Culturing Microworm (Panagrellus Redivivus) Part II

Well, on my old entry, I did a new culture by using HappyGuppies (AquaticQuotient)'s culture. Using a rectangular container, oatmeal, water and an extra ingredient Yeast.

I did that culture on 05/09/2012. Below is how it looks like on 11/09/2012.

 

 

The left side; those white shimmering, those aren't oatmeals. Those are the worms!!! Incredible! A lot!! I added a bit of yeast to experiment. We will see progress down the road.

Ichthyophthirius Multifiliis / Ich / Ick / White Spots

Disclaimer: Please note that the purpose of this article is to share with you my experience in tackling the above. Not in anyway a guaranteed method. Blogger will not be held responsibile for any deaths in your tank, explosions that might occur or your parents/partner yelling due to the wet floor. Thank you.

What is Ich or White Spots?
It is a common parasite found on the body and fins of fish. It's white spots; hence the name. These white spots can caused problems for your fish such as breathing, loss of appetite, clamped fins etc. This is one of the most common parasite that any aquarists in his life might encounter. It will and can kill your fish. I had 1/5th of my fish population of tetra and harlequin wiped.

Tetra with Ichs.

Credit: Picture taken from http://tropical-fish-pictures.blogspot.sg/

Ichs has 3 life stages.

Trophont
When you see the spots on the fish, that is the trophont stage. It burrows underneath the fish mucus feeding on the fish fluids and hence you see the swelling which is the white spots. They feed for a few days and at the right temperature, the cyst drops off.

Tormont
This is the tormont. It swims in the water and attached itself to plants, substrate etc. Once attached to say plants, it multiplies like crazy. Once the cyst burst, it then swims out and search for a host. In this case, your fish.

Thermonts
A stage where they swim in search of a host. They must find a host within a few days or so or they will die. This is where medication is effective. Kills these buggers. But once it finds a host, its back to Trophont stage.

Prevention / Treament
There seem to be no conclusive evidence of how the parasite have gotten into your tank.
A few reasons that came are
1) The plants you purchase had this parasites which had clung to it and in process of multiplying
2) You got a fish and did not check that they had this parasites in the trophont stage.
3) It is theorise that a fsh that once been attacked and survived the parasite, develops a stronger mucus. The parasite sticks and when it got introduce into your community tank, it unleash itself.

So to prevent yourself from introducing them into your tank...
1) Check the fish you are buying. fish that weak are easy host for this parasites.
2) If you're the heavily worried kind, quarantine your fish for 14 days before introducing them to the community tank.
3) Buy plants in tanks without fish. Quarantine the plants for 7 days if you want. Or bathe them using potassium permanganate or bleach.

But, despite all this, you still might get it. Don't panic.

1) Raise the temperature of your tank to 30DC...slowly. At higher temperature, you hasten their the parasite life cycle. You want to catch them when they a free swimming. I wouldn't go above 32DC though.
2) You can use salt (I'm not experience with this, please seek advice) or medication. Personally, I have use Sera Costapur.

Sera Costapur

Please check the contents and instructions before using. It might affect your other fauna, ie shrimps

 

It will take about 10days and you will not see the spot. Personally, 3-4 days and mine were gone. But I did not stop the treatment for the next 10 days. Do not stop medication when you see there's no longer spots on your fish. The parasite might still be around in the water.

Tips
Please read the medication instruction. I reduce the dosage a bit.
Increase surface agitation. More oxygen the better.
Watch your tank temperature and maintain it at 30DC. Always raise and lower temperature slowly.
There is no need to do a water change during this treatment.

Good luck.

Water Cycling (Mazlan's Version)

Disclaimer: Follow at your own peril!!

Before I start, I would like to remind anyone who reads this not to believe everything the seller at your Local Fish Store (lfs) say when they tell you that the fish can be introduce straight away. Beware of products in the market that states using its product and you can introduce fauna straight away. Don't believe a word of it. Firstly, a good lfs will never tell you to introduce fish straight away into a tank that has not been cycle. Products that states fauna can be added will always have an asterisk beside it. It will state along the lines of "when water parameters are met".

 

What is Cycling?

Nope, this does not involve pedals, chains or a handlebar. Rather water cycling (nitrogen cycling) refers to a process where ammonia is converted to other forms till it's deem harmless. I'll make it easy to understand hopefully. Ammonia is produce by fish waste, uneaten fish food, dead plants etc. Ammonia is toxic. Try swimming in your own poo and see how you feel.

 

Anyway, once bacteria aka beneficial bacteria(BB) is established, ammonia converts to nitrite. Now what's worst than ammonia is nitrite. Both of this kills. Another BB digest and converts it into Nitrate. Now nitrate is harmless but of course in high quantity, it can stress out your fish and in the long run cause health problems. Nitrate can be absorb by plants. the best plants I come across is frogbits. Now how to remove nitrate. For planted, no need to; the plants does it for you. For freshwater, water change (WC) Simple.

 

It takes anything between 4-6 weeks to complete this cycle.

 

Just note that water cycling is necessary. Introducing your fish without it will harm your fish and most than often, kill.

 

How to Cycle?

There are a few ways to do it actually. What the tank need is ammonia to kickstart. I'll not go into much detail on these as they can be easily found all over the web. Much more in depth explanation.

1) Fish Cycling

Considered a little inhumane. Depending on size of tank, a few fish will do. Hardy fish such as platy is okay. Most of the time they will survive but you are exposing them to health problems and you get fish disease; you'll then have a new set of problems in your water if that happens.

 

The fish produce waste and the cycle begins.

 

2) Fishless Cycle

There are number of ways to do this. One is to add pure ammonia. A pinch of fish food daily. Or you might not even need to introduce ammonia. Some aquasoil which is used for a planted tank has ammonia in them. Some are relatively high with ammonia. Hence, fishless cycling is the way to go.

 

Now there is one other method which is fastest but personally one should learn the very basic first and then learn along the way.

 

a) Ammonia (Fish waste, uneaten food, dead plants or roots)

b) Nitrosomonas (Bacteria) becomes present and converts Ammonia to >>

c) Nitrite (Deadly even in low quantity)

d) Nitrospira (Bacteria) becomes present and converts Nitrite to >>

e) Nitrate (tolerable to fauna in low levels)

f) Water Changes removes part of the nitrate in water, plants takes in nitrate, if anaerobic conditions are met, like possibly in the substrate, nitrate will convert to nitrogen and is release through the surface.

 

The process repeats. Now I recommend that if you are beginner, don't try chemicals on the shelf. Do it the simplest way to cycle your tank.

 

Tips

1) Be patient. We all know how it feels when one first sets up his/her tank.

2) Do not add chemicals you have no idea about.

3) Go fishless cycle instead.

4) Get a test kit. Use it on the first day and then once every week. Record your finding in an excel.

5) When the parameters are right, you will see your test kit readings something like Ammonia: 0 Nitrite: 0 Nitrate: 20. This is fine. You can add your fauna.

6) Small water changes now and then is better then one huge water change weekly. Unless you are dosing EI.

7) Never introduce so many fish at one time. Do it gradually. Your BB needs to catch up.

 

Mazlan's Version

I did fishless cycling. Example, Using an Eheim Pro 3 cannister as my filter. Now I did not add any ammonia as the soil had great amounts of it. Every week, I added Water Life Bacter. As I was using the Bacter, I did a test recording every 2-3 days. On the third week, the tank was cycled!

 

Now again I implore, do not do it this way. I added fauna slowly after the cycled as I had to be sure there was indeed enough bb colony. Do the basics first then gradually learn the other methods. One other way is to take mulm from another matured tank and place it into your new tank.

 

Well, cycling is not at all difficult. the only thing you must have is a lot of patient while the BB colonises.

 

Well have fun!

 

 

 

RREA Full Red Guppy

I got interested in these babies some time ago. Y618 is one of the lfs I frequent to get my equipments, food, fauna etc. One day, a friend suggested that I take a look at the guppy, Albino Full Red. At first I wasn't so sure that I want to go down the line of keeping guppies as my main focus or goal was more into aquascapping and planted tank.

One close look, I fell in love. Full red body and the red eyes. How can one not be fascinated by these lovelies. I went to research online to get more information but there wasn't much. It was pretty general. Anyway, it wasn't like I've never kept guppies in my life before but this are pure strains. Gulp. I have a spare tank with some platys so I was more or less set.

One day, a friend notified me of Aquastar having new arrivals of Albinos. I went down and bought a few pairs. 6 total. 3 males and 3 females. I know the ratio is off but buying a pair cost me $6. I am not certain of grade though. To me grade is based on the eye of the beholder.


After getting them, I made a mistake and lost a few of them. They jump. =( Sadly, my project came to a halt. I visited Y618 and saw Albinos in their individual bags. Kinda sad but that was how they wereplaced. There were some Albinos in tanks and when you compare them, the ones in the individual bags were more beautiful. They came in A or AA grade. A being $5 each and AA $15. It was hard to tell the difference. Hence, I settled with 3 males and 3 females. All being A grade. The ratio now will be 4 males and 6 females.

I placed them in my platy tank which was pretty small. 40cm tank. Roughly about 30L. So I sat down and thought it over. I was not going to be a crazy breeder. Just a casual one. Keeping the best and the excess to give away/sell to friends and fellow hobbyist.

So what I did? I bought two 45cm tanks which is 40L or 10 gallon tank. One was going to be a low tech planted with simple plants like hairgrass and moss while the other sand based.

One for the males and the other females. I bought a couple smaller tanks to house juvi temporary. Bought a few breeder tank as well.

Right now, it's cycling. Strange how both tank ammonia level are the same. Both at 2.0 Eventhough, the low tech planted tank is the one with the ADA aquasoil. Anyway, I'm thinking of putting a few corydoras in the female tank. For the male, I have yet to decide but a few Otos, maybe yamatos, malayans and perhaps cherry shrimps? LOL Will see.

Well, while waiting, I've seperated the females into breeder tanks which are big enough. Hopefully, not stressful to them. I got frys by the way! About 20plus of them. Currently, on microworm, boiled egg yolk and powdered commercial fish food diet.

Crossing my fingers. Anyway, below are some pictures, enjoy.

When I first got interested in this Albino Full Red, I already have a tank cycled and ready.

Set Up

Tank: 40cm Glass Tank

Filtration: Gex HOF

Lights: Gex (No idea of Model)

Substrate: Quartz

Material: A rock from my iwagumi collection

Some fake plants (From Seaview)

Fauna: Albino Full Red (Male & Female) & 2 Golden Guppy (Male)

Left Picture: Taken with pink light I have in storeroom

Right Picture: Due to some chemicals that the fake plants were discharging (killing some fauna along the way), I changed it to a simple setup. This is how it looks like. I like to call it a containment tank while the 2 tanks for them are being cycled.

Set Up

Tank: 40cm Glass Tank

Filtration: Cheap internal filter (using air pump) with Eheim Substrat Pro and Biohome

Lights: Gex (No idea of Model)

Substrate: Pebbles with some rocks and pleco home

Material: NA

Fauna: Same less Golden Guppy - Add juvi platys

My Albino Full Red Guppy from Y618 & Aquastar

Background are the frys in its breeder box.

  This is the male tank that I am setting up. It's going to be low tech planted.

As I'm using ADA Amazonia New which brings PH down to roughly around 5.5, I had to place corals in the substrate.

Bogwood, ADA Amazonia, Gex White Sand and rocks on the other bank.

Flooding, I hate this. There's always this cloud of dust from the soil.

Added plants.

Rocks placed on bogwood as its not waterlogged.

Bridge added. (Lovebridge says my better half)

And yes, that is a house. Haha

The picture on the left is where the females will be. Breeding will be in this tank.

I have this two tanks plus two smaller tanks to house the frys when they are bigger so I can do selection. All except the male tank, I'm having PH of 7.6 or higher. Gah! I need to find a common PH for all. I'm hoping to get all at 6.8 Will see how that goes later on.

3-4 more weeks to go!!!


Frys!! Haha!! Happy Like Crazy! Just in time when they grow, my 4 tanks will be ready to accept them. Feeding on microworms, powdered flakes and once a week dose of boiled egg yolks.

Fluval C3 Hang On Power Filter

Disclaimer: Please note that you should do your own research before committing to any piece of equipment for your aquarium. The review is based on my own preference and maybe bias to other equivalent equipments in the market.

 

Introduction

Late last year, I stumbled upon the C4 Hang On Filter (HOF) online. I had already purchase an Eheim Pro 3 cannister but just wanted something to try out. Below are a couple of reviews that I stumbled upon on YouTube.

 

Fluval C4 HOF Review 1

Fluval C4 HOF Review 2

 

As my current C4 is being used right now; I'll show the C3 instead; the smaller version of the C4. Fluval HOF C Series comes in three sizes, C2, C3 and the mother of all HOF, the C4. I can't find a C1 on the shelf; not pretty sure if they are being sold. I don't think it is on the market either.

 

Anyway, if you compare the other HOF in the market like Gex and Eheim Liberty, Fluval C series is unique. It's the only HOF in the market that comes with a trickle chamber.

 

The C3 is recommended for tanks between 75L up to 190L and filters about 580L/Hr.

 

Equipment

When you purchase the HOF, it comes in a square box and is sealed with a plastic. Ensure that it is.

These are the items if I remember correctly is what you get.

1. Filter Cover
2. Filter Case
3. Leveling Device
4. C-Nodes
5. “U” Tube
6. Telescopic Intake Tube
7. Bio-Screen
8. Mechanical Frame
9. Chemical Basket
10. Impeller Cover Assembly
11. Impeller
12. Biological Trickle Chamber with Cover
13. Poly/Foam Pad
14. Activated Carbon
15. Motor Unit with Seal Ring

 

5 Stage Filtration

The first thing you'll notice with this HOF is it's sleek design. Its one of the main factors I chose it to be honest. The HOF provides a 5 stage filtration system.

2 Mechanical

1 Chemical

2 Biological

 

The first and second stages which is Mechanical is the Poly Foam pad. The pad has two sides, one is finer than the other. Though it is not necessary to have it change to the same poly foam provided by Fluval, it is recommeded. It's less than $10 for 3 pieces. Beats having to cut the size of the pad in order for you to fit it in. The slot which houses the pad is easy to remove as it slides out easily for cleaning or changing. There is a clever device on the sides that pops up which tells you its time for cleaning/changing.

 

3rd stage is Chemical. In this slot is where you have your activated carbon. I didn't put it in though and instead replace it with Biohome media. This slot is great as you can customise and put whatever media you want. I don't use carbon or charcoal on any of my filter. Only use it when I want to remove medication from the tank. It is also use for my hospital tank. So you can put that away and place your own media.

 

4th stage is the Bio Screen. This is where your Beneficial Bacteria (BB) will colonise. If you bought this filter new, just use it. Once its too dirty, throw away. It's not necessary or a must have item to replace. The filter works fine without it.

 

5th stage, below the Bio Screen is the trickle chamber. The Bio Screen which not only acts as a place for your BB, it also blocks debris from entering the trickle chamber. The trickle chamber is where you place your C-Nodes. You can of course use your own media. But the C Nodes works just as fine. Don't overfill the chamber. As this will result in the cover to bend. Water will not distribute evenly.

 

You can adjust the hof a little to control its flow. Other than that, I ensure the water level in the tank is just slightly above the lip (where the water comes out) The reason why I do this is that if you have space between the lip to the water level, the water drops and this causes the bottom to stir and you don't want that to happen. It happens to me as I chose the filter which is larger. Say I can use a C2 but instead I go for a C3. It's stronger of course. But the surface agitation is fantastic and I love it. More gas exchange; more oxygen goes in. For planted, you might just need to increase the bps a little. Perhaps by an additional 1 just in case but adjust accordingly to suit YOUR needs. You don't want to kill your fish.

 

Pros: Unique, sleek, easy to clean, silent, customisable and its the only HOF in the market with a trickle chamber.

Cons: Expensive compared to other HOF on the market.

Conclusion: I love this filter a lot and I strongly recommend it. Fluval doesn't have a big market here in Singapore as compared to Eheim so you might run into problems down the years if you need to replace certain things. You can however get the poly pads and bio screen easily.

 

PS: My apologies as I might have missed out some details about this product, if so, please ask and I'll answer base on what I know and my own personal experience on the product.

 

Or you can go to this link which gives a more comprehensive detail of the product.

Amazon - Review of Fluval C Series

The box the equipment comes in.

Left Pic: Shows the side of the box showing the items in the filter.

Sleek and clean design.

Inside the box, you'll find this.

The first & second stage. The poly foam pad. When you put your filter on the tank,

the finer part of the pad should be facing you.

The chamber where you place your carbon or any other media you like.

The trickle chamber. Container to hold the media, the bio screen,

the cover with holes and the CNodes

I placed the water line above the "lip" This causes waves and more surface agitation.

 

 

 

 

 

Culturing Microworm (Panagrellus Redivivus)

Introduction

Having started on a new project, breeding Albino Full Red Guppy, I researched online to find other forms of food that I can feed the frys that I will have in future. I know I could just feed them commercial food like flakes and pound them to powder to feed. And there's always the boiled egg yolk. I wanted something live. Something small that can feed a frys mouth. That was when I stumble upon microworms. Scientifically known as Panagrellus Redivivus.

Thanks to Stan aka Wongce (Aquatic Quotient) who alerted me to a fellow member who was selling the microworms.

I sent a message to HappyGuppies via Whatapps and was glad that he had some to sell off to me. It was $5 for a package. He sold two tubs of the culture and some other stuffs like oatmeals. I was caught off guard as it seems a lot. I only expected to get the two tubs only.

It's difficult to see these worms but if you look closely, they shimmer as they are constanly moving. They are really tiny!

Anyway, having learn a few things from HappyGuppies own way of culturing and checking online for guidance, I did my own using the culture sold to me by HappyGuppies. So here is my version.

Mazlan's First Culture

It's not difficult at all and it ain't rocket science either. Let's start with what we need.

1) Container with Cover

Get a small container such as the one shown in the picture. Don't get a container that is shallow. The worms will be climbing the sides of the container and that's where you will harvest them.

2) Oatmeal

Now, reading online, some "microworm rancher" cook their oatmeals. This is not necessary at all. I'm not certain of the purpose. Just use any ordinary oatmeal.

By the way, there are other 'ranchers' that uses baby cereal. You can use that as well. But pour more water as those baby food will absorb a lot of water.

3) Water

Just enough to make a paste.

4) Yeast

Optional. It is not necessary at all. You may if you want. Just a tiny pinch will do.

How?

1) Take the cover and using whatever sharp object you have, make tiny holes on the container cover. The worms do need oxygen. Do not leave it open or else it gets contaminated. Meaning, you might get maggots in your culture as well. Another method is to make a big hole and use a netting to cover. Aluminium foil as a cover works fine too.

2) Pour your oatmeal in and add water. How much oatmeal? Up to you.If you check the pictures, mine is about 1/5th of the container in height. Stir and make a paste.

3) Scoop the top portion of an existing culture. Don't dig in with the spoon. Just the top layer. That's where the worms are. Put the culture on top of your oatmeal paste. There's no need to stir it.

4) Optional: add a small pinch of yeast.

5) Place your cover and wait.

When to Harvest?

The worms will start to climb the side of your container. That's when you harvest. Using a toothpick or cotton swap, take a little bit from the side.

Two methods that you can do is to put into a small container of water. Use a pippette and feed the frys. Or the norm, just dip the toothpick or cotton swap into the tank with frys.

Facts

Temperature: 80 degrees Farenheit. Err...my room temperature is 86 degrees Farenheit. It's not "die-die" must be 80 Farenheit which is about 26 Degrees Celcius. So this portion doesn't matter much to me. I'm not living in Antartica or Sahara Desert.

Medium: The medium use often is oatmeal. Then baby cereal and the most uncommon one is bread.

Sub-Culturing: It is best to have a new culture started in 2-3 weeks time from the last. Just add the old culture to the new medium. The worms takes care of the rest.

Lifespan: Interestingly enough, this worm live 20-25 days. After 3rd day of their life they reproduce and bearing about 40 worms a day!

Do note, if the top portion of your culture starts to become watery and brown, start a new culture. If you are using yeast which is really not necessary, make sure the "air holes" you made are plenty as the carbon dioxide produce will kill them instead.

Well, that' about it. Not difficult isn't it. Oh one thing I like to say is, regardless new or a culture that is crashing, man it stinks! Yeasty smell; sour kind smell. Crap, I don't even know how to explain that "exotic" smell.

Anyway, have fun!

PS: If you are looking to purchase a culture, please go to Aquatic Quotient and look for HappyGuppies. Nice chap.