Shrimp Safe Fish

[nabokovfan87]

On 2/3/2023 at 11:26 AM, Lennie said:

But holy moly, kh does not even drop in this new aquasoil tank. I've added alder cones today, and catappa leaf sometime ago, kh dropped to 19 from 20. Ph was 8.0 still. Shocking 😎

I must be missing something..... 😞

What is the amount of soil substrate in the tank?

[Lennie]

On 2/4/2023 at 4:26 AM, nabokovfan87 said:

I must be missing something..... 😞

What is the amount of soil substrate in the tank?

Same. But it's fine, it has always been working in this way, so can't be arsed change ph really. Especially after trying for 8 months and nothing changed 😄 Also our RO water system is in downstairs, so I have to carry buckets of water every water change in that way. PAIN🙃

I've used 9L (It says also approximately 9kgs) of tropica aquasoil. 

I've just tested the water again and nope, nothing changed since 2 days ago, except gh has dropped a tiny bit, to 6 from 9. Kh still reading 20.

Also my established media seems to be working just fine for 10 pygmy cory and 10 neocaradinas, just as expected. No ammonia whatsoever, so either the soil stopped leeching, or filter is directly handling it. Having those weird foams at top, but very likely they are protein foams or happening due to melted plant parts.

Planning to add another school of fish in couple days I guess, to make sure pygmys feel safer. I feel like pygmys don't like to be alone in the tank, even when they are in a group of 10 or so. My group of 6 haven't even took an hour to settle, these guys are 10 and  still haven't settled exactly yet.

Planning to move the 6 from 29g to join the school of 10 today, if I can catch them:D I kinda wanna transfer borneo sucker to this one too, but he will eat the biofilm of baby neocaridinas. Probably not just yet. Maybe I can move one of the nerites to this one. but again, she will be grazing on biofilm too. So I will be waiting for a month or so. Sounds like a good idea

 

Edit: moved to 6 to the new tank and now they are 16. Yippie!

Edited February 4, 2023 by Lennie

[nabokovfan87]

On 2/4/2023 at 12:08 AM, Lennie said:

I've used 9L (It says also approximately 9kgs) of tropica aquasoil. 

I've just tested the water again and nope, nothing changed since 2 days ago, except gh has dropped a tiny bit, to 6 from 9. Kh still reading 20.

I'll try to spend some time tracking down the details for you. He has mentioned how many KGs of soil to add for a certain result, but there is a better way to explain how this works.

Something like changing water too often would eliminate/remove the effectiveness of the soil buffering down the ph because it removes the things in the soil that drop the PH.  I'll try to get some more technical info, reread things, this is one method as for how to add "enough" soil. As you're seeing, dealing with a massive amount of KH isn't easy and something with a high CEC would be mandatory to pull those things out of the water column.

His videos and titles on his videos are slightly all over the place, so finding the specific information to share is slightly difficult. I need to track down the video when he added the bags of substrate to his bigger tank and his logic in how much to do so for a specific result. I'll find it.... Hopefully soon.

[Lennie]

@nabokovfan87 that's so kind of you. Please know that I appreciate your help a lot. Many thanks

I wanted to use aquasoil just to support root plants and especially red color on some plants I've never tried before, as tropica claims it helps with the red color on plants. I also never wanted it to affect my water parameters really. Because keeping stuff stable can be pain otherwise.

Every new growth I'm seeing is actually red on red plants and I don't even use CO2!! So that makes me happy. Also it was the only substrate type I've never given a chance before so I wanted to see how it goes. This tank is all about everything I've never tried before, except pygmy corys :D!

Tropica advices to make large water changes quite often for the first three weeks actually, and smaller ones later on. I've seen some people soaking it in buckets like driftwood even for some time to make sure they get rid of extra stuff it leeches! But I guess it stopped leeching at this point in my case, or at least my filter is dealing with it.

 

Btw, I've seen many experiences about green neons eating shrimp, more like a hunter rather than occasional scenarios it seems. I've read many negative comments and saw this video. 

 

So goodbye green neons I guess :') My shrimps are literally at that size right now.

What about kuhlis? they dont seem to be a potential hunter and active like other loaches... :thinking:

 

Edit: Btw I have frodo stones, which probably wouldn't let kh to drop no matter what I bet, even though I've seen no bubbles when I made a vinegar test, people claim it to increase kh.

Edited February 4, 2023 by Lennie

[nabokovfan87]

On 2/4/2023 at 8:41 AM, Lennie said:

Btw, I've seen many experiences about green neons eating shrimp, more like a hunter rather than occasional scenarios it seems. I've read many negative comments and saw this video. 

The shrimp in that tank have basically zero cover. Of course they got hunted.  I can't speak to everyone's setups, but I would not be afraid of fish and shrimp together if the shrimp had cover and the fish in question couldn't eat the adults.  Is it better for survival to have shrimp only?  Yeah. 

On 2/4/2023 at 8:41 AM, Lennie said:

Edit: Btw I have frodo stones, which probably wouldn't let kh to drop no matter what I bet, even though I've seen no bubbles when I made a vinegar test, people claim it to increase kh.

Yeah, definitely could.  Any stone with white marbling will generally affect water hardness. (KH or GH)

 

On 2/4/2023 at 8:41 AM, Lennie said:

What about kuhlis? they dont seem to be a potential hunter and active like other loaches... :thinking:

Loaches in general are often recommended for snail duties.  They can, they will get into little hides and get some shrimplettes.  Fish eat shrimp, loaches are good at getting in tiny areas and especially in rocks and rock piles.... which would be the way you give shrimp cover.  One of the most common methods is to have a pile of bio rings.
 

On 2/4/2023 at 8:41 AM, Lennie said:

Tropica advices to make large water changes quite often for the first three weeks actually, and smaller ones later on. I've seen some people soaking it in buckets like driftwood even for some time to make sure they get rid of extra stuff it leeches! But I guess it stopped leeching at this point in my case, or at least my filter is dealing with it.

I would run a test....

If you have 2 jars, get two different substrates.  I would suggest uns contrasoil and the tropica stuff to start with a comparison. ADA amazonia is another one I see used a lot.

Put the substrate in the jar, the same amount in each, and fill it with water.   You wouldn't need much, maybe 1-2 handfulls just to run a test.  Add an airstone to each one and then go ahead and let it sit.

Measure KH/GH over time.  After about a month you should have an idea on how well the substrate affects the hardness and in turn you'd have a good idea to understand how the water changes are impacting that.

https://aquariumshrimpkeeping.com/cation-exchange-capacity-in-active-soils-used-in-aquariums/

[Lennie]

An update:

Visited my lfs again as I had something to do outside nearby. I've been thinking of the blue mystery I've seen couple days ago, and wanted to check if they got anything new. Besides all the fish I've mentioned before, they got Ember teras and Red Neon Blue Eyes @nabokovfan87 just like you've mentioned. They were looking very nice!! But somehow were kinda nippy with each other and versus other fish? Is this something normal or was it a stress effect or something? I'm not sure.

Anyhow, I made a mistake, and got me the blue mystery snail I fell in love with couple days ago. When I went to the tank at the store, (s)he greeted me. I had no choice left but to give him a chance. I will closely observe its behavior and move it to my 29g and find a lid if I see any weird behaviors. Left some space on top around 1.5 inches for the siphon breathing and curiosity. 

If he lets me see inside his shell, I will name him for a certain. For now, he is called Rick, from Rick&Morty. Spiky blue shell reminds me of Rick's hair :D! I wanna get a gold one and call that one Morty. Best friends:D

 

Here he is probably eating his first snello ever. He seem to be hungry