Matt9892

Hey ? Is me again.. just thought I would put an update really.. sorry to say I lost big red ? I have added a new decoration a tree thing to grow my moss on instead of the big "lump" I had in the corner. it was a bit too compressed I think for their liking but hopefully the new one will suit them better, but it does mean I have to wait for it to grow properly again (I still have more in there don't worry). And my infestation of fleas lives on.. Annoying and unsightly but not dangerous so am not too fussed. Oh the mk3 tumbler seemed to be abit too much constant flow for shrimp eggs.. Constant suction didn't work too well.. But should be fine for heavier eggs (and may try without airstone so flow is less constant) i think that's about it for the bad news.. always good to finish with the better news... After about 18 days (seems low) my eggs from big red hatched... Well the ones that survived.. So hopefully I will get big reds offspring to live on. I will say I think about 13+ left the tube (could be afew more) but since I let them go have managed to find like 3 ? They are tiny little specs. Thought I would play where's Waldo with you all.. see if you can find the shrimps in the following pics 1. 2. 3. let me know if you can see the little guys and where you think they are..lol fingers crossed that they survive to adult they are all I have left of big red. Matt

Okay I don't know if you have been following my progress into the world of shrimp... But well it could be going better...lol It started with being unable to source stuff for my hmf filter setup.. And well now I am having trouble getting them breeding really as well as other annoying things.. okay well my female "big red" dropped her eggs AGAIN this must be like the 4th time.. I was ready so put the. Into my tumbler (which has already hatched 108+ pleco eggs so proven to work.. But now a lot of the eggs seem to be going a white colour and floating in the tumbler more (been like 2 days in there) to my understanding they are going bad.. So will probably not do anything... So that's one stress.. before you you ask I did post my water stats on here before cant remember what they were off the top of my head... But they are all within reasonable lvls... Not 100% but are easily good. And now my tank has became infested with annoying little water fleas.. In a normal tank fish would eat.. But they are looking very unsightly I keep sucking them out but they r breeding faster than I can remove them. I can't find anything on getting rid of them other than dropping a fish in there.... Also if you guys could give my your on/off of your lights that would be appreciated.. I did read somewhere before the best on/off to reduce algae ect in your tank (although am not fussed about algae) I figure if I can reduce the amount of algae it could help with my flea problem..lol but I can't remember for the life of me where I read it.. So your input on lights and when you turn yours off and on.. I think it said something about 4hrs then off for an hour then back on for the last 4 but am not 100% it was something to do with algae needing more sustained light..whereas plants will kinda take what they can get...I think.... have had afew die on me... But not like all the time.. So I figure it's a normal thing... The only thing I can think is that I need to rearrange my tank and add a big thing to cover more of the tank (was waiting for mosses to establish) my tank does look abit bare compared to most people's.. But I dunno as I said I am getting abit depressed with it all atm... Everything I try doesn't seem to work.. I am gonna try to end on a good note.. And say that I am REALLY happy with my hmf filter, my water I remove is always clean and my stats don't seem to change.. So would recommend that to anyone.. Thanks for letting my vent abit ? Matt

Okay now for the mk3 I didn't have any bull's eye connectors but still had an uplift pipe/fittings so wanted to see what I could do.. Also the suction on the mk2 was lower than I intended (was used on pleco eggs instead of shrimp) so thought I would try to address that too.. Plus this is only running on a 100l/h air pump so maybe that was abit low.. But either way.. Here is what I used... The lower pipe (bigger one) is made the same way as the mk2 the bottom of the uplift pipe was cut over under the fitting connectors.. Then pushed on the end with netting to hold it on (this netting will need changing after every hatching) the upper piece of the pipe is a little self container unit to store the airstone.. This was made from the rest of the lower uplift connection after I removed the bottom, all it is really is a sleeve that fits the pipe snugly.. Then I pushed the sleeve over the pipe with some netting (only halfway on) the half that's left will slot onto the top of the bigger pipe.. Make sure this slides smoothly as this is what you will remove to add eggs or if any dead things need removing...Then the top of the uplifted with airstone will be slid onto the very top.. hopefully it will create increased suction and I can control exactly how much I want the eggs to move.. I am alittle concerned the airstone may block some flow.. But I will update you when I finally get around to testing it.. Here are some pics of what it looks like finished.. Hopefully this will give you some ideas for your own tumblers ect... I will make sure I keep you updated on any future plans... You never know when the mk4 will come into my mind..lol especially once I have tested it and spotted any problems that may need resolving. Matt

Lol I didn't count them while they were in the tumbler.. Although I could have done that after I seperated the eggs into 1's i put them into a Chinese food tub.. Took pictures of all 4 corners and counted.. I very much doubt that there are exactly 108 but there is deff that many am guessing there are probably afew more.. Yes I did have to dismantle the sponge filter.. But my next model the mk3 does not use the bull's eye connector.. But has not been "field" tested yet.. I will update this thread with that one soon. Matt

Hey ? After my misadventure with my shrimp dropping eggs and my glass bought tumbler not functioning properly I decided to make my own. It all started with a sponge filter fitting (called a bulls eye connector) which I could not find in this country other than on sponge filters. then I decide to see what I could use off the two uplift tubes for under gravel filtering (that we had off an old tank) after lots of cleaning.. I started working.. The mk1 was a simplistic model the plastic bottom was removed from the bottom of the uplift tube.. Covered with netting and replaced.. Oh I will add the netting I use I bought off eBay a while ago for my mantid tanks.. It's from a shop/person called Orimiu and well is awesome have used it for various tasks over the years.. Comes in very handy..and is the finest stuff you will find ? The sponge filter fitting was used for the top with an air tube plugged into it.. Apart from having to "melt" the tubing to fit the connection in it was pretty simple.. Oh, the top also has the same mesh wrapped around the bottom with an elastic band so it can be removed if needed. when end I started testing on some pleco eggs that the parents had decided to remove from their cave I noticed a big flaw in the design.. although the bottom fitted nicely on the tube the large size of it acted abit like a bucket.. So the eggs were hard to see and monitor.. So after a slight modification (the white bottom part was cut along the locking connector... Under over technique) the Mk2 was born.. So so that's the basic design.. And well here are some to prove the concept works... Over 108 bristle nose plecos raised old enough now to be released into the tank ? So THAT should be fun..lol But the tumbler works fine..lol I have created a mk3 to fix afew things I didn't like about this one and will post about that when it isn't 1am...lol i hope this helps some of you ? Thanks for reading Matt all I need now are my shrimps to lay eggs for me to test with (if they don't carry them this time)

Very ? I will post a pic of my ongoing tumbler designs in the diy section as soon as I get some pics ect.. Matt

Added a picture to show you what my glass "tumbler" did..or didn't do..

I am far from an expert (noob here) but from what I understand I think they are berried about 3 weeks.. So if she has been carrying for that then they should be hatched, not dropped. Also did you spot any eyes on the eggs I think these are visible a few days from hatching tops. Matt

How long were they berried for ? thats probably the most important thing to know Matt

Thx.. But the whole point was finding them here..lol anyway assume that isn't gonna happen.. In the end borrowed a sponge filter off my sis and edited Using other bits I had already It is looking ok.. Although I do have a question.. what do you usually test your home Made tumblers with.. All I saw online were peas...and that's not exactly a good test for shrimp eggs... Matt

Okay according to my liquid ammonia test its 0-0.25 so could maybe could use a water change.. But is still easily within decent parameters.. So dunno i think they do it just to annoy me.. Matt have added a photo of glass tumbler doing nothing...lol i have since made a tumbler or two and will take pics ect later... Just need more shrimp eggs to test on.

Yeah there is nitrates in water.. But by law they are not allowed to be anywhere near 20.. so assuming I am not being poisoned then the tap water cannot physically be that high. i think I may have a liquid ammonia test.. I will have to check but I do believe that I was given one with a fish tank a while ago.. Couldn't tell you how old it is though.. Matt

Hi ? Since atm I am having trouble with them dropping eggs and my tumbler is being annoying.. well i did what we all do I you tubed it. And I found one design that I liked for good looking/functioning tumblers.. Now lies the living in the uk problem.. Getting the part.. pin the video it did give a link to a us site.. But arm I am having trouble finding the parts on uk stores (preferably PayPal friendly) The part I am looking for is a bullseye connector.. Its the part that you connect your air tube into on a round sponge filter.. Before you say anything I will be getting some sponge filters to dismantle if I cannot find the part.. But don't wanna throw away 2 perfectly good sponge filters once I have removed one piece ? Let let me know if you have found any of these on a uk site.. Just thought i would would add link to us site http://www.jehmco.com/html/hydro-sponge_filters.html its part HS-B you will prob recognise it.. thankyou Matt

I have 45ppi and a jetlifter (homemade) is doing fine..I think..

These are from my other post so are a week or so old.. i did a water change yesterday so may be a little diff but not much.. i just tested.. But we're strip test so take with a pinch of salt..lol nitrate is 20 ish (but also says that on tap water.. So think it's wrong) nitrite 0-0.5 ph 7.5-8 kh 120-180 gh 180 (maybe more)