Almost ready

[Dch48]

Do you think my tank is ready if it is showing between 0.25 and 0.5 ppm nitrite and no ammonia? There is brown algae present.

I'm thinking about ordering the shrimp and when they arrive, changing out half of my water to lower nitrates and then putting the shrimp in.

[Varanus]

Generally once you have algae it should be fine. No need to do a water change unless the shrimp start acting sick.

[Dch48]

My shrimp were supposed to come yesterday but they didn't get here so now I have to wait until Monday. I put the filter that came with the tank in it but without the cartridge. I thought that getting some circulation going would help with finishing the cycle. It seems to be working. The nitrites are down to 0.25 now with ammonia at 0 and nitrates at 5. Nitrites were 1.0 before I put the filter in. I'll take it back out when the shrimp go in.

Yesterday I saw this very nice small Horned Nerite snail at PetSmart. He's yellow with 2 broad black stripes and the horns are complete. He's like only slightly larger than a BB. I couldn't resist and he is now in the tank having a ball with the brown algae that is on everything. He adapted to the brackish water without a hitch and I'd rather have him then those trumpet snails that will wind up multiplying. There are also a few small patches of green algae now attached to the sea fan.

I hope the shrimp will be okay after 5 days in the bag but I guess if they can survive years in a closed ball, they can stand 5 days of shipping.

[Dch48]

The shrimp have arrived and are in their new home. They are doing fine so far but they are very light in color. I'm hoping they color up more as they get used to things. Three of them have definite dark "saddles" so I have the basis for a breeding colony. They are smaller than I was expecting. Much smaller than the Neocaridinas in my other tank.

[Varanus]

I think Mustafa tends to send younger shrimp, so they may get a bit bigger. But yeah, even the biggest ones will be notably smaller than cherry shrimp. They should color up over time.

[Dch48]

They are doing well and starting to color up. I think the snail bit the dust though.

[Dch48]

Update: The snail did not die. He is busily cruising the tank eating the brown stuff. He was motionless in a cup for 3 days and I thought it was the salinity. I gradually reduced it and he started to move and graze on some spirulina powder. He also deposited a lot of waste. I increased the salinity and he went dormant again. All this time there were nitrites showing in the tank but the shrimp were unaffected. I finally did a 50% water change and bubbled air to circulate the water. The nitrites almost immediately disappeared. The snail was now back in fresh water and was really doing well. I reacclimated him back to the brackish water and put him back in the tank. He has been fine ever since. I think it was probably the nitrites that were getting to him.

Anyway, everything is doing great now with a month in.

[Mustafa]

Any more updates? Also, with these shrimp there is really no need to keep changing 50% of the water due to nitrates or nitrites right after "cycling." Supershrimp tanks do not go through a fish tank type "cycle" anyway. Any type of water flow is unnecessary too. As soon as algae appear, the tank is ready. No matter if there is still some residual ammonia or nitrite left. Thriving algae will suck it up quickly anyway. The thing is that algae growth is inhibited severely at higher ammonia/nitrite levels, that's why the "if you see algae, the tank is ready" method works. That's why I don't even recommend getting test kits. Really no need, and they induce unnecessary action due to people thinking their tanks are not ready or there's something wrong. It disturbs the tank more than anything at best, or possibly causes action that eventually leads to the death of the animals (when people start dumping random bacteria products and/or ammonia neutralizers into their tanks).

[Dch48]

Everything is fine now. No shrimp deaths and a couple have gotten berries. I'm just waiting to see if any actually hatch. The snail is fine and has grown slightly. There is no visible algae any more except the slowly growing macro stuff. I only did that one water change and have done nothing since except to top off with distilled from time to time.