burp Posted June 13, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 13, 2014 Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shrimpy Daddy Posted June 13, 2014 Report Share Posted June 13, 2014 Those bacteria usually is one of the following: Come from inside driftwood. It will be gone when your driftwood is "seasoned", which takes a few months. Otocinclus will eat them, except for some that they don't even touch (not sure why, maybe it taste bad or toxic). My suggestion for you is to take it out and clean, if possible. In future if you are starting a new tank, clean the driftwood with H2O2 and brush them with toothbrush. After that soak them in dechlorinated tap water (if your tap water is hard) or dechlorinated water with a little bicarbonate (sodium and potassium bicarbonate is good) for a week or so. This soaking is to season the surface of the driftwood to minimise it leaking too much humic substances into the water column or encouraging too much redundant bacteria growth. Did you pump CO2 into the tank? There is a type of similar looking bacteria love CO2. Otocinclus eats them too. Shrimp will not touch them. Look at the bottom of your tank, between the tank glass and substrate. Do you see tiny white dot zaping around or tiny white lines? Those are cyclops and white worms and they are your best friends. If you started to see a lot of them, then it is about time your tank is ready. If you don't see any or only a handful, then your tank is far from ready. If you have wheat bran powder or barley straw pellet on hand, it is a good time for you to put a little into your tank. Alternatively, you can crush your shrimp wafer into powder and sprinkle a tiny pinch every 3 days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burp Posted June 13, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 13, 2014 Noted on the driftwood. No, I don't use co2. Just got home and tested ph.. It is back to 4.7. Same as before I did a 90% water change yesterday. Guess I've to add some baking soda or equivalent in. Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shrimpy Daddy Posted June 13, 2014 Report Share Posted June 13, 2014 No no... Don't be bother by the pH too much. It's a bit late for now to increase the pH. The myth of pH below 5 inhibit bacteria growth is not 100% truth. As long as it is not pH 4 and below there will still be bacteria growth but may not be fast (however, there are too many other factors; plenty of bacteria food will overcome this too). Just look at slime on your driftwood and you will know microbe still flourish. The low pH can be caused by 3 things: The driftwood The substrate. I don't recall BorneoWild substrate is this acidic. Thus, we can eliminate this. The salt you use to replenish the RO water. This is usually the main cause. Are using RO water and what salts are you using? Those fertilizer/additive you are adding. I saw you adding humic additive, these will lower your pH further. Don't add anymore as it is useless at this point. Your substrate and driftwood will leech a lot of humic substances at this stage. Humic additive is useful around 2 to 4 months old tank, when the substrate and driftwood are exhausted and the substrate do not have enough waste to produce more organic acid. By the way, humic acid is good to be kept in substrate and not water column. Don't perform any more large water change until your tank glass has thick layer of slime; totally don't perform any water change or just do 10% weekly. Performing large water change will slow down bacteria growth; you are throwing away bacteria in water column. Once you have thick slime on glass wall, then perform a 90% water change. When not changing water, be careful with algae bloom. Since you only have moss, cut your lighting period to 4 to 6 hours until your tank is stabilized. In summary about cycling tank, don't change or do anything too much, cut back the lighting and be patient. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burp Posted June 13, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 13, 2014 Lol noted. Gonna tie my hands. Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burp Posted June 13, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 13, 2014 Think the combination of H.E.L.P wool in my eheim 2213, borneowild humic, malayan driftwood, carbon material hiding place and borneowild shrimp soil causes that. Will try to be very patient. Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shrimpy Daddy Posted June 13, 2014 Report Share Posted June 13, 2014 Activated carbon/charcoal tube is a bad idea. I got burned few years ago. After that I did some research and testing and discovered they leech acid and adsorb oxygen when it is wet. Thus, you will find shrimp die in it frequently from suffocation. However after few months in the tank, it will be exhaust then it will be safe. Personally, I will advise you stay away from it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shrimpy Daddy Posted June 13, 2014 Report Share Posted June 13, 2014 By the way, if you want to accelerate the cycling and if you are from US, get a bottle of Seachem Stability. It does help to build up the bio-film very fast. Get a 500ml bottle, which is more cost effective. Dose the recommended new tank dosage for a week or two (depending on how fast the bio-film build up). After that, dose 1ml per day until you finish up the bottle or forever. Putting it into a pump bottle will be easy to dose 1ml per day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burp Posted June 13, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 13, 2014 Thanks. I'll try to check my stores. I'm from Singapore. Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shrimpy Daddy Posted June 13, 2014 Report Share Posted June 13, 2014 Singapore has it too. But if you go to Green Concept like a lot of SG shrimp keeper do, then they don't have it; they only carry shrimp-specialty brands and Sera stuffs. If you can find JBL product, then you can get their Denitrol, which is similar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burp Posted June 13, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 13, 2014 Thanks will look out for that. Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burp Posted June 18, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 18, 2014 Anyone can ID this worm that's floating? About few mm long and very thin. It wiggles. Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burp Posted June 18, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 18, 2014 Hyoushoko. . Is that the white worm that you were referring to? Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shrimpy Daddy Posted June 18, 2014 Report Share Posted June 18, 2014 Yes but to make sure, does the worm has flat or round body? Round body is correct and flat body is planaria. Did you restarted the filter or pump? Usually when your tank is cycling, their population will boom in the filter and substrate. If you see significant amount of them swimming but did not restart the filter or pump, then it is a bad sign for something is irritating them or killing them. Do you see a lot of them gathered at the tank glass above substrate area or near water level? If yes, your tank is lack of air circulation (too little O2 or too much CO2) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burp Posted June 18, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 18, 2014 It's round and wiggle in water in a S shape. Nope. Didn't restart anything. There is only a few of them floating around and I'm able to steal a peep at some inside the substrate. They are not gathering anywhere. My ehiem 2213 is making pretty good circulation for a 2 feet. I've tiny air bubbles due to the surface agitation. So might not be lack of oxygen. Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shrimpy Daddy Posted June 18, 2014 Report Share Posted June 18, 2014 Round body and swim in S-shape is the white worm I am referring too. That's a good news for you. By the way, you mentioned the tiny bubbles. They are generated from? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burp Posted June 18, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 18, 2014 Is all over my tank. I believe is the air from my surface aeration. Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burp Posted June 18, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 18, 2014 Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burp Posted June 18, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 18, 2014 The bubbles are moving downwards. Hit the base and rise to the surface. Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burp Posted June 18, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 18, 2014 The flow shouldn't be too fast. Just that my rain pipe is hitting at an angle. Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shrimpy Daddy Posted June 19, 2014 Report Share Posted June 19, 2014 Ah... Rain pipe. I see. So you don't use air driven sponge filter or air pump right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burp Posted June 19, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 19, 2014 Nope. Just ehiem 2213 as my filter connected to a chiller and a rain bar. It can be used up to 3 feet. Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shrimpy Daddy Posted June 19, 2014 Report Share Posted June 19, 2014 If you don't mind noisy, it is better to place the rain bar above water level to generate more air exchange. I'm pretty paranoid on lack of air as it is a silent killer, which sometimes can't be detected and killing shrimps slowly; the acute massive type can be detected. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burp Posted June 19, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 19, 2014 If you don't mind noisy, it is better to place the rain bar above water level to generate more air exchange. I'm pretty paranoid on lack of air as it is a silent killer, which sometimes can't be detected and killing shrimps slowly; the acute massive type can be detected.that's what I'm doing now. kinda noisy at night but been weeksso used to it. It's spraying and creating so many bubbles that I got afraid that there is too much aeration. lolSent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burp Posted June 19, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 19, 2014 Realised I'm getting algae today. Going to start scraping them. Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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