[Kanuha]

Hi all,

30 litre tank seems to be almost coming towards its cycling. I had to do 'fish in' (as per my posts on the welcome thread - desperately wanted NOT to, but in the end, I think I'd have lost my 'sphere survivors after the initial death & ammonia spike in the tiny amount of water they were in)

PH is steady at 8, Ammonia at 0, Nitrite at 0 for 7 days - Nitrates however still at 20ppm. have slowed down the water changes (10 litre max every 4 days) Nitrate still the same. I feed them sparingly but regularly as I still dont have a great natural algae build up in the tank.

Do I need to up my water changes or leave be to get the nitrate down (am presuming its too high for the small number of shrimp I have in there - 8) they seem to be happy enough - and molting, as have had two again this week (see pic)

Any help much appreciated!

[odin]

Hey Kanuha,

Molting shrimps is a good sign and thats a great photo! with regards the Nitrate level you should get away with 20ppm but i wouldn't let it go any higher. If your Nitrates are rising it is because:

- You are over feeding (leaving food in the tank longer then a hour or two) or not removing uneaten leftovers, or feeding to frequently.
- You have something producing Ammonia which in turn is producing Nitrites then you get your Nitrates (this is showing your tank has cycled and is doing its job) but something is fuelling the nitrogen cycle .

What are your water readings for Ammonia, nitrites and nitrates? just as a test have you ever tested your clean water before adding it to the tank? its always eliminates any Nitrates getting in the tank that way. Just do 10 litre changes when ever you get to 20ppm Nitrates and only feed them once a fortnight for the next month or two, i promise they wont die from starvation... they eat biofilm which will be growing in your tank but is invisible to our eye.

[Kanuha]

I use RO water from my LFS but havent checked the nitrate on that as yet....cant think its high?

I'm suspecting the culprit is probably bits of uneaten algae flake (I only used a 1mm nib end but I guess even that is too much - I was probably over eager after worrying how little they'd eaten in the 'sphere for goodness knows how long beforehand) I have tried stirring the gravel up with a knitting needle and I do have a JBL shrimp safe Mattenfilter that I bought to help me whilst I got through this learning curve - it does seem to help left on for an hour a day , I clean the filter in aquarium water once a week, the filter has a cover so that the detrius cant flow back into the tank when filter is off) Nitrites & Ammonia both nil.

I'll cut back the feeding now I know they're reasonably nourished! Its was silly of me to get carried away, but its difficult when you don't know what (if any) care they had before.

Thanks again for help!

[odin]

Yep RO water should have 0 nitrates but i always like to eliminate things when im trying to work out what is causing the issue at hand. Is this your filter? http://www.pro-shrimp.co.uk/internal-fi ... 09601.html
Filters are fine in any shrimp tank but i wouldn't wash your filter as much, maybe give it a squeeze in clean RO water once every 3 months or so. Now you are feeding less you wont be filtering much but it will be a great place for your beneficial bacteria to grow.

That's a really red Opae'ula in your photo! Their environment must be healthy because it shows in the vibrant colour. Moving them out of the sphere has probably granted them another 15 years of life at least.

[Kanuha]

Yep, thats my filter :) I tend to run it with a bit of sponge acting as a baffle to reduce water turbulence for them but they still dont like it. I'll ease off the cleaning of it, thanks. Its actually been 6 weeks to the day that I prized open the sphere. I'm still so sad that one poor soul had to die before I acted, but yep, I hope the rest of the crew will go on to lead happy lives!

[Kanuha]

Am still doing water changes, but not as often and not as big, as the biofilter seems to be pretty much established now. The nitrates are down to between 5 or 10 (not much too chose between the two colours on the API card is there?!) but delf no more than 10 and coming down bit by bit.

I ordered a 'small pod shot' from Reef Phyto of copepods to help clear up the leftover algae wafer fragments the shrimp sometimes leave - crikey, they really are a great clean up crew & the water looks so much better too. Also had a gravel change - I know everyone swears by the black, but I couldnt see my few shrimps that well, so have now got a thin (approx half inch thick) layer of white fine gravel so we've got a bit of a Hawaiian look going on now :)

So here's the tank, very nearly finished now & the cycle not too far from complete, after 8 weeks.....

[odin]

Thats good news about the water quality and it sounds like you are near the end of the cycle process, You will soon be able to kick back and not have to touch the water ever again except for top off's

I prefer black substrate personally but its such a pain in the ass to keep clean, it shows the shrimp poop up something terrible lol. if I could do it again id go for a lighter colour.

[opae ula related]

Nice pic. I found out last year by Hawaii airport customs worker that some/most of the white sand in Hawaii is imported.

Am still doing water changes, but not as often and not as big, as the biofilter seems to be pretty much established now. The nitrates are down to between 5 or 10 (not much too chose between the two colours on the API card is there?!) but delf no more than 10 and coming down bit by bit.

I ordered a 'small pod shot' from Reef Phyto of copepods to help clear up the leftover algae wafer fragments the shrimp sometimes leave - crikey, they really are a great clean up crew & the water looks so much better too. Also had a gravel change - I know everyone swears by the black, but I couldnt see my few shrimps that well, so have now got a thin (approx half inch thick) layer of white fine gravel so we've got a bit of a Hawaiian look going on now :)

So here's the tank, very nearly finished now & the cycle not too far from complete, after 8 weeks.....

tank puri_1.jpg (155.81 KiB) Viewed 14172 times

[Kanuha]

Thanks Odin & Opae Ula Related :)

Interesting about the white sand. Actually, this stuff was described online as 'sand' but anything less like sand I've yet to see - its micro gravel, but it looks ok (I thought the sand might be softer for the shrimps' feet!)

I did a 50% water change on Friday and am hoping this will be the last decent sized change I'll ever need to do. Everything is a firm '0' except for my nitrates which are now 5ppm but I guess that's not too bad for a new tank and am pretty sure its a LOT more desirable than the 'sphere water. The copepods have diminished a little bit from the initial blast but I've noticed some really tiny ones in there so they might be breeding and the shrimp seem to enjoy having some company. I wish I had a few more Opaes in there but I suppose I'll have to be patient & wait for babies (I should be so lucky!!)

[odin]

Thanks Odin & Opae Ula Related :)

Interesting about the white sand. Actually, this stuff was described online as 'sand' but anything less like sand I've yet to see - its micro gravel, but it looks ok (I thought the sand might be softer for the shrimps' feet!)

I did a 50% water change on Friday and am hoping this will be the last decent sized change I'll ever need to do. Everything is a firm '0' except for my nitrates which are now 5ppm but I guess that's not too bad for a new tank and am pretty sure its a LOT more desirable than the 'sphere water. The copepods have diminished a little bit from the initial blast but I've noticed some really tiny ones in there so they might be breeding and the shrimp seem to enjoy having some company. I wish I had a few more Opaes in there but I suppose I'll have to be patient & wait for babies (I should be so lucky!!)

Those readings sound good to me, 5 Nitrate is nothing to be worried about. As your tank matures and you get alot of green algae growth they will process that tiny amount of nitrate and you will end up with 0 ammonia, nitrites and nitrates across the board as long as you dont feed too much! remember they eat the biofilm growing in your tank which cannot be seen by the naked eye.

This guy is UK based, i have bought Opae ula from him last year and forwarded others to him through ebay, he's a nice guy and all shrimp I bought arrived alive and well. Here is one of his previous sales so you can send him a message on ebay to buy some or ask when hes next going to list some.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Opae-Ula-Volc ... 7675.l2557

Hope that helps!