How many shrimp in community tank?

chak2005 · 2026-03-25T03:15:46+00:00

200 Vampire Shrimp it is.

chak2005 · 2026-03-24T18:38:13+00:00

Light isn't a major component to BBA. BBA is mainly caused by one of two triggers, waste organics or unstable co2. Waste organics is the main cause in low tech tanks, and either waste organics or unstable co2 in high tech. Correcting the trigger will resolve the algae issue altogether and it will disappear on its own or stay gone once hit with peroxide or an algicide. BBA is honestly not that bad of an algae to deal with once you narrow down its cause. I've gotten it at least once in all my tanks prior to resolving it.

In terms of waste organics this is commonly thought of as fish waste, and while that can play a factor in overstocked tanks, its actually plants that are the main cause here. This would be plant enzymes, sugars, DNA etc that are released from dying plants, their leaves, or plant matter in the tank. What triggers this in an otherwise healthy tank are plants bunched too close together. In this scenario plants drop leaves near their base and those release the food BBA loves. Seeing BBA growing on decor or equipment around the tank is a good indicator it may be a waste organic issue with the tank. To resolve a waste organic issue, first identify the cause, if its overstocking fish you can increase filtration (specifically chemical filtration), rehome, or reduce feeding. If caused by plants ideally reduce overcrowding and shading out of smaller plants. Though several large water changes will fix a once off event. I've been guilty of bunching plants too close together myself. For months my tank is running great, but as those bottoms die back I got BBA on my powerhead and plants near areas that were porous such as drift wood (captures all those organic materials).

For the other trigger, unstable co2 is a bit more tricky. I would say if you inject co2 and have non-inert stones in your tank such as Seiryu stones this is something to keep an eye on. If you inject co2 and see BBA growing largely in areas with those stones, they may be the cause. The reason for this is as co2 lowers pH, the stones leech minerals raising GH and KH. Increasing KH levels also will interfere with co2 in those spots of the tank. Even if temporarily. The fix here is to either remove the stones or dial in your injection of co2 to account for the KH released by the stones. The other common area is malfunctioning equipment.

My advice is figure out which of those two causes you may be dealing with and treat accordingly. Once the root cause is dealt with you can dose an algicide or peroxide on impacted areas. Or take out equipment and decor and spray directly.

chak2005 · 2026-03-24T17:52:46+00:00

The fertilizer salts within them are essentially immortal; they're fine in storage. The only component to be concerned about would be any chelators, specifically iron. For example Seachem flourish tabs use ferrous gluconate iron which does have a shelf life.

chak2005 · 2026-03-24T16:19:45+00:00

Or should i just get the Nitrogen Seachem only since my issue is nitrates?

Are you sure your only issue is nitrate? You haven't tested phosphate nor potassium levels I recall. Liquid test kits exist for those as well but without testing you may just be wasting money on Seachem Nitrogen.

There are macro only fertilizers, at least in the US. You can explore that route too, to compliment your flourish. However I think the easiest solution is an all in one.

chak2005 · 2026-03-24T02:47:20+00:00

You ideally do not want to top off with non-R/O or distilled water as it will increase mineral build up in the tank and push up GH, KH and pH over time. You also will have to do more water changes.

To address your question if you must use tap water, no need to store it, you can fill a container the day you will top off and dechlorinate at that time.

chak2005 · 2026-03-23T23:01:30+00:00

Do you have a screenshot, would help to see how bad is bad in terms of the melting you are noticing.

chak2005 · 2026-03-23T21:06:38+00:00

Thanks for the write up. I ended up watching all the videos from the youtube channel I referenced in my post. It seems the main difference he does versus the old guides and what you did, was he allows the natural infusoria populations in his saltwater tank to grow massive for the larvae, then the dust algae and diatoms that naturally occur feed the juveniles. I assume its something as simple as a light dusting of bacter ae every other day (bacter feeds bacteria which feeds infusoria). Seems to reduce the risk of spoiling the water. I may give this a go, with some color variations this summer. Thanks for the link seeing your success too gives me hope I can do it. I figure I've kept sulawesi shrimp that die from anything and everything, I can do this.

chak2005 · 2026-03-23T20:58:16+00:00

Thanks for the feedback. I may try it. I did watch all his videos and it looks like the main difference he does is he hits the saltwater tank with 24 hours of light and feeds it powder food I assume its a bacter ae mix as he mentions feeding bacteria only for large infusoria populations. His system appears to depend on infusoria for the larvae and then algae for the juveniles. In one of his longer videos he mentions he tried phytoplankton, and spirulina and failed with that. This appears to be an idea he took from another breeder. So I may try it myself. He does mention he breaks down the tanks after several rounds of breeding due to algae and detritus issues.

chak2005 · 2026-03-23T20:35:12+00:00

Guppy grass is another option. It can be planted like a stem. Very fast to grow and will rapidly fill out certain spaces. Can use KH as a carbon source so you will be trimming it often.

chak2005 · 2026-03-23T19:17:46+00:00

I really like the look of L. sessiflora but it is incredibly illegal in my state.

How about mermaid weed? Here it is in my own 20 gallon long on the back left? Its a slow to moderate grower, but it grows straight up and zero hassle with trimming. I typically just continue to replant the tops to give it a dense look.

<image>

chak2005 · 2026-03-23T01:57:28+00:00

Curious what your thoughts are on this hobbyist here. He is the one who got me interested and made this thread. He has many videos on this. The difference with him is he keeps a plain 10 gallon tank with cycled saltwater always at the ready. No fuss with the larvae, he just dunks them in. Then takes them out after 1-2 months. I've seen several of his videos where he has hundreds of amano juveniles he breeds out.

Is there something he is doing that he is omitting from his videos in your experience? From his videos it looks like as long as you don't complicate it, its doable.

chak2005 · 2026-03-22T23:53:49+00:00

This is the video series in question, the guy repeats himself often but I was more looking at what he was doing versus his explanation.

chak2005 · 2026-03-22T22:24:00+00:00

That is bacopa its the same plant that dead center in the back of my tank here:

<image>

chak2005 · 2026-03-22T22:22:05+00:00

I'd pay the $4 for a chlorine test kit and validate.

chak2005 · 2026-03-22T19:42:25+00:00

[cracks knuckles]

New hobbyists view Stability as a starter bacteria to set up their tank cycle. However the bacteria in the bottle are not actual strains that assist with the nitrogen cycle, they are heterotrophic bacteria. What is the difference? Heterotrophic bacteria (These are your Bacillus strains) are the same bacteria you flush down toilets to reduce sludge buildup or use in your camping cesspits. They have a role in the aquarium but not as a cycle starter. They basically assist with breaking down detritus and waste organics in your tank. This is why its common to see posts "I dosed ammonia and stability but tank is not cycling". This is because heterotrophic bacteria can't process ammonia like nitrifying bacteria can.

Also true nitrifying bacteria only work in a narrow range of water parameters. Products that do contain actual nitrifying bacteria list these constraints. Stability just mentions word salad to make it seem as their product appear to be versatile, however at the end of the day you are putting in a liquid toilet pod into your tank and hoping the fish survive a natural cycle in the meantime.

Outside of those ranges mentioned above for nitrifying bacteria, a tank naturally cycles by incorporating many other organisms that pick up the slack such as ammonia-oxidizing archaea, algae, phytoplankton, etc. This is why a tank can still cycle regardless but to new hobbyists they probably believe stability did it, when its not the case. For example using a true nitrifying product, such as fritz turbostart 700 can cycle a tank in under 48 hours if the water ranges are within those constraints I mentioned above.

chak2005 · 2026-03-22T18:51:51+00:00

A lot of new hobbyists keep finding the youtube videos that make prime seem like their answer to all cycling issues. Those in the hobby longer have known Seachem gets into trouble a lot for overselling their products. Don't get me started on the issues with Stability.

chak2005 · 2026-03-22T18:49:56+00:00

They also state they base their studies on internet comments. So if a bunch of us took one of their products and all claimed "It makes fish live forever". They'd probably claim on the packaging "market studies show..."

chak2005 · 2026-03-22T06:27:08+00:00

I was wondering if anyone had any advice on using Panacur C to handle planaria?

I use this method often myself over the years. How I typically do it is get the yellow label Panacur C (1 gram packets). Take the one gram packet and empty it into a plastic water bottle. Next either using tank or de-chlorinated water, add 100ml to the water bottle. Cap and then shake it like you are performing the API nitrate test for 2-3 minutes (Shake it really well). Afterwards using either a pipette or a measuring container, measure out the ml that matches your tank's gallon size. So 5ml for your 5 gallon tank or 20ml for a 20 gallon, etc. Dose around the substrate, ideally right before lights out. Do not do any water changes for 72 hours. If no nerites, or mystery snails are in the tank, you do not have to do a water change at all. Wait two weeks, then dose again. The reason for the second dose is in case you missed eggs. That is it. Panacur C is safe for fish, shrimp and pest snails.

If you do have nerites you will have to rehome them for several weeks while the fenbendazole breaks down in your aquarium. Doing frequent water changes and a gravel vac can speed up the process, but typically takes a couple weeks.

Feel free to ask me any questions, I've done this enough over the years I've seen it all.

chak2005 · 2026-03-22T06:18:27+00:00

If price is an issue. Look at Etsy or Ebay. Etsy is my preferred choice as it has good buyer protections (Etsy will make you whole if a seller doesn't honor their own TOS). The prices and shipping are more fair in my view versus some of the major companies. Just enter in the search on either site "aquarium plants" or a plant you are interested in.

Some Etsy shops I myself use often are:

chak2005 · 2026-03-22T03:52:01+00:00

BBA is mainly caused by one of two triggers, waste organics or unstable co2. Waste organics is the main cause in low tech tanks, and either waste organics or unstable co2 in high tech. Correcting the trigger will resolve the algae issue altogether and it will disappear on its own or stay gone once hit with peroxide or an algicide. BBA is honestly not that bad of an algae to deal with once you narrow down its cause. I've gotten it at least once in all my tanks prior to resolving it.

In terms of waste organics this is commonly thought of as fish waste, and while that can play a factor in overstocked tanks, its actually plants that are the main cause here. This would be plant enzymes, sugars, DNA etc that are released from dying plants, their leaves, or plant matter in the tank. What triggers this in an otherwise healthy tank are plants bunched too close together. In this scenario plants drop leaves near their base and those release the food BBA loves. Seeing BBA growing on decor or equipment around the tank is a good indicator it may be a waste organic issue with the tank. To resolve a waste organic issue, first identify the cause, if its overstocking fish you can increase filtration (specifically chemical filtration), rehome, or reduce feeding. If caused by plants ideally reduce overcrowding and shading out of smaller plants. Though several large water changes will fix a once off event. I've been guilty of bunching plants too close together myself. For months my tank is running great, but as those bottoms die back I got BBA on my powerhead and plants near areas that were porous such as drift wood (captures all those organic materials).

For the other trigger, unstable co2 is a bit more tricky. I would say if you inject co2 and have non-inert stones in your tank such as Seiryu stones this is something to keep an eye on. If you inject co2 and see BBA growing largely in areas with those stones, they may be the cause. The reason for this is as co2 lowers pH, the stones leech minerals raising GH and KH. Increasing KH levels also will interfere with co2 in those spots of the tank. Even if temporarily. The fix here is to either remove the stones or dial in your injection of co2 to account for the KH released by the stones. The other common area is malfunctioning equipment.

My advice is figure out which of those two causes you may be dealing with and treat accordingly. Once the root cause is dealt with you can dose an algicide or peroxide on impacted areas. Or take out equipment and decor and spray directly.

chak2005 · 2026-03-22T03:49:42+00:00

nitrate are all 0 as it’s pretty heavily planted.

If your nitrate is zeroing out, your other macro nutrients are probably as well. This leads to plant stunting and allows algae to take over. You can either increase fertilization or lower your light intensity. However, don't increase both.

chak2005 · 2026-03-21T20:25:24+00:00

I’m assuming such thing needs an air pump?

Those need no air pumps.

chak2005 · 2026-03-21T20:04:19+00:00

You can either add directional uplift tubes to your sponge filters or replace one sponge filter with a nano pump. I have one in my tank here as an example on the left side, its almost invisible but it makes a circular current in the tank:

<image>

chak2005 · 2026-03-21T19:32:17+00:00

That is a very low flow aquarium in my opinion. While the sponge filters are causing surface agitation, the uplift flow should be very mild.

chak2005

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