[deedee71]

hi

i am from kent in the uk. im not new to fishkeeping but im new to opaeula.

can i use mature gravel from a freshwater tank to speed up cycling in a new opaeula tank, or will the good bacteria die in the brackish water?

im cycling two habitats, a little bowl, which i need to add more brackish water to, and a vase.

[odin]

Welcome the the forum @deedee71 ! You can add some substrate which will introduce some algae but yes the bacteria will die, i would just remove your tank lids and have at least 12 hours of lights on a day and wait for the algae to show up prior to adding some shrimp.

Without peddling my sales too much i sell macro algae on my eBay store which you can put in strait away and this will help your tank mature/cycle a lot faster.

good luck!

[deedee71]

Widgeon grass or pickle weed, can that be bought anywhere?

[odin]

Not that i'm aware of i'm afraid.

[deedee71]

I have bought a bigger tank. 12 litres, got lava rock from eBay as my local shop only had huge bits of rock. Now just playing waiting game. I set it up last Saturday with some rocks that began cycling last Thursday

[deedee71]

Sorry about upside down photo. I will try again

[odin]

That looks great! Thanks for the share.

[deedee71]

My tank is cycling nicely, massive nitrates and nitrites, so not ready but anyway, no sign of diatoms. I'm using an LED light, £10 from pets at home, my husband reckons led lighting won't cause any algae to grow, I think he is talking rubbish, or is he right?

[Halocaridina]

Widgeon grass or pickle weed, can that be bought anywhere?

Here is a site that sells pickleweed (Salicornia).
https://www.victoriananursery.co.uk/Samphire_Plant/
https://www.victoriananursery.co.uk/Samphire_Seed/

My tank is cycling nicely, massive nitrates and nitrites, so not ready but anyway, no sign of diatoms. I'm using an LED light, £10 from pets at home, my husband reckons led lighting won't cause any algae to grow, I think he is talking rubbish, or is he right?

I have only used an LED light on my tank and have had a ton of algae. Brown diatoms, cyano, hair algae, red algae at various times.

[deedee71]

Thanks halocaridina, I’m still waiting for my diatoms. I will look at the link re the pickleweed. Thanks a lot xx