first of all, this tank is just for Malaya and fire yellow right? not intended for crs in the future(gonna hook a chiller later).

Benibachi bacter base is very useful, it is a very high quality pumice rock(same grade if not higher then ADA powersand pumice rock),
like powersand it already come mixed with bacteria powder.
Most of my tank that house sensitive and higher value shrimp have bacter base below the substrate.
Infact my just setup Sulawesi tank have 2.5L of benibachi bacter base below the substrate.

AS a reference , for a benibachi crs tank setup, the following items is used in order of:

** Under gravel filter > Bacter base > Benibachi bee max > Benibachi Mineral Powder > Benibachi Fulvic Soil -> Tank filled with water -> Dose Benibachi Active water to kick start the bacteria.

A little update on my Sulawesi tank, got 2 hours free time today to setup the tank.

Setup sequence and stuff used :
2ft Tank bottom > Benibachi Bacter Base > Benibachi Bee Max & Mineral Powder > around 2.5cm thick of Benibachi Fulvic soil > Soil Top lay 2kg of Benibachi Mineral rock & one big Alkaline type lava rock.
After filled with water ,run sponge filter and dose 30ml Benibachi Active Water to kick-start the bacteria for tank cycle.
Now the waiting game begin.



This post has been edited by arrow: Dec 15 2013, 02:54 AM

You can just put B100 under the bacter base, no need the thin layer of fulvic soil.
Under gravel filter idea is to use the whole tank bottom as bacteria colony base.

For air pump, you can opt for dual output with individual airflow control, hailea brand have that so do eheim.

Wrong, you should never put anything below the under gravel filter as all the B100 powder will be suck out and dump into your tank from the UGF outlet.

Sequence should be like this UGF(under gravel filter) -> Bacter base -> B100 -> Bee Max(if nay) -> Mineral Powder(if any) -> Fulvic Soil.

2kg mineral rock in there. As soil is new ph still low. That why need that big alkaline lava rock to help buffer up ph.
Benibachi ph up is out of stock. Will use that later.
This tank need at least 3mth to ready for sulawesi.

2kg mineral rock in there. As soil is new ph still low. That why need that big alkaline lava rock to help buffer up ph.
Benibachi ph up is out of stock. Will use that later.
This tank need at least 3mth to ready for sulawesi.

Tank cycle is like 2-3week , can be hurried up if i want but not necessary cos i'm trying to build up the hair algae colony in it.
Tzuen , know any LFS selling that Sera sponge filter i use in the my tank?, the shop i getting from is out of stock, NA , East Aqua and 88 petsmart all don't have or ever sell that before cos of the price.

This post has been edited by arrow: Dec 16 2013, 06:01 PM

i choose sera cos of it compact efficient size and the grey sponge color, mr.park didn't sell sera sponge,
guess sponge usage is not that popular and sera brand price of rm36 for 60L capacity sponge not competitive enough,
but like ADA stuff, you pay for quality.
Every morning i take a peek at the small hair algae patch, it like not growing , phew... algae also not easy to cultivate,
need other elements for it to boom. already dose 2 x fert , light on 24 hrs.

Nope, don't think ADA have sponge filter , if have will be called Jet Sponge
I use Pro Z led before on another 2ft, full of hair algae but that is a established tank full of nutrients for them,
but 30 Malaya in wipe them within 48 hrs and totally clear of every single hair 'bulu' in 72 hrs. I can't find any
hair algae from that tank, have to get from my friends tank but his tank have planaria and seed shrimp.
That need to quarantine his hair algae for 2 days with no planaria dosed but left with half or less hair algae seed after that.

This post has been edited by arrow: Dec 17 2013, 12:55 PM

You are in taiwan. Cant import from you.
Cherry the most 20-30days.

no need to pre-wet it, since you are using the ugf system then put a thin layer of soil like 1cm thick on top of bacter base then dust the B100 then cover by the rest of the soil.

ugf -> bacter base -> thin layer of soil -> B100 -> rest of the soil.

It depend on which brand of UGF you getting, i'm using Aquadene brand of UGF, very good quality, around rm20 for 2ft size, it can break into 4 pcs half feet size plate.


I personally don't like rounded edge tank, if i have to get one, when displaying will use the curved side as behind tank.

This post has been edited by arrow: Dec 18 2013, 12:30 AM

the only way to clean it , is by inserting a tube through the UGF outlet and suck out debris.
But when you need to clean an UGF , it is more or less due time to change the soil.

There is just lot of possibilities of shrimps died.
Pls post a picture of your tank setup.
Did you check if the tank finish cycle? by testing ammonia and nitrite ?
Have any new plants in tank less then 2 week ? (the plants may have pesticide/fert residue that contain copper which very fatal to shrimps).

From the picture there is 2 dead fire red.
The fish look quite big to be consider safe in a tank with dwarf shrimps especially if got shrimplets later.
Big fish will stress out shrimps especially without hiding spot like in your tank.

Without kits to check out ammonia and nitrite , it is hard to conclude the tank is indeed cycled or not, un-cycled tank
will sure kill shrimps no matter what shrimp you put in. if on budget, try get one tester , the No2 - Nitrite test kit.
Since your tank already around 3 week, if the tank not cycled , it will be in stage 2 cycle where nitrite will be detected,
if Nitrite is zero, then do a large 80% water change, this will remove excess No3- Nitrate that converted from nitrite by your beneficial bacteria in your filter. After this you only need to do 10-15% water change every week.
Get some mineral stone or powder for your tank.

This post has been edited by arrow: Dec 20 2013, 01:45 PM

Tzuen , the UGF concept is to utilize the vast substrate bottom as base for beneficial bacteria to colonies and provide
filtration for bio-waste like a normal hob/canister filter.
UGF is normally air pump driven or you can use powerhead to draw water out from the UGF outlet back to the tank.
yes, air pump is enough power for a 2ft, in fact currently i have two 2ft tank and one 1ft tank using UGF powered by air pump.

UGF is not suitable for big fish or tank with too much solid waste as waste will accumulate too much and fast under the ugf. and not every soil is suitable for use with UGF , ADA soil is not suitable as they will breakdown fast using one.

UGF in shimp tank especially with shrimp soil like benibachi soil will help bring out fulvic from the soil for the benefit of
shrimp esp crs.

This post has been edited by arrow: Dec 20 2013, 02:21 PM

your tank look good for shrimp, just give some time for the moss and plants to grow and green algae to grow on the glass, this s the sign the tank is maturing. What kind of mineral rock you need to put into filter ?

just one small fish won't cause much pollution, if you have shrimps, they probably feed on the corpse.
Check the floor/table around your tank, the guppy may jumped out.

Planaria wont appear suddenly unless you have them beforehand in your tank. Unlike bacteria planaria need a host to bring them in your tank. Etc plants, fish, shrimps & moss.

This post has been edited by arrow: Dec 22 2013, 05:16 PM

Fire red is selectively breed form of cherry shrimp, that make them more fragile then cherry, ppl have 50/50 change of keeping them alive , you have higher chance with a very mature tank or tank with lot of algae.
They need constant food especially meat based food but not to the extent of overfeeding, feed them 2 time per day,
but make sure they finish each time within 1 to 2 hrs, else reduce feeding, if have algae can feed less.

too late , the moment you catch a few, there are 100x inside your soil, plants etc,
go dose no-planaria to clear them out, enjoy a new year without planaria.