New Tank - Diatoms vs. Green Algae

[NYCShrimp]

Hello forum! My name's Lindsay, I live in Brooklyn NY, and I discovered the cruelty of EcoSpheres shortly after purchasing one on Amazon Prime day, when I went online to see if these little shrimp guys were sexually dimorphic. I initially thought they were similar to Cherry Shrimp, and that my mom's 10-year-old EcoSphere shrimp was a testimony to the stability of the system. I was very wrong, and have been cycling a little 1-gallon tank for a couple months now, according to Mustafa's instructions. When there was enough diatom growth (about 1.75 months into cycling), I moved a tiger nerite (named Lyle) into the tank, along with a healthy dose of water from the EcoSphere to get some beneficial bacteria going, and a small dose of Dr. Tim's One and Only. This was a little over a week ago.

I seem to have plenty of diatom growth, but only very small dots of green on a piece of coral. In scouring through the forum, I have found that diatom growth is normal in a newly cycling tank, and that it's still a source of food, but I am concerned that I'm not seeing green algae or a biofilm. So far, Lyle seems happy and well-fed, and the water parameters show zero ammonia and nitrites but, surprisingly, a trace amount of nitrates (I never saw any nitrites! I'm concerned I'm mis-reading something). Salinity is 1.011-1.012.

My question is this: What is the best indicator for the right, safe time to transfer my ecosphere buddies into this tank? Should I let everything cook for a few more weeks while testing parameters? I was following Mustafa's directions with my initial setup, and had the tank just sitting for over a month with no ammonia source. I'm concerned that the tank will only start cycling now that I've added the nerite. Any advice is appreciated, and I'm sorry if this is totally redundant. I swear I read as much as I could!

PS: I can transfer the Marimo moss ball to a little freshwater tank if I should, and plan on buying more shrimp from Mustafa once my little EcoSphere dudes seem to be established and happy.

[KenCotigirl]

I think you are ready now. Place your order after the current storm passes.

Ken

[NYCShrimp]

Thanks so much, Ken! This has been an exercise of patience for me, and now I'm at a point where I've gotten so used to waiting that I am hesitant to pull the plug.

I'll get my shrimp order in this weekend!

Should I keep the Marimo in there for now, if I'm carefully monitoring it? After 2 months in brackish water, it still looks great. If it looks a little fishy I can always move it into my accidental 1-gallon planted tank (see general shrimp forum). Alternatively, I can just move it to the planted tank for good and order a brackish ball from Mustafa, too.

The nerite Lyle I can pop back and forth between both aquariums, and he'll probably live in the FW tank all winter because it's heated.

I know the nerite isn't the best fit, but I had a previous MTS problem and I want nothing to do with them. He is such an efficient little poop-nugget, though!

[mcdaney]

The Marimo will be ok in brackish water, no worries!
And yes, your tank looks ready! Welcome to the hobby!

[Mech]

Nice introduction and tank, if I were you I'd buy a saltwater master liquid test kit. This will let you keep an eye on ammonia, nitrites and nitrates along with PH etc.

Be sure to drip acclimatise the shrimp before putting them in your new tank also.

Any questions then just ask

[Varanus]

Be sure to drip acclimatise the shrimp before putting them in your new tank also.

Isn't that kind of acclimation not really necessary for supershrimp though? They are so adapted to facing temperature and salinity changes that the official method recommended here is to simply put them in the tank (assuming there is no ammonia or nitrites). I did so with my bunch and haven't suffered a single loss.

Presumably no harm in doing it of course (I think this was talked about in my thread too).

[NYCShrimp]

Thanks for the tips! I was planning on dumping them into a Pyrex bowl, and adding water from my tank over 30 mins. I figure they are pretty hardy, considering my mom's 10-year-old EcoSpherian is most likely living in what is ostensibly poop-soup by now. I only wish that little guy weren't living across the continent in Los Angeles, so I could give him a better life, too.

My main hesitancy stems from a worry that the tank hasn't really cycled yet, as I just added Lyle the nerite/ammonia source a little over a week ago. I do have a bottle of Seachem Prime, and am ready to make water changes if the need arises. I have been using API test strips to monitor everything, since 1-gal seems too small to be taking out water samples regularly. I know the jury is still out on the accuracy of these, but oh well.

One more question: Is it necessary to have some Chaetomorpha macroalgae, or can I get away with just the Marimo moss ball and the clumps of algae that came in the EcoSphere? Reading through numerous forum posts, it seems that this can become overgrown and die off, which I'm worried could upset the balance of my tiny tiny tank. I could certainly prune it down with my giant steel tweezers, but I prefer a laissez-faire, low-tech approach to aquarium-keeping. I was also looking into the possibility of starting up a 5-gal spirulina culture in my behind-the-bed windowsill, which, while not suitable for fish/invert aquariums, would work quite well for spirulina. There is a well-reviewed culture kit available online.

Although it's not much, I'm pretty proud of my little tank and the charitable work I am doing for Opae Ula kind. Here are some more (crappy) photos of my little tank:

[Mech]

Test strips dont test for ammonia, the stuff which will be there if your tank isnt cycled and its the most harmful to fish/shrimp. You could possibly wing it but i always have to test the water because if things go bad you know strait away and can be ready damaged control via water changes

[NYCShrimp]

Mech, I actually got some separate ammonia test strips, and have been most closely monitoring that! No buildup of ammonia, despite the copious snail poop. I'm also seeing some nitrates, but I didn't catch a nitrite spike. This is what I'm concerned about. Is it possible the Dr. Tim's and water I transferred from the EcoSphere introduced enough good bacteria to minimize this and cycle it quickly?

I'm still being hyper-vigilant and blowing through these strips. If I catch a spike, I'll do a water change with a small dose of SeaChem Prime. I'm just amazed that these little guys can live in such strange conditions for up to 20 years, and wouldn't want to cut their little lives short.

[Mech]

ahhh that's good, im from the UK so we don't have any of those products and im not sure what they do

If you have nitrates and no nitrites or ammonia then you tank is cycled, in one of my tanks im having no ammonia or nitrates but a nitrite spike so its either having a mini cycle or didnt cycle in the first


yours sounds good to go then !

[KenCotigirl]

NYC i am not a fan of the Marimo balls in a brackish tank. I am not saying to buy Mustafa's algae balls. They are costly. The marimo's may survive in low salinity levels not sure how well they will do 1.012. Should they slowly die they may pollute your tank.

More work for Mustafa... A list of plants he tried and failed with placed in the Articles. Save the users of this site time from searching the posts. Hint hint.

[NYCShrimp]

Ken, I did scour through the forum, and seemed to find a lot of conflicting info! My takeaway is that some(most?) Marimos will slowly die, while others will adapt. I do have the accidental 1-gal aquarium I could transfer it to the moment it looks a little different. I would also be happy to buy one of Mustafa's. They are quite expensive, but I feel that is a totally reasonable cost to support business! (That said, I have already spent an obscene amount on the necessities for both this aquarium and the accidental 1-gal FW tank)

I guess the macroalgae is probably necessary to sequester nitrates and waste from the water, as it is fast-growing. Since it's algae, would the nerite eat it? I guess I'm a little worried it would take over my tiny tank and look unkempt.

[Varanus]

Ken, I did scour through the forum, and seemed to find a lot of conflicting info! My takeaway is that some(most?) Marimos will slowly die, while others will adapt. I do have the accidental 1-gal aquarium I could transfer it to the moment it looks a little different. I would also be happy to buy one of Mustafa's. They are quite expensive, but I feel that is a totally reasonable cost to support business! (That said, I have already spent an obscene amount on the necessities for both this aquarium and the accidental 1-gal FW tank)

I guess the macroalgae is probably necessary to sequester nitrates and waste from the water, as it is fast-growing. Since it's algae, would the nerite eat it? I guess I'm a little worried it would take over my tiny tank and look unkempt.

The macroalgae consists of many strands that are only loosely tangled with others so it should be pretty easy to remove parts of it if it does get overgrown. I don't have any nerites in my tank but the MTS don't do more than suck on the biofilm on the strands.

[NYCShrimp]

Whoa! So I'm guessing this is why nerites aren't recommended for opae ula tanks:

He finally discovered the diatom-covered coral overnight, and turned a good deal of it into poo. He's like a tiny Rumplestiltskin, but instead of straw it's algae, and instead of gold it's poo.

I'm thinking he is going to spend a lot of his time in the accidental 1-gal planted tank.

[KenCotigirl]

The real issue with nerites is that eat a lot (poo a lot too). Too many nerites and they can deplete the food supply in a small tank. Especially tanks using the Pet Shrimp Method. (Did Mustafa come up with a accepted term. I have no memory.) One nerite should be fine. 2-3 in a ten gallon keeps the glass clean. I haven't cleaned the glass in my ten gallon for years.

Ken