Help please! Ammonia at 8ppm and shrimp due tomorrow!

[Sierra40]

Hi all,

I have several smallish (biggest is 2.5 gallons, smallest is just under a gallon) tanks that I have been cycling for 8 to 10 weeks in preparation for my order of shrimp. The tank in question has LOT'S of growth of what I thought to be algae...brown and on the tank sides, shells, etc. It has a blank sand substrate (not live but bought from aquarium store and rinsed until it ran clear), some lava and coral which were also cleaned in RO water, a macroalgae and snails that I purchased from Mustafa around two months ago. A few weeks ago I put 4 Opae in the tank in question....I liberated them from a tiny container that my friend had purchased. I just have felt that they haven't looked good. Increasingly little movement, super pale, etc. I decided to test for ammonia since my order from Mustafa arrives tomorrow and this is one of the tanks that I was hoping to add some shrimp to. It was 8ppm extremely dark green and the highest level the color card showed. I took out half of the water and put in fresh (brackish) water. I do have a bottle of Prime. Should I also treat the water with Prime or is the half water change enough? I'm really not sure what went wrong...problem with the black sand substrate? I did have small natural sea fan in there that was kind of a maroon-ish color that seemed to be "shedding." I took that out. Could I have let the tank cycle too long and there was too much algae with not enough to eat it???

The other tanks seem fine although I will test them just to be sure. I can see a thin layer of microalgae floating at the top and the snails are visibly eating, the macroalgae looks healthy, etc. No brown algae covering the sides, shells, etc but figure that's fine, if not good. The substrates for these tanks is crushed coral. If I'm in any doubt about the health of a particular tank can I just place some of the shrimp and the water that Mustafa sent them in, into a clean tank and let them hang there while I make sure all is well with the other tanks???

I understand that in general, we Opae people tend to overanalyze and over think our tanks. I have tried for the "less is more" philosophy but with ammonia so high seems this is one of the times to act?

Thanks much in advance!

[Mustafa]

Hey! Can you post a picture of the tank in question, or maybe even a video of the shrimp? If the shrimp haven't died and are just "hanging out" without swimming around, that's not necessarily a bad thing. The shrimp are not supposed to be actively swimming around all the time. If there is enough food around, they'll just hang out in one spot and maybe pick at things occasionally.

I'm not sure what kind of sea fan you used, but if it was "shedding" then that may have been enough organic material to cause the ammonia. I would take out the sea fan and make sure that it only has the calcium carbonate skeleton without any shedding material before you put it in (after cleaning and soaking it). But having said that, I wouldn't worry too much about it to be honest. If your tank has been running for two months and the shrimp have been there for several weeks without dying, then you're most likely fine. This is one of the reasons I don't recommend testing. It drives people crazy. (And there is no such things as "cycling the tank for too long.")

But if you want to gradually introduce the shrimp, then, yes, you can leave the new shrimp that are coming in their water for weeks even as long as they are not exposed to extreme temperatures. Just introduce a few to the tank, then wait a few days, then introduce more and wait a few days. If you don't see any shrimp in distress, then your tank is ok. Lack of coloration does not mean your shrimp are about to die as it can take several day, weeks or even months before these shrimp gain more color intensity.

[Sierra40]

Thanks for the speedy reply Mustafa from this newbie shrimp girl. So tank 1 (that tested at 8ppm...actually past that, it started to turn deep blue) I added the "liberated" 4 shrimp to 9 days ago. Before I put them in, they were active, rosy red, normal looking. From then to now they steadily lost motion and went totally pale. They would spend almost all of their time just attached to the side of their glass tank, not moving at all. No little leg movement, etc. Of course I freaked out with the ammonia testing changed out 1/2 of the water, retested the ammonia and it tested at 8ppm but didn't go into the blue range. I took out another half of the water, added the correct dose of Prime to the water that I then put in. They are swimming around again and when they are still, I can still see their legs moving. I did remove the sea fan and replaced it with another that I know is used all the time in Opae tanks. I have a picture below (tank 1).

I have a very established tank, (Tank 2) that has 10 Opae in it. Tested it, got 0 ammonia. Those shrimp are almost always on the move! Beautiful red. I give them a couple of micro pellets once a month and mayhem breaks out! They swarm them, 1 usually swims off with 1 while the others follow in hot pursuit. When they are actually still, I do see them eating. I'm hoping there is enough food in there but as per the advice of this group, I give a few micro pellets once a month since I can't see visible algae or biofilm on the surface.

Tank 3 also had one of the questionable sea fans in it which I took out. Ammonia tested at 1ppm. It's bigger than tank 1. Biofilm visible on the surface. Have to decide whether to intervene as I would like to add some tomorrow.

Tank 4 and 5 tested zero ammonia, have beautiful biofilm and active snails. Think they are totally safe to add shrimp tomorrow. So I will take your advice and reserve some of the shrimp arriving tomorrow to "hang out" while adding to my tanks. Can I pour them into an empty tank rather than leave them in the plastic bag? Also, would it hurt to put a little crushed coral at the bottom?

All tanks are either in indirect sunlight or have a dedicated LED lamp.
Tanks for your expert input. All of us control freaks must drive you nuts!

[Varanus]

Are you using a liquid test kit or the test strips? The strips can give pretty inaccurate readings from what I hear.

I'd think that putting the shrimp in another tank is just an unnecessary step and additional stress if Mustafa says they'll be fine for a few weeks in the bag.

[Sierra40]

I was using the liquid test kit. Given how much ammonia was in that tank I can certainly attest to their hardiness! For the tank that tested 1ppm do you think there's any harm in putting a little Prime in just to cover my bases?

Cheers

[Varanus]

Prime certainly can't hurt, I've always used it in my freshwater tanks.