[EHEIM OPAL] Still Messy

It is a Pain in the ARSE to update my blog these days because quick edit is refusing to show up. If anyone knows how to fix this please let me know!!

Here is a quick update on my tank.

Firstly an update on the regulator. I managed to use a Hex key to screw out the middle nut of the cylinder. This enabled me to screw in the regulator okay. I then tightened it and checked it for leaks - all good.

Secondly, the EHEIM tank is looking a little better but the Tonina fluviatilis is growing so damn quickly!! In dire need of a trim. Also the Syngonathus spp. are growing roots along the stems - it looks terrible and I may have to replant them in future!

Tank is still in a mess as I have a breeder box floating around and my stainless steel meshes are stuck to the side of the tank. Slowly cleaning away the mess but it still needs a long way to go.

Next in purchase list

1. Lily Pipes (damn i want these bad but I am terrible with glass)
2. Yes tank needs a background - still thinking about it.
3. Pogo Helferi - would love to get my hands on these for the foreground. Im sick of them melting away though.

[EHEIM OPAL] New Regulator

I recently purchased a new regulator only to find out the connections mismatch! I will try use an A-Key to see if I can modify it a little.

Also I recently acquired the following plants:

1. Eriocaulon sp. shiga
2. Syngonathus 'manaus'
3. Syngonathus 'belem'

Difference between the two is visible in the leaves. The belem subspecies has leaves that curl downward compared to the manaus subspecies. I will post pictures later on when the tank settles a bit. It is a bit messy at the moment from all the trimmings and such.

[EHEIM OPAL] Addicted to plants

Hi guys, I have sold off a lot of my plants in my EHEIM Opal to make way for new plants as mentioned previously. Hence my tank looks a bit scrappy at the moment. I apologise for the cloudiness of the water. I just finished re-scaping the tank.

Here is a new list of new plants I recently acquired:

1. Crinum Calamistratum (planted in the middle - octopus looking plant)
2. Tri-colour lotus (planted towards the front left - mostly melted probably wont survive)
3. Tonina fluviatilis (planted towards the back left in a row. bright green plant)
4. Ludwigia senegalensis (planted front rightmost corner of tank - looks scrappy at the moment)
5. Ludwigia sp Cuba (planted far left corner of the tank - 3 stems)
6. Marimo ball (got one large one in there left corner)
7. Taiwan moss (planted in my shrimp tank - will update later on)

And here is the list of my updated plant list.
1. On driftwood far right (Peacock moss)
2. Hygro Pinnatifada
3. Staurogyne Tropica (far left)
4. On stainless steel plates (fissidens moss, mini pellia leftovers, nano moss)

Plants that i currently want:

1. Eriocaulon cinereum
2. Eriocaulon sp. Shiga (this plant should arrive this week)
3. Syngonathus 'Madeira' (currently after this plant - still deciding)
4. Pogo Helferi - i need more in the front but seems to be growing slowly - conditions not right?

Other things that I need:

1. Background to the tank - Will have to get off my arse and ask where i can get one large enough.
2. Lily Pipes - I have been wanting one of these for ages - on the backburner.
3. New Regulator - Really want a Dupla one but its too expensive - maybe one day.

Fertilisers
Just getting into making my own ferts now but I need to finish off my Seachem Comprehensive ferts first. I have ordered a lot of ferts from Dave.

Magnesium Sulphate "K2SO4" - 500g
Monopotassium Phosphate "KH2PO4" - 500g
Potassium Sulphate "K2SO4" - 500g
Potassium nitrate - 500g
PMDD Cronin's formula - 500g

At the rate that I am using these ferts, they will probably last forever.

[EHEIM OPAL] - Change of Plan (t) s

Above: 2 New Lionhead Cichlids were added to my tank. From my understanding these are semi-aggressive. Left is the female (named Bigmouth) and right is the male (named King). Within 48 hours The King had established his "territory" under the piece of driftwood towards the right of the tank. When I pulled out the java fern, the shrimp went flying and these two bullies made a quick meal of them. You can see he has one of my super reds in his mouth.

I have sold off a lot of plants in the past week.
The following plants are now gone:

1. Ambulia
2. Java Fern
3. Limnophilia
4. HC (have replanted the carpet)
5. Windelov Java Fern (I love this plant so I had to replant a pup - last lot was given away as a gift)

This sell-off has funded my way for a set of plants that are on the way via Auspost. (thank you Forever Mango).

1. Crinum Calamistratum
2. Tri-colour lotus (my last one died)
3. Tonina fluviatilis
4. Ludwigia senegalensis
5. Ludwigia sp Cuba
6. Marimo balls
7. Taiwan moss

As a result I will need to seriously upgrade my fertilisation schedule. Therefore I have decided to purchase an EHEIM Autodoser to do the job for me as I have been very slack. Hopefully this will solve the yellowing problem I am beginning to get on some plants.
I have done a lot of reading on measuring dry ferts as well

"Dosing with Grubs”
http://www.aquariumlife.com.au/showthread.php/5399-Dosing-with-Grubs-My-DIY-Fert-Regime.

Sears Cronin paper is in the web site
http://www.thekrib.com/Plants/

The following links are just for my reference. I think I will follow Cronin's guide for now and see what happens. I will post some pics of the new plants when they arrive in a week.

SHRIMP TANK - Snow whites

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All five snow whites are still alive and growing. Although too small to sex, they are a decent size now and should survive to adulthood fingers crossed. I have added two CBS to my Benibachi shrimp tank and they seem to be doing okay. I do not see why not as the canister filter already has mature media.

I will add a few more shrimp in the following week.

SHRIMP TANK - New setup

Above:
Picture1 - Tank has just been filled with water.
Picture2 - Dechlorination and aging the water using an air stone.
Picture3 - Added the planted driftwood (mini pellia + peacock moss) and got the filter running.

Hi guys,

Sorry I have been too busy this month so I am late on the updates - again! Well this is a big update because I have set up a NEW tank with Benibachi Shrimp Soil. I guess that is one of the main reasons why I have been so busy.

Substrate:
This is very exciting because this is close to my dream setup. Benibachi soil is very popular because it is made for shrimp and designed for shrimp. It buffers the pH to 6.5 which is ideal and its granules are super fine. The shrimp are able to pick up the granules and roll them around their claws to pick off any food.

Filtration:
This time I have focused on filtration. The filtration I am using is a called a Hamburgen Mattenfilter which uses imported Poret sponge to filter the water. Why is this good? Well because it has a HUGE biological advantage to canister filters. On top of that, I have a canister filter running together with it to help with mechanical filtration.
Overfiltration? Maybe... But I just wanted to give the shrimp the best water quality possible.

Tank:
2 foot 100 Litres. I guess it is an upgrade compared to my Juwel Rekord (which I still have but is elsewhere for now. (Thankyou Chipsta for pointing out this error)

Shrimp:
Oh the shrimp... Well I will post an update on the snow whites next post (to be continued... )

You wont be disappoined. Fingers crossed.

SHRIMP TANK - Snow White?!

So here is an exciting update!

I was looking in the shrimp tank yesterday and I found not one but three snow white shrimplets! They popped out from the SS black female so I wonder how they will look when they grow up a bit. I am not expecting much at the moment as shrimplets always seem to die on me but these three are definately very exciting and I will keep a close on eye on them.

More updates to follow if they survive.

[EHEIM OPAL] Small update

Not much to update this week. I have been to busy to do anything at all but it seems the HC is getting very bushy now compared to when I started this tank. The Peacock moss top left corner picture - looks very puffy - like green candy floss. Such a beautiful moss.
I am trying to sort out the CO2 tubing to the left of the picture. It looks terrible and im thinking of replacing it when i get some more time.

EHEIM OPAL - Shrimplet survival

Above left: A picture of the EHEIM OPAL. As you can see ive added some driftwood to the back right area. My Clown Killies have died (of age rather than disease) - they dont seem to live very long.

I have been lazy on the updates because I do not have any days off work for the next 3 weeks. Life is getting busier but there will be more updates once this period passes. I have sold my nano tank and have acquired a slightly larger one. Will post up some pics of it at a later date.
Anyway a quick update for those interested.

Rarer mosses
I have added some NANO moss into my tank. However after a period of 2 days they were eaten by SAE. A lesson learned! Nano moss and SAE do not mix.
Now I know what happened to my weeping moss!! I was wondering why it was never growing but those cheeky SAE have been chewing on the leaves!!! After 1 week in a different tank it is now growing slowly.
Anyway, here are some snapshots of my peacock moss. I just love this moss. Cannot get enough of it.

Quick update on my shrimp
My SSS and SS shrimplets all died last week and I spent the week brainstorming. I asked two advanced shrimp keepers for help. One keeper kindly gave me some advice and the other did not reply. Thanks for your help Gyung if you ever stumble across this page. I have also spend the week browsing various web forums for answers to this problem and it seems to come down two things over and over again. It seems my water change killed all the young shrimplets. Another lesson learned.

1. Water stability
2. Bacteria population

SHRIMP TANK - Heatwave

There has been a heatwave in Sydney and the temps have been reaching 32 degrees in my area. My second shrimp tank has no chiller and has been hitting 30 degrees C. I am hoping Darwin Red Nose Shrimp can tolerate such temperatures.
The other tank has the chiller constantly running but the fluctuations in temperature has caused 2 shrimp to become berried.
So far they seem happy. I bought an EHEIM feeder the other day and dropped a lot of pellets into my main tank. Spent all night vacuuming the gravel. They seem alright this morning. Seems all the cherry shrimp have cleaned it up overnight.
Not much of an update this week but January is going to be very busy for me.