Jims 3gal temprate pico

That is exactly what I do. I put about 3/4 of total WC volume in the fridge & leave 1/4 at room temp. That way when I mix it all in a bucket it's close to 55 degrees (45-50), Just let it set till it's the right temp.

The new tiny filter has worked wonders. The water has been much much clearer. The numbers never were that bad but the water was never really clear, except right after a WC. Think/hope every thing will run smooth from now on.

One of the larger green nems which had not moved hardly at all before, just started walking around. It got into the strawberry nems & was spinging the hell out of some of them. One other big green ones did that & killed several strawberries so I took this one out right away. Now the little guys are all low in the tank & the bigger ones up higher. Will try to keep it that way.
 
fullmonti said:
That is exactly what I do. I put about 3/4 of total WC volume in the fridge & leave 1/4 at room temp. That way when I mix it all in a bucket it's close to 55 degrees (45-50), Just let it set till it's the right temp.

The new tiny filter has worked wonders. The water has been much much clearer. The numbers never were that bad but the water was never really clear, except right after a WC. Think/hope every thing will run smooth from now on.

One of the larger green nems which had not moved hardly at all before, just started walking around. It got into the strawberry nems & was spinging the hell out of some of them. One other big green ones did that & killed several strawberries so I took this one out right away. Now the little guys are all low in the tank & the bigger ones up higher. Will try to keep it that way.
Click to expand...

Ah, looks like everyone is doing the fridge thing for WC hah.

Did you experience a bacteria bloom initially when you set it up?
 
Kataro said:
Ah, looks like everyone is doing the fridge thing for WC hah.

Did you experience a bacteria bloom initially when you set it up?
Click to expand...

No but I ran a 3gal tank with the rock & sand at room temp for a couple months before setting this one up. I transferred rock & sand & lowered the temp to 55, plus the LEDs are dimmed pretty low. Don't get algae on the acrylic but a whitish film that is a lot easier to clean off than tropical algae. There is a little growth on the rock near the top.

Iill take a new FTS this weekend, not much has changed though.
 
I do have a new FTS but just a snapshot. I had the thing we all dread happen this weekend. Got up Sun to water on the floor. My 180 Discus (once reef tank) sprung a leak. Luckily it's very near the top in the overflow area so could lower the water level enough to stop it leaking. Didn't leak the sump dry just 20-30 but a mess never the less. I don't trust it long-term though so I have started trying to sell my Discus because that tank is built into the house it would be a way to hard to take it out to fix or replace (as if I had the money to do that right now). So I have stated trying to sell my Discus. I plan to set that tank up as a Paludarium, thats part land part water (a terrarium with a water feature). Always wanted to do one of those, just hate this is the way it's going to come about..

Anyway here's the new FTS & a couple cropped in close ups.



I thought the glass was pretty clean, but no.


Baby nems


Green jewels have finally started growing. That odd thing on the upper right is a small decorator crab.

The two small shots are just cropped in from the overall shot, I forgot to bring the macro home.

More later
 
Nothing new right now. I just picked up a piece of black granite countertop for a stand for the tiny tank. It will be moving into the living room soon as the stand is done. I was going to make this elaborate thing but then thought, the tank is so simple looking & not that big so the stand should be too. I ended up buying 12" overhead kitchen cabinet from Lowe's, paint it to match, put the top on, done.
 
Are nitrate still a problem for you jim?

I'm pondering if I should add a small skimmer for my tank
 
The tank was running smooth, then a snail died & I've been doing WC every day to clear that up. If I had enough cooling power I definitely would have a little skimmer. From what I understand they pull a lot of warm air into the system & I don't have enough cooling power for one. If you have a chiller I'd put one in.

Got some new critters, but things not settled in yet. Will post some pix a little later. Also got the stand finish on so that will be done soon.
 
fullmonti said:
The tank was running smooth, then a snail died & I've been doing WC every day to clear that up. If I had enough cooling power I definitely would have a little skimmer. From what I understand they pull a lot of warm air into the system & I don't have enough cooling power for one. If you have a chiller I'd put one in.

Got some new critters, but things not settled in yet. Will post some pix a little later. Also got the stand finish on so that will be done soon.
Click to expand...

Ah, I was thinking of getting one of the Gnome Glass skimmer. Look simple enough to use and very compact!

Can't wait to see the new critters!!
 
That was exactly the skimmer I was going to get.

The new critters are all doing good. Just wish the anemones would make up their minds where they want to be. I got a small green surf nem & he wasn't attaching right away like most do, so I put him in a crevice (not really a good spot) thinking he would move any way. Wouldn't know it he hasn't moved a bit, all crammed up under the return tube. The red Beadlet nem (love it) which I put in a primo spot, immediately moved way off to one side.
 
Alright not sure what's going on with my tank. The water has been clouding up. A snail died so I thought that was the cause. I have done several 2gal WC (about 70% each) over the last week to ten days & it still clouds up after a day or two. I checked the nitrates, it was zero as you would expect with that many WC. With zero nitrates & all the shrimp are doing just fine I don't think water quality is the issue. I did a big cleaning of the filter area & put a brand new pump in so I could clean the old one good. Thought the cloudiness could maybe be micro bubbles but don't see how. I'll put the old pump in next WC to see if that makes a difference. Cold water tanks don't ever seem to be as clear as tropicals for some reason but this is too much. Here's a photo so you can see what I'm talking about. This was 2-3 days after last WC.


Any ideas what could be happening???

I also had cut back on feeding to see if two times a day would be enough. The white Plumose look like they have gotten smaller so guess not. Back to 3-4 times a day & more spot feeding too.
 
I feed my white plumose maybe 2-3 times a week and they grow pretty fast. I give them each 2-3 shrimps per feeding (sometime more if they're bigger), what are you feeding?

And the cloudiness might be a bacteria bloom perhaps? From all the water changes, mine look exactly like that when I first started the coldwater tank. I just killed the light for 2-3 days and it slowly return to normal
 
I hadn't thought of a bacterial bloom. I've never had one in any tank in the past but have heard of them. I'll try leaving the lights out for a while & see what happens.

I feed mysis (not a lot) & cyclops mostly, some baby brine shrimp, some spot feeding some just let some food loose in the tank.
 
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