If you really need to have floating plants. You can use salvinia minima or frogbits. but do take note they multiply and grow very fast and soon will cover your tank. but they're much easier to maintain than duckweed.

lol. it's the infamous supershrimp aka opae ula aka mini lobster which can live up to 20 years with minimum care. living enclosed in bottle like that will shorten its lifespan. better and cheaper to get it from arrow.

Seems like your CRS tank is doing pretty well.

Hi bro, IMHO, it's better not to use UGF if you're already planning to use with canister filter with chiller. It may deplete the buffer capability faster if you're running it with a canister and UGF is harder to maintain. Benibachi soil is just like any other shrimp soil can setup like usual and you don't have to follow exactly their step by step system with UGF as recommended by the shop. Better stick with just sponge and canister. Just my 2sen.

Relax bro. You've got alot of typo. Got enough biofilms for baby shrimps? Is it a new tank?

What's your nitrate level? Can do water change until desirable level.. Or use products like Mosura Denitro.. More plants and less feeding will help.. Try putting some floating plants like frogbits or salvinia minima to absorb the nitrates.

This post has been edited by jirochl: Oct 8 2014, 01:53 AM

Hi bro, if I were you I would get a PH test pen to verify the PH first. If you're using liquid tester like API, it may not be able to detect anything less than 6. Although cherry is quite hardy, they don't really do well in low PH. Just my 2 cents.

Of course, it could be many other reasons though.

You can get the calibration solution ph7 (liquid) from 88petsmart or some fish shop may help you order them if you ask. If you're using RO, use inert substrates and remineralize with salty shrimp gh/kh + and save you all your trouble.

Your GH should be around 4 - 6. Please monitor how much mineral you're dosing during water change. Could be too much. Maybe can try to dilute your tank water with water change using RO water. But do it gradually (less volume/frequent change) until desired GH is reached. Just my 2 cents.