Just completed FISHLESS cycle- when to remove shrimp

[joeyfromlawrenceville]

Hi gang,
My wifes aquapod 24 has cycled ( we think).

24#cured LR
1.5" oolite dry sand
LR rubble in rear
floss added every few days
PH 8.3
ammonia 0
nitrites 0
nitrates 3-4
SG 1.023
PO4 - working that down, little high right now.

Is it time to remove the dead shrimp, it is still whole in a mesh bag? The LR was fully cured from a vat I had running for 5 weeks( PWC and flake food feedings the whole 5 weeks) .Have had the aquapod up now for 9 days . Ammonia spiked on day 1 or 2 and quickly dropped, no nitrites were detected but testing was every few days.
Is it safe to assume it is cycled or wait a few days?

PS: the LR has macro algae ? growing, looks like grass sprouts, never seen that before on LR.

Time to add cleaning crew???????

 

[austinsdad]

If you say you never had nitrites, I'm not sure what happened. Did the lr curing show ammonia and nitrite?

How many days ago did you add the shrimp and rock? If no ammonia, the shrimp should definitely be removed and is the problem with the nitrates too I'm thinking.

Tell me more about the lr. You sure it was uncured?

BTW, what is the floss about? What does that do?

 

[joeyfromlawrenceville]

If you say you never had nitrites, I'm not sure what happened. Did the lr curing show ammonia and nitrite?

How many days ago did you add the shrimp and rock? If no ammonia, the shrimp should definitely be removed and is the problem with the nitrates too I'm thinking.

Tell me more about the lr. You sure it was uncured?

BTW, what is the floss about? What does that do?

Hi,
We set this tank up 9 days ago, added one fresh shrimp 7 days ago. We have been overwhelmed with the Ich situation in my 37 gal, so 2-3 hours a night I have been working with that tank and Ich.Not been as attentative as usual with the new set up aquapod. My wife tested the aquapod about a day after adding shrimp and it showed .5 for ammonia, and PO4 was high. I added a po4 removal pad in sump and buffered to raise PH. 2 days later she tested and no Ammonia, No Nitrites, and No nitrates, Ph at 8.2. , stayed that way a couple days, now nitrates are showing just enough to read ( 3ish 4 ish ). I would think if I have nitrates and no ammonia, nitrites it has its cycle.
Let me give you some info on the LR. The LR was bought cured online in a 50# purchase. added 25# to my 37 gal, and saved the other 25# for this tank. I left it in the tub for over a month, put in a pinch of flake food every few days and had no ammonia showing. I will assume my LR cycled in the tub, maybe some dyeoff moving upstairs into the aquapod and letting dry out while my wife took some time arranging the rock.
Is it possibe it was already cycled when I built the aquapod?

PS: the floss is to remove silt and sand when the bottom is disturbed while cleaning, I usually put it in my tanks overnight when I do PWC's , I used it in the AP to clear up the water after setting up, don't use them on a daily basis, just to polish water after I disturb something.

 

[austinsdad]

Yeah, maybe the rock was cured and had the good bacteria on it already. That could explain no nitrites. You kept those bacteria fed when you were adding food to the tub it was in. Definitely get that shrimp out of there.

Nitrates (I think) are measured in units of 10. Sure its not 30 or 40 ppm?

Do a large water change too IMO. Dunno what you might have there. Likely an already cycled tank where the shrimp did cause an ammonia spike, but got over it qwik w/out nitrite. Maybe.

If it were me, I'd do the PWC, and add a crab and a snail. If they live for a week, I'd think you are done. New macro algae growing, right?

 

[roka64]

I agree with Ray. It sounds like the cycle is done. If the shrimp is still in there and no ammonia or nitrItes you can either remove it or let your CUC chow down.

 

[joeyfromlawrenceville]

Excellent !
Thank You. I think I will let my wife know her tank is cycled. Might try a few CUC's , and see how it goes. I'm sure my wife ( Jill) is ready to empty the bank on corals and shrimps $$$$$. One fish she is leaning toward is a yellow clown Gobie, it will be the only fish in the tank.

Might just get that shrimp out, do a 30% PWC and add the CUC this weekend.

One more question:
Do I understand it right- No need to QT shrimps, crabs and snails? ( QT is kinda tied up for a month right now)

Thanks
( I'm going to bed, will check your answer in the am, good night)

 

[roka64]

Yeah, typically inverts don't host fish parasites (although, there is a very small chance) that they may come in with the water. Personally, I don't QT my inverts.
Make sure you drip acclimate the inverts, as they are less tolerant to parameter swings. I do at least a 2 hour drip on my inverts.

 

[joeyfromlawrenceville]

I do at least a 2 hour drip on my inverts.

Ok , Thanks. I usually acclimate half that long. I will "tighten the knot" and slow it down.

Should I rinse/dip them in a separate bowl of tank water just before dropping them in the main, just to remove any LFS water from the invert?
How about shrimps?, how in the world do you get them from the LFS water into your tank safeley?, with a net? Seems like the last time I just opened the bag and poured the LFS water in with my shrimp.

Thanks,

 

[austinsdad]

Check this out. Love mine for acclimating. That knot thing to regulate the drip speed can drive ya crazy sometime.

Pisces Pro Acclimator


Just slowly add the tank water to the lfs water. No need to rinse anything. Then, net the shrimp and add to the tank. Don't ever add lfs water to yours IMO.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Just a few things that basically agree with the others...

- Sounds like the tank cycled. What you report is what you'll normally see if you're using cured rock, which you did since you were feeding the rock flake food all that time. When I cycled my main (with cured rock) the nitrites never showed, but I did get an increase in nitrates. My guess is that the phosphates that showed up came off the shrimp - "previously frozen for freshness" at the grocery store also means they've sprayed a preservative on it at some point... which normally contains some version of phosphates.

- For "friendly" shrimp, you can just stick you hand in there and scoop him/her out. It'll probably even come to you and latch on to your hand to "clean" it. For less friendly ones, you can still use the hand scoop method. I try to avoid nets as much as possible. Just another possibility to injure something.

- If you go with a longer acclimation period, keep an eye on the water temperature. That's the only reason I don't care for really long acclimations... it just adds one more thing to keep an eye on.

- Another way to make an acclimator and skip the knots is to just go to a hardware store and pick up a push-to-connect fitting that is a 1/4 turn valve. Connect two pieces of tubing to it and voila... easy little drip acclimator. You can even get fancy and put a couple push-to-connect 90 degree elbows at the ends to give it something to hang over the lip of your tank.

 

[roka64]

Kurt does bring up a good point about temp during acclimation. You can use a small heating pad to keep the temp up, under the bucket.
Joey, that is a good idea about dipping them in a cup/bowl of tank water after acclimation!