Have 8-year Old Ecosystem Shrimp - Not sure what to do

[SuperProofer]

Well it is normal for ammonia readings to rise during cycling, only to fall down to safe levels later and this can take a few weeks.

Ah, good to know. It's been approximately 4 weeks since I started these tanks (est. 9/15/17). For some reason, I was thinking they naturally started out high and I was just waiting for them to fall over the weeks - not that it would go up and down. Maybe I'll give it one more week to see if things progress.

Maybe you could test the ecosphere's water and see how it compares?

That was actually going to be my next step tonight (after dinner). I won't be surprised if his number comes back high by the looks of his tank. Still, it probably wouldn't be a good way to start a new group with ammonia at somewhere around 2.0.

[Varanus]

It took about a month for my tank to cycle, but that was over six gallons of water and I had snails and macroalgae to speed things up. Its also possible that its different when dealing with a volume of water as small as yours, where any toxins end up more concentrated due to less dilution.

I'd also make sure you look at the water test results under really good lighting, multiple angles, etc. I had a scare several months into keeping my tank where it seemed like ammonia had suddenly risen but these days I'm pretty sure I was misreading the test.

[SuperProofer]

Well now, color me shocked! I tested Trooper's water from the sphere:

0 ppm Ammonia
0 ppm Nitrates
(I didn't bother to test the nitrites)

I hadn't expected that! Now that new tank is really puzzling! LOL

*grumble grumble*

[SuperProofer]

I'm beginning to think that I have it backwards with my tanks. I think the larger one is farther along than the small one. I think the fact that the small one has such low test values is because it hasn't really started cycling yet. I'm only just now starting to see the vague stuff hints of brown on the sand and one shell. I'll re-test it in a few days.

The larger tank is well into brown splotches that are just now starting to turn the faintest of light green. I tested it again yesterday and it appears to be closer to the 1ppm again for ammonia, so maybe it's starting to come down.

Still waiting... And waiting some more. Maybe for Christmas, Santa will bring me some shrimp. Lol

[SuperProofer]

Observations of Trooper

Since I've taken the lid off the ecosphere and added back the water that dissipates from evaporation, Trooper has been more active and become graceful and acrobatic; actually venturing away from the glass and gliding freely through the water. Additionally, the little shrimp has molted twice now - and gotten noticeably bigger in the process. Now that I've been able to get a better look, I believe I have made a mistake - I have to say, I think Trooper... is a girl! I can see a very big, dark black spot on her back now, which, if I understand correctly, is the egg sack. Seeing how well she is thriving is making me more impatient for my tanks to be ready.

I've been testing the water regularly in the large jar (with the big ammonia) - it's been 2 weeks and I haven't seen any change. In the small jar, I can see a very faint fuzzy circular outline of what I'm hoping will soon be algae. Not sure why that one is so far behind in the cycle, but it is what it is. I'm just not sure how much longer I should wait for the larger tank to have some kind of movement before I need to seek other solutions. I know I'm right in that sweet spot of 6-8 weeks post set up and I'm starting to feel like a kid before Christmas - antsy and restless.

So, I guess this was just more of a progress report and something to keep me occupied for a few minutes - to feel like I'm doing *something* shrimp tank related. Think I'll take up knitting while I wait... I hear that's relaxing. LOL

[Noraelle]

Thanks for sharing! I believe you set up your new tank a week or two before mine. I'm also still waiting and having similar problem in it not cycling properly as I don't see algae even though it's been about 6 weeks. I'm not in a hurry as I've figured out a way to feed my current group of shrimps without polluting their water so I'll keep them in their current home a while longer. Good luck and I hope you get to rehome trooper soon.

[ms_american_pie]

Hey there!

My mom received one of those ecospheres years ago as a gift also. I didn't realize at the time how cruel those are to the cute little shrimp! I was looking at one of the ecospheres on Amazon last week when I ran across a review that mentioned what the actual lifespan of these shrimp should be, and this website. I thought it would be awesome to raise these little guys so I went out and bought all the stuff to get my own tank going! Thank you for all of your updates! I'm sure they'll be helpful as I start the cycling process!

[SuperProofer]

Happy to help. Not sure I know what I'm really doing yet, but we can all learn together. Keep us posted on your progress!

[JoanToBa]

Hi SuperProofer! How’s your tank doing? Any algae?
My tank is still cycling but it has lots of algae. I’m still waiting for some to grow on the glass (it’s been about one or two weeks). The only step now, should be that the local pet store finally talks with its shrimp provider (‘cause I’m starting to get anxious, like you said, like a kid before christmas).

Hope your tank cycles soon.

Btw, did you add any live rock, bacteria starter, live sand or algae?

[SuperProofer]

Hi,

Still trucking along slowly. I didn't add anything to them except a small bit of water from my existing ecosphere tank - probably not even enough to make a difference.

I did a water test in the larger tank on Friday and it looks like the ammonia level may be starting to drop, if ever so slightly. Hopefully, that's a good sign. There has been brown algae on it for weeks now - the aquascape and the glass - but the ammonia has been too high to add shrimp. In fact, I'm concerned there may be too much algae that the shrimp will never get through it all (since there's only going to be about 10 of them in there), especially in the substrate sand where they will never go. Worst case, I suppose I could always clean some of it out. But I'm not going to do anything until the parameters get to where they need to be.

The smaller tank still appears to be doing nothing. My ammonia/nitrite/nitrates all test around 0, the PH is between 7-8. Which, by all accounts, should be good - but there is NO algae to be seen. None whatsoever. So, I'm wondering if it hasn't even started to cycle at all?? If I have to, I may take some water from the larger tank and toss it in there. OR, is there still enough biofilm on the surface of everything to accommodate shrimp even in the absence of algae?

These are my lingering questions...

[MrsT]

My small tank about 0.950 gal.
I never cycled it, I just add shrimps in. The seller provided a seeded algae coral and it just cycled as it goes. Besides I added a small horned nerite snail to speed up cycle.
I don't know, I'm just guessing yours is still cycling very slowly.
I don't know to cycle without life creature in tank because I already used to add snail to kick start the cycling. The more poo they process the faster the cycling process going.
For algae as food, you can always cultured it by using the same water from the tank into a tiny jar, add in available fish food and a piece of coral. Let it sit under the sun for days or weeks, you'll get an instant algae coral as shrimp food.

[JoanToBa]

My small tank about 0.950 gal.
I never cycled it, I just add shrimps in. The seller provided a seeded algae coral and it just cycled as it goes. Besides I added a small horned nerite snail to speed up cycle.
I don't know, I'm just guessing yours is still cycling very slowly.
I don't know to cycle without life creature in tank because I already used to add snail to kick start the cycling. The more poo they process the faster the cycling process going.
For algae as food, you can always cultured it by using the same water from the tank into a tiny jar, add in available fish food and a piece of coral. Let it sit under the sun for days or weeks, you'll get an instant algae coral as shrimp food.

That does sound like a good idea, although I think you should use some of the ecosphere's water for the little jar, this way you'll be sure there will be some algae growth.

Good luck!

[SuperProofer]

That's the weird thing... I did add water from the sphere to both jars. I created them exactly the same. But they are behaving differently.

[JoanToBa]

That's the weird thing... I did add water from the sphere to both jars. I created them exactly the same. But they are behaving differently.

I guess nature is weird.
Although maybe it could have been that; the first time you took water out, you only took water with very few bacteria/algae (creating movement in the water), then, when you scooped out water the second time, you collected more algae/bacteria than before.

I think that could be a possible explanation

PS: can you send pics of both jars? Thanks!

[SuperProofer]

Here's an updated picture. As you can see the larger tank has a crap ton of ugly algae and the smaller has nothing. Blarg.