20 gallon planted tank with cherry shrimp and honey gourami

[Unikorn]

01/24/2013


I set up my 20 gallon over a year ago, wow time flys!
I have the tank on a schedule of:

EI dosing of ferts: 1/4 tsp KNO3, 1/8 tsp KH2PO4, 1/16ish K2SO4, (plantex has been placed on hold)

pressurized CO2: on a timer set with the lights for 8 hours a day

T5HO lighting 6500k: 8 hours a day

dual sponge filter runs 24/7

fluval 206 canister filter runs 24/7

I did have other times of fish in the tank but have since moved them or gave them away.

Currently, the stock list is: 1 male dwarf honey gourami
12+ painted fire red and other assorted cherry shrimp.
Ramhorn snails (they breed like crazy!)
4 emerald cory cats

Current plant/other stock list: 1 amazon sword
getting some ludwigia arcuata
DHG(need some more)
one lily with red and green coloration
1 random plant I rescued from .99 bin(they said it wouldnt live, HA!)
A java moss wall
Anarchis
2 shrimp shelters with java moss
cholla wood
driftwood centerpiece


Recently, I have been experiencing a die off with my cherry shrimp. I purchased 30 PFR's, and already had 24 regular grade cherries. I can only visually count 12 but there could be more in the moss wall.
I have since halted my dosing of plantex- in case the copper is bothering them. Also, I've lowered my use of the CO2 in the tank- in case they are sensitive to it.

[GMYukonon24s]

Nice!

[Unikorn]

Thanks

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[Unikorn]

01/25/2013

Up to date picture of the tank so far.

I trimmed some plants this morning.


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[Unikorn]

I have trimmed plants and replanted the clippings.
I am trying to acheive a more balanced aquascape.

I have lowered the input of CO2 to a tiny tiny bit of bubbles coming out of the diffuser. I have also stopped dosing the Plantex+CSM for now.


The shrimp are showing increased activity.
I found 1 molted exoskeleton the day after I lowered the CO2, I haven't found one in a while. Before the shrimp would I guess fail to molt and then die.

50% WC to be done tomorrow.

[Unikorn]

I think I figured out what was killing my RCS. The PH jump when I do a WC. The tap is the darkest purple 8.8 and the tank is reading between 6.4-6.6.

[Unikorn]

Can't find ANY Red Cherry Shrimp that are still alive in my tank

I have since cleared out a bunch of moss and tried to open up some surface area on the bottom of the tank for the cories to dig through. I have still working on getting the Dwarf Hair Grass filled in. I have restarted the pressurized CO2 considering I can not find any RCS, sigh...

Considering changing the driftwood and filling in the back of the tank with more plants. I also am thinking about taking down the moss wall..I gets messy fast and gets woven in among my other plants.

Did not have CO2 on last week and did not EI dose to see if I could find any RCS that may have been hiding, to increase activity levels ect.

Any ideas as to a school of fish to add to the tank? I was thinknig possibly pygmy cories, rummy nose tetra, or another interesting schooling fish to add mid-level tank activity.

[Unikorn]

Propagated the anubias.

Trying to lower PH of tap water.

Water in bucket test: 02/02/2013 @11:20pm - PH 8.4
02/03/2013 @12:02pm - PH 8.3

[laqu]

does your gourami eat your shrimp? I threw some in with my gourami and guppy to test and so far they just hide.

and glad to see you knew only 1 male in a tank, dumb LFS told me i 'NEEDED' at least 2 or they'd be lonely. Trust me the littler of the two would NOT be lonely without the big one picking on him. *head bang* ...

[Unikorn]

The gourami never ate my shrimp. What actually went after the shrimp were the tetas, barbs, and rams. I had to move a lot of fish around to make sure everyone was happy.

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[Unikorn]

Results from Bucket test 02/04/2013 @ 02:47pm PH 7.4!! Almost there!

[Unikorn]

Last night the emerald cories spawned. Moved eggs into net.

02/05/2013 Bucket ph 7.3-7.4 @2:23pm(more blue than green)
Tank ph 6.6-6.4 (more green than blue)

Nitrate 0 Nitrite 0

Is it ready yet?