Trouble Cycling Shrimp Tank

[nabokovfan87]

Maybe you have a dish sponge and just use that?

[Cincala]

On 7/4/2023 at 1:05 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Maybe you have a dish sponge and just use that?

It came right off with my api aquarium sponge!

There is a water spot, can’t seem to get it off with vinegar and water. 
What else is good to use?

The Nitrite in the Shrimp tank jumped back to 0.25, but the Ammonia is 0. 
It seems to do it every couple of days!

[nabokovfan87]

On 7/4/2023 at 7:04 PM, CatherineD said:

There is a water spot, can’t seem to get it off with vinegar and water. 
What else is good to use?

See what it looks and feels like during a water change and the tank is drained.

Might be some silicone or something that you have to take off with a razorblade.

 

[Cincala]

On 7/5/2023 at 12:52 AM, nabokovfan87 said:

See what it looks and feels like during a water change and the tank is drained.

Might be some silicone or something that you have to take off with a razorblade.

 

The water spot is on the outside of the glass.  Probably dripped from the filter.
I thought you weren’t supposed to use a razor on the outside glass!

[Cincala]

On 6/28/2023 at 3:20 PM, CatherineD said:

OK… House Tap Water - Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0. 

Today’s Shrimp Tank tests - Ammonia 0.25, Nitrite 0 or 0.5. 
Not doing another water change.

 I only have Aquarium Co Op medium sponge filter in the tank. 
Thinking about adding a 2nd sponge filter, air stone, or using hob filter.

Tank contains 8 plants, 4 pieces driftwood, 1 piece cholla wood, and water lettuce on surface of water.

Just added some Indian Almond Leaves and a couple of Mineral Balls.

As far as hardscape goes, I am adding more rocks from my show tank and some new cholla wood. 

I have a bag of Black Polished Natural River Rock Stones, thought about putting some in!

Bought some New Plants and a small Shrimp Cage.
Two plants are for the shrimp tank and replacing two in the 36G. Waiting for all to arrive! 

Also, have a small White Seashell I had in my old shrimp tank, going to put that in.

Big trouble with Shrimp Tank.  Can not get the Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate down! Ammonia- 0.25, Nitrite - 0.25, Nitrate - 25-30!

I have done too many water changes. I’ve vacuumed, cleaned the glass, cleaned the sponges and I don’t know what else I can do. 
I’m surprised the shrimp aren’t dead!

I can’t figure out what is causing this spike.

 I dosed 1/8 cup atm colony and 1/4 cup fritz zyme 7 after a 40% water change yesterday along with 1 pump each, easy green and easy carbon, hoping to bring the parameters down but, today it is still the same. Did another water change 45%. 

Something is in that tank!  I don’t understand it! 
Need help!!!

[nabokovfan87]

*rewinding to the beginning* (let me go back and re-read through all of the setup!)

Do you have a bucket where you can fill it with tank water and move all of the hardscape and what not to check for everything?  Maybe there is something under / inside of something?  Move everything in the tank and check for bodies.

Do you have a mesh bag of biorings or media you can add onto the top of the sponge filter?

[nabokovfan87]

Alright so I think there is potentially 3 things at play here:

1.  It's getting warmer, which means less oxygen in the water.  This impact was reduced by adding the additional air and filter to the opposite side of the tank.

2.  New tank, new substrate, and you do have active substrate that can be leeching ammonia on you.

3.  Whatever is being fed to the tank might be too much and far too often, causing the ammonia.

Let's break down everything, see if there is any bodies, then we can talk about the 3 above and make sure nothing out of the ordinary is going on here.

[Cincala]

On 7/6/2023 at 7:17 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Alright so I think there is potentially 3 things at play here:

1.  It's getting warmer, which means less oxygen in the water.  This impact was reduced by adding the additional air and filter to the opposite side of the tank.

2.  New tank, new substrate, and you do have active substrate that can be leeching ammonia on you.

3.  Whatever is being fed to the tank might be too much and far too often, causing the ammonia.

Let's break down everything, see if there is any bodies, then we can talk about the 3 above and make sure nothing out of the ordinary is going on here.

I do have mesh bags and bio rings.

 I can remove the cholla wood, and plants on driftwood, but not the planted ones, and I just added a new red tiger lotus.
I’ll even take out the almond leaves. Have not added any rocks yet.

 I tried looking up if what I’m dosing would cause this, but all I get is it’s supposed to lower it!

Here comes another water change!

 I will let you know what I find!

[nabokovfan87]

On 7/6/2023 at 5:39 PM, CatherineD said:

 I tried looking up if what I’m dosing would cause this, but all I get is it’s supposed to lower it!

Fertilizer - nitrates

Root tabs can leech ammonia if not deep enough.

If you have chloramines in the water then it can release into the water column (just means you have to double dose dechlorinator)

The substrate can leech ammonia.

Everything else should be fine to use.

[Cincala]

On 7/6/2023 at 10:00 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Fertilizer - nitrates

Root tabs can leech ammonia if not deep enough.

If you have chloramines in the water then it can release into the water column (just means you have to double dose dechlorinator)

The substrate can leech ammonia.

Everything else should be fine to use.

I have root tabs in the tank.  How deep should they be?

How do you test for chloramines?  Is it the same as chlorine?

So, the fertilizers are bringing up the Nitrates, no more dosing all that stuff!

 I can dose Prime everyday, about 20 drops for a 10 gallon tank?
 

[nabokovfan87]

On 7/6/2023 at 7:45 PM, CatherineD said:

I have root tabs in the tank.  How deep should they be?

As deep as you can put them normally. Minimum is probably 3-4 inches.

On 7/6/2023 at 7:45 PM, CatherineD said:

How do you test for chloramines?  Is it the same as chlorine?

If your water shows anything in terms of ammonia in your tap it's the most common indication.  They sell specialized chlorine and free chlorine test strips as well. Essentially what you'd do is take a sample of tap water, test for ammonia, then add your dechlorinator and wait 15 minutes and test again. If both tests are 0, then you don't have chloramines.

On 7/6/2023 at 7:45 PM, CatherineD said:

So, the fertilizers are bringing up the Nitrates, no more dosing all that stuff!

Nitrates are fine. You can cut back. The issue is ammonia / nitrite. Nitrates from your fertilizer will show up on a test kit, but they don't behave like nitrates from waste in terms of shrimp stress.

On 7/6/2023 at 7:45 PM, CatherineD said:

 I can dose Prime everyday, about 20 drops for a 10 gallon tank?

Minimum dose would be 1 mL. I am unsure what the # of drops would be. Once per 24 hours.

[Cincala]

On 7/6/2023 at 10:53 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

As deep as you can put them normally. Minimum is probably 3-4 inches.

If your water shows anything in terms of ammonia in your tap it's the most common indication.  They sell specialized chlorine and free chlorine test strips as well. Essentially what you'd do is take a sample of tap water, test for ammonia, then add your dechlorinator and wait 15 minutes and test again. If both tests are 0, then you don't have chloramines.

Nitrates are fine. You can cut back. The issue is ammonia / nitrite. Nitrates from your fertilizer will show up on a test kit, but they don't behave like nitrates from waste in terms of shrimp stress.

Minimum dose would be 1 mL. I am unsure what the # of drops would be. Once per 24 hours.

The tank water is finally clear today, and no water change done.  I didn’t add any ferts yesterday with the water change! 

Ammonia 0 (I think).  Nitrite 0-0.5.  
The Nitrite color is a very pale blue ( not the turquoise color on the API chart) but, nowhere near any violet or purple color. 
Nitrate 20-25.  Still high, but lower than yesterday.
 PH 7.2.

There are no dead shrimp or anything else dead in the tank. 
I didn’t remove the driftwood or cholla wood.  I just lifted them up and looked around. There are no big pieces.

I put the bio rings in and dosed prime today. 20 drops is about 1 ml depending on the syringe you use. Not, going to use drops, I’ll just dose 1 ml daily!
 

[Cincala]

On 7/7/2023 at 6:11 PM, CatherineD said:

The tank water is finally clear today, and no water change done.  I didn’t add any ferts yesterday with the water change! 

Ammonia 0 (I think).  Nitrite 0-0.5.  
The Nitrite color is a very pale blue ( not the turquoise color on the API chart) but, nowhere near any violet or purple color. 
Nitrate 20-25.  Still high, but lower than yesterday.
 PH 7.2.

There are no dead shrimp or anything else dead in the tank. 
I didn’t remove the driftwood or cholla wood.  I just lifted them up and looked around. There are no big pieces.

I put the bio rings in and dosed prime today. 20 drops is about 1 ml depending on the syringe you use. Not, going to use drops, I’ll just dose 1 ml daily!
 

This is unbelievable! 
I tested the Ammonia and Nitrite this morning and the parameters have gone crazy!

Ammonia - 0.25 and Nitrite - 0.50,  I can’t believe it!! 
Is this tank is recycling?

 I did a 25-30% water change and will test in about 1/2 hour, using a new Ammonia test kit

The water is crystal clear, the shrimp are alive, I don’t understand what is going on with this tank.

I tested the tank yesterday and everything was great. I added the bio rings and prime after I tested, and didn’t test again until this morning.

 I feed the shrimp last night, ( I put their food in a glass bowl ) not a lot.

 Is there away to stop the tank from recycling, or will I eventually lose all my shrimp.

Should I start dosing Fritz Zyme 7 again, or is there something else I could use?

Really need help!!!

[nabokovfan87]

Sending you a DM @CatherineD