New Tank - Diatoms vs. Green Algae

[Mech]

This is the sand you want to use, its inert so doesnt alter water params, its really nice sand too

http://www.charterhouse-aquatics.co.uk/ ... -1726.html

i use this in 3 of my tanks and it looks great, shows the poop up more then a lighter sand but makes your shrimp really stand out against the colour!

[NYCShrimp]

Thanks so much for chiming in with some suggestions. I think I will try topping up the gravel that's already in there with one of these non-live, clean sands (whatever I can get in the US!). All of my beneficial bacteria is already established in my gravel, so I think filling in the gaps wouldn't disturb my system and my shrimp too much.

This is really sad, considering these dudes should have 20-year lifespans. The poor little guy was still wiggling a bit this morning, but I can't imagine it will make a comeback. Everyone was really thriving before this, and I've developed some nice bright green algae on my coral.

I hope this easy fix does the job!

[NYCShrimp]

Much much much worse news: the "stuck" shrimp wasn't stuck, it was just dying. I woke up this morning to one dead shrimp and 3 other "stricken" shrimp which I'm sure will die shortly. One of these is my favorite EcoSpherian, Ruby.

A few days ago, I added a small 10W heater to keep the water temperature stable, as it's been very wonky in NYC lately. I also added a brighter light bulb.

All water parameters were perfect, and the aquarium was at a nice 78F. I have absolutely no idea what might have happened. The best I can guess is that the warm water and bright light allowed a bad bacteria to grow? There's still no ammonia or nitrites, and just very faint nitrates.

So, I took the heater out, swapped out the light bulb for the old one, and mixed up a new batch of brackish water and did a 75% water change. The healthy guys are swimming around but seem ok for now? Ruby is trying to swim but doesn't seem in control.

I'm surprised it crashed so quickly. Everyone seemed so happy and healthy just days ago, and some nice green algae (not cyano) starred growing on my coral.

Is there anything else I can do?

[Mech]

its always hard to know what is going on in your tank when it comes to shrimp just dieing.


what test kit are you using? if you have test strips then all bets are off, they are a waste of money and highly inaccurate. Never mind not letting you measure ammonia. Get a API liquid test kit, these are very good.

Until you try with a liquid test kit you are going to have to guess whats up with the water and just go ahead with a big water change, i do 33% if in doubt. you are using RO water mixed with the correct marine salt ?(like instant ocean).

what SG is in your tank? are you using a SG meter/ refractometer?

Do you use spays or aerosols near the tank? tanks seem to suck chemicals in.

[NYCShrimp]

I just did a 75% water change. I mixed Fluval reef salt with distilled water, SG 1.012. I have a meter for measuring this.

I have been using API test strips and I have separate strips for ammonia. I also have some Tetra ammonia test strips, and both read 0. I feel that a 1gal aquarium is too small to be doing the liquid tests all the time, and research on this forum has indicated that the test strips should be just fine, but this does seem to be an issue of some contention. Just in case, I added the tiniest drop of SeaChem prime when I did the water change.

My aquarium has been set up for 3 months, with the shrimp added a little over 3 weeks ago. They adjusted immediately and were doing fantastically until just now. The only changes in the last few days were the 10W heater and the brighter lightbulb (7watt daylight LED, equivalent to 40watt incandescent...maybe this is too bright? My FW shrimp love it.)

The temperature has also fluctuated a great deal in the last week, with a 72F day following a 32F day. That's why I got the heater, to keep things stable.

[Mech]

test strips are not accurate so unless you want to know what's happening with your tanks water its all down to guessing, 1 gal isnt a very good amount of water to keep healthy, no room for mistakes.

[NYCShrimp]

Well, for now, I have the test strips. I can bring a sample of the water to my LFS tomorrow for testing. I already did the 75% water change, and added the Prime. Is there anything else I could do for now?

I'd love to have a larger tank, but my lack of space is the reason I bought the EcoSphere in the first place. I was under the impression from this site that a 1gal would be perfectly fine.

Also, I don't use aerosols, but I did wipe down the sides of the plastic tank a few weeks ago with a little Windex. Could it have leached through?

[Mech]

its possible that cleaner has gotten into the water, yes. You just need Ro water and salt, wouldn't bother with anything more.

activated carbon in the filter should remove any chemicals from the water.

[Mustafa]

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.

Good idea!

[Mustafa]

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).

Yeah, no drip acclimation needed usually. You can just dump them in along with the water.

[Mustafa]

I have one nerite in each 1-gal aquarium right now, but I feel like one nerite shared between both would have been better. Despite that alarming amount of poo, there is still 0 ammonia, which makes me feel a little better about the establishment of beneficial bacteria.

That's because even "invisible" biofilm provides food for the animals. Also, there is always minute amounts of ammonia to start the cycle in every tank. The reason you measured some nitrate is because the cycle is complete. Even if you don't measure nitrates the fact that algae start growing usually means the cycle is complete and the tank ready. The shrimp produce so little ammonia that the bacterial populations already established in the tank are enough and will grow with the shrimp population. By the way, you don't necessarily have to introduce nitrifying bacteria. They are very, very plentiful everywhere really (and their spores float through the air, too). They'll find their way into your tank eventually, if you want it or not.

[NYCShrimp]

Hey there Mustafa! Thanks for the infos! Any idea why my shrimp are dying now?

Ways in which my tank is not exactly to your setup:
1) a Marimo moss ball (not dying, still looks great)
2) I had added a 10w heater - it kept the tank a constant 78-80F, I have since removed it
3) No snails (nerite went back to FW tank), no chaemo, but I did get one of your moss balls
4) I had been trying different lightning and had recently switched to a much brighter light (7watt LED) - changed that back too (the heater and light were the only recent changes I made)

Other than that, no filter, SG 1.012, test strips all have fine readings, and I let the tank "cycle" for 2 months before adding shrimp and had a great diatom bloom, which is now replaced with some green algae. According to all my lurking, I think I'd be fine!

[Mustafa]

Well, for now, I have the test strips. I can bring a sample of the water to my LFS tomorrow for testing. I already did the 75% water change, and added the Prime. Is there anything else I could do for now?

I'd love to have a larger tank, but my lack of space is the reason I bought the EcoSphere in the first place. I was under the impression from this site that a 1gal would be perfectly fine.

Also, I don't use aerosols, but I did wipe down the sides of the plastic tank a few weeks ago with a little Windex. Could it have leached through?

1 gallon is perfectly fine as long as you don't overfeed, which you don't seem have done. I have a half-gallon jar in my kitchen and the only reason a few shrimp (2) died in it was because of extreme (high) temps here in California over the summer (and no shrimp died until the water reached over 100 degrees..I think it was 104 but I'll have to check some pics that I took with a thermometer. I'm guessing that some of the windex you used on the tank got on your hands and into the tank (even without the hands involved) somehow. That would do it. I wouldn't use any cleaning chemicals or similar stuff near the tank. You did the right thing. A large water change is really the only thing you can do. If problems persist you do another one. I'm pretty sure the large water change will do the trick though.

[Mustafa]

Hey there Mustafa! Thanks for the infos! Any idea why my shrimp are dying now?

Ways in which my tank is not exactly to your setup:
1) a Marimo moss ball (not dying, still looks great)
2) I had added a 10w heater - it kept the tank a constant 78-80F, I have since removed it
3) No snails (nerite went back to FW tank), no chaemo, but I did get one of your moss balls
4) I had been trying different lightning and had recently switched to a much brighter light (7watt LED) - changed that back too (the heater and light were the only recent changes I made)

Other than that, no filter, SG 1.012, test strips all have fine readings, and I let the tank "cycle" for 2 months before adding shrimp and had a great diatom bloom, which is now replaced with some green algae. According to all my lurking, I think I'd be fine!

Yeah, I don't think it's the heater or the light. I'm really leaning towards the windex. Anyone else in the home that could have stuck their hands in there after (unknowingly) touching something harmful to the shrimp?

[NYCShrimp]

I didn't really rinse the heater before I put it in, and my hands were clean enough. I don't think I had anything harmful on them? Would that do something like this? Not rinsing the heater (it came in a completely sealed package)? Some shrimp did like to hang out on it.

No one else touches these guys. My fuzzband has his instruments, I have my aquariums.

The ones that aren't sick got pretty agitated by the 75% water change, but seem to be settling down now. I put the sick ones in some fresh 1.102 SG water and they are taking forever to kick it, but really aren't showing any signs of getting better.

If things seem to get better, I might try again with a new order in a month or 2.