New tank/new to shrimping
Posted: Sat Feb 22, 2014 8:52 am
Greetings all!
I'm new to shrimp keeping and stumbled upon this forum. Looks like a lot of good info here, still combing through the posts to get educated.
Today, I purchased the equipment for my first tank setup and would appreciate any advice you may have. Here's what I got:
-10 gallon tank
-Medium sized Bio Sponge filter
-10-20 gallon air pump
-Seachem Flourite Black Sand (10 lb bag)
-10 lb bag river sand (from pet shop)
-Water dechlorinator (i'm using Tap water)
-3 Crypt Parva plants
-1 Anubias nana
-Ball of Java Moss
-Fluorescent tank hood with Floramax Plant Growth bulb (made by Aqueon)
-Driftwood (loose pieces from pet shop)
-Couple of small lava rocks (loose pieces from pet shop also)
I started out by attempting to rinse the Flourite and river sand but I'm not sure i did a great job since the tank is super cloudy right now after adding the water (slowly). Next I arranged the plants in the tank and added the driftwood and rocks (after boiling the driftwood and leaching out the tannins). I then slowy filled the tank (with tap water), added the dechlorinator, and fired up the sponge filter. Its only been a few hours so the tank is still super cloudy (i'm assuming from the dust in the substrate that got stirred up). I'm hoping this will settle out in a few days.
Then, after watching a few videos on YouTube about "Fishless tank cycling", I added 2 small capfuls (maybe 10ml total) of household ammonia to the water, and also added a small amount of Biozyme (bacteria) to the water. After this I went out for Pizza and came home and did my first ammonia test, hoping the water would have time to "mix" properly and distribute the ammonia I added. I was gone probably 2 hours. The first test showed I was at least 8 ppm (possibly more since the color scale stopped there and it may have been darker). Now I'm worried I added too much ammonia. Should I give it a day or 2 and check again or should i just go ahead and do a water change? Also, how long does it typically take to cycle a small tank like my 10 gallon? I'd appreciate any info you have.
I'm new to shrimp keeping and stumbled upon this forum. Looks like a lot of good info here, still combing through the posts to get educated.
Today, I purchased the equipment for my first tank setup and would appreciate any advice you may have. Here's what I got:
-10 gallon tank
-Medium sized Bio Sponge filter
-10-20 gallon air pump
-Seachem Flourite Black Sand (10 lb bag)
-10 lb bag river sand (from pet shop)
-Water dechlorinator (i'm using Tap water)
-3 Crypt Parva plants
-1 Anubias nana
-Ball of Java Moss
-Fluorescent tank hood with Floramax Plant Growth bulb (made by Aqueon)
-Driftwood (loose pieces from pet shop)
-Couple of small lava rocks (loose pieces from pet shop also)
I started out by attempting to rinse the Flourite and river sand but I'm not sure i did a great job since the tank is super cloudy right now after adding the water (slowly). Next I arranged the plants in the tank and added the driftwood and rocks (after boiling the driftwood and leaching out the tannins). I then slowy filled the tank (with tap water), added the dechlorinator, and fired up the sponge filter. Its only been a few hours so the tank is still super cloudy (i'm assuming from the dust in the substrate that got stirred up). I'm hoping this will settle out in a few days.
Then, after watching a few videos on YouTube about "Fishless tank cycling", I added 2 small capfuls (maybe 10ml total) of household ammonia to the water, and also added a small amount of Biozyme (bacteria) to the water. After this I went out for Pizza and came home and did my first ammonia test, hoping the water would have time to "mix" properly and distribute the ammonia I added. I was gone probably 2 hours. The first test showed I was at least 8 ppm (possibly more since the color scale stopped there and it may have been darker). Now I'm worried I added too much ammonia. Should I give it a day or 2 and check again or should i just go ahead and do a water change? Also, how long does it typically take to cycle a small tank like my 10 gallon? I'd appreciate any info you have.