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Dennerle 60L Nano - "Work In Progress"

Spartacus

Spartacus

Member
Joined
3 Aug 2012
Messages
102
Location
Scotland
Hello Everyone,

My name is Murray and I am a shrimp addict...

I am new here - so thought it was about time I made the effort and chipped in as they say.

I have had a Dennerle 60L nano cube set up for over 7 months - Its been a problematic spell in my life and I wanted to have something to help lift the mood when things were going against me.

There has been times when the tank has been a help and a hinderance and to be honest more of a hindrance with continuing deaths.

So I thought I would keep this journal going for anyone interested in my ramblings - To try and contribute back into a community.

Back in January I purchased the tank and setup from ZooRoyal.de me being Scottish it was a good price for the equipment and the tank was well made. Shipping was only £13 to the UK via FedEx so that was very nice. They have since stopped shipping to the UK probably because of people like me ordering fish tanks....

I went to great lengths to get the tank the way I wanted it for Crystal Red Shrimps - EBI Gold Shrimp Soil to buffer the PH - Mosura Minerals - I even lugged half a mountain of granite from the hills to use as a "feature stone"

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Ordred the CRS from Sharnbrook Shrimp ( great shop by the way!) and after a while all was well with the occasional deaths but they were berried. They just kept dying nobody gave birth and that was that...

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I had algae problems - big algae problems! hair Algae it was a nightmare. Glass was covered in the stuff - tried water changes scraped the glass the only thing that would eventually get it under control was Flourish Excel but that appeared to wipe out some of my remaining CRS.

I couldn't go on the tank was looking very bad and was getting me down. All that money and effort and it looked like this...

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After dosing the Excel it managed to contain the algae but I was down to 2 CRS from 14 - Money was / is tight and every time a death occurred it was another sad event - life ended and £3.50 down the toilet.

Things were at a tipping point - I thought about writing the whole thing off and putting the tank in the loft waiting for a better time in my life but decided to go to Plan K - I was winning the alge war but at a cost of my shrimp.

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I always wanted Seiryu stone I love the look of the stuff and Chery red Shrimps have a reputation of being " bomb proof"

The LFS (Discovery Aquatics Dundee) had a new range of hardscape in including the Seiryu which £30 later got me this lot...

image.jpg


So I ditched all of the old hard space - cleaned the tank and ordered some red cherry shrimp from Sharnbrook Shrimp - Ended up with alot of Sakura Shrimp as they were out of stock.

I have one Ottocinclus in the tank - he is a lone survivor from Pets At Home - I wont buy any more fish from them as they all seem to die.

Here are the latest higher quality photographs taken of the tank today...

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The tank looks alot better and I am alot happier - I am still experienceing deaths two weeks in from delivery. Will measure water parameters again tonight - Will sort out the algae and get a nice bit of glass piping to make the air pump pipe look better ( Wooden diffuser gives nice fine bubbles)

If only I can get the shrimp to breed and get the algae under control I will be a happy Scotsman.

I know the hobby isnt meant to be easy - I want this to go well so will keep plodding on with it. I realise I have made mistakes in the past but thats life :)

In the mean time I wish you all the best with your tanks and look forward to being part of the community.

Best wishes,

Murray
 
I highly recommend going with a 600L/hr external filter on a tank that size if you want to breed crystal shrimp. Also bear in mind that the landscape rock will raise the pH and hardness.
 
Hey. Nice looking tank. I have the same one.

Sorry to hear about the problems with the CRS and algae.

One thing you can do about the algae is just use one of the Dennerle lamps. It will still look bright enough. I ran just one on mine with no CO2 and the algae was very manageable- just a little 'brown dust' on the rocks and glass which is easily wiped away.


P
 
Thanks for taking the time to chip in to my thread - Appreciated!

I never knew about Montrilimite stone will have a look at that - Have been dosing Mosura BT-9.

Have been looking into external filters (Eheim 2213?) - Seems to have good reviews just need to do more reasearch - I have to import the replacement filter pads from Amazon.de as its cheaper than the UK. Dennerle being mainly a German market brand makes it tough to get parts and accessories in the UK without paying a hefty premium.

Thanks for the heads up with the lighting issues - I have them on timers (8 hours) monitoring the algae and daily dosing the liquid carbon at 1ml to try and get things back under control.

I have purchased a new air stone / pipe combination on ebay via Hong Kong

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Claims to be the "Worlds smallest air stone" - I quite like the glass pipe as it tidies up the tubing issue. Time will tell - Nothing ventured nothing gained :)

Tonight I cleaned out one of the filter pads will take water parameter readings soon.

Again I really appreciate you taking the time to contribute to my ramblings - Its a really nice forum you have here I feel a bit uncomfortable posting my tank with the various journals that look absolutely stunning with no algae and blossoming plants.

Im working on it :)

Best wishes,

Murray
 
Hi Folks - Hope your all well!

Again thanks for taking the time to chime in to the journal. Your comments are most welcomed!

Tank is looking a bit rough with some algae on the glass (but nothing compared to what it used to be in the past!)

I am daily dosing 1ml of Flourish Excel & 1 Pump of the Tropica Plant Nutrition to try and get the hair grass to grow.

I am unsure about the final layout of the tank but these were the best rocks available at the time when I go back to the LFS I will keep an eye on the Seiryu stone and upgrade perhaps the back left stone. Its a nice shape but the off white colour throws the eye somewhat.

Am thinking about upgrading the filter to an Eheim 2213 - The current filter makes a bit of noise and is about 2 feet from my pillow as the tank is in my bedroom. Will do some research on it make sure its appropriate to use before exploring the finances.

Plan is to get a nice bit of Redmoor or Manzanita (As you all know its quite tough sourcing hardscape in the UK over the Interweb anyway) Just keeping an eye out to make a mss tree with Christmas Moss to add a bit of height to the top end of the tank for the shrimps.

Speaking of which no more deaths since I set up the journal - I monitor the tank every time I can to see if there is any but so far so good. About 12 left out of 20 (including one baby shrimp who survived the transport!) so hopefully enough to rebuild the tank.

Here are my tank Parameters from when I established the tank for CRS:

TEMP = 24c
TDS = 83 (Tap Water TDS is 31 - Scotland)
PH = 6.4
AMONIA = 0
NITRITE = 0
NITRATE = 0
GH = 4
KH = 3 (TAP WATER IS 2)

And Today:

TEMP = 23c
TDS = 117 (Tap Water TDS is 37) I have Mosura Mineral Plus for boosting the TDS but am also monitoring the TDS raising effect of the Seiryu. Our tap water is really soft.
PH = 7.6 (Last time I checked it was only 6.8 - I have done two test tubes and both say PH 7.6) Just checked the Tap water and the PH there is also 7.6 so will have to monitor. Its EBI Gold Substrate which is meant to maintain the PH around 6.4 but seems a bit of work to be done with PH)
AMONIA = 0
NITRITE = 0
NITRATE = 0

Will measure GH & KH tonight as out of time with work coming up :(

I am a bit surprised about the PH didnt expect it to be so high - Wonder whats going on there. Will have to look into that and do more tests.

Best wishes,

Murray
 
Hi Everyone,

Came home from work to find a shrimp dying - Clearly in alot of trouble swimming backwards upside down.

This is the 3rd death in a row where the shrimp has looked like it has broken its shell behind its head as it has a white line where a gap between the front and rear of the shell exists.

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I measured my GH & KH:

KH is 3 & GH is 7 (In Feb at end of cycling KH was 3 & GH 4)

The EBI Gold Shrimp soil substrate seems to be forming a lot of small air bubbles about 5mm wide - cant say I have noticed that before. I am beginning to think the Substrate may be becoming a problem?

Will keep it monitoring - Only down to about 10 Shrimp now from 20 2 weeks ago.



Murray
 
Hi Murray, looks like moulting issues, I've read calcium can help ?? Maybe post In the inverts section for better advice. I do know neocardinias prefer more alkaline/ harder water than cardina species maybe you need to add more minerals on wc to buffer your water more, sorry for your losses mate nothing more frustrating than losing shrimp.
 
Hi justisaayman & tim.

Substrate is just short of 2 inches deep all over - I do not use spray aerosols in the house as I am scared from what I have read about the damage it may cause the shrimps :)

I have received some Mosura BT-9 / Old Sea Mud Powder & Mineral Plus Ultra and have dosed them tonight trying to raise the GH & TDS up slightly.

Will probably pop intot he local pet shop and buy a cuttlefish bone and knock off a small chunk around the size of a 2p coin to put in the tank as I have read that can be helpful for this molt problem.

I really cant emphasise enough how much I appreciate the help and support - Its tough going when you see things you care about so much struggle and die. Hopefully I can overcome this :)

Kindest Regards,

Murray :)
 
You have the right stuff Murray, cant understand why this is happening as the Mosura should help moults. Did you do water changes?
 
:)

Yeah its confusing me also - I do a 10L water change once a week. I am due a water change but thought it might be worth waiting and seeing what happens with the new parameters.

Tank TDS as of this afternoon is 163 & GH is now 10 after dosing the Mosura Mineral Plus so that seems to be more closer to where it should be.

I decided against getting the cuttlefish bone for the mean time will see if the Mosura goodies do the needful.

Have only been able to count 6 Adults and one baby shrimp - The baby shrimp has been with us since the shrimp arrived :)

Hopefully I can get the tank cleaned up from Algae and the hair grass can grow to create a carpet. I am planning on making a moss tree out of chrstmass moss - Just haven't been able to source an appropriate looking piece of wood yet.

Hope your all well,

Murray
 
Hi I had huge problems with my crs tank due to our soft Scottish water, the saga plays out in my 54l the nook journal. I use mosura plus to bring the Tds up but found I could only get Tds to 150 before gh started getting to gh6/7 I have just started using a mosura product called Tds up, sold by sharnbrook shrimp, and it is great. Use mosura + to get to desired gh then use Tds up to get higher Tds. I think sakura want higher tds (200+)but too high a gh gives moulting problems. My crs are now breeding in both my tanks!(tds 150, gh5, ph6ish)
 
I have had this happen with my Sakuras aswell, and I add Shirakura Mineral Stone, Calcium Blocks etc. And still find the odd shrimp with the same symptoms as in the aformentioned pic. I sometimes wonder if it is because I have such large quantities of snails in the tank and that they are absorbing too much calcium. I also use the snails as indicators to low calcium in the water, as the Pond Snails shells are a great indicator. As they turn white when there is not enough calcium in the tank.
Does that make sense to anyone else.
 
Are you still dosing ferts and Excel?

Cherry shrimp are very hardy. Mine are in a TDS of around 300(tap water), Kh-8, Gh-12 and are breeding like rabbits. It's a low tech tank with nothing dosed although I started with liquid carbon and ferts myself but had shrimp deaths too, so I stopped and haven't looked back. If I were you, I'd increase the TDS up to 180ish or more and convert the tank to low tech as painful as it sounds.
 
Hello folks hope you are well and having a nice weekend :)

Thanks again for taking the time out to assist - Most appreciated! :)

I have returned from two days away and all shrimp seem happy - 6 Adults and one juvenile. What looks like a molt in the middle of the tank so thats fine. Am monitoring the situation as per usual.

Have decided to cease dosing Flourish Excel & Tropica Fertiliser for the time being as the current plants dont seem to be doing much.

Algae is still a problem - Will probably have a wee scrape at it with a razor blade before a water change.

I went to my LFS today and finally saw a piece of Redmoor I liked the look of (im very fussy tbh but I like to be happy with what I have)

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Approx 38cm Tall - 34cm Wide - Will more than likely relocate some of the small branches to fill it out a bit more. It was only £8

It is currently soaking in the garage - I am thinking about exploring the possibilities of a rescape in the tank.

I havent had much luck growing plants in the substrate I think its a bit poor for growing plants but I am a bit stuck with it for the time being anyway.

So I have say 2 weeks to work out a plan.

Fingers crossed everything works out I sure would be a happy chap if it does.

Thanks for viewing.

Best wishes,

Murray
 
If you want a shrimp tank then I'd get a bunch of mosses especially round pelia as its great for baby shrimp. Hydrocotyle t 'japan' is great as low demand plant and my adult crs love eating it too. Fissidens Fontanus, mini pelia etc all look good on rocks or growing on wood.
 
Thank you for the pointers Lindy - Will look into them :)

Performed some maintenance on the tank tonight - So far no more deaths to note. Shrimp dont seem to be zooming about so much just standing on a rock etc.

TDS is 157 - I keep the air stone on until I get ready for bed then it comes on in the morning.

Plan is while the Redmoor is soaking to investigate the substrate situation see if its worth doing a total overhaul (moving the shrimp to a 10L temp home) taking out everything and putting in a new inert gravel on some form of plant substrate (To be decided)

Then replant the tank with larger more mature plants (The hair grass is around 5 months old!!! - Growth rate is poor must be doing something wrong) and tie Xmas moss to the wood.

I have say 2 weeks to work it all out :)

Latest shots:

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Best wishes,

Murray :)
 
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