New Tank!

[Dick]

Hello all,

I'm pretty sure this is my first time posting, but I've been a customer since about 2013-ish.

I recently set up a new tank, and I'd figured I'd share.

I let it set up a little long (more than two months ) before finally adding shrimp in last week,
so it's got a *little* excess algae/biofilm.
This is actually my second tank, and I learned on the first the importance of hands-off patience
(as soon as I stopped fidgeting with the first one, the shrimp started berrying, and -soon after- had little
larvae floating->swimming around). To that end, I haven't even bought food.

I do have one dumb question: I noticed a couple of molts floating around, and I can't remember if it's better
to leave them to recycle nutrients, or take them out to avoid poisoning.

Anyway,

[Super Jess]

Nice tank! Is it in a lab? You can leave the molts in there and the shrimp will eat them. Recycle FTW!

[Dick]

I'm a grad student, and my "office" is in what obviously used to be a lab, many, many years ago, I'm sure.

The tank itself is a 10-gallon from Pet...Smart(?). I really liked the half-cylinder idea, but the visibility is hindered considerably by refraction.

Unknown-3.jpg (9.78 KiB) Viewed 2638 times

That's what I thought (about the molts), I just wanted to make sure. Thanks!

[Mustafa]

Hello all,

I'm pretty sure this is my first time posting, but I've been a customer since about 2013-ish.

Glad you finally decided to "come out"!

To that end, I haven't even bought food.

And it looks like you don't have to feed for a loooong time judging by the biofilm in your tank. Let us know how things go in the future!

[Dick]

I've had a number of molts, but this one was hooked on the side so perfectly...

Ghosted

Several of my snails are sprinting around the bottom of the tank (I say "sprinting"... they're snails, they're moving really fast for snails).

Is this bizarre, or just something I hadn't noticed before?

[Dick]

Baby Snails!

Must be doing something right (or, at least, not wrong enough for the snails).

[Mustafa]

Awesome! Yes, you're definitely doing *something* right. Your snails have grown very rapidly and are already reproducing! How are the shrimp doing? Any new pictures of your tank?

[Dick]

Unfortunately, my shrimp have been slowly dying. I got some test strips to see if it was something obvious, but the first one came back normal.

I convinced myself on Monday that I had at least one female left, and that she and the remaining two males could still, potentially reproduce.

Well, today, I went to trim part of the macro algae that had been strangled by whatever grew on the side walls; when I nudged the plant, two little bodies were swept out... including my last female.

I tried gently (and eventually less gently) stirring the water to see if any more bodies floated by, and surprisingly, I have at least one little shrimp still actively swimming around. Or did -- We'll see how long he lasts, now that I've stirred in whatever poison killed all his little buddies.

I cleaned the front aquarium wall a few weeks ago (with a little magnet), but left the back alone -- even now the last shrimp still plucks from it.

The growth that fell on the substrate was quickly eaten, but the stuff that fell on the macro algae seems to have "taken root" and squeezed the life out of the macro algae where it landed.

Mostly still green.

The fuzzy stuff is still growing, but the macro algae is dead.

What should I do now, apart from removing the infected macro algae?

Also, here's the sample I just took -- maybe I'm not reading it right?

[Mustafa]

Hmmm...something definitely must have gotten into your tank. Did you start feeding them? Was there construction outside? How about people cleaning the office? Is that a "Flourite" substrate by the way? Just testing the water won't help as none of these tests will show you the real culprit. What helps is to do a 80-90+ percent water change the moment you notice your shrimp dying. After that you leave the tank alone and everything returns to normal usually.