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I started a small nano planted tank just over 3 weeks ago, filters only been going for 2 weeks. For some reason the tank cycled, even though I added no ammonia products. I did a test last night, ammonia was 0, nitrite was 0 and nitrate was 10ppm. Woods still a bit boyant, hence the stones and heater, pinning it down. I'm using RO water because my tap water is quite poor. Which I'm reminerlising with Seachem Equilibrium. At the moment, I'm using they're dosing guide for 1GH by 1 meq/L (3 dH) PH is sitting at around 5.80, I am using CO2. I did a TDS check tonight, I got 114 There is no livestock in my tank at the moment, but next week, I was hoping to add some cherry shrimp and nerite snails. But I'm worried about my tanks stats. Should I be aiming for a higher GH? Is my PH going to be a problem? If I was to buy shrimp and snails next week, what would be a good starting number for my tank? It's 55l. I'm going to try to source the livestock locally, but failing that, are there any good online shops for shrimp and snails?

It looks like you will have the full set of tests when you have the GH and KH as you have the PH and TDS already! You will want the full set if you get into shrimps but once up and running you won't need to check all of them very often! If you only order something small or one item from ProShrimp often the postage is free and stuff always arrives quickly, all my orders have arrived next day. Last time I checked, my tap water was PH 7.5, TDS 167, GH 4-5, KH 2-3 so almost ideal for cherry shrimp (maybe a touch higher GH, which would also increase TDS, with a bit of GH+). Be interesting to see what yours is as you are relatively close, I grew up around Maidstone. Simon

I'm going to my LFS tomorrow and pick up a GH/KH test kit. Hopefully I'll be able to give you my tap water stats tomorrow at some point.

Yep, that is a plant substrate that has ammonia in it. So your tank might have cycled on the ammonia release by the substrate. RO water is the way to go then. What TDS do you get from the tap water?

I believe they were breeding fine before the move. I started out with 10 shrimp and they grew to about 50-60 in number. I never thought the pressure was an issue but I just don't see why the babies aren't surviving in there. I mentioned before that after I moved the moms into the nursery tank I noticed 2 babies in the big tank so one of them popped a couple out beforehand. I don't see them anymore, guess they didn't survive. They lasted about 2 weeks.

I used Tropica Aquarium Soil Powder.

Went onto my water supplier and found this http://cdn.southeastwater.co.uk/Files/West Ashford.pdf

Simon has you covered with some solid advise. If you are looking for a better remineraliser, Salty Shrimp is a good brand to look out for as well. They sell "Salty Shrimp GH+" for Caridina shrimp and "Salty Shrimp GH/KH+" for Neo Caridina. Some other brands include .... Mosura Mineral Plus Ultra GLASGARTEN Liquid Mineral GH+ BorneoWild GH/KH+ BorneoWild GH+ Or if you are a DIY kinda person, you can follow my recipe to make your own in the "Water Parameters" subforum. Regarding the cycling of the tank ... what substrate are you using? Maybe it has ammonia in it, if you used a plant substrate.

Thanks for the reply. Shrimp wise, I was really only aiming for cherry shimp and Amano. I want this tank to primary be a planted tank, so kinda wanted shrimp to help out with the plants and algae. Regarding my tap water, I havn't used it because of the absolute nightmare I had with my last attempt at a planted tank 10 years ago. It was a 29gal that was heavily planted, I followed all the guides, mixed and dosed my own fertiliser, but it turned into 1 big algae mess. After over a year of fighting and trying different solutions, I gave up. I know my water is very hard, other then fertiliser, I didn't use any other products, include a dechlorinator, which looking back was bloody stupid, but I didn't know any better. This time I wanted to use RO, to see if I could avoid the algae plague I suffered last time. Regarding my tap water, what stats would you like to know, I don't have much beyond basic tests but I can do them tomorrow. Ammonia Nitrite Nitrate PH TDS Edit - Sorry missed a question. Regarding the tank cycle, I did see ammonia rise and fall, and nitrites did the same afterwards. What's puzzling is that I never added any ammonia products to the tank.

If you are planning on cherry shrimps it may work better with tap water, do you know what your tap water stats are? I use dechlorinated tap water with my cherry shrimp and RO water with bee shrimp! The soil will be lowering the PH but if your tap water is higher (mine is 7.5 here) it should exhaust the buffering of the soil quite quickly! As RO water is usually a lower PH it takes longer for the soil to lose its buffering ability. As you have just said you are UK then ProShrimp sell everything you need. I tend to think though that shrimps are better bought direct from a breeder as they will be less stressed and here in UK I always buy them 'next day by 1pm' through the post and there are loads on ebay, which is where I used to get mine. The remineraliser I use is a liquid one (shrimp king) so very easy to use but before you go buying a lot of stuff I would investigate TAP WATER as you may not need anything with that, or you may need a different product than you would with RO water? If you check your tapwater and can go that route I can then let you know what additional (if any) products to think of getting? https://www.pro-shrimp.co.uk/ Bee shrimp are a totally different ball game though so best to decide from the start IF that is where you want to go a little down the line, they are a lot more delicate than the bulletproof cherry shrimps. If you can do without the CO2 that will help as well, as it is difficult to keep shrimps with it - not impossible though? I have the same sort of tank (though not being used at the moment) with the sponge in the back, is it 55L as that sounds a bit big for this type of tank? As JayC says, you need to see some ammonia reading to know whether the 'cycle' has happened, having said that it isn't something I have ever seen. It is possible that the cycle hasn't even started! Can you fill in the location on your profile as that will help everyone know where you are based without keep looking through all your posts etc. Simon

Thanks for the replies. Sorry I forgot to add my location. I'm in the UK, Kent. Are there better products I can use to reminerlise my RO water, other then equilibrium?

Hopefully then if you keep on with the nursery tank, as soon as there are more shrimps in the big tank it may all sort itself out. Really pleased to hear that at least the nursery tank is working well in the meanwhile! Were they breeding ok before you moved the tank as if they were that would tell us it isn't the water pressure at least? Simon

I'm not great with the tank chemistry stuff so I won't give advice there other than that you need to raise your pH to around 6.5 as jayc said. If you're in Aus, I'd recommend abquatics as an option, they don't have a giant selection but they have very nice shrimp and fish/snails to go with shrimp if you're into that. If you are in the US you'll have no problem with online stores, so many great looking stores.

Yes, you should be aiming for TDS of 130-140 and pH is a bit too low. Try to get it up to 6.5pH and 4 - 5GH. Seachem Equilibrium is not the best for remineralising shrimp tanks. It's okay for fish or marine tanks, but it's lacking in calcium to boost GH higher. Getting pH higher is easier than lowering it. Add some crushed egg shells, or shell grit, or sandstone rocks. Add them into an aquarium sock somewhere (like the filter) so you can remove it when needed. I'd be wary of that result. The true test is to add a bit of ammonia to see if it is broken down within 24hours. If you didn't add ammonia, you wouldn't expect ammonia reading. And with no ammonia source, the bacteria wouldn't survive let alone multiply. It might very well have cycled, but just be cautious of your current results. Where is your location? SKFA is an international forum now, and it's difficult to guess peoples location when it's not added in their profile.

sdlTBfanUK. Yes the nursery tank is working really well. Two moms already delivered full batch, 3 more still pregnant. They've gotten pregnant in the big tank and moved over, males finding females isn't an issue. nicpapa. Driftwood is about 1.5 years old and only ever been in this current tank. Temp is consistently 70-74 degrees on both tanks. Stratum is about year and a half old. Back in November last year I had over 50 to 60 shrimp in there, then I moved the tank and then it's been declining until I started the nursery tank. Thanks everyone

Shrimps when the population is low , they dont like the big tanks. Sometimes males cant find female when is the time . What the temp of the big tank and the small one? Also dont use metal temp probe. If the shrimp stratum is new it will leach lot of ferts in the water , its for planted tank. Move the shrimps to the small tank ,do a big water change, dont use chemicals. Driftwoods are new? Sometime if they was in a fish tanks and use chemicals for threat the fish wood absords the chemicals.

That was me that put the BEP in the tank. When you said slowly add it I did add it slowly. Took at least 5 minutes hehe. There was no ammonia or nitrite spike whatsoever and there were berried shrimps all of which held onto their berries! Can't recommend BEP highly enough.