHappyShrimpKeeper
New Member
- Joined
- May 11, 2013
- Messages
- 11
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At the invitation of Shrimp Addict I have started my second thread. After a good 1st year of fish and shrimp keeping in an 80cm tank I went for one of these as that's all I have room and also frankly funds for, justifiable and otherwise. I planned design well in advance, but after advice in shop I bought a different substrate (white pot with green handle) instead of ADA. Big mistake. I switched as in my first tank when I needed to re model the powder cloud was so dense I had to rescue all fish and was lucky to only lose one. But doh! I wasn't going to remodel here so why change from what I know and so many say is the best? Yes it is so expensive that some may feel that Amano-San must have blessed, blown and kissed each and every packet and product, or even hope or insist that he has done so. So why not happy? Well the plant growth just didn't look or feel good. There was no voom and I knew it after just days. And so, seeing the error of my ways I left the new set up to languish until space opened up in my work/home life to re do. That time has come.
I have the tank which has 2 filtres, a black (charcoal) and white ( not sure, water cleaner, bacteria?) and in the second box a black sponge. Third back box for heater and pump. I emailed supplier about filtres but they didnt reply and my shop only stocks white ones but they have charcoal in so whats in my white one I dont know as it feels different. I have changed light to an led aquaray by tmc, did it day one, its a must. I shall be adding siporax mini media under the sponge though actually I will also look into a separate filter canister before finally setting up. No harm. I shall also be changing the ridiculously fragile glass lid, get new one cut and toughened, maybe slightly larger so I dont have those ugly plastic clips and will also make more space for pipes and cables etc with slightly larger cut out. I will also add fine white filter fluff to stop shrimplets getting sucked through the vents into the cartridge area. Oh and Glass is one of the cheapest materials in the world.
So what next, Strip down tank and thoroughly clean. Retain only wood and dragon stone. De_snail. I was so careful , even used some 1-2-3- plants (never again either, too small and limited range) but still got snails from reg plants. I actually created the best nano snail farm in town. Note when i buy dragon stone I select by hand, boil for hours and remove all clay, poking constantly with metal skewer. Result is many many mores hole in which my little guys can hang out. In goes ada powders, power sand, amazonia and top gravel. I shall probably avoid the small hemianthus type plants as I am unsure of C02 in long run for this though will prob use it before I stock tank so as to gain experience. The small stuff is insanely hard to plant let alone grow. If i do put it anywhere I will use small pieces of specially cut glass to hold it down to take root. A big player told me to leave some of the rock wool attached to the roots help it stay in the soil, but this was crap advice. Just ended up with yellow fluff in my tank bottom.
And so thats where I am. Hope to order plants next week. I have been told to do almost full water changes each day for 2 weeks which makes sense considering the ammonia spike I am going to get initially. Got that tip from Richard at aqua essentials, really great guy.
I might do the big clean today. Suns out though, for a change. Let's see. Advice, tips, comments, vibes all welcome.
Best, The Happy Shrimp Keeper.
I have the tank which has 2 filtres, a black (charcoal) and white ( not sure, water cleaner, bacteria?) and in the second box a black sponge. Third back box for heater and pump. I emailed supplier about filtres but they didnt reply and my shop only stocks white ones but they have charcoal in so whats in my white one I dont know as it feels different. I have changed light to an led aquaray by tmc, did it day one, its a must. I shall be adding siporax mini media under the sponge though actually I will also look into a separate filter canister before finally setting up. No harm. I shall also be changing the ridiculously fragile glass lid, get new one cut and toughened, maybe slightly larger so I dont have those ugly plastic clips and will also make more space for pipes and cables etc with slightly larger cut out. I will also add fine white filter fluff to stop shrimplets getting sucked through the vents into the cartridge area. Oh and Glass is one of the cheapest materials in the world.
So what next, Strip down tank and thoroughly clean. Retain only wood and dragon stone. De_snail. I was so careful , even used some 1-2-3- plants (never again either, too small and limited range) but still got snails from reg plants. I actually created the best nano snail farm in town. Note when i buy dragon stone I select by hand, boil for hours and remove all clay, poking constantly with metal skewer. Result is many many mores hole in which my little guys can hang out. In goes ada powders, power sand, amazonia and top gravel. I shall probably avoid the small hemianthus type plants as I am unsure of C02 in long run for this though will prob use it before I stock tank so as to gain experience. The small stuff is insanely hard to plant let alone grow. If i do put it anywhere I will use small pieces of specially cut glass to hold it down to take root. A big player told me to leave some of the rock wool attached to the roots help it stay in the soil, but this was crap advice. Just ended up with yellow fluff in my tank bottom.
And so thats where I am. Hope to order plants next week. I have been told to do almost full water changes each day for 2 weeks which makes sense considering the ammonia spike I am going to get initially. Got that tip from Richard at aqua essentials, really great guy.
I might do the big clean today. Suns out though, for a change. Let's see. Advice, tips, comments, vibes all welcome.
Best, The Happy Shrimp Keeper.
/www.aquarium-parts.co.uk/acatalog/AquaNano_30_Aquarium_Spares.html
