First Aquarium!

A forum for discussing everything about the Supershrimp (Halocaridina rubra, Opae ula).

Moderator: Mustafa

Mustafa
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Re: First Aquarium!

Post by Mustafa »

Sorry for your problems! :( It always sucks to run into such problems, especially when live animals are involved. Ok...if you see green growth that means that you are about to turn the corner. Just wait a bit longer and confirm that you're actually growing some algae. At this point leave the tank alone...no water changes or anything. Water changes didn't help because your tank still wasn't settled..and there was some source of ammonia. Even if you do a 100% water change the source of ammonia will just continue adding ammonia. And it's not just ammonia either that's the problem. In any case...once things balance out you can add more animals and give it another shot. These kinds of experiences show that we have to be extra diligent with the things we add to a tank...like substrates and decoration, because anything organic stuck in them can cause trouble down the line.
Rikatix
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Re: First Aquarium!

Post by Rikatix »

So, an update! It's about time!

I moved from renting a house to owning a house. In the time that I was moving I basically set the old home to not run air conditioning (in kentucky). I thought this would increase the temperature of the tank, on average, and promote bacteria and algae growth and it did! The tank got super brown and the snail was way happy with their new cleaning duties. The nerite performed wonderfully.

Unfortunately 2 of the ecosphere transfer shrimp did not survive, they were lifeless on the floor of the aquarium. I could attribute this failure to me, their levels on the saltwater master kit didn't read 0's across the board but my reasoning, after testing their ecosphere water (which was terrible) was that at least the aquarium was better than what they were in.

I cracked open the ecosphere and dumped them in! Then proceeded to order 15 shrimp from Mustafa after moving. I ordered new shrimp because the tank finally read 0's on the test kit!.

And for those who may be interested, my tank read that it was finally cycled on July 1, 2016. Which meant it took 3.5 months for me to get this thing cycled. It is just now starting to show green algae growth (instead of brown).

There is a downside, I have lost probably 7 of Mustafas shrimp since they have arrived, which is disheartening. The tank feels very empty but I am hoping that perhaps an equilibrium will be found and that the remaining shrimp will go on to breed and find joy in their new place. Patience is key at this point, Hoping that no more turn up dead.

Just checking in!
i<3Opae
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Re: First Aquarium!

Post by i<3Opae »

Sorry to hear your troubles, losing opae ula - however tiny they were - is very very sad. I've done my fair share of messing up the shrimp environment. The #1 thing that kills them is food overload and followed ammonia spike. Chemical imbalance might be better in your 3-gallon tank vs an ecosphere, but shock alone (due to water parameter, temp etc) could also have been too much for them. All shrimp are not created equal, some are heartier, some are more sensitive. The bottom line is we love these little creatures. It might be a bumpy road, but you'll figure it out, and it will only get better from there!
i<3Opae
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Re: First Aquarium!

Post by i<3Opae »

Rikatix wrote: There is a downside, I have lost probably 7 of Mustafas shrimp since they have arrived, which is disheartening. The tank feels very empty but I am hoping that perhaps an equilibrium will be found and that the remaining shrimp will go on to breed and find joy in their new place.
Do you have your filter turned on all the time now? I read above that you didn't run it during cycling...I'm not sure if that has to do with the long cycling period, a lot of the good bacteria live in the filter (besides substrate and decorations). Maybe they were trying to establish a colony but just took a while.
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