# Low Tech, no co2, 10 gal planted journal



## sashaz (Feb 20, 2013)

Found a lot of helpful information on this site and decided to start my own journal here. I apologize in advance for any mistakes - English is my second language. Somehow it makes me even more long winded, perhaps it's because I'm trying to explain things with limited amount of precise words and terms :hihi: 
For Christmas 2007 my husband gave me a fish tank - Tetra Starter Kit:
Original set up: Low light, Low tech, no Co2
10 gal.
Stock Filter: [STRIKE]Aqua-Tech 5/15 model[/STRIKE]
Stock hood with lights: 2 aqua culture's 15w/120v Incandescent light bulbs
Heater: [STRIKE]Tetra submersible[/STRIKE] is dead Rip 2007-2013. Long live Hydor 50w with adjustable temperature!
*Water parameters:​** Gh* (Total hardness) as CaCO3 -124 mg/l (according to my city's report) and is equivalent of 7 dH
*Alkalinity* (bicarbonate) (not sure if it's the same as *Kh*) is 171 mg/l (according to my city's report ) and is equivalent of 23.94 German degrees Gd 
*pH*- 7.4-7.8 (out of focet) 7.2 in the fish tank, after running through pit moss in the filter
*Ammonia* - Liquid test shows yellow, so around 0 ppm
*Nitrite (NO2)*- Liquid test shows pale blue, so around 0 ppm 
*Nitrate (NO3)* - Liquid test shows yellow, so around 0 ppl 
New set up: Low light, Low tech, no Co2
10 gal
Filter: Fluval C3
Stock hood with lights: 2 aqua culture's 15w/120v Incandescent light bulbs
Heater: Hydor 50w

Substrate: CaribSea Eco-Complete, Rocks: Serpentine + river rocks
Ferts: Flourish from seachem, iron enriched Plant Gro from Nutrafin.

*Plants:*
*Brazilian Micro Sword (Lilaeopsis brasiliensis)*

*Java Fern (Microsorum pteropus)*

*Fissidens fontanus (Fissidens fontanus)*

Marsilea minuta (hopefully it's minuta)
*Petite Nana (Anubias barteri 'Petite')*

*(All plants are ordered through ebay)*

*Livestock:*
Hopefully will have 
*Otocinclus (Otocinclus vittatus)  *
Already in aquarium 
*12 **Chili Rasbora (Boraras brigittae )*

* 6 Cherry Red Shrimp *
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/m...erry_Shrimp__Neocaridina_denticulata_sinensis


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## sashaz (Feb 20, 2013)

Finally got time to write some more. 
This is my first ever and only fish tank, so it went through a "Dark Age".
Big mistake from the start was * buying fish without research* and ending up with:
1 baby placo,
1 baby angel fish (hard to resist that cute little thing)
2 juvenile neon tetras,
3 guppies.
Second big and selfish mistake was to *assume they will be fine even overstocked and overgrown* as long as I don't add more fish and make daily small water changes.
Other than guppies, none of this fish are suitable for a 10 gal. Even neons, they need a bigger swimming space and a school of at least 5. 
Then, the worst *impulsive purchase* of all times the "ugly and cool" dragon goby, he didn't even have chance to outgrow new home, died within first week from anchor worm.
Guppies multiplied like crazy, but fry were eaten immediately by angel or saved and given away. Finally male guppy died at about 2.5 years old and the females followed him shortly. 
Neons got very shy and hid in fake plants a lot, I Think without guppies they were bullied by angel too much. Neons lived about 4 years.One of them was probably eaten by placo or angel, I never found a body. 
Placo didn't grow past about 4 inches. He was getting so territorial, that poor angel fish got chased every time he swimmed across the tank... Also Placo learned to swim belly up when it was feeding time and did not clean algae as good as he used to...so I decided to help him... even though he ate tropical fish flakes I think he actually starved, poor fellow. There was no algae left at all for him once I started "helping him". 
Angel outlived them all, died after 6 years in my fish tank. He lived to see the first batch of life plants purchased in 2012 (Java fern and Anacharis) and even helped to combat snails that hitchhiked on Anacharis. Awesome guy (or girl) but took Mayan prediction way too seriously and went belly up right on the day the world was supposed to end. 

So here I was, with a brand new chance to make things right this time.


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## sashaz (Feb 20, 2013)

Tank was running empty for almost a week, and SURPRISE, it wasn't really empty. Planaria crawled out of hiding. That was good motivation, by the evening on a day of that gross discovery tank was emptied, everything was cleaned with water+bleach and new ideas for set up were already spinning in my head.


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## sashaz (Feb 20, 2013)

Eventually aquarium was drained. Ambitions skyrocketed when this site was discovered. With all the beautiful fish tanks I've seen, Flat and bare just won't do. And I've got "need more plants" disease.
January 17, 2013 
This was a sad attempt at drawing a plan. Not at all true to scale and only vaguely resembles actual setup, but it was very helpful in deciding on what it is that I want :icon_bigg


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## sashaz (Feb 20, 2013)

January 23, 2013 
After eco-complite soil arrived, and a trip to petco. Making a slope turned out to be more difficult then drawing one. Grassy fake plants were too much of an eye sore so later they will be gone, but for now they are there along with Brazilian Micro Sword. Dry start method begins, wood gets mold in 3 days and goes out.


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## sashaz (Feb 20, 2013)

Cant figure out how to continue text after attaching pictures, so for now I'm just writing new post every time, sorry. Also forgot to mention that Brazilian micro sward was from package by "Top Fin" bought at petco. Love the quality and wish they had more variety of plants . 
Fast forward to February 13-th where I discover that even though plants are looking awesome and starting to grow new lives and send runners, after flooding tank half way, most of them float. Now it looks as if I have less plants then what I started with because they are pushed and berried very forcefully into the soil. I was afraid that it would die off from too much disturbance and change of conditions (as I decided to keep the water at half way point, but the plant is hardy and only few lives that got ripped off the rhizomes died off and floated to the top.


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## sashaz (Feb 20, 2013)

Now, for the first picture we are traveling back in time to February 4-th when I still had nice carpet going, and was deciding on a way to hide equipment + few changes on a right side. The idea with waterfall did not work, in a bucket where the wood and filter are for now waterfall made of silicon slowly got yellow-brownish tint from the wood. Its in the pores and on the outside and cleaning only made surface rougher which couses brown tint to grab even better. Don't even won't to find out what algae would do to it, so out it went. Rocks below it are staying, maybe I'll manage to brow some Fissidens fontanus on that mesh or if that doesn't work - some Anubias barteri "petite". For the right side some marsilea minuta would be nice. So February 4-th ± couple days, is when plants get ordered from e-Bay sellers.
Next pictures is a jump to February 15-th when plants arrived... most of them, still waiting for anubias. Once in a water there was actually more fontanus then i expected (will try to cover drift wood) , also it was grown with co2 and probably higher light, leafs looked smaller because of better conditions. 25 nodes of marsilea minuta.


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## sashaz (Feb 20, 2013)

Luckily I've learned from the first batch of plants to ALWAYS QUARANTINE.
*Marsilea* was pest free, but there was brown patina looking algae covering roots and some of the leafs, also some green stringy looking algae or strands of moss, that would have taken over in my algae vacant setup. Treating it with hydrogen peroxide. A good discovery! Tangled in the roots were few little bits of pelia, I secured them to a drift wood piece with nylon pantyhose.
*Fontanus* was in excellent condition and had no visible algae, which surprised me after seeing marselea. Nothing, just a few empty trumpet snail shells... But wait WHAT IS THIS?!! There were small pencil dots moving quickly along the sides and bottom of the container going in circles or hiding fast in the fontanus cluster. Only after the best 4x zoom that I could get from my phone camera that the shape of a bug got visible. Still have no idea what it is, but hopefully it's all washed out of the plant because I don't see them anymore.


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## sashaz (Feb 20, 2013)

And finally we're all up to date, here's today's picture. I was too suspicious of marsilea, it looked way too comfortable, with new nodes appearing so soon, almost like it's changing to immersed form in a shallow container. Algae or not, it had to be planted or at least be under more water.
Word of advice, don't drink coffee before planting if you the kind of person that gets coffee jitters :hihi:
Poor thing, there is algae fest and some leafs are yellowing, hopefully it will survive.


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## sashaz (Feb 20, 2013)

just set pelia free floating, turns out it will not grow through and the leaves will die.
the motto of this hobby seems to be "never assume, always check".


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## mitchfish9 (Apr 30, 2012)

It's awesome to see how you have rebounded after all your sub par time with this tank. Good job so far can't wait to see it progress!


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## sashaz (Feb 20, 2013)

*mitchfish9* thanks for the encouragement. Will be updating as soon as there is any new developments


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## sonoralinda (Jan 21, 2013)

*Nice*

Your tank is scaped nicely. I like it. It's amazing what you can do with a 10 gal. It is possible to be very creative. 

I need to make a divider in my 75 because I've had 2 angels pair off and they're being a little too aggressive. I was thinking, why couldn't you use the plastic needlepoint sheet that you make tank dividers out of and cut it into strips and use that under your gravel to hold the soil/gravel back. It might be a way to form "mountains" and keep it in place. sonoralinda


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## kl86 (Feb 7, 2013)

Trail and error. I remember getting into the plant hobby. Couldn't grow or keep a plant alive. Now after 3 yrs out. I started again this year with the info I have gathered over the past year and my plants are not only surviving, but they're thriving=)


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## sashaz (Feb 20, 2013)

sonoralinda: Congrats on getting angels to pair, they probably feel very comfortable in your fish tank if they are mating roud: 
Thank you for the compliments and suggestions. Yes, originally I wanted a steeper slopes that would go 2/3 up the fish tank glass. I suspect that your suggestion about mesh barriers would have worked, in fact, that's what i ended up doing with slope on the right side. Just didn't make it as steep, because there was only 10 inches of space from back to front and at least 3 inches of that were designated as a flat area in a front.There was just not enough room to bring it down gradually without making it look like stairs or decreasing cliffs.


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## sashaz (Feb 20, 2013)

kl86 said:


> Trail and error. I remember getting into the plant hobby. Couldn't grow or keep a plant alive. Now after 3 yrs out. I started again this year with the info I have gathered over the past year and my plants are not only surviving, but they're thriving=)


kl86 That's a success story I aim for too, with my slow growing plants it'll probably take about 3 yars to see any change :hihi: . Do you use CO2 ?


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## sashaz (Feb 20, 2013)

I was hoping to show pictures of Anubias barteri nana petite because they finally arrived from Singapore, however when I opened an envelope it was rotting and beyond saving. It was like pea puree 
I had some plastic plants that looked semi-natural, so they are covering filter intake tube and standing in for A.b.n.p. I will try to buy some more locally... well, at least within States.

Here are some pictures of the way my fish tank looks now, rubber bends are holding fissidens fontanus in place until it attaches itself.


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## sashaz (Feb 20, 2013)

I waited until livestock arrived to post update.
So...few more plants have been purchased :biggrin:
this time from bobstropicalplants.com, they arrived in less then a week and were in good condition (with 3-4 Malaysian trumpet snail hitchhikers). 
"Dwarf Bolbitis" possibly actual name is Edanyoa Difformis, and Nana (Anubias barteri 'Nana')

Plants that are already in the tank slowly grow new leafs. No quitters so far  Marsilea seems to be the slowest, first new leaf was spotted just a week ago and that leaf is still only half way out of substrate. Few more new leafs were spotted in different places since the first one, I hope it means that plant adjusted and will start to spread faster.
Lilaeopsis Brasiliensis keeps propagating above substrate and then the whole strand gets uprooted by the current  maybe the plant is reaching for mote light and that's why the stem grows upwards? I'll put a root tab in there, hopefully new rhizomes will be persuaded to stay grounded. 
Java Fern ... before I write this let me clarify IT IS NOT Windelov...is growing a new leaf on top of old leaf :icon_surp the top of that old leaf was torn off and the edge browned, well there is a new leaf growing out of that edge now 
Anubias is AWESOME! Somewhere I read that even leafless rhizome could be cut and will not only survive but each peace will grow into a plant, furthermore incisions about 1\3 deep could be made in rhizome to encourage more leafs. Method personally tested and approved. roud:
"Dwarf Bolbitis" was placed in the way of filter outflow, hopefully some co2 from air bubbles will reach it and be enough. So far no new growth after a week In fishtank, but also no die off.


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## sashaz (Feb 20, 2013)

And now about new fish and others :bounce:
I've ordered 6 Red Cherry Shrimp ( Neocaridina denticulata sinensis) or CRS for short 
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/m...erry_Shrimp__Neocaridina_denticulata_sinensis

and 12 Chili Rasboras (Boraras brigittae )
all from http://www.franksaquarium.com/ I definitely recommend him if you have to buy fish online. He sent them this Monday and on Wednesday they were already on my doorstep. All alive,well packed, active and eager to eat and explore. As a side note when you order, contact him so he can confirm your order.

Drip acclimation went well, one chilli went all ninja and jumped in the air :icon_lol:
In the tank it was a total bliss for them. PH around 7.2 GH 45-ish ( Yeah I got those lame 5 in 1 test strips :icon_lol no NO2 and NO3 under 20. When preforming water changes now ( nothing on weekends, siphoning on Mon 20-30%, then top offs on Friday 10%) I add dechlorinator in a bucket of tap water + exell or nutrafin plantgrow (only 1\3 of recomended dose right now, I don't want to risk loosing shrimp due to copper in both and some already in tap water. Not sure if the recomended dose is safe for CRS) + Tetra Easy Balance because our city water comes from several wells and has pH from 7.8 to 6.9, Gh varies also.


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## sashaz (Feb 20, 2013)

Some of the personal observations, and I can't guarantee the same results for others.
Do CRS hide most of the time?
Not really, and yet I never see all 6 of them  . In fact they are on the move a lot. They are funny and interesting to watch, sometimes sitting on a rock along or "fluffing" fountain moss in group of 3 out in the open. My fish can't hurm them, and lighting is low so everywhere they go It's semi-shade, I suppose they feel safe. 

Are Boraras shy and timid ?
Not at all, they have no predators in my tank, and I stare at them so much they're used to it now and come right to the front.

Do Boraras Brigittae school? What level of water they prefer?
When scared they all come together in a tighter school otherwise they seem to go off and explore/hunt solo or groups of 2-3. Maybe 10 gal is small enough for them to see all their friends and not feel lonely. They are everywhere at once and each comes to top or bottom or middle, again maybe my fish tank is not deep enough to notice any preferences.

Do they like strong current?
So far its like a fun work out for them,they swim into current and *woosh let it carry them towards front glass, turn back into the current and do it again. Then they get tired and hang out on the right side where current is slower. also I'm sure I should mention that my filter spits out some yummy worms (not sure what they are, but they are small, white, free swimming and thrive on plant decay they live in filter and also in dense moss). So yeah, fish spends lots of time in the current catching them.
Are Boraras Briggitae really that iridescent red? 
Males are for sure. All of my fish are bright red but some show intense Raspberry red.
Are they picky eaters?
Well, they were tank raised so they excepted regular tetra flakes. They also couldn't get enough of what was intended to be a special treat for shrimp - boiled carrot and lettuce ) 

Speaking of shrimp one never forgets first molting, hehe. I saw clear as glass motionless body, and panicked. Why? What have I done? But it's no fare you just got here!!!!! Did a count of moving fellows I could spot - all 6 :icon_eek:


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## sashaz (Feb 20, 2013)

I've been way too generous at feeding time in past, so this time there's a new feeding routine. Sure it takes more prep time but it's amazing just how much it saves in maintenance.
I'm pre-soaking flakes and algae wafers in wide shallow bowl till they sink (use tank water) and then with magnets lower it right into the fishtank by 3-rd day even shrimps came and now join the frenzy. It revealed to me just how much I overfeed, because when i pull it back out there are always all bunch of leftovers, at least they are not in the tank polluting water


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## sashaz (Feb 20, 2013)

Have not updated this thread in a while. Lazy.
I also got too lazy and stopped feeding fish out of the plastic container, now looks like few fish are not fast enough and getting underfed. One fish in particular has very dull color, and is stunted in growth. Few days ago I had to net him out, He had difficulty swimming upright, it looked like a swim bladder infection, however he recovered fast in the quarantine fish tank. I'm not sure if fish can suffer from blindness, but something is wrong with this little guy, when he goes after sinking flakes, his aiming is off and it takes him few tries to actually snatch his food. Will keep him quarantined a little longer because he's so much smaller and thinner than other fish that were from the same batch as him.


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## Meganne (Sep 3, 2012)

I really enjoyed reading your progression with this tank. you really did well with your first group of fish and I think you are to hard on yourself!
I would love to see how the tank has filled in and grown since the last full picture of it.


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## dzega (Apr 22, 2013)

could you update this, perhaps with pictures?
id really like to know how marsilea and microsword is doing in this tank since im considering those two for my non-co2 tank


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## sashaz (Feb 20, 2013)

Meganne said:


> I really enjoyed reading your progression with this tank. you really did well with your first group of fish and I think you are to hard on yourself!
> I would love to see how the tank has filled in and grown since the last full picture of it.


Thanks for your encouraging words, they couldn't have come in a better time. Before reading this I discovered that one of my fish got tangled in a net and left out to dry RIP poor little fellow.


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## sashaz (Feb 20, 2013)

dzega said:


> could you update this, perhaps with pictures?
> id really like to know how marsilea and microsword is doing in this tank since im considering those two for my non-co2 tank


I love marsilea, but it is not a fast growing plant. With my lights, there are 1-2 new leaves a month from each cluster and leafs grow very tight together, so waiting for it to spread out is a major test of patience. In the shade...well... still not a single new leaf on clusters that are shaded by driftwood, but when I pulled a plant out there were 2 leaves and a new vine forming under the soil, so I guess it counts as growing  I was not addind anything to help plants grow until about a month ago, when I berried a root tab from Bobs Tropicalplants.com on Marselea side, it definitely encouraged more of new leafs growing so now its 2 -3 new leaves a month...worth the wait though )
Microsword grows very well too, you will see from the pictures that most of the leaves are newer and shorter, the older leafs grow up to about inch and a half.


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## sashaz (Feb 20, 2013)

Here is how things look now. Sorry about the quality and some algae growing on the glass.


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## sashaz (Feb 20, 2013)

First picture: top left corner, I'm replacing fake plants that are covering filter intake with some anubias and java fern.
Third picture shows that I've planted marsilea in the front. I'm trying to see if in the shallower soil it will spend more energy growing new leafs instead of first growing roots deeper into soil. 
Oops I guess that picture of lilaeopsis brasiliensis is not in a good focus 
Picture #5 is a plant I really dislike now. The roots and new plants grow right out of leafs so it is always covered in brown tentacles of roots, I've actually cut most of new growth off, otherwise leafs brake off on their own (they are very brittle) and I find them stuck everywhere.
#6 fissidens fontanus grows very nice on the driftwood. Love it, no trimming needed yet.


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## Cokers (Aug 15, 2011)

Maybe the marsilea is growing longer roots to search for nutrients in the substrate. I know my frogbit sends out these long roots and others who use ferts have short roots. Try adding some Osmocote+ capsules of some other root tab and see if it'll get them to spread faster.


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## sashaz (Feb 20, 2013)

Cokers said:


> Maybe the marsilea is growing longer roots to search for nutrients in the substrate. I know my frogbit sends out these long roots and others who use ferts have short roots. Try adding some Osmocote+ capsules of some other root tab and see if it'll get them to spread faster.


Is Osmocote safe to use? I have fish and shrimp and don't want to harm them. Berried a root tab from Bobs Tropicalplants and marsilea seams to love it, more new leafs now and their stems are twice as tall as older leafs (Maybe it's reaching for more light? now that it got more nutrients.)


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## sashaz (Feb 20, 2013)

Finally some new things I can write about :bounce: 
#1 I've started using Fluval peat moss as one of filter medias, now water looks like tea, but fish and shrimp are very happy in it + lower water ph of 7.2.
#2 Update on plants\fish.
Marsilea -doesn't grow any faster in the shallow soil so I planted it all back on the right side where it belongs. After using root tab, new leafs come out on longer stems and more leafs per stem. :icon_conf

Lilaeopsis brasiliensis - still spreading out slowly and thinly. Original clusters were fuller, but now as it spreads out new clusters only grow 2-3 leafs. HONESTLY I'm just happy it's alive :red_mouth

*Fish *are doing awesome, their life consists of constantly trying to one-up each other in color and agility. Two of them fearlessly claim their turf one on each side of the fish tank. turns out I had only males - 11 of them.
*Shrimp * have grown big and and I love their bright red color - except, it means that all 4 of them are females ...so yeah, no procreation occurred in my fish tank ... 

#3 ... so I tagged along with my dear husband on a trip to San-Francisco in hopes to visit 
Aqua Forest Aquarium (http://www.aquaforestaquarium.com) and Ocean Aquarium (http://oceanaquarium.blogspot.com).
- Traffic was brutal, so we ended up not making it to Aqua Forest Aquarium in time before they closed, oh well, maybe next time.
- Ocean Aquarium was still open and is located near by, so that's where I ended up buying 6 more Boraras (1 male and 5 females) whether they are all B.Briggitae or not I have my doubts...but than again, very few lucky ones have ever seen B.B females, maybe that's how they look.
I also bought 6 more Cherry red shrimps (1 female and 5 males).
The owner was very helpful. At first he wasn't going to sell me fish until I bring sample of water for testing, I said that I like his policy, but I live 3 hours away so he'll just have to trust me. Told him about success of keeping this fish and shrimp already, described the pain of filtering water through the peat moss to bring ph down and how little it helps, because GH does not allow it to drop below pH 7.2 At this point he tested his tap water for me - it was almost navy blue liquid in the test tube, probably around pH 9, very hard !!! Than he tested his boraras fish tank water - it was 6.8 maybe even lower. Here is how he achieves it - when doing top offs, he adds equal parts of Seachem Neutral Regulator and Discus Buffer to his tap water, than drips it into the fish tank's hob filter. I bought both of this products and he told me that in 4 days water should be around 6.8. and I can release fish into the main fish tank.
This products are phosphate based, and I know it will give algae plenty to thrive on, that I can live with, my concern is shrimp - is it safe for them? :help: 
Just because a knowledgeable person said it, doesn't make it right. So I am not adding anything in my main fish tank today until further research! Fish and shrimp will remain in quarantine... actually shrimp is still drip acclimating since yesterday evening, don't want to rush bringing them from pH 9 to pH 7


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## sashaz (Feb 20, 2013)

Some water testing results for you all:







on the left -my fish tank water. In the middle, tap water after it was heated and peat moss was soaked in it for a weak, with aeration. On the right water that came with the fish from Ocean Aquarium, not much different from mine so maybe I can acclimate fish and not use Seachem products at all.
Why do I soak peat moss you might wonder? Because I really want to try and breed my fish ) Here is a few problems.
1) Curse you Bermuda triangle of water! No matter how much of this "peat juice" I would pour in the fish tank to lower Ph, my high gh and kh buffers it to around 7.2  So maybe I should use Seachem Discuss Buffer after all, it promises to lower Gh and Ph and keep it more or less stable.
2) Here is a picture of more tests on "peat juice"







If I use this with water changes I will have to buy something that removes ammonia before I can add it to a fish tank.
3) Not a biggie but worth mentioning - water gets dark brown in color and plants\rocks look less attractive. 

I guess I'll just hope that they will breed in Ph 7.2-7.4 and high gh
Still not sure if I want to go Seachem route.


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## sashaz (Feb 20, 2013)

Sad news, first molting in the fish tank for 1 of the new shrimps has gone bad looks like molt has come too early because he still was in his shell and it was coming off like scales. Probably 15 % water change I did this evening + stress after acclimation. One of the original shrimp molted too, but she is fine. I hope the rest of newcomers will do better.

After writing this post, sadly, I found another one of the newcomers dead after molting, he looked like someone attacked him but that could have been after his death and not necessarily the cause.
Water parameters were fine, but something definitely wasn't right because even original batch of females was restlessly running around. Then, in the middle of the night and today, (October 30th) I suddenly remembered that shrimp like cooler temperatures and my heater is set to 79 to get fish in the mood for breeding, not sure if that contributed to shrimp deaths, it was plausible, therefore actions had to be taken immediately even if it's 2 in the morning  It might have worked because later this morning, with a heater on 74 `F there have been first successful molt by new shrimp ) Happy dance :angel:


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## sashaz (Feb 20, 2013)

No success on breeding anything, shrimp population died off and fish population is 7. plants died off recently too.


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## sashaz (Feb 20, 2013)

A little update. 
Fish: Bought a pair of Celestial Pearl Danios they are very skittish but beautiful. Already started laying eggs, but no fry, I think eggs get eaten by Chili Rasboras and parents. My PH is around 6.8-7.0 ( I've been adding Acid/Alkaline buffers). GH is 125.30 dgH and KH is 71.60 dgH. Temperature is 72 degrees.

Shrimp: got 10 red cherry shrimp a month ago, good mix of males and females but they have not been breeding yet.

Plants: so far Fissidens fontanus has been my rock star, nothing seems to affect it, and even after algae bloom killed most of my other plants this guy came back and is growing nicely.

I also bought another batch of Lilaeopsis brasiliensis, this time most of it survived and slowly new grass blades are showing out of the substrate.


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## Aolinger11 (Feb 18, 2016)

So Cool to read your posts over a time period of the last two years or so. I'm curious of your results if/when you used the seachem buffers. I considered doing the same to try to lower my pH. Recently my planted 10 is pretty similar to yours. My pH is ready 7.2-7.3 and I've recently added Indian almond leaves to naturally attempt to lower it to 7.0. Nitrates and nitrate are at 0. I've read the same where using Seachem buffers causes major algae bloom from phosphates. What was the cause of your crash in your tank??


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