Noob planning a planted fw pico rimless

[octanejunkie]

A picture from yesterday's community meal

Here is a close up of our "dark night" tiger and super tiger

Found this molt tangled in the moss on the driftwood in our tank after the lights came on this morning

HR Giger might dig this shot, I call it"the clandestine turmoil of new and old" (sounds like a Robert Williams museum title)

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

Here are some shrimp profiles... looks like you might need to bump up the gh a bit.

http://shrimpery.com/shrimps

 

[octanejunkie]

Here are some shrimp profiles... looks like you might need to bump up the gh a bit.

Shrimps - Shrimpery

Thanks Brian!

According to shrimpery.com, here is what is published about each species:

Super Tiger
Scientific Name:Caridina Cantonensis
Common Name:Tiger Shrimp
Origin:China
pH:6.6-7.4
Temp:64-74°F
TDS:80-220
KH:0-8
GH:6-10
Fertility:Medium
Difficulty:Moderate

Rilli Shrimp
Scientific Name:Neocaridina Davidi (Heteropoda)
Common Name:Rili Shrimp, Red Rili, Blue Rili, Black Rili, Orange Rili, Yellow Rili
Origin:Taiwan
pH:6.0-8.0
Temp:64-84°F
TDS:80-400
KH:0-10
GH:4-14
Fertility:High
Difficulty:Easy

Conclusion about our conditions
Eventually we might want to separate these two species into separate tanks, in the meantime, the "compromise" setup looks like it should be:
pH: 7.4
Temp: 74° F
TDS: 200
KH: 0-8
GH: 6-8

My questions regarding how yellow and how green still apply... I wish they included a sample or color target... the instructions seem pretty arbitrary and super subjective

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

My memory of those kits are vague since I've only used them a couple of times, being that I'm relatively new myself (not to mention my lazy and pragmatic approach to things...haha). But from what I recall, depending on how many drops it took to get the color to change to the designated color, that's your reading (i.e. 3 drops = 3kh) -- even if the color is slightly noticeable, the point is that color is there. To help view for the color, use a white daylight light (close to 10,000k) and maybe you can put the vile on a white sheet of paper or up against a white wall background.

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

Conclusion about our conditions
Eventually we might want to separate these two species into separate tanks, in the meantime, the "compromise" setup looks like it should be:
pH: 7.4
Temp: 74° F
TDS: 200
KH: 0-8
GH: 6-8

Your conclusion is spot on! I do concur my dear Watson!

Edit: but dont really have to separate them if you keep the parameters in that "sweet spot" of overlapping recommended requirements.

 

[Billbug68]

Yeah, I hate that test. I believe the instructions say once it turns a "bright" yellow... Which throws me and everyone else off... I get a bluish yellow... One more drop, kinda yellow... another drop, bright yellow... So do you count the last as your reading...? I guess someone should contact api about this...

 

[Jkeating8]

I hate that test with a passion. I never know what it means. I just wing it. On another note, that darker tiger looks awesome.

 

[Billbug68]

I hate that test with a passion. I never know what it means. I just wing it. On another note, that darker tiger looks awesome.

The calcium test is worse, pretty much the same... Except you have to do it 20+ times if your level is high...

 

[Jkeating8]

The calcium test is worse, pretty much the same... Except you have to do it 20+ times if your level is high...

Oooh sounds fun. I guess that's what I have to look forward to if I ever do a reef

 

[octanejunkie]

Day 9 PM Update

One of our tigers is looking kind of orange compared to the others, not including our dark tiger

Could this be a

Here he is compared to one of our super tigers off to the right in the shadow

Here is the same super tiger on the driftwood a few moments later

And here is the whole gang macking down on a small sinking Hikari algae wafer that fell into their tank by accident. They mowed through that thing within 30 minutes and chased the remnants around the tank for the rest of the day - tomorrow will be a fast-day for them

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

Ohhh.. that Orange Tiger looks cool. Maybe it has some tangerine tiger genes somewhere in there.

 

[octanejunkie]

Day 10 AM Update

Lost another super tiger overnight, looked like the orange one
I haven't seen all the remaining tigers to confirm that tho...

Did a 20% wc w RO this morning, TDS now reads 198ppm

 

[octanejunkie]

Saw all 3 remaining tigers and all 9 rilli yesterday.

Been out all day and not headed home till tomorrow afternoon.... hope they can all survive without me

 

[octanejunkie]

Day 14 Update

No deaths in the last 5 days

Topped evap loss w 100% RO yesterday

2 new molts and one "glassy" looking rilli with a split shell, presumably about to molt!

TDS @ 193ppm today

Started scaping our 2G Nano Cube yesterday...

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

Congrats on no more shrimp losses! Can't wait to see the updated pics on the Pico cube too! BTW, are you considering the use of Purigen? I know it's used often among shrimpers.

 

[octanejunkie]

Pico cube update pic

Congrats on no more shrimp losses! Can't wait to see the updated pics on the Pico cube too! BTW, are you considering the use of Purigen? I know it's used often among shrimpers.

Here is a pic of the cube

EC substrate and seiryu stone planted with HM and a dwarf amazon sword (I hope)

Planning on a glosso carpet with B. Japonica, or Lilaeopsis novae-zelandiae, to accent the flats and perhaps some moss tied branches...

First I want to see if I can get the HM (or is it MU) to grow under a single Dolphon LED fixture w Excel only (no CO2)

Not sure about purigen either... but there is a film of sorts coming out of our filter on the 2G Nano Long. Time to clean the filter media.

 

[octanejunkie]

Day 15 Update: new thread started

No shrimp losses again
TDS as of this morning is 201ppm

ALL FUTURE posts about the shrimp in our 2G Nano Long tank to a new thread I started today

As far as the pico rimless cube this thread is supposed to be about, we started scaping and planting this cube.

I made a java moss disk and planted 3 stalks of Ludwigia Repens x Arcuata in the corner.

Future plans include a few bunches of glosso and accents of C. parva or L. brasiliensis to hopefully carpet most of the substrate.

So far there are 4 plant species in this tank along with EC and a seiryu stone under a 3W Dolphin LED clamp on light from amazon.com - hoping Excel and Flourish alone will

Here is an updated pic as of this morning

 

[octanejunkie]

Plants and fish!

Picked up a pot of glosso yesterday, planted in the cube this morning

I also picked up 5 ember tetras (H. amandae) and decided to QT them in the cube, since they are soooo small. Here's a quick pic

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

Nice... glosso is cool! Your cube has a lot nice goodies in it. What do you think about the Pico tank so far?

 

[octanejunkie]

Nice... glosso is cool! Your cube has a lot nice goodies in it. What do you think about the Pico tank so far?

I like the pico tank so far... took me a bit to decide what to do and had my hand forced buying shrimp "too soon" to set up a tank so I got derailed. .. but I'm back on track.

Having a challenge to find "small" plants that won't require constant pruning. I hopw the glosso takes... I'm willing to wait a month and then cut it back to get it to spread laterally...

Patience is required, impatience leads directly to MTS