i not sure about fertilizer ball wo... i didnt use them... only use bacterball and ADA fert aquasoil....

oh... thanks... mine are still shrimplets... incapable of harming my even smallest rasboras... so far they didnt kacau my otos as well...
but i do notice a few sliced leaves n stems floating around...

during off photoperiod, ur fishes might be gasping for oxygen at the top if too much co2 in da water.... because off photoperiod, both flora and fauna needs oxygen....

so far with my uncontrolled diy co2, no fish gasping for air on the water surface.....

not same i guess... coz i dunno whats the content of fert ball...

jeng jeng jeng

http://www.wikimapia.org/#lat=5.3396292&lo...=18&l=0&m=a&v=2

somewhere opposite the pasar malam by da road side....

if put bacter 100, dun need bacter ball lor... but if u use HOB filter, can alwiz add 1 bacterball inside the HOB filter to encourage bacteria breeding inside there....

some recommended liquid ferts brand are ADA and seachem... i using capalang brand (fiscare) coz melaka cannot find seachem.... ADA small bottle also cost rm5x... dat also 1 bottle only... need to supplement a few other fert some more...

i didnt go search around for cheap ADA products lar... i jz started fertilizing my tank few weeks ago... havent tried before any liquid fert brand... so far i see no difference also....

yeah.... i read from MAC forum, ADA and seachem produce good results.... others barely noticeable....

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Added on February 17, 2009, 2:39 amanyway... here is my low tech pico tank... substrate mostly holland sand and little bit of ADA amazonia II aquasoil.... no co2... 9w lighting... photo period 6pm-12am.... fauna 1 betta and 1 dying ghost shrimp.... water change twice a week...



This post has been edited by the_catacombs: Feb 17 2009, 02:40 AM

those are cheap feeding shrimps bought in a packet of rm1 for hundreds of them... i jz took a few lucky ones for my tank, the remaining ones feed to my housemate's parrot n chiclid fish....

today bought 3 more rasboras... and 2 cherry red shrimp... total now got 8 rasboras, schooling randomly at mid n high level of the tank... and the 2 cherry shrimp no where be seen after i dump them in... mayb hiding behind the plants.... hope i dont see them on the floor outside the tank....

as for plants... i not very familiar with high tech plants such as hc and glosso... so far my 1st batch of glosso doesnt seem healthy, even with 24w lighting and co2 supply.... some grow as tall as 1 inch from substrate... i think mayb they have insufficient lighting... i was told for 5 gallon tank like mine, need at least 36w of lighting to grow HC or glosso well... my water temperature fluctuates around 24~28oC.... if wanna grow glosso or hc well, must maintain water temp below 27oC....

so far my up to date problem is stem plants without roots... they kept uprooting themselves... tension alwiz see floating plants around....

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Added on February 17, 2009, 4:25 pmactually best is to see more photos of other nano tanks setup and give urself some rough idea for ur own tank... u can copy the setup exactly or add some to ur liking...

my opinion is... if u jz started venturing into aquascaping, start off with cheap easy to grow plants found in LFS... dont hunt high n low for expensive plants first... learn from error and most important how to control algae growth and maintain water parameters....

This post has been edited by the_catacombs: Feb 17 2009, 04:25 PM

nezu, can ask ur friend to sell/give me some of his CRS??...

how much does CRS market price cost??...

rm40-rm50 each??..

amano shrimp cost approx rm3 each rite??.. i got my red cherry shrimp for rm2 each...

wow... ok... those shrimps are pretty expensive.... i guess i'll stick with shrimps below rm5 for now as i'm still a newbie... lolz...

no idea... didnt use seachem excel before.... but so far my diy co2 working well... replace it almost once a week...

yeap... bacteria can help cycle the tank faster and make it cleaner as it breaks down uneaten fish food and fish waste....

approx 3-4 weeks... or 1 month... depending on ur tank size... by then ur nitrate and nitrite level should be stable....

bigger tank needs longer cycling process....

and if u plans to have shrimps inside, best to cycle it longer.... unlike normal fish, shrimps are very sensitive to ammonia/nitrate/nitrite spike... all parameters should be stable....

rm100 budget for 3ft tank abit hard ler....

substrate cost u minimum rm100 adi... havent add hardscapes (driftwood, rocks, etc), filter, fan, thermometer, lights, etc...

initial cost above havent include fish, plants, fish food, liquid fert (if u need it), etc....

3ft tank at least set about rm250 budget for low tech tank la... get a huge HOB filter for approx rm3x-rm4x.... substrate can mix ADA aquasoil with holland sand... 1 pc fan blowing on top for better cooling... thermometer to monitor da temperature (not necessary if u wanna save cost)... lighting at least 40w.... co2 is not necessary, but if got is better for plants growth... diy co2 using yeast n sugar is cheap, no harm trying, u'll need to buy the co2 diffuser at approx rm15....

thumb rule during initial setup, dont introduce fishes inside ur newly setup tank until about 3 weeks... some sensitive fishes might jump out coz the water parameter is still not stable (nitrite, nitrate, etc)....

any other questions can post it here we discuss sama2...

rm350 worth it i guess.... coz solenoid regulator is expensive... jz make sure da regulator works well and not leaking...

for the CRS, i prefer the "3 white band" S grade...

how much does aquasoil powder cost??.. i think i need some for my glosso to grow well... they seem very fragile and seems like uprooting themselves...

its usually called the "golden ratio"...many experts follow the golden ratio to make da tank look pleasing and attractive... to me i tak faham yet... lolz...

expensivenyaa.... den dun care la... my glosso seem like dying n layu....

trim is a good sign... means ur plants is growing healthy....

my local hair grass grow very well ahh... but got minor sign of algae around it....

ohya, my new pet.... but now in my planted tank la... tumpang stay in my housemate's 3ft tank...

crayfish la...

i throw him inside my housemate's tank.... not planted tank... wuahahahhaa...

piranha in planted tank??..

better if got co2... they will grow well...

vr nice bro... 4ft tank??..

moss for rm5 consider cheap adi... but also depends on how much the packet is.... (wonder why they put them in bottles).....

moss are very easy to grow.... but also very slow growth...

of coz... the wood is expensive mar...

test kit ah??... not sure ah... i jz pakai hentam only...

can i guess.... currently my tank got a about 3 ghost shrimp, 2 cherry red shrimp and 2 amano shrimp.... ghost shrimp n amano shrimp alwiz in sight... but my tiny cherry red shrimp alwiz hilang... never see them in action in da tank before.... but got once when i do water change, i accidently siphoned one of my CRS out... lucky i notice, if not byebye Rm2....

my tank got many algae grow ahh...

dat day accidentaly left da lights switched on until morning, algae start to outbreak.... till now still not under control...

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Added on February 27, 2009, 4:20 am

cherry red shrimp i added 1 week ago...



can see algae outbreak, especially at the hairgrass and stem plants... glosso also not growing healthy...



added 2 giant amano shrimp...



and 1 sesat SAE... so far havent see him nibble on any algae before.... alwiz swims vertically against the current and steal fish flake from my rasboras...

This post has been edited by the_catacombs: Feb 27 2009, 04:20 AM