Progress updates

[Mech]

the API test strips for saltwater seem to only measure nitrite, nitrates and ph, hardness but not ammonia?

[jonesinfershrimp]

correct, the 5 in 1 strips. its what i use.

if any ammonia is present it would cause the nitrite levels to register and nitrate to be off the chart, no?

[Mech]

if you get an ammonia spike it will kill your shrimps before nitrite starts to show, ammonia is the most toxic so is important to test for.. you will only get nitrite readings if you get a mini cycle happening in your tank.

[jonesinfershrimp]

ah! alright, well API has some 'splanin to do then im gona ask em whats up with that. this is my hatching post!

[Varanus]

Well 3 weeks in and nothing seems to have progressed. I went ahead and got a liquid test kit for ammonia to make sure the readings are accurate and sure enough ammonia is holding steady at about .50 or .25 (its hard to tell what color it matches best). Nitrite and nitrate seem to be at zero (might be a slight amount of nitrate, its hard to tell).

Snails still doing fine, and still not seeing any obvious algae growth on the rocks, glass or substrate.

So should I do something or is continuing to wait the best thing?

[Mech]

id wait, you need ammonia at zero for it to be safe. something is creating that ammonia... do you know what it is?

[Varanus]

id wait, you need ammonia at zero for it to be safe. something is creating that ammonia... do you know what it is?

Wouldn't it be the waste from the snails? There is also the stowaway shrimp that likely died. I never looked for it as I didn't want to disturb the tank unless it was necessary. I assumed the snails ate it.

[jonesinfershrimp]

gota always take out the dead ones.

[Varanus]

Well I searched through and under the holey rock and the lava rocks, and no sign of a shrimp body. There was a bit of what looked like dust but it scattered and became invisible once I moved a rock. It may have been all that's left of the shrimp's body.

I may simply be impatient, I've gotten used to getting tanks started fast by using water and media from old tanks but I can't do that here as all my other tanks are freshwater.

At what point should I expect to see algae growth (aside from the green film on the surface), could the snails be impeding things? I got the macroalgae and snails because the website stated they would speed up the cycling substantially.

[Mech]

are you getting enough light to grow algae ?

[Varanus]

are you getting enough light to grow algae ?

12 hours a day of the regular aquarium light plus some indirect light from a window.

[Varanus]

Well looks like a bit more patience was all that was needed. In the week since I last tested there has been noticeable algae growth and testing today I find the ammonia has gone down to zero and all other parameters are great!

So is it time to order some shrimp or should I wait for a certain amount of algae growth to occur first? Right now there is just some green on the holey rock and some hard-to-see spots on the glass (plus the macroalgae seems larger). How many shrimp should I order? I planned on getting 20 but could that be too many to add all at once?

[KenCotigirl]

20 is a good number. 10 would be lost in a 6.6 gallon tank. Even with 20 there will low activity. At least half of them hide or are hidden from view. With good luck you could have 100 in a year.

Ken

[Mustafa]

Yeah...patience is the key. As for the shrimp you couldn't find...it's probably still there hiding somewhere. They tend to do that when the tank conditions aren't quite to their liking (or if there is tons of food/algae). They re-emerge when things get better.

[Varanus]

Well the supershrimp arrived yesterday and they seem to have settled down already, most of them colored up and busily scrubbing away around the tank (for much of yesterday they were swimming around and only stopping for a few seconds at a time to scrub for food. I'll wait a few days and see how they respond to a Hikari shrimp cuisine pellet or two, then determine if its time to start the once every few weeks feeding schedule.

I'd post pictures but there is no way any camera I have would detail the shrimp properly.