Tropical Fish Keeping banner

Nothing working in my 3 gallon

1K views 3 replies 4 participants last post by  Byron 
#1 ·
Hi everyone,

So here is my origional post from when i bought my 3gal marineland (http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/freshwater-aquarium/3-gallon-setup-log-lots-pics-94493/)

It was supposed to be a shrimp tank, hoever, shrimp dropped like flies after a week. I then tried another group of ghost shrimp and they did not last more than 2 days. I do have a betta who has been fine for about a month.

Here is the deal: all my plants ( pygmy chain sword, salvinia, pennywort, java fern, anubuis) have all been dying. They never really took off in this tank, but literally have been deteriortation the past few weeks. I have two suspects>

1. which was already brought up in my first post is temperature. Honestly i do my WC every week and paamerts are fine, but i havent checked temps lately and when i just checked they where at 86! with no heater!In a room thats ~72 - 75 with tanks that have heaters and are right around 78! I believe its the heater causing these excessive heat as it is resting in the water, however it may be the light. I have contacted marineland but they never got back to me. I was going to send them another email but their website is down.

2. Sand: I swear i bought plain black sand for freshwater, but since im having issues i keep thinking "maybe i bought SW sand: bcause i cant remember what brand i got. ill rule that out by checking the LFS tomorrow. What effect would SW sand have on plants/ shrimp/ my API test kit results?
 
See less See more
#2 ·
1. which was already brought up in my first post is temperature. Honestly i do my WC every week and paamerts are fine, but i havent checked temps lately and when i just checked they where at 86! with no heater!In a room thats ~72 - 75 with tanks that have heaters and are right around 78! I believe its the heater causing these excessive heat as it is resting in the water, however it may be the light. I have contacted marineland but they never got back to me. I was going to send them another email but their website is down.
I'm confused, first you say there is no heater, and then you say there is? A fist tank without a heater will always be warmer than the room. Lights can and do heat the water, how much depends on what type of lights, and the volume of water. 3 gallons is tiny, and is very hard to keep a constant temperature.

2. Sand: I swear i bought plain black sand for freshwater, but since im having issues i keep thinking "maybe i bought SW sand: bcause i cant remember what brand i got. ill rule that out by checking the LFS tomorrow. What effect would SW sand have on plants/ shrimp/ my API test kit results?
Marine sand may raise the GH, KH, and pH of the water if it is something like crushed coral. In marine tanks, the pH is usually in the 8.1 to 8.4 range. They don't contain salt, that is added to marine tanks separately.

Your issue is entirely temperature. A Beta can survive at 86 over the short term (for example for treating ich) but the shrimp and plants can not.
 
#3 ·
It seems to me if the temperature is the same (too high) first thing in the morning with the lights off all night, the problem is likely the heater. So replace it with another. If the lights are a problem, you might find a way to elevate the light strip just slightly so air can be more easy pulled in to circulate and exhaust the heat.
 
#4 ·
What is the GH and pH?
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top