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Hey all, been a while since I posted, I recently rescaped my 3 year old 10g cube tank cause I was having algae issues. All I did was swap out the old amazonia substrate for some fresh fluval stratum, added a whole bunch of plants and added some root tabs. just over a week later and I just noticed a cherry shrimp getting picked on by the CPDs. they only do this when the shrimp are weak or dying, so i decided to test the water and to my surprise discovered that the ammonia is at 4ppm. Dosed some prime and am going to the a big water change ofcourse but I was wondering if fluval stratum can cause a ammonia spike? I got it because i thought it didnt. Otherwise what else could've caused it? My tank is a waterbox cube which uses a sump system, so when I did the rescape, all the filter media and everything in the sump remained submerged with the same water. While the main part of the tank saw probably about a 90% water change. Did I crash my cycle somehow? This is the first time im getting ammonia problems with this tank. Prior to the rescape, the tank was cycled for the 3 year period, I could leave it unmaintained for 2-3 weeks with 0 Ammonia and Nitrites. I've done big water changes in the past with no issues as well. Stocking: 16 CPDs A bunch of cherry shrimp Thankfully fish all seem fine and other cherrys seem ok

I have just ordered the red shrimps for delivery tomorrow, so I should be set then and can enjoy the tank through the winter and hopefully a growing colony. I saw 7 yesterday and so feel happy that whatever the problem was has sorted itself! Killiefish is no longer a threat as he died the other day, but he was nearly 2 years old so nothing suspect about that? I will start removing the wild type neocaridina when I see them to make room for the taiwan bee! I have seen a very odd shrimp occasionally, it looks like a Calceo but I assume it isn't as there are only neocaridina in there. It is full grown size and has yellow eggs. It hides most of the time but I guess I will need to wait and see? Simon