Kurt_Nelson
Aquarium Advice Addict
Hi all,
First off... what a great forum here! I've been lurking for the last three months or so as I've gone through the whole "what do I need, what do I want to buy, what am I getting myself into?!" routine. I'm still a couple weeks off from going "live" with my main 46g tank and starting its cycle, but have started up my 10 gallon QT to get it cycled. Since I'm going to gradually add one fish at a time, I figured I'd go ahead and cycle it with a raw shrimp and leave it running for the next few months. The QT has a Penguin Biowheel 100, 50W heater, bare bottom, and a couple PVC couplings in the bottom. I don't have any filter cartridge in the Penguin at the time - it's just spinning the BioWheel. I figured until it cycled, the cartridge is kinda useless.
So here's my question...
Is is possible to get phosphates into the water via the breakdown of the raw shrimp? I would think the answer is "no", but check this out...
When I checked the water on Day 1, everything was normal: SG 1.023, pH 8.3-8.4, temp 78.3, 0/0/0 for ammonia/nitrite/nitrate, and 0 phosphate (Salifert AND Hagen test). In goes a raw, unprocessed (as far as I know), shrimp to melt away.
On Day 7, I topped off the tank with just a cup or two of water (it's a 10g QT), and rechecked parameters. Everything was the same, except for ammonia at 4ppm, and phosphates at about 1.0ppm (Salifert test). I didn't expect the rise in phosphates, as from my understanding that isn't a byproduct of the shrimp rotting away.
Since I just topped off, I rechecked my source water, and it was zero for phosphates. I rechecked the 15 gallons of stored saltwater in my garage and the parameters matched my tank on Day 1, with zero phosphates.
On Day 15 (today), all parameters are still good, ammonia is at about 6ppm (still no nitrites), and the phosphates are now at about 3.0ppm.
Since I'm just cycling a QT, I'm not too concerned about the high levels of phosphate, I'll eventually get them down through water changes. But I'm scratching my head as to where they're coming from. I've checked and rechecked my source water - nothing measurable there. The shrimp originally were frozen - could they have been processed with who knows what in Thailand (where they supposedly came from!) when they were first caught? Has anyone else ran into this before? Or am I just anal to be testing for Phospates in a QT in the first place! (Yes... I am anal, but I figured it'd be good practice!)
Any insight from the gurus would be appreciated!
First off... what a great forum here! I've been lurking for the last three months or so as I've gone through the whole "what do I need, what do I want to buy, what am I getting myself into?!" routine. I'm still a couple weeks off from going "live" with my main 46g tank and starting its cycle, but have started up my 10 gallon QT to get it cycled. Since I'm going to gradually add one fish at a time, I figured I'd go ahead and cycle it with a raw shrimp and leave it running for the next few months. The QT has a Penguin Biowheel 100, 50W heater, bare bottom, and a couple PVC couplings in the bottom. I don't have any filter cartridge in the Penguin at the time - it's just spinning the BioWheel. I figured until it cycled, the cartridge is kinda useless.
So here's my question...
Is is possible to get phosphates into the water via the breakdown of the raw shrimp? I would think the answer is "no", but check this out...
When I checked the water on Day 1, everything was normal: SG 1.023, pH 8.3-8.4, temp 78.3, 0/0/0 for ammonia/nitrite/nitrate, and 0 phosphate (Salifert AND Hagen test). In goes a raw, unprocessed (as far as I know), shrimp to melt away.
On Day 7, I topped off the tank with just a cup or two of water (it's a 10g QT), and rechecked parameters. Everything was the same, except for ammonia at 4ppm, and phosphates at about 1.0ppm (Salifert test). I didn't expect the rise in phosphates, as from my understanding that isn't a byproduct of the shrimp rotting away.
Since I just topped off, I rechecked my source water, and it was zero for phosphates. I rechecked the 15 gallons of stored saltwater in my garage and the parameters matched my tank on Day 1, with zero phosphates.
On Day 15 (today), all parameters are still good, ammonia is at about 6ppm (still no nitrites), and the phosphates are now at about 3.0ppm.
Since I'm just cycling a QT, I'm not too concerned about the high levels of phosphate, I'll eventually get them down through water changes. But I'm scratching my head as to where they're coming from. I've checked and rechecked my source water - nothing measurable there. The shrimp originally were frozen - could they have been processed with who knows what in Thailand (where they supposedly came from!) when they were first caught? Has anyone else ran into this before? Or am I just anal to be testing for Phospates in a QT in the first place! (Yes... I am anal, but I figured it'd be good practice!)
Any insight from the gurus would be appreciated!