Lesson that i learn from this thread...."No fish is safe for shrimp" and its true. Yup..neon tetra and pygmy rasboras can live peacefully with adult shrimp but its will be a massacre for the babies . So if u are serious in keeping shrimp, i suggest u to setup a shrimp-only tank ..just my 2cent. Owh BTW, the only fish that i 100% recommend to be a safe tank mate for shrimp is.. the one n only...MR. OTTO

I try my best to answer you...
So, IMO...

First, you put too much fish in your 1 feet tank already, since you just started the number of fish should be less than half of what you have right now. Cause the ammonia or fish shit they produce will be too much and will be toxic to them. And your filter is what type and rated at how many liter/hour???

Second, what kind of lighting did you get??? Only light with spectrum of 6500K-10000K can be used in the planted tank, cause this is the only spectrum that plants use for photosynthesis, 8-12 hours a day. And how many watts is the lighting???

Third, IME co2 can wait, plants can grow without co2, just not as nice. Can start with DIY later, cheaper... But since your curious, here is a link
http://www.my-mac.net/forum/viewtopic.php?...it=co2+diffuser

Fourth, If you don't have soil then what are you using currently??? I'm curious??? You can get the soil in any LFS selling planted tank related stuff, or you can guide yourself to a LFS near you by referring yourself to the first few post of this thread where there is a directory of all the LFS which sells these stuff. And most planted tank if not all uses ADA amazonia soil...

Fifth, get a dechlorinator, even cheap RM1 will do and just use a pipe to siphon out the debris and usually change only 20-30% of the water each week.
What I mention here is what I have done, what I'm doing and it differs between different hobbyist. And you can change it to match your own tank...

And my advice to you if you want to improve the survival rate of your fish, get a bag of activated carbon, rinse it and put it in the tank ASAP. You can take it out after 1-2 weeks. It'll suck up all the ammonia and other chemicals and keep the water clean.
How to scape can wait until you get your soil and what fertilizer to use can wait a few more weeks after that... IMO...
I hope I answered all your questions...
Anyone want to add in or offer your opinion on my explanation, please do... I'm learning still

Lastly, welcome to the planted aquarium hobby

This post has been edited by radver: Aug 31 2010, 11:30 PM

cloudy i guess. yes its normal, don't stir it too much, and pour the water using the correct method into the tank without disturbing the soil. The water will be cleared in maybe hours or days depends on ur tank size provided you have the 5 element (not sure which is the one that really helps in making the water clear).

Generally speaking, I think the previous post was referred to normal size shrimp. No baby shrimps or fish are safe from fish even with guppies.

aiks, open the cylinder knob then psi shot to slightly more than 1000psi now.

the tank got 2 knob to turn rite? One from the tank n one from the regulator wat different

This post has been edited by booby: Sep 1 2010, 09:17 PM

the knob on the tank is to let the co2 out of the tank, keep that turned on, and regulate the co2 using the regulator knob (duh! i feel like smacking myself)

aiks sry noob here. i using manual regulator, the needle pointing 1050 psi should be ok hor. 1L cylinder.

Hi, it is not normal. Recently ADA soil got problem with high pH. Please test the pH of your amazon soil and it is too high, pls return back to the LFS or ADA distributor and get a new pack with no problem from them .

overfilled... coz normally a full tank is about 1000psi

am i missing out something or am i doing it right? i feel like the tube connect to the regulator abit loose ...

u need to used a bit thick hose not the normal lembik hose... if the lembik cheap 1 yes a bit loose...

anybody home? today thread so quiet.

i think u are using silicone hose, better go LFS look for harder want, a normal harder hose will fine, of cause there are some luxury hose for co2 tank, but not necessary.

uh, how high is considered high ph and can be returned?

and also, how long to wait before the ph will normalize? the lfs guy told me need to wait about a month before the ph will go down then i can start putting shrimps in. its about a month and the ph is still 7.0. still cant put shrimps

Normally ada siol with give you low Ph right?

maybe not enuf Co2... try increasing the Co2 a notch.. may be able to drop the ph bout half a point.. hopefully. good luck.. u do have Co2 right?

hi guys,
where can i find java moss?

ph 7.0 not good meh??put in one drift wood .... sure go down to 6.0-7.0

planted tanks are recommended to be slightly acidic.

anyone feed their ottos with some extra food source besides waiting for algae to grow in the tank. Always felt like there's not enough algae to feed my ottos