Elo500 Posted November 29, 2014 Report Share Posted November 29, 2014 Filled up my Mr Aqua 17.1 today for my first Sulawesi tank. 24x12x14. My intention is to have a variety of shrimp and snails using Salty7.5. This is what I've done so far: -applied frosted glass tint to the rear glass -painted the bottom with black acrylic paint marker -cut glass for partial bare bottom. This was my first time cutting glass I got from Home Depot. Hard to cut exactly so first cut was hair to long, 2nd was little short so had to use extra silicone to fill in gap. -substrate is Eco-complete planted, because I like the look of little lava rocks and its inert - light is 24" finnex -sponge filter for now. Debating on adding canister or hob -added large lava rocks I had on hand but thinking of using dragon stone instead for more of a mountain scape. -added subwassertang to lower area for some greenery. Looking for more plant ideas. Water param using salty 7.5 and RO: ~7.4ph. 8gh 195TDS. Temp 80deg Not sure if I need to add some aragonite to help ph The substrate actually said on The bag not top with argonite, not sure why The substrate had beneficial bacteria fluid in it so might start adding rabbit snails next week. Maybe cardinals after the holidays. Welchhumn, Soothing Shrimp and eozen81 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bjohnson1253 Posted December 21, 2014 Report Share Posted December 21, 2014 hows it coming? Soothing Shrimp 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elo500 Posted December 27, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 27, 2014 30 day update After a week with salty 7.5 I switch over to salty 8.5. However The ph is stuck at 7.5. I did drain the tank and fill with 8.5 that was mixed with ro and poweheads for 4 days. Current params are Ph 7.5 Gh 9 Kh 6 Tds 189 Temp 81 Ammonia 0 No2 0 No3 0 Fauna ~12 rabbit snails plus pond snail hitch hikers Flora: Bacopa monnieri Lobelia cardinalis. Just added Hygro pinnatifida Guppy grass Red root floaters Hygroryza aristata floater Frogbit Subwassertang Java moss I added a few of each plant just to see how they did. Rabbit snails have left them alone. All seem to be growing except hygroryza is turning brown but also did in my community tank so maybe not enough light or problem with batch. I added a 3rd sponge filter with the intent on removing the double sponge that sticks out too much. Having lots of evaporation with the cooler weather. Need to make a lid at some point. Lights on 10hrs. Seeing a little hair algea. Any ideas on raising ph? I might try diy co2 to help dissolve salty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arrow Posted January 10, 2015 Report Share Posted January 10, 2015 Bro, you need use co2 to dissolve the salty shrimp sulawesi 8.5 before use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elo500 Posted January 10, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2015 Thanks I'm realizing that. I actually tried a bottle of club soda in a 5g bucket and it mix a little better but only got to ph 7.7. I'll but a co2 setup.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elo500 Posted January 12, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 12, 2015 Rescape! I still don't have shrimp yet and the scape was bugging me, thought the substrate was too deep and the glass divider for the partial bare bottom seemed overkill for this tank. I noticed pics of other sulawesi tanks seems to have a very thin layer of substrate. I also looked at pics of the lake bottoms native to sulawesi shrimp and decided on a more simple layout. I added a 2nd led running 24/7 to help with the algea growth which wasn't happening. Lastly, having issues with 8.5 dissolving I divided to refill with salty 7.5. PH is 7.6 and gh is 8 temp 79f. Here is the lake bottom picture that I used as a guide. Flat with bits of rock and plants scattered about. Here my new scape: I only used about 1/4 deep eco complete planted. I moved the argonite into a media bag in the hob. I used lava rock landscaping rock from Home Depot and these clear poly hair bands to attach Java moss and Subwassertang. I put the 13 rabbit snails back in. Soothing Shrimp and eozen81 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elo500 Posted February 6, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 6, 2015 Catching up on several updates..... I removed one light so I only have the fugeray. Then I removed the floating plants because I couldn't get any algae to grow on the rocks. after a week I had some nice green rocks. Using salty 7.5 my ph was 7.6 so I decided to buy a mini co2 setup to mix salty 8.5. I bought the fluval 20oz setup, it uses the same cartridge as BB guns. It only took 24 hrs to dissolve. It also took 2 cartridges which were $3 ea. it worked. I did a big 80% water change. Got the ph to 8.1. I increased the heat to 81 deg. Afterwards I added some neos from another tank. The neos were doing great, very active but the rabbit snails were more lethargic than usual. I decided I needed some stems plants but my substrate was too thin so I bought a plastic tray to use as a planter. I added root tabs and the stems then placed in the tank. Two days later I noticed lots of foam on the surface. I tested the water and found amonia and nitrite at 0 but nitrates were in the red ( I have trouble with the api test values but I know it was too high). I had just ordered some cardinals and was freaking out about messing up the tank a few days before they came. I pulled out the planter out and added prime. I knew I needed to do water change but it would take too long to dissolve the 8.5 so I made a few buckets of 7.5. I changed 5g right away and turned down the heat to 76. Still reading high the next morning so did another 5g. I added api nitrasorb to the hob. Still tested better but still too high that night so did another 5g. The next morning it was reading zero, the rabbit snails and neos were active again. Whew. Two days later the cardinals came. I ordered 10 cardinals from Arkadiy (Ark from aquabid). He did an amazing job with the packing. He wrapped the breather bag in many many layers of newspaper , like an onion the wrapped that in 3in of pink insulation. It shipped from Texas to California in 2 days, no heat pack but weather was good. I only had 1 dead shrimp. The bag was cool so I let it sit at room temp for 2 hours before I started the drip. Doubled the water over two hours then drained half. I had to go back to work for an event so set them to super slow drip for another 6 hours. When I got back home I realized the drip never started back up so I opened it up for an hour then netted the shrimp into the tank. The shrimp were active the whole time in the drip container and started feeding right away in the tank. The next morning there were a few out in the open and I could see the rest hanging under the rocks out of the light. Ark included extras so I came out ahead. The shrimp colored up right away and look awsome. The current tank parameters are: 76F 214 TDS 7.8PH 9.6GH I will be back to add photos shortly... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elo500 Posted March 14, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 14, 2015 The tank is doing well. The PFR are breeding like crazy. The cardinals are always grazing but no berries yet. No rabbit snail babies yet either. I have to clear out hair algae once in awhile. The tank survived a 10hr power outage. Couldn't find my battery pump but at least I had put in an oxidator the week before. eozen81 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elo500 Posted April 10, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 10, 2015 https://vimeo.com/124582951 eozen81 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eozen81 Posted April 10, 2015 Report Share Posted April 10, 2015 Hi @Elo500, Very nice journal, I really love Sulawesi. I have also been feeding poso snails and I want to ask you something. The black thing under their mouths (I call it beard lol), do you see those beards in the tank, I mean do they poso snails take it off and creates another beard by the time? I am asking because I have got those damn leeches on my snails and I am suspicious thoese leeches are the reason of those beards taken off from snails? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elo500 Posted April 11, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 11, 2015 Eozen81 I've always wondered what that disk was on the snail. I've only seen a couple of discarded ones in the tank since I've had them so not very common. Don't know why they come off. eozen81 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elo500 Posted April 11, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 11, 2015 Some pics from today, the cardinals finally got close to the front glass. I also see a berried one ! Steve R., eozen81 and mayphly 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soothing Shrimp Posted April 11, 2015 Report Share Posted April 11, 2015 I don't know much about rabbit snails, but is that the Operculum? Hi @Elo500,Very nice journal, I really love Sulawesi. I have also been feeding poso snails and I want to ask you something. The black thing under their mouths (I call it beard lol), do you see those beards in the tank, I mean do they poso snails take it off and creates another beard by the time? I am asking because I have got those damn leeches on my snails and I am suspicious thoese leeches are the reason of those beards taken off from snails? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elo500 Posted April 12, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 12, 2015 Yes soothing, I just learned that term, it's the Operculum sometimes called the trap door. When the snail hides in his shell, the door so to speak. eozen81 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eozen81 Posted April 12, 2015 Report Share Posted April 12, 2015 I also think they are used to protect their skins on the ground for crawling. Multi usage Hiatus 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soothing Shrimp Posted April 12, 2015 Report Share Posted April 12, 2015 Usually the shell rests on the Operculum on the body. They have to have full contact with the ground to move because they use waves of muscle contraction and relaxation travel along the central portion of the foot from tail to head. However since rabbit snails move differently, I'm not sure where the Operculum is anatomy wise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elo500 Posted April 23, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 23, 2015 mayphly 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elo500 Posted June 29, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 29, 2015 Sorry I have not kept this one up with all the changes but this will be the last post. I haven't seen a cardinal in over a month. They say the best thing to do to a shrimp tank is to leave it alone. I think I messed with it too much. I did several rescapes, changed remineralizer several times, turned heater up and down a few times, messed with light intervals and in turn reduced algae they fed on. The tank was any thing except consistent. At one time I had berried cardinals but never saw babies. Today I started to remove rocks and plants preparing to remove the neos, no sign of cardinals. The one success in this tank were the snails, Lots of babies. I'll move the rabbit snails to a planted 29 with tap water. My tap is higher ph than the salty and they should enjoy the extra space to roam. The plan is to move the neos to their own tank, move Tigers in and add crs to see what happens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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