I'm looking for "what to expect when you're expecting" type of information about owning supershrimp. Tank setup is well documented. But I can't find anything on what to expect during the first year, for example. I searched the forum but I'm not finding anything like this and I don't have enough experience to write something myself.
It seems like my tank is going through stages, which I'll outline below. When I search the forum I do find a question about the "stage" and learn it's normal don't worry about it. I'm wondering what's next.
Here's my personal timeline of events with my 10-gallon with a strong LED light, lava rock, aragonite substrate, 60-70 shrimp, and 4 marimo:
Day 1: Shrimp highly active, exploring their environment.
Day 2-4: No shrimp. Are they hiding? Did they die? Will I ever see them again?
Week 2: Lots of algae growth on tank glass. Glass is cloudy appearing. Shrimp are coming out and eating/scraping off the algae. Seeing some molts.
Week 3: Algae growth is mostly turning green. Shrimp are scraping it off the glass in sheets.
Week 4: No algae growth on tank glass. Shrimp more active. Green algae "dust" on substrate. Water is very cloudy. It's like an algae powder is in the water. The shrimp seem happy to eat the algae. I have not fed them yet. I have not seen any deaths. I would estimate 10 molts, which disappear within 2 days of me spotting them.
Will the cloudy water clear up eventually? What's next?
I will need to add water soon due to evaporation.
Does anyone have a tank maturation timeline? Want to help me build one?
Moderator: Mustafa
Re: Does anyone have a tank maturation timeline? Want to help me build one?
Well, usually once you set up a tank according to the guidelines here there isn't really much else to worry about...hence not much information on the weeks and months afterwards.
In your case it looks like you have lots and lots nutrients already in the water which caused your excessive algae growth and what appears to be either a bacterial/algal bloom. I'd just stop feeding and wait for things to stabilize...i.e. most algae and the cloudiness to disappear. The shrimp will be fine even if you don't have to feed for months. Read the topmost post (sticky) of a forum member that hasn't fed in something like 4 years and has constant reproduction.
In your case it looks like you have lots and lots nutrients already in the water which caused your excessive algae growth and what appears to be either a bacterial/algal bloom. I'd just stop feeding and wait for things to stabilize...i.e. most algae and the cloudiness to disappear. The shrimp will be fine even if you don't have to feed for months. Read the topmost post (sticky) of a forum member that hasn't fed in something like 4 years and has constant reproduction.
Re: Does anyone have a tank maturation timeline? Want to help me build one?
Thanks for the reply Mustafa. An algae bloom is the most likely culprit. The water is a cloudy green.
I did set everything up the way you recommended. The only difference was that I used my starter water (viewtopic.php?f=16&t=6067) and rocks from an established freshwater tank. That seemed to kickstart the algae growth and shorten the cycle. I saw algae after a few days and got shrimp in about a week later.
I haven't fed them anything yet. They're still happily eating algae. I skimmed Tooth's topic a while back, I'm wondering if I'll ever have to feed them. There's definitely a lot of algae in my tank. It's bright green, so I'm not complaining.
I did set everything up the way you recommended. The only difference was that I used my starter water (viewtopic.php?f=16&t=6067) and rocks from an established freshwater tank. That seemed to kickstart the algae growth and shorten the cycle. I saw algae after a few days and got shrimp in about a week later.
I haven't fed them anything yet. They're still happily eating algae. I skimmed Tooth's topic a while back, I'm wondering if I'll ever have to feed them. There's definitely a lot of algae in my tank. It's bright green, so I'm not complaining.