Grass shrimp shrimplets found!!

I was busy doing water change for my tanks on a Saturday evening when I found that the pregnant grass shrimp has given birth (it was pregnant and it somehow climbed into the plastic lunchbox where I kept some spiky moss for them to grow until I have use for them). I caught something moving in the lunch box when I was doing water change. Closer inspection, I found quite a number of shrimplets in the lunchbox. : )

I had to leave them in the lunch box as I was too tired to transfer them to the shrimp tank (1 ft cube). I did that on Sunday but as I was too lazy, I wanted to throw in all the water and shrimps (taken out the spiky moss already) but my wife insisted that the water is dirty and help me to catch them and put them in herself. She was scolding the boraras for swimming over to peck at the shrimplets when they were released into the tank. It was the last straw when she found her last shrimplet get eaten by a boraras. She took out all the boraras after that. So now left only the 1 badis badis and 1 oto. I must say that the shrimp population is not growing too well and medium sized shrimps were found dead. Maybe due to me messing up the place to rescape or the fishes in there are the main cause. I know my badis badis has been feeding on the shrimplets as I did not introduce any live food for it. Will see how it goes from now on.

Minor updates ... Whiptail not around anymore!

I could not find my whiptail catfish for the past few days. Look like it must have died and eaten up by my shrimps and other fishes. : ( I like the fella quite a lot but I think it must not been feeding well that cause its death. I have found it sucking on the glass walls and plants but I think it does not provide enough food for it. Furthermore, my tank is too heavily planted and it is not easy feed these fishes, except those swimming to the surface during feeding time.

Have bought another piece of long bogwood from Ghim Moh. I have intention to tie some lose bogwood branches onto it to create a nice effect but not sure it will work. It is now left soaking in the shallow tank.

Post to update my upgrade tank plans

*** I will keep updating this post to have the latest update ***

I have posted some questions in some forums to get some feedback on what are the equipment , budget and things to consider for my upgrade to 3 ft tanks.

Tank setup:
I want to have 2 x 3 ft low tech planted tanks (top one for shrimps and suitable tankmates with mostly moss) and other as a planted tank likey to cultivate my plants and keep other fishes.

How for the questions:
1. What is a standard size for 3 ft tank? I want black silicon instead of white. What is the recommended size you bros have for your planted tanks?
2. Should I have brace for the 3 ft tank? Is it required? What is it for?
3. What is the recommended thickness for this type of tank?
4. Any advice on what I can save on and what I can recycle for this upgrade? Any bros using similar setup can advice me.
5. Which is better? Wrought iron or wooden stand? I may want to have a cabinet, if I think it is feastible as I would like a height of 60-75 allowance for the bottom tank from the floor.
6. What is the lights required for the 3 ft tank? I was thinking of using PL lights or combination of PL & FL light.
7. Any bros can PM me roughly how much budget I need for this setup?
8. Are fans enough to cool the 3 ft tanks?

Feedback from the forums:
1. Standard tank size (ft) is 3 x 1.5 x 1.5 or 3 x 1 x 1.5
Recommended tank size is 3 X 2 X 2 ft

My take: I'm thinking of getting a 3 x 2 x 2 ft tank for stem plants and fishes and a 3 x 2 x 1.5 ft tank for my shrimps and mosses. This combination should be suitable for my needs.

2. Brace is required for strengthening the tank. Standard tank will come with centre bracing. If you do not like center bracing, discuss with your tank maker and see if bottom bracing can be done. Can go for braceless tank depending on tankmaker as braceless tank cost more or a euro-brace tank, a bit of similar to the braceless tank but with a slightly smaller tank surface opening.

My take: Will have brace for my tanks. Likely be having a center brace. May change my mind later after I talk to the tank makers.

3. 6mm (with bracing), 10mm (without bracing)

My take: At least 6mm. May go for 8-10mm depending on the recommendation from the tank makers.

4. Can recycle most of the stuff but need new lights, gravel (instead of recycling)

My take: Will be getting 2 new light sets, gravel, bogwood/driftwood, plants, maybe AC fans ...

5. wrought iron - might rust
wooden (chengai - recommended or kapuh) - might warp, but can choose colour to match the furniture.

My take: More towards wrought iron stand compared to wooden stand. Price is the main factor here as well.

6. 2 sets of 4 x 39w HO T5 light tube with parabolic reflector
Choose PL or FL so don't need to buy 2 sets of light tubes. (Good suggestion!)

My take: 2 sets of 2 x 55W PL light since this I can get around 1.2 watt/gallon. Should be able to use for most of my plants.

7. New 3ft tank and stand should put you down $400. Custom making might increase the cost and having another tank adds up to the cost.

My take: None at the moment

8. Fans are enough for a 3 ft tank. Got suggestion for chiller but no plans and ventilation problem in the dinning room so it is out!

My take: Will either DIY (got a 120mm CPU fan but no clip) or buy AC fans (around $23).

So far, these are what I have gathered ...

Lava rocks and some minor update

I went to look for Vince (near where I live) as he was selling some lava rocks. Found his place and was surprised that he has a fish room as well (actually half, the other half for his wife guinea pigs). Had a nice chat with him and bought 3 lava rocks at $10 from him. I wish I could get all 7 but I have no place for them at home or in my tanks.

I have also placed a box of spiky moss floating on the surface of the bare bottom tank. This tank will be bare bottom from now on to ease the maintenance. Also to have more BB, I have placed a pack of ceramic rings into the tank. With the ceramic rings and 3 lava rocks, I think the BBs should be enough, even if I put back my fishes. Actually the bare bottom tank looks nice with the current setup. Below are the items currently in the tank:

1 IKEA rectangular glass vase (stringy moss with unknown moss)
1 cylindrical vase (stringy moss)
3 lava rocks
1 driftwood with Taiwan moss (looks like java moss grown under low light condition)
1 bogwood with spiky moss
A handful of hortwort
A lunch and breeder box of spiky moss
2 rummy nose
1 cherry barb
1 cardinal
2 leopard corys

I have rescaped the shrimp tank. I was fustrated to not find my shrimps and don't know where they are hiding. So after the rescaping, most of the driftwood/bogwood with moss are leaning on the glass or each other. Actually better for the moss to capture the light and more space for the shrimps to graze and me to see them. I also recently bought another pack of grass shrimps (total 65 of them with some shrimps having eggs but cannot find the eggs anymore. : P). I have divided them into all my 4 tanks.

I have brought another 7 cherry shrimps (I think all males as the females were hiding somewhere were I cannot find them) to the office tank on 10 Oct 06. Hope with the additional of these shrimps, I am able to see more of them as mostly hiding somewhere. They are now in my office tank and I have threw in some fish food which I saw them eating it. 1 grass shrimp died a while back so now the shrimp numbers stays at 12 (9 cherry, 1 yamoto, 2 grass). Realise that the cherries looks more red when in cool water. The java moss seems to be growing well in this tank as can see they are spreading out from the driftwood and bogwood now. Just need some more time for the moss to properly cover the wood.

Upgrade plans begins ...

Just saw a picture of Weirong (AQ)'s 3 ft tanks (3 x 2 x 1 ft) for his fish room and it suddenly hit me to have the desire to upgrade to those similar to his, but I got different design for my stand. Actually saw this tank in Polyart (Clementi Block 328). They had a 3 tier 3 ft stand rack at the entrance of their shop now, all using 3 x 2 x 1 ft dimension. For the upgrade plans, here is some plan that I have in mind. I also asked my wife for her approval and she accepts the idea but need to provide her a proposal on the budgeting and what is involved.

Upgrade 3 ft Planted tank plan:
1. Will replace my current 2 x 2 ft planted tanks.
2. Likely will sell off the 2 ft tanks and lights. Not anytime soon.
3. Need to get 3 ft lights if I get the new tanks. Not sure what wattage to get. : P Maybe get the T5 types or may stick to PL or multiple FL.
4. Most important, the tanks! Not sure how much they cost and may need to custom made the stand (materials, layout). Hope it can cost less than $500. Will plan for 2 x 3 ft tanks.
5. Recycling my Ehiem canister 2232/2213 filters so no new purchases for filters. If one of the 2232 is not strong enough, may switch back to 2213 for the bottom one.
6. Need more lapis sand (cheapest). Considering should I get base fertilizer for my tanks.
7. Plants! Most likely 1 tank delicated for moss and also shrimps breeding. The other can use stem plants that I already have or can get from Teo's farm.
8. Fauna would likely still be small fishes (boraras, badis badis, clown killies and those small fishes that I still keep) or slightly larger ones and SHRIMPS. Should be able to get my CRS if I upgrade.
9. All tanks would be low tech. No CO2.
10. Need to save up more for the utility bills as more power used for lights and water.
11. Change water might be a chore so I would also need to think of how to ease the changing water process. Should not be too difficult, I hope. The bathroom is at the other side of the room.

I would likely do it after I feel that my life is more stable. So if not, it would be shelfed until further notice... Hope not!

Office tank and Bare bottom tank update ...

The office tank is currently going on well, with the addition of 3 green, 2 cherry and 1 yamoto shrimps. So far no deaths and the moss are growing but at a slow pace. There is always a layer of protein on the water surface so I assume the moss are growing well. Also my single crypt is growing well after the initial meltdown of 2 leaves. I was worried that the rather sharp black quartz might prevent the crypt from doing well in this tank but I was wrong. It seems to look better than all my crypts at home. : ) I have intention to bring in more cherries (hopefully they can have babies in my office tank) for this office since the shrimps here are all ok. However, all the shrimps likes to hide. I have also placed the hair algae infected moss closer to the bottom of the tank so that it will be easier for the shrimps to graze on it.

2 more deaths so far for the fishes in the Bare bottom tank. Of course a few more deaths at the shallow tank (cardinals only). I have placed some bogwood branches and 2 small pieces of drfitwood into the tank now. Also I have placed 2 glass vase with moss (to prevent mixing java with what I think is spiky moss). So far the moss and the hortwort are still ok.

I have managed to get the beads string (transparent type) from Chinatown beads shop at $1.30 for 0.4mm thickness a roll. I do not look for too thin ones as I was worried that they might cut the moss when I'm tying them. Now is to find time to tie the moss on my driftwood and also when my driftwood are free from BBA (still soaking in algae removal solution in a plastic container).

Found a LFS when I was at Geylang (meditation class). It is the Kingfisher aquarium. Below is the address:

KING FISHER AQUARIUM
76, Lorong 27 Geylang, Singapore 388194 (next to Aljunied MRT Station)
Tel : 6841 6816

It looks a little rundown and limited stock of accessories but still have quite a number of live stocks (fishes) and plants. Too bad I was on the way to my meditation class so did not stay there for long. The uncle seems to be knowledgeable in water plants as a customer came to him for help on lighting and plants to grow. May visit him next time. : )

OH DEAR!!! Fishes dying fast ... HELP!!!

After removing the lapis sand and plants from Planted Tank 2, I shall official name this tank to be Bare Bottom Tank. For this Bare Bottom Tank, my intention is to put in 2 pieces of big drfitwood that I have but found both are infected with BBA so now kept them in a plastic container with water (added some algae remover into the water) to see if the BBA dies. I have also removed the 2 java ferns from their driftwoods and put the 2 driftwoods into this container to remove algae as well. I think will put them there for a week and see the progress. Also I should be getting more breeder boxes to put around the sides of the Bare Bottom Tank to cultivate my spiky moss that is currently placed near the window. This tank should also be used to cultivate plants that I have tied with moss, like the shallow tank that I have been using. If most of my small fishes died, I might start a new moss tank to keep CRS that I have been eyeing on for so long. Will see how things goes.

The fishes in Bare Tank 1 started to die. First 2 days only see 1-2 deaths per day. The third day I found 5 died. The deaths consists of Rummy noses, cherry barbs, white cloud mountains and cardinals. I suspect it is the new tank syndrome that is causing the deaths of my fishes. So I proceed to clean the canister filter and then proceed to remove most of the fishes out of this tank and leaving some in there to see if it works. I have transferred all the rest to my shallow tank and 3 cardinals had died after the shift. : ( As of now, there is no deaths in the Bare Bottom Tank.)