Newbie with Red Cherry Shrimps, need help asap!

[boobiebutt]

I tried to post an update last night but the forum was down so this is now my update.


10 gallon (fishless cycling):
From 7/16 to 7.18 nothing much happened. The ammonia was at approx. 3-4 ppm and dropped to 2 ppm. I added a little bit of ammonia. As of 7/19 the ammonia dropped to zero over night. The test results will be posted below.

7/19:
Ammonia - 0 ppm
Nitrite - 0 ppm
Nitrate - N/A
pH - 7.5

I was sorta puzzled at how ammonia was zero but there was no reading at all on the nitrite test. I ignored that and I added 4 mL of ammonia. I did not retest to see how much ppm that would be but it's probably 3-5 ppm as 3 mL is about 3-4 ppm. I decided to change my dosing to 4 mL a night instead of 3 mL.

Tonight as of 7/20:
Ammonia - 0 ppm
Nitrite - .5 ppm
Nitrate - N/A

I will not be testing for nitrates until nitrites drop to zero over night. I will continue to add 4 mL of ammonia a night. I'm surprised that it took such a short period of time for the ammonia to drop to zero. I suppose that some of the bactiera from my past failed cycle attempts possibly have survived.

Very intesting read from another thread on this forum about how long bacteria can live.
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=200621


2.5 gallon:
I've been trying to do water changes more often since one of the cherry shrimp is berried. I do 2-4 20-30% water changes during the weekdays and I do a 1 large 50-60% water change during the weekend. I've been trying to keep the water quality good so I'll have some babies to repopulate the tank. A handful of baby snails are now growing larger, about 3-4 mm in size. There are freshly hatched snails roaming around on the glass. Every inhabitant seems healthy. I still wonder if this tank is even cycled but I never test ammonia/nitrite/nitrate on this tank. I assume water parameters are fine because the snails/shrimp are repopulating. I should really test out water parameters.

Maybe if I get my camera back from my gf, I can take some updated pictures of the tank. I rescaped the 2.5 gallon and it looks nicer then it was to start with.

 

[boobiebutt]

I'm really wondering about how long the bacteria can survive now.
7/21:
Ammonia - .25
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 40 ppm surprisingly high...

I added 4 mL of ammonia to continue the cycle. I will continue to add 4 mL per day for the next 2-3 days. If the ammonia and nitrites continue to be zero, I will do a large water change to get rid of the high amount of nitrates.

I also did a pH test today and it was a shocking 8.5 to 9.0 around. The water out of my tap is typically 7.5. I am wondering if this is because the lights were on all day and I tested around 1230am (of 7.22). I will retest the pH of the water tomorrow morning before the sun comes up. (hopefully I can remember to wake up that early... ugh...). I'm not entirely too worried about the pH of the aquarium at the moment and also because I've been reading a lot about how pH doesn't really matter in an aquarium considering a heavily planted tank with CO2 injection and usage, etc.

 

[boobiebutt]

UGH! I'm frustrated at the results of my water parameters...

7/22:
Ammonia - 1 ppm
Nitrite - 0 ppm
Nitrate - 40 ppm

Bad news is there is a build up of ammonia and not all 4 mL of ammonia is being converted to nitrites within a 24 hour period, roughly. Good news is whatever ammonia that is being converted to nitrites is being converted into nitrates.

I added only 3 mL of ammonia tonight since there was about 1 ppm of ammonia still left int he water column. Hopefully the ammonia and nitrite readings will be zero within a few days.

 

[boobiebutt]

I actually managed to get up early enough to test out the pH before the sun came up/the lights came on. The pH of the water was about 5.5-6 pH. That is a huge pH swing from 9.0 before the lights go off.

I know a huge pH swing for fish isn't that huge of a factor because of the whole planted tank and CO2 input. But should it be a worry for inverts? I'm only worried because if the water is somewhat acidic, it will dissolve the snails shells and i wonder what can happen to the exoskeleton of the shrimps.

As of now, I'm still not worried about it much but I'm at the stage of researching it more to see if pH REALLY matters for invert tanks. I will most likely post a new thread and I'll link it here since I don't really get replies here. I will update this thread later with today's cycling process and a link to the thread about pH I will start now.

EDIT: Thread - Does pH matter for invert tanks - http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2052209#post2052209

 

[boobiebutt]

More frustration..

Ammonia - 2 ppm
Nitrite - 0 ppm
Nitrate - N/A

I feel it is pointless to be testing for nitrates as I already know they are present. Ammonia is building up which is confusing me... I added 2 mL tonight to add to the 2 ppm that is already in the water column. I wish the ammonia would drop to zero already.

 

[boobiebutt]

7/24:
A- 2 ppm
NO2- 0 ppm
NO3- N/A

Same deal as the post above. +2 mL ammonia put into just now.

 

[boobiebutt]

7/25:
A-2ppm
NO2-0ppm
NO3-N/A

Same.

 

[Winged]

I just read this thread today, and maybe I skimmed over a couple posts and missed something, but I keep wondering one thing: If your 2.5 gallon tank is cycled, why are you doing a fishless cycle on the 10 gallon tank? Why not add some seeded media from your 2.5 to the 10? You might still have a little cycle, but it shouldn't be near as much as you are having now.

 

[boobiebutt]

I just read this thread today, and maybe I skimmed over a couple posts and missed something, but I keep wondering one thing: If your 2.5 gallon tank is cycled, why are you doing a fishless cycle on the 10 gallon tank? Why not add some seeded media from your 2.5 to the 10? You might still have a little cycle, but it shouldn't be near as much as you are having now.

Well it is not 100% confirmed that the 2.5 gallon is cycled. I never bother to ever test the water in the 2.5 gallon to see if it was cycled or if ammonia/nitrite is ever present in the water column. The assumption that the 2.5 is cycled is due to the fact that I do 2-3 smaller water changes during the week and a large water change once a week. Even if I attempted to test the water for ammonia/nitrite, I highly doubt there is enough to be detectable due to the constant water changes I do for the tank and I highly doubt that 4 shrimps, 5 ramshorns, baby snails would be able to produce enough ammonia/nitrite to even be detected.

Also I don't have any die off since the original shrimps that died at the start of the set up and I also have lots of baby snails and a berried shrimp at the moment. I assume that they are only able to reproduce in a healthy environment with maintained water quality as inverts find ammonia/nitrite extremely toxic. My last death was a shrimp on 5/17 which is over 2 months ago. The 4 shrimps and 5 ramshorns along with babies have been living fine for the last 2 months with no deaths.

It is not confirmed that the 2.5 tank is cycled. I don't really have a way of confirming it. I assume that with the extremely small amount of ammonia they produce, the filter should be seeded even if I do constantly water changes because there has to be some ammonia left over. I guess it can be considered a 'fish-in' cycle but with inverts. But the 2 months with no deaths can be due to my constant water changes.

Who knows.

But that is a good thought though. During my next large water change, I will attempt to squeeze the sponge filter of the 2.5 into the 10 gallon tank. Maybe it can help jump start it faster. Thank you for the idea, I never considered it.

Will update later with today's water parameters on the 10 gallon.

 

[boobiebutt]

7/26:
A-4ppm
NO2-0ppm
NO3-N/A

No ammonia added.