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Welcome Duke

Featured Replies

Shrimp Keepers Forum welcomes Duke.

Please feel free to browse around and get to know others. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask.

View Member

regards,
skfadmin

Hey everyone,

im relatively new to shrimp keeping. So far have some cherries, Darwin algae shrimp, Rillies and a couple of crystals. Pretty keen to learn a lot about the hobby as I am really enjoying it. 

Welcome @Duke. You've come to the right place for plenty of information. Don't be afraid to ask any question as there'll be someone willing to help always! Keen to see some snaps of your tanks ?

Welcome to SKF @Duke, As neo said you're definitely in the right place. There is an absolute plethora of information available here from many experienced keepers. 
The beauty of this hobby is there is always something to learn and I am sure you will discover things that you would like to share.
We would love to see some pics !

  • Author

Hey guys thanks heaps for the welcome. I had a few dramas with ammonia over the last few nights but I've put some ammo lock in and luckily didn't lose any. I'm trying to put a pic up but can't seem to get one small enough as it keeps saying it is over size. 

I'm still learning and appreciate all the help I can get as well as providing some lessons I've learnt along the way. I'm hoping to find some tigers soon as I don't believe they will cross breed with my darwins or cherries. What do you guys think? I've got black earth in the tank and ph is around 6.0 and water temp about 22c. 

  • Author

image.jpeg

Still a long way to go but I spent a lot of time setting it up and yes it was a nightmare getting that driftwood into a fluval edge. Lol. 

Very nice @Duke. Was the tank cycled? Wondering why you are having Ammonia issues..

Edited by neo-2FX

  • Author

I've had it running for 3 months but had to do complete water changes due to the GH levels being 200+ I lost a lot of shrimp and I think there must still be some deceased ones under the drift wood which has pushed the ammonia levels up. (I have issues with the tap water where I live so have to resort to puratap changes now) It is still cycling so I loaded the tank with more shrimp and some ottos to try and speed up the cycle with a bit more waste. The ammo lock I'm hoping has stopped any dangers to the livestock but still is a worry. 

You're probably in a cycle again.

Have you checked all your parameters?

What is the pH of your tap water (even with the PuraTap filter)?

If you can afford it, get an RO unit.

Also, probably better to do much smaller water changes.

Very nice looking tank :) Did you seed your filter with media from a cycled tank ? I have found that more ammonia/waste wont speed up the cycle, addition of good bacteria from seeded media will.
Complete water changes will stuff your water chemistry and cycle. Keep in mind that excessively large water changes can 'shock' your stock resulting in loss.

Its better to do a bunch of smaller water changes over a few days. When I am cycling a tank I will do 25% water changes every day.
Like @neo-2FX said, get a RO unit if possible. 
In regards to your cycle you might want to consider a sump, I run sumps ( With deep sand beds ) on all my tanks resulting in closed cycles ( Ammonia -> Nitrite -> Nitrate -> Nitrogen ) and I never need to do water changes. I just need to top up water and minerals.

sump.jpg

  • Author

Hey guys, great suggestions really appreciate it. I will look into the RO unit as the tap water is constantly pushing the GH level quite high hence using the puratap. 

Move preordered a 500litre tank for peacock cichlids so the RO will be a good investment. Plus we are redoing our kitchen so I could probably slip one in and the wife would have no idea ???

as far as the ph level goes it's about 7.3 pretty standard by my understanding but the black earth substrate pushes the ph down and also the GH level. 

Im only doing a 9litre bucket water change at a time now and 1-2 times per week, I was advised to do big changes and I think that's why the tank has gone back into cycling. Livestock are all still good and happy. It's just frustrating!! @neo-2FX @Jarad G Davey

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