First Tank

[skittymars]

Hi Everyone

Been wanting to get these awesome shrimp for several years now, but finally got around to it this time. Just got my 20 gallon tank setup today, and now comes the long wait for it to cycle. Just curious if anyone in much colder region like upper central US where it gets very cold in the winter if you use a heater in your tank or not. I usually seat my house thermostat to 55 degrees just to prevent any freezing of pipes at night and when I'm away. Just wondering if this will be too cold for the Opae Ula.

How long before I should add the snails? Any recommendations for a newbie jumping into this and having an aquarium for the very first time?



Thanks
skittymars

[Varanus]

The site recommends the water stay at least 60 degrees Fahrenheit, so 55 may indeed be a bit too cold. The light you'll have in the tank will help some, but you may want a thermometer to see just how cold the water gets before you add any animals.

Assuming you can get it to the proper temperature, adding snails and macro algae from Mustafa's store right away should be fine. It will speed the cycling and it worked out just fine for me.

[KenCotigirl]

Very nice tank. 20 gallon? 55 seems cold. Hate for you to use a heater but better than heating the whole house. My thermostat is set to 62 by the house rarely gets that cold. As Varanus stated add the snails and algae now. How many shrimp were you considering to buy? At least 20. Any less with all you decorations you may be disappointed as they may seem hidden most of the time.

Ken

[Mustafa]

Agreed...very nice tank! They'll be fine even at 55 degrees, but don't expect any breeding at that temperature level. Also, they'll be moving around much more slowly.

[skittymars]

I plan to start out with around 60 shrimp. Got a 150w heater in place and set to 80 degrees right now and also just got the LED light installed as well to get the cycling process to move along at the warmer temp. I'll dial back the temp to mid 70s when I get some snails and shrimp in there.

I just did a first water test today for pH, ammonia, nitrate and nitrites. The pH is at 7.4. Is this too low? I thought I read somewhere that it should be higher toward the 8.0-8.4 range? What should the pH range be? I thought my pH would be higher since I crushed 2 handfuls of sea/snail shells and scattered them all over the tank.

The ammonia level was low, between 0.25 and 0.50ppm, but I assume that is to be expected since I don't have any organic matter in there yet. I threw in some fish pellets this evening to let it sink to the bottom though to get that ammonia level up for the cycling process. hopefully that wasn't a dumb move. Nothing for nitrates or nitrites.

I am starting to see some bio-film on the surface of the water though, so hopefully that's a good sign I'm starting to get some bacteria going. I've been dropping some seachem prime Stability in there for the first couple of days. Supposedly it has some good beneficial bacteria in there for the cycling process.

Won't be able to order the snails and algae from Mustafa until towards Thanksgiving since I'll be out of town for Thanksgiving and don't want the snail to be left in the cold.

@Mustafa, Will it be too cold to ship the snails in 40 degree weather?

[KenCotigirl]

I know you read a lot of posts before starting so you are well aware not to rush anything. While i maybe 100% wrong i would think the larger the tank the longer to cycle. Volume/Surface area. Waiting till after Thanksgiving to get the snails and algae works. I do not believe delivery temps in the 40's affect either. Shrimp delivery may need to wait till spring. You may not be cycled till Jan/Feb. does Mustafa ship shrimp in winter to cold locations? How did you test the pH? Strips? If your local fish store sells salt water fish have them test your water. Even if they charge you a small fee its cheaper than buying testing equipment.

Ken

[skittymars]

Yes, I am expecting the tank to be cycled sometime in Jan as well based on what people have said. I am using the liquid API Saltwater test kit.

[KenCotigirl]

Interesting. Liquid test kits are fairly accurate. I would have thought you would be arround 8. I wouldnt do anything. Maybe retest.

Ken

[Mustafa]

Large tanks and small tanks cycle in about the same time actually (I can elaborate if needed). Putting fish food pellets is not needed (and could complicate things) for the tank to "cycle". You really don't even have to measure ammonia. Just look for signs of algal growth...done. Your tank is ready. I never measure ammonia in new tanks...not even pH. Your sand appears to be aragonite sand (which is calcium carbonate), so that more than enough buffer. Your pH readings are most likely wrong.

And yes, I do ship in winter as long as the night temps are above 32 and day temps above 40-45. Heat packs probably help (and I use them).

[skittymars]

Is this tank progressing like it should? I see a bunch of bio-film on the surface of the water after 12 days. I tried testing the pH again, but still on the low end at 7.4. Not detecting much in terms of ammonia or nitrates either. Just curious if I need to mix the water around before doing the test? So far, I've just been taking the sample of water at the surface.

[minishrimps]

looks to me like it's moving along nicely... If you haven't added some sort of nitrifying bacteria to the mix you could do that to speed things up. I have used API Qiuickstart but think "Dr. Tim's One and Only" works the best. After a couple days you should start to see spots develop on your tank glass... You could also get snails and macroalgae from Mustafa and throw those in there with the water that they come shipped with. It will have plenty of good bacteria to help move things forward... Can't wait to see that tank swarming with shrimp!

[KenCotigirl]

These shrimp go by the axiom KISS. Keep it simple silly. Just wait a month or so and all will be alright. The more you fiddle the more issues you may have. Mustafa should add another step or two to his supershrimp setup. What you should do when you should be doing nothing.

Ken

[skittymars]

Got the snails and macro-algae from Mustafa earlier this afternoon and got them into the tank this evening. Separated 5 of the snails on each side of the tank in the sea shells to see how many are alive after the shipment. Also got the macro-algae with the sunken battleship. These are smaller than I thought. Will they get much bigger than this?

[Varanus]

Tank is looking good. The snails do get bigger but will grow slowly in a supershrimp tank and probably won't get much more than half an inch in length unless there is more food than usual.

[skittymars]

All the snails survived the excellent packaging and crawled around. Now I can only spot a few. Not sure where the majority of them went. I notice that the biofilm at the surface has changed to a light green. I'm thinking this is the start of a new phase in the cycling process and maybe those are some type of photosynthetic bacteria or algae.

Still having issues with the pH though. Still only slightly above 7.4 even after I added about about 2lbs of crushed coral gravel.

I just removed the two big rocks I had in the tank and also the plastic wood. I put in a cuttlebone and hoping that will raise the pH. Maybe the rocks were causing the pH to be so low. Is there a certain amount of crushed coral or calcium carbonate that I need to have for a 20 gallon? I'll take a pH reading again in two days