MiniShrimps

[minishrimps]

I think 1.012 is perfect. I don't think you need to do another water change at this point.

Great!

[minishrimps]

So my algae ball wants to float... I keep trying to gently squeeze out the air bubbles to get it to sink but alas, it just keeps producing more tiny air bubbles, photosynthesis I assume? I guess it's fine if it just floats around right?

[Stalker]

Absolutly.

[minishrimps]

This morning i got to work a little early and noticed the algae ball was not floating. You wouldn't think that something like an algae ball would be so active, but it seems to move around quite a bit on it's own... I got here about a half hour after the light came on at 6:30 a.m. An hour later the ball started floating again. It's so small that any oxygen created inside it causes it to become buoyant. I guess when the light goes off at night it's not photosynthesizing and there's nothing making it buoyant so it settles to the bottom then starts to float when the light comes back on. Intriguing and pretty cool. I can't wait for the snails to get here!

[minishrimps]

Came in to the office today and noticed my water looks kind of cloudy. There's definitely lots of algae growth going on as I have tons more air bubbles covering everything and can see greenish spots all over the tank and corals. Should i be worried about the murky water or will it settle down? I haven't done any tests yet, didn't want to disturb it too much... I did notice a bit of an ammonia rise on Friday before I left, but no nitrites or nitrates...

edit: i ran the tests, Ammonia is about 0-.25, nitrite and nitrate both at 0. Not sure what's causing the cloudiness of my water...

[erica]

Unless you've done a water change, you can't have gone from .5ppm ammonia to 0's across the board. Try doing the tests again to see if it turns up with something.

The other possibility is that the results are a little off due to the water beinng brackish and not full marine - I know if you use the freshwater tests there's some variation. I imagine it's the same for the marine tests.

No clue on the cloudy water

My marimos sometimes do the same sink/float dance It's pretty funny when you notice them take off from the bottom!

[minishrimps]

Unless you've done a water change, you can't have gone from .5ppm ammonia to 0's across the board. Try doing the tests again to see if it turns up with something.

I haven't done any water changes, the ammonia test on Friday was between .25ppm and .5ppm today it's in between 0ppm and .25ppm. I have never seen any indication of Nitrates or Nitrites when running tests. I will do another test later today and double check if my tests were accurate.

[minishrimps]

Unless you've done a water change, you can't have gone from .5ppm ammonia to 0's across the board. Try doing the tests again to see if it turns up with something.

also, isn't that the goal and reason to cycle the tank? to get to zeros across the board? I mean eventually your tank will go from .50ppm to zero. That's when you know it has reached a safe zone. The last time i measured at .50ppm was a week ago, it's been .25ppm or less since then (except last Friday when it seemed like it was a little higher, somewhere between .25 and .5. sometimes the color is hard to distinguish...) I just retested, it's still hovering between 0 and .25ppm.

And really it's not that cloudy just a bit hazy I would say, and the substrate is bubbling lots o' tiny air bubbles like a soda pop.

[Varanus]

Just to confirm, are you using the liquid tests or the test strips? The test strips aren't as accurate and could account for the variation you are seeing.

But also, its not exactly all 0s that you want. Its okay to have a small amount of nitrates detected as they are the end result of the cycle.

As for the cloudiness, if its not major then it should clear up on its own provided you don't feed until it does. Its probably just some bacteria or algae overpopulating from excess nutrients.

[minishrimps]

Liquid test kit. I haven't seen any measured nitrate or nitrite in any of the tests i've run so far... is that odd?

Also, the only thing in my tank thus far is still just the algae ball...

I'm not worried really, just curious what's going on. I think my snails will ship this week. How reactive are they to ammonia levels of .25 to .50ppm? That's an ok level for them to survive?

and thanks for the help!

[Varanus]

Liquid test kit. I haven't seen any measured nitrate or nitrite in any of the tests i've run so far... is that odd?

Also, the only thing in my tank thus far is still just the algae ball...

I'm not worried really, just curious what's going on. I think my snails will ship this week. How reactive are they to ammonia levels of .25 to .50ppm? That's an ok level for them to survive?

and thanks for the help!

My snails all survived just fine through the cycling process so it is probably okay. And no its not odd to not be getting nitrate or nitrite (especially so early in the cycling process, you likely won't detect nitrate until the ammonia goes to zero or near zero. Nitrite readings in particular are rare (or at least I've never seen them) as normally things get converted to nitrate so fast that you don't get them detected once the cycling is done.

When you get the snails be sure to put the water they come in in with them in the tank, that will introduce good bacteria from the established tank they came from and help speed the cycling process.

[minishrimps]

Thanks for the responses. For now i'm just letting this tank sit as is. I'll keep testing every other day...

[Varanus]

Thanks for the responses. For now i'm just letting this tank sit as is. I'll keep testing every other day...

I myself tested weekly when I started my tank, you don't want to run out of the test drops after all. There's no need for frequent testing unless you have shrimp and they are having problems. It may make it easier to see the changes too as the change from week to week could be more marked than every other day, and its true happiness to test and find that the tank has fully cycled (one week I had the usual ammonia I had had for weeks, the next week zero ammonia plus those wonderful nitrates).

[minishrimps]

I myself tested weekly when I started my tank, you don't want to run out of the test drops after all. There's no need for frequent testing unless you have shrimp and they are having problems. It may make it easier to see the changes too as the change from week to week could be more marked than every other day, and its true happiness to test and find that the tank has fully cycled (one week I had the usual ammonia I had had for weeks, the next week zero ammonia plus those wonderful nitrates).

Noted! Thanks for the advice.

[erica]

Unless you've done a water change, you can't have gone from .5ppm ammonia to 0's across the board. Try doing the tests again to see if it turns up with something.

also, isn't that the goal and reason to cycle the tank? to get to zeros across the board? I mean eventually your tank will go from .50ppm to zero. That's when you know it has reached a safe zone. The last time i measured at .50ppm was a week ago, it's been .25ppm or less since then (except last Friday when it seemed like it was a little higher, somewhere between .25 and .5. sometimes the color is hard to distinguish...) I just retested, it's still hovering between 0 and .25ppm.

And really it's not that cloudy just a bit hazy I would say, and the substrate is bubbling lots o' tiny air bubbles like a soda pop.

Simple version (this is not meant to be condescending or anything; I just don't have the mental energy for a long post right now! apologies if it seems impolite; it's not intended to be):

Animals produce ammonia as waste products. +Ammonia
Bacteria turn ammonia into nitrite. -Ammonia, +Nitrite
Bacteria turn nitrite into nitrate. -Nitrite, +Nitrate.

The chemicals that make up ammonia are still in the water. Without a water change, there's no way for the chemicals to be removed. However, while ammonia and nitrite are toxic in small amounts, nitrate is much more tolerable. The goal of a cycled tank is 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and low nitrates - I've seen less than 10ppm nitrates discussed as ideal for shrimp, though fishkeepers I know like to keep it below 40ppm.

Nitrates can be removed by plants, and with small amounts of animals and large amounts of plants they can be completely controlled this way. However, I'd expect to see a bump in nitrites at least before this happened. My nitrites take a while to clear away into nitrates when I cycle something.