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New Shrimp Keeper


CurleyJones321

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from what I've read when your 'establishing' a tank you cant add shrimp for at least a month because, 1 their really sensitive to the nitrogen cycle & 2 there isn't any bio film build up for them to feed of off. i would however leave it for about a month an a half atleast just to be sure. Fish wise some people say u need to leave the tank wit the filter running for 4 days but ive always added fish after 1 day and its been fine. but you CANNOT add them immediately encase there is something left over from manufacturing in the case of a brand new tank and from your cleaning in this case.

with regards to substrate, I've heard a good way to get the nitrogen cycle started quicker is to take a hand full or a couple of substrate from one of your other tanks and place them in the new one once you have water in there. id also take this time to empty the water change amount from your other tanks to use as the starter water for the 'new' tank. id also use any plants you are intending on culling from other tanks in this one again to speed up the establishment of the cycle.
another thing I've heard you can do is get a pealed shrimp from a packet your having for dinner and put that in the tank for a week with no live animals in there. wait until you have 0 readings on everything and its entirely fish safe... but I've never tried it.

thanks for the info on the heater it does look like it could be suitable, i just need to check the height but the other dims are within range and i know there was some space in the height of my tank.

James

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As they were totally wiped out there isn't going to be any rush to restock at this stage. I will be using the old filters and plants etc as I have before so it shouldn't take too long to cycle the tank! I have prawns for lunch so will keep one aside and dump that in to hopefully kick it off as well. At least there are a few good pictures on here of 'what was' that I can look on occasionally, but I am realistic in that the new collection won't ever be as perfect as the old collection.

I don't want to use substrate from another tank as I am using new substrate that I want to buffer as long as possible, and the stuff in the other tanks would either have no buffer or would be too disruptive, and water from the other tank has the wrong parameters so I am a bit reluctant to go that route, but I may try that (THANKS FOR THE REMINDER)! Annoyingly I did maintenance on the Betta tank yesterday and I suppose I should have used that, which means waiting another week before I can do that.................. I guess now, I will fill it with new water and a dead cooked prawn and set it up and running, and then dump the dirty Betta water (4-5L) in next friday and remove the prawn! OK, that sounds like a plan is starting to materialise. I can probably put a few assassin snails in there as well from the fish tank. That gives me a week to filter all the water and put all the plants back in place so I can do that at a more relaxed pace? Just what the doctor would order..............

One thing for you to note, IF you are still going for that 25L superfish tank AND you plan to leave the box section inside, the box is designed to hod a normal round glass heater ONLY so bear that in mind?

Simon

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Id put in maybe a liter or 2 of water (1cm of water in the tank) and put in a couple handfuls of substrate at the base just to help, the other substrate to them cover it which will have the main contact with your water allowing for the buffering effects (and the colour difference if there is one wont be noticed).

I currently have a small pipe heater in the current tank that i can use for the new one, that technically makes my new project cheaper because i now don't need 2. can i get dimensions of this thank fully assembled including the top cover just so i can determine if i need to adapt my shelving. i don't mind poking out a corner of the tank from the shelf so i can do water changes and i can lift the tank onto another surface for heavy maintenance if necessary. Im really just interested if there is space for feeding without moving the tank.

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I will be using 4-5L of the betta dirty water next friday and the sponges will be 1 from the betta tank and 1 from the fish tank.

The tank is 47cm wide, 25cm front to back, 29cm tall closed (72cm with the top flipped up). There is a nicely fitting clear plastic cover between the light and the water but that is very tricky to remove UNLESS you flip the light upwards so you need the clearance above and the same goes for feeding as it is quite a tight fitting top it would be easier to remove the top cover, but you may be able to lift the plastic cover (fiddly but light weight to drop food in?). With that top removed access is good from the open top. Of course, flipping the light up means there is no light when doing maintenance, unless you drop the light back into place which I do but I do have unusually skinny arms and unless you have really fat arms this should work.

I like black backgrounds so just used a refuse sack which I taped on and that works well because you can also wrap it around the back section of the sides - this may make more sense when the tank is in front of you.

I wouldn't even consider moving it when water is in it for maintenance, bad idea in general and I am not sure it would take too much of that sort of stress....................

The dripper sits nicely on the top and the water pipe can be squished between the top and edge of the tank which holds it securely so won't spring out when your not looking.

Overall it is a great tank and ideal for shrimps (or Betta) as it isn't too tall, which is wasted space for shrimps lets be honest (or Betta), you want more base area than height. It is easy to set up, well there isn't really any? If you decide which way you want the top to flip before you set it up as the front is the same as the back (though actually I don't know which is which) so you just turn it round the other way. 3L of substrate gives about 3cm depth which looks about right. Although it is officially a 25L tank, mine holds 20L of water (assuming my measuring jug is accurate and once all the stuff is inside and allowing 1.5 cm from the surface for safety and air etc.

The only 2 'possible' draw backs are you NEED clearance of 72cm from base to flip the top up, which you are going to have to do regularly in reality. The second is the horrible box section that is built inside to house the filter and heater, it wastes way too much room and looks hideous, but that can be removed as I have done using this video (it's in german but you can see what you need to do and I actually used a sharp bread knife as I don't have any of the blades she uses https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odw-rgejNgg. The filter that comes with it is shrimp safe and adjustable for flow rate and angle.

I think I have covered as much as I can think of but let me know if you want any other clarification on anything?

Simon

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so my TDS seems to roughly have stabilised, the fish's spot has started to colour up again and i just counted 7 adult shrimp and 19 baby shrimp of varying size from about 10mm to about 4mm so something tells me ive done something right (with sound advice thank you) and im now not just inundated with fish but also shrimp and their breeding like crazy! and ive gone back to pretty much normal maintenance but i haven't checked readings as the TDS hasn't changed much ive just assumed everything ok and not done a complete water check.

ive just sourced the new tank and decorations and because the one we talked about as shown on page 3 of this thread was out of stock at pro-shrimp i looked on amazon and because their price was higher i looked at other tanks and for £1.82 more than the tank we were talking about i could get a 54 liter tank that will fit the shelf almost perfectly. please see attached link. ive also bought dwarf water grass, water lettuce, underwater bamboo and some moss balls, but my total including delivery is around £135 which isnt bad, the only thing extra it needs is substrate but i think i may have enough left over to do it, ill judge when the tank arrives, so i may need an extra £20 ontop.

here is the tank:-
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B018XRNE2W/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

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Nice tank. But make sure you know how the filter works, so that you can ensure that shrimp are not sucked into the filter compartment. A course sponge might be needed to block the intake so shrimp can't get in, but the water will still flow through.

 

54 minutes ago, CurleyJones321 said:

the only thing extra it needs is substrate but i think i may have enough left over to do it

To calculate how much substrate is needed you can use this formula...

(length of tank x width of tank x height of substrate ) divide by 1000 = Litres of substrate.

Let's say the tank is 60cm (2ft) x 30cm (1ft), and say you want a 2cm height of substrate.

So the calculation goes,

(60 x 30 x 2) /1000 = 3.6L of substrate.

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You are doing well and I'm so glad for you! Getting into a regular routine is good but I guess that won't be for long as you have the new tank coming. 

That tank you have chosen is bigger so you are better off in the long term (room for more shrimps) and it comes with everything you need. JayC has the filter covered, no pun intended! I would personally go with more than the 2cm of substrate depth though and probably use 6L, 2cm is less than an inch - a bit more cost now will save a hell of a lot of time later re-doing the tank as it should last longer, which I am experiencing at the moment............. You also won't need the clearance for the top to flip so high!

A few tips I can think of:

1) GET A THERMOMETER................ D'oh!

2) When you fill the tank with water, measure how much it actually takes to fill to where you want it (I guess it will be about 48L) as you can only really do this AT THE SETUP STAGE without a lot of disruption and unnecessary work at a later date.

3) When you do water changes on the existing tank, dump that water into the new tank to help with the cycle.

4) Don't use the duckweed this time! Water lettuce, or there are others are much better, and easier to manage.

5) Avoid rocks unless you have tested them as that must have exhausted my substrate considerably quicker.

I hope the new tank arrives promptly and in good condition.

I am hoping to get the filters and heater running in my tank today after I add another 4L of zerowater so the heater is sufficiently covered. I put the plants and stuff in the tank yesterday but it needs arranging properly. I have until friday to just run it and settle/clear the water and then it will get 4-5L of dirty betta water so we are off, and that will be the official launch date! Then the boring part, running a tank with no shrimps while it cycles.

Simon

 

 

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It's not necessarily the old tank water that you need. What you want to seed the new tank with beneficial bacteria is the gunk from your filter. Wash your filter media in the new tank. Yes, it will make the new tank look dirty,  but it's only for a short while. 

Water itself holds very little beneficial bacteria. 

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I wholeheartedly agree. I will be squeezing the sponges from the betta tank into the water removed from that tank and then dumping that in the newly set up tank. As you say. it does look dirty but it doesn't last for long.

I have now turned the heater and filters (with sponge from other tanks) on. One question I have is, should I add a cooked prawn or not bother, I kept a spare in the freezer in case, I haven't used that method before?

Simon

ps Sorry CurleyJones for hijacking your feed.

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cheers fr the info, im going to go for about 5cm of depth substrate so i need approximately 11 Liters off substrate, but ive only got about 3 liters left over from the last set up so down to the LFS i go this weekend! its a good thing you mentioned the filter cleaning in the new tank, I need to get new filters for my small tank at the same time.
I recommended adding the water because alltohugh you are right it only contains a small amount of bacteria, there is still something so it will help at least. only im going to add a couple of handfulls of substrate from my small tank to kick start it aswell.
Im thinking with water for the set up in going to add the water change water from the old tank mix half tap water at 330TDS and half zerowater which should give me a TDS of 165. i will then clean the small tank filter in the big tank water, add bio-boost (friendly bacteria) and a mineral stone and it should go up to around 220-250TDS after a week. i will then do a 2 liter water change with old water again and add some fish. Unless you have success with that prawn method i suggested then i will just start with that for a week. come my Birthday (July 17th) i should be able to add shrimp and finish off the decor i want in both tanks. i also made sure to get a thermometer in that £135 price :)

BTW i don't see this as my thread, i see this as a thread for ANYONE in the world to use as reference to generate the results we are getting. so as long as its Aquarium related i see it as just a good information source.

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I think you have mis-calculated if the tank has 48 litres in it 11 litres of substrate will be nearly 25% of the volume????

You will be able to test your tank when you think it is ready by just transferring a few tester shrimps rather than risking them all in one go!

Personally I would rethink using tap water, as in my original thread, I used tap water with perfect parameters (including TDS) but it didn't work, as the TDS (and others) figure may be right but you don't know what that figure is made/picking up, whereas using zerowater(/RO remineralised is obviously the perfect balance for shrimps, (trust me, I am/was an accountant and your figures are correct but IT DIDN'T WORK WHEN I DID IT that way, and thats how I know, I learnt this the hard way)? It was like the titanic, in theory unsinkable, how did that turn out in practice????? If you have a large water container and are going to the aquarium shop anyway you could just get some RO water from them to make setting up easier /quicker and save time/cost with the zerowater and then just use the zerowater from after it is setup? The dirty water that you take from the old tank is already RO remineralised so there is no problem there! 

Simon 

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The prawn has been used by some people as a form of ammonia production. Beneficial Bacteria (BB hence forth) use ammonia as a food source.

A decomposing prawn can generate a LOT of ammonia, but it's nasty and stinky. I prefer flake fish food. Add a pinch in and let it decompose. 

 

@CurleyJones321, You are going about cycling a new tank , not wrong, but inefficiently.

 

BB need a few things to grow and thrive in a new tank.

Heat - we all know bacteria thrive in warmth. turn the temps up to 28degC.

Oxygen - flowing water. This is easy since it's taken care of by your pump/filter.

Alkalinity - BB colonies grow faster in high alkalinity compared to acidic water. So keep pH above 7.0.

And Food - in the form of ammonia.  

 

So rather than use RO water remineralised to TDS 165 by mix tank and RO water together, just use ... wait for it ... tap water. If you have tap water like most countries in the world, it will have ammonia in it, with pH close to 8.0. Of course, you need to remember to dechlorinate it. Tap water has 2 of the 4 things BB needs. Just add the pump for water flow and heat. Yes, tap water has its uses, but we will be draining it after cycling is done.

Give this a few weeks, and once you see pH drop below 7.0, do a water change with dechlorinated tap water and add a pinch of flake food (or that prawn). This should bring the pH up again, and adds more ammonia food for the BB. Keep testing ammonia, nitrite and nitrates during the course of cycling. When you see ammonia and nitrate at zero with high nitrates, your tank is cycled. 

At this point you drain the tank of 99% water (making sure the filter media stays wet) and add your RO water remineralised to the required TDS levels. Use this time before adding livestock to adjust pH, GH, KH and TDS.

If the tank stays empty after it has cycled, you need to keep feeding the BB with ammonia, this is where the prawn comes in handy. You need something to decompose in the tank, but is easily removed once the tank is inhabited. You have to remove it or ammonia is produced constantly.

 

Don't add bio boost or other bottled bacteria if you have a mature filter media you can wash in the new tank. Bottled bacteria will compete with the real BB, slowing down the multiplication of the real BB. The BB in your mature filter media or old substrate is the bacteria you want. 

 

Hopefully those are some tips you can use for cycling a new tank.

52 minutes ago, CurleyJones321 said:

im going to go for about 5cm of depth substrate so i need approximately 11 Liters off substrate

(60cm * 30cm * 5cm) / 1000 = 9L ?

 

5cm substrate height for a 2footer is a lot, just saying.

Edited by jayc
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you were right 9 liters of substrate required. (60x30x5)/1000 = 9

i was thinking the water would be fine if i have a shrimp mineral stone in there and do water changes with minerals up until the first month when there would only really be residual amounts of tap water in the tank if any. i just feel it would be cheaper on filters and less time consuming. i did have my tap water readings a while ago but i got rid of them thining them pointless but i just remember GH & KH were high, TDS was around 330 and there were 0 readings on Ammonia Nitrite & Nitrate.

RE-the Titanic, first of all there's a lot of speculation about that and a few theory's i could go into (being an engineer) but the main thing you should know is their building an exact replica that's due to set sail on the same rout next year :)

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Never rush the cycling.

And don't bother setting up the parameters perfectly during a cycling period. The parameters will be all over the place during cycling. The cycling phase is all about the BB. BB couldn't careless if you have a mineral stone or not, nor does it care for any other mineral except ammonia. If you think your tap water has no ammonia, then you need to add some flakes or a prawn or something similar. 

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JayC is WAY more experienced than I so I bow to his greater knowledge/experience. I had considered doing what he has said about tap water to cycle the tank initially but as he says you will then need to do a 99% water change further down the line, that isn't possible for me unfortunately, so I have taken an easier (though it may take longer to cycle) route, that won't have any large water changes. The way I am doing it the PH won't get to 7, but it worked out ok before so fingers crossed it will be ok again this time as well, but I am aiming for bee shrimp not Cherry.

With the cherry shrimps I think it does make more sense to use tap water as JayC states, as it is only a temporary kick start for the setup, and I guess you don't need to worry about shortening the life of the substrate as cherry shrimp are fine at Ph7+ anyway, in fact that could be beneficial. It would make sense for you to use this JayC Tap Water method definitely!

As for the substrate depth, a lot will obviously depend on the size the substrate comes in. The ones I have seen usually come in 3L or 4L and that should be enough on top of your 3L you already have!

I think I might take JayC advice on trying a pinch of fish food at this early stage and keep the prawn in the freezer for possible use later....................

Simon

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There are more than one way of cycling a tank obviously, but not all of them are as efficient. Not too little nor too much effort. Let's call it the Goldilocks tank cycling method.:5565bf0371061_D:

Everyone can complete a tank cycle eventually, however some after 2 weeks, some after 1 month, and even after 3 months or more. 

Any one of those 4 things missing in my list can cause the bacteria to go dormant. 

Feel free to do it your way, I'm not a dictator and insist on you doing it my way. But do come back and check on the list if your tank takes too long to cycle.

It should take 2-4 weeks if you are using bacteria from the gunk from your other filter. 

If you use ADA substrate + bacteria gunk, it can take 4-5 weeks. ADA has a huge amount of ammonia release.

If you don't use bacteria gunk from an old tank it could take 6+ weeks. Even if you use bottled bacteria, since not all bottled bacteria are of the same quality or even have the right BB.

 

Edited by jayc
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It definitely makes a lot more sense for CurleyJones to use your dechlorinated tap water to cycle and then empty the tank and use RO remineralised water after the cycle has completed, especially as he has cherry shrimps. It will be cheaper and easier (or efficient as you state) so it must be the route to go!

I considered it but that is a bit beyond my ability, it has taken 5 days to fill the tank first time, to then have to empty it and refill it I just can't do. I have absorbed what you are saying and I am prepared for the cycle to take as long as it takes. At this stage I haven't even finished setting up the 'interior decor' so am not in any rush to get any shrimps - still a bit devastated in reality........ but I am sure I will get some enthusiasm in time. I am using the shrimpking substrate this time that has no ammonia release or mineral release so they SAY it can be used immediately so I am ignoring that aspect of it as it will be running through the cycle for as long as it takes.

Simon  

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ok so all the plants i ordered arived in great condition and ive got them on a bucket of water and things were off to a great start until the tank arrived yesterday, having traveled from Italy in a very poor condition (3 sides smashed) so i instantaneously sent it back and looked around at my LFS's to see what as available. there were several in my price range but i settled on this one.

https://www.petsathome.com/shop/en/pets/fish-tanks-and-cabinets/fluval-flex-glass-aquarium-57-litre

ordered this online and went to the shop, saw it on the shelf and asked if i could take that one and not bother with coming in tomorrow. not allowed they said come back tomorrow they said, so i did at the wrong time so i had to wait until 5 o'clock to go get it but hey its here and i got the substrate i wanted at the same time.

So far ive put in 16 liters of Mineralised RO water at 250TDS and some old tank water and its about a third full. in the morning im going to put in some old substrate and add the plants get the filter going. i will then clean my small tank filter material in the new tank. in the interests of cost ive decided to just use up the filter in the Zero water jug to fill it and change it if necessary once the tanks filled. and im going to dose with tap safe declorinator just to be sure. im then going to put a pinch of food in there leave it a week and then add some fish.

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I have to admit to always tying to avoid ebay and amazon as much as possible because you never know where stuff is coming from (esp Amazon)! Sorry to hear the tank got broken in delivery, that hasn't happened to me YET thankfully. getting it yourself from a store is probably the best way to avoid getting a damaged one.  

The one you have bought is very similar to the 15L I have and there is a small problem with the standard tank in that the water intake to the back allows shrimps to be sucked in or just wander through so you should address this FIRST. Probably the easiest way would be to put some extra sponge behind these slots, if you can find a piece big enough that will cover both in a single piece that will make maintenance easier, that is what I did with mine (you can buy sponge cheap enough through ebay, again, where I got mine). Here is the same tank that shows the workings in the 3rd photo:

https://www.pro-shrimp.co.uk/aquariums/3151-fluval-flex-57l-black-aquarium-kit-0015561150064.html

As you already have water in the tank the sponge option is probably the only option without having to drain the tank? I would send you some if I had any left but I don't keep it anymore. I took a quick look and found these but you can find MANY others just be as sure as you can there are no chemicals in it.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/50-12-2cm-Biochemical-Cotton-Filter-Foam-Sponge-Aquarium-Fish-Tank-Pond-SNA/223537618107?epid=22030605592&hash=item340be15cbb:g:jgoAAOSwEeFVC7uX

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Universal-Black-Activated-Carbon-Foam-Sponge-Air-Impregnated-Sheet-COP-Gift/273861847618?hash=item3fc3702a42:m:mhQhIW_I0Vc366u00HJycGQ

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/50x50cm-Activated-Carbon-Foam-Pad-Filter-Aquarium-Square-Filtration-Sponge-Sheet/123776538610?hash=item1cd1a817f2:m:mrD7t3UX-W3Jq1v981HKYgw

I used two pieces as the sponge wasn't thick enough and it is easy to cut to size. The shrimps/shrimplets won't get killed as the sponge is between the pump and the empty back section, but you don't really want them getting into the back section! Assuming you are going this sponge route it doesn't need to affect setting up the tank or start cycling.

It does make sense to use JayC dechlorinated tap water method for cycling as it will be easier/quicker and cheaper, so wins all round!

Hope you have a good time arranging the tank today?

Simon

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ok so the tank is what i think is filled at 42 liters, i used the 1 zero jug filter which had already been through about 18 liters already and at 36 liters through filling the tank it read 8TDS but hovered around 4 or 5 from about 15 liters. after 40 liters it read  28TDS after 2 more liters, 44TDS and 75TDS, 2 liters after that and 90 at my final stage. but the last few i was more doing water maintenance on my Small tank and putting the water into the large tank. that would suggest with at least 330TDS water going through it the Zero water Jug will last up to about 50 liters. I've now changed the filter.

so i started gathering my data but had a cooking accident that rendered me useless before i could measure readings in the Large tank but ive been able to do it all today, they are as follows:-

Small tank
TDS - 226 (Measured today and it is now 233)
Temp - 26C
PH - 7
NH4 - Unreadable
N03 - 15PPM
N02 - 0.2PPM
P04 - 0.5PPM
dKH - 3
dGH - 7

Large Tank
TDS - 226
Temp - 24C
PH - 7
NH4 - Unreadable
N03 - 5PPM
N02 - 0.4PPM
P04 - 0.5PPM
dKH - 2
dGH - 30+

So im pretty sure im on my way to cycling this tank, the GH is pretty high but im pretty sure thats just because of the new substrate and yes i checked it twice. Because the small tank is having problems im going to do another water change again tomorrow and feed the water into the large tank to boost the cycling process, then leave it until Thursday/Friday when ill do it again and test see where im at.

Kind regards 

James

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It sounds like it is going well which is good to hear. I hope your cooking accident was nothing too bad.

I am assuming you will be doing 90-100% water change as recommended by JayC once the tank is cycled so the parameters are probably not too important at this stage as you will be starting afresh then anyway. Hopefully that will bring the GH down! You could perhaps turn the heat up a bit to help the bacteria multiply whilst cycling.

Hope you had fun laying out the scaping and are pleased with how it all looks! The best thing about those types of tanks with the built in rear sections is that they hide all the stuff you don't want to see!

It will be really good if you can get 50L from each filter and that should be fine with cherry the cherry shrimps.

I think we are both at about the same stages now. One of the Java ferns in the new setup looks well on the way to DEAD so I will have to try and get some from the fish tank today so that I can replace that.

Simon

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12 hours ago, CurleyJones321 said:

after 40 liters it read  28TDS after 2 more liters, 44TDS and 75TDS, 2 liters after that and 90

That means the RO filter is over saturated and cannot hold any more. It is letting things pass that would have been filtered. That includes chlorine and chloramine. Hope you used a dechlorinator. It should be ok if TDS was reading under 10, but I wouldn't trust anything above 10.

As Simon mentioned, you can turn the heat up a bit aim for ~28degC.

 

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I agree with JayC and they say to change the filter when it gets to 006 so you should be fine at the 008, or even 010 JayC says. I would use dechlorinator as JayC says also as a precaution.

As you are keeping Cherry shrimp and with your planned regime you should be fine as my water is softer than yours, but they live happily in the dechlorinated tap water here, though our TDS of tap water is half yours.

The first sentence of yours may need confirmation though! I read it as TDS of 008 after 18L + 36L = 54L, but it can also be read as TDS 008 after 36L, depending on whether that figure includes the 18L prior or not?

Moving forward, I would dose some dechlorinator into the tank to be safe, you don't want to kill the good bacteria etc.

When you come to filling the tank after cycling (AND after that) I would consider using 1L tap water to 1L of zerowater and then dechlorinate it, that will give you almost perfect parameters and mean the filter will last twice as long. This is what I would try as they are cherry shrimps (definitely not to be recommended with Bee Shrimps, it didn't work for mine) and as with my cherries they don't mind some tap water. You may not even need to remineralise the combined water that way so will be super economic. Generally you get more babies with ALL RO water remineralised but using the 50/50 method may have the advantage that you won't get over-run with shrimps? Anyway, just something to consider at this stage..................

Simon

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ok so, yes i used De-chlorinater dont worry. i also only really did about a third of the scapping as im interchanging decor. When it comes to doing the 90% water change unfortunately my health has deteriorated and i got told on Thursday i need quite invasive life extending surgery and i dont even really think i should have filled the 42 liters ive got in there at the moment let alone doing it all over again, so that kind of just leaves me to wait until im getting 0 readings on the nitrate cycle and add fish. then a month after that add Shrimp. whilst checking conditions and doing water changes i can.

also yes, i last counted 36 baby shrimps of varying size and 3 adults... i think the adults are doing nothing at all at the moment except hiding and breeding.

Edited by CurleyJones321
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Wow sorry to hear the news about your health.

At least your shrimp are doing well.

I would come over to help you, but you are a bit too far away. 

 

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    • sdlTBfanUK
      Good to have an update and good to hear you are getting shrimplets, so hopefully your colony will continue and you may not get to the point where you have to cull some to stop over population. These type of shrimp only live 12 - 18 months so the adult deaths may be natural? If you have the time I would do weekly 25% water changes, adding the new water via a drip system and do some vacuuming clean of the substrate each week, even if only a different bit each week! See if that helps in a few months and if it does then stick with that regime? It should help reduce any build-ups that may be occuring!
    • beanbag
      Hello again, much belated update: The tank still has "cycles" of 1-2 month "good streaks" where everybody seems to be doing well, and then a bad streak where the short antenna problem shows up again, and a shrimp dies once every few days.  I am not sure what causes things to go bad, but usually over the course of a few days I will start to see more shrimp quietly standing on the HMF filter, and so I know something is wrong.  Since I am not "doing anything" besides the regular 1-2 week water changes, I just assume that something bad is building up.  Here's a list of things that I've tried that are supposed to be "can't hurt" but didn't prevent the problem either: Dose every other day with Shrimp Fit (very small dose, and the shrimp seem to like it) Sotching Oxydator Seachem Purigen to keep the nitrates lower Keeping the pH below 5.5 with peat Things that I don't do often, so could possibly "reset" the tank back to a good streak, are gravel vac and plant trim, so maybe time to try those again. One other problem I used to have was that sometimes a shrimp would suddenly stop eating with a full or partially full digestive tract that doesn't clear out, and then the shrimp will die within a few days.  I suspected it was one of the foods in my rotation - Shrimp Nature Infection, which contains a bunch of herbal plant things.  I've had this in my food rotation for a few years now and generally didn't seem to cause problems, but I removed it from the rotation anyway.  I don't have a lot of adult Golden Bees at this point so I can't really tell if it worked or not. Overall the tank is not too bad - during the good streaks occasionally a shrimp will get berried and hatch babies with a 33-50% survival rate.  So while there are fewer adults now, there are also a bunch of babies roaming around.  I guess this tank will stagger on, but I really do need to take the time to start up a new tank.  (or figure out the problem)
    • jayc
      If that is the offspring, then the parents are unlikely to be PRL. I tend to agree with you. There are very few PRLs in Australia. And any that claim to be needs to show proof. PRL genes have to start as PRL. CRS that breed true after x generations doesn't turn it into a PRL. Neither can a Taiwan bee shrimp turn into a PRL despite how ever many generations. I've never seen a PRL with that sort of red colour. I have on Red Wines and Red Shadows - Taiwan bee shrimps. So somewhere down the line one of your shrimp might have been mixed with Taiwan bees and is no longer PRL. It just tanks one shrimp to mess up the genes of a whole colony. 
    • sdlTBfanUK
      Sorry, missed this one somehow! The PRL look fantastic and the odd ones look part PRL and part Red wine/Red shadow in the colour. They are still very beautiful but ideally should be seperated to help keep the PRL clean if you can do that.  Nice clear photos!
    • GtWalker97
      Hi SKF!   So I bought some PRL (or at least they were sold as such. These claims are dubious in Australia as people don't know much about the genetics, nor do they care as long as they can make a quick buck). After 8 generations of breeding true, I'm having around 1 in 200 throw a much darker red. They almost look like Red Shadows, but I don't know too much about those types of hybrid. Can anyone help with ID'ing the gene?   TIA (First 2 pics are the weird throws, second photo is their siblings and the last photo is the parents)
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