Need Help With Cherry Red Shrimp/fire Red Parameters

Hello everyone new here. need help with my parameters in my guppy/cherry shrimp tank.

jan 29th, filled 10 gallon aquarium with gravel water dechlorinated with prime.

jan 30th waited 30 hours added the big bottle of tetra safe start plus after shaking well. then added 2 guppies

feb 1st added 2 sterba corys.

feb 2nd added 20 cherry or fire cherry shrimp

feb 11 checked parameters and I see 2-4ppm ammonia and 40-60ppm of nitrates. performed 10-15% water change.

feb 12 checked parameters pictures below.


ph I would say 6.8 to 7
ammonia .5 to 1ppm ?
nitrite 0
nitrate 20-40?

is the cycle almost done? my fish and shrimps are doing fine. one of the cherries just gave birth to some shrimplets I still see them and everyone is eating. I purchased another bottle of tetra safe start plus just incase I need to dose again.
if cycling is not done is there anything I need to do in the mean time?

I also need help with future water changes. recently my tap has gone from 7.2 to 8.4. lfs told me to use seachum ph regulator to keep it at 7. to add during water changes to keep ph around 6.8 to 7.
please see below for tap water.

ph 8.2-8.8?
.5ppm ammonia
0 nitrite
0 nitrate

any help is appreciated thank you

 

I'm gonna say that you added too many things, too soon on a barely started cycle. I'm not familiar with tetra safe start. You can try to grab a bottle of Stabilty or Seed and its added.daily for a week to help jump start the bacteria colony. The fish are already there so you can do daily WCs to keep the ammonia in check and hope it works itself out soon.

 

you need to do larger and more frequent water changes. 50% weekly. and test weekly as well.

you can try driftwood and almond leaves to lower pH. do you have a GH KH test kit?

 

you need to do larger and more frequent water changes. 50% weekly. and test weekly as well.

you can try driftwood and almond leaves to lower pH. do you have a GH KH test kit?

I'm more concerened about my tank not fully cycling

I do have a gh kh test. tap gh4 kh 3
tank kh 1st drop turn light light yellow 2 drops yellow. gh 4 drops for green 5 drops darker green

 

looks like you're in the nitrite phase, usually lasts 3 weeks.

but you need to do bigger water changes, that much ammonia and nitrites are bad for the fish and shrimp.

 

looks like you're in the nitrite phase, usually lasts 3 weeks.

but you need to do bigger water changes, that much ammonia and nitrites are bad for the fish and shrimp.

my nitrites are 0
ammonia 1-2
nitrates 20-40

 

your Feb 12 test results show nitrites .25
your tap shows nitrites 0

 

I would do daily 10% water changes as shrimp don’t always take kindly to large water changes. The good part is that you have prime so I would dose that for your ammonia and nitrites. However mattgirl is the expert so hopefully she can advise you more for how to complete your fish-in cycle.

Also are you feeding your shrimp shrimp cuisine? Your tank doesn’t have algae for them to graze on so you’ll need to give them some food source. It’s freat to hear they’re doing well!

 

Thank you Giul

Since you are using Tetra Safe Start things do work a bit different than a fish in cycle without it but it has been long enough since it was added to start doing water changes to get and keep that ammonia down.

Run your test and if you see an ammonia reading change enough water to get it as low as possible and add Prime to neutralize any that is left.

Quite often when cycling with TSS you will miss the nitrite phase. It looks like you did get a low reading at one point but that may be all you will see if it is now zero.

You say you are experiencing a higher than normal PH in your source water and it is now higher than the water in your tank. What you may want to do a put some of your tap water in a container and let it sit for 24 hours and then run the PH test on it. Others have experienced this and find that the PH in their source water goes back down after 24 hours or so.

I don't totally understand the science behind it. Something about the buffering agents neutralizing or something like that. If you find that your ph does drop you may have to age your source water for 24 hours before doing your water changes. This way you don't have to add any kind of chemicals to control the level.

In my humble opinion "less is best" when it comes to adding anything to our tanks except for fresh clean water. Fresh water is the best thing we can add for our water pets. Keep their water fresh and they bless us with long healthy lives.

 

I would do daily 10% water changes as shrimp don’t always take kindly to large water changes. The good part is that you have prime so I would dose that for your ammonia and nitrites. However mattgirl is the expert so hopefully she can advise you more for how to complete your fish-in cycle.

Also are you feeding your shrimp shrimp cuisine? Your tank doesn’t have algae for them to graze on so you’ll need to give them some food source. It’s freat to hear they’re doing well!

thank you for your feedback! currently I break off 1/4 of a algae wafer and I drop it in different corners of the tank the shrimps go nuts over this. Guppies I feed them some flakes I crush maybe 5-6 small pieces and put it in.

Thank you Giul

Since you are using Tetra Safe Start things do work a bit different than a fish in cycle without it but it has been long enough since it was added to start doing water changes to get and keep that ammonia down.

Run your test and if you see an ammonia reading change enough water to get it as low as possible and add Prime to neutralize any that is left.

Quite often when cycling with TSS you will miss the nitrite phase. It looks like you did get a low reading at one point but that may be all you will see if it is now zero.

You say you are experiencing a higher than normal PH in your source water and it is now higher than the water in your tank. What you may want to do a put some of your tap water in a container and let it sit for 24 hours and then run the PH test on it. Others have experienced this and find that the PH in their source water goes back down after 24 hours or so.

I don't totally understand the science behind it. Something about the buffering agents neutralizing or something like that. If you find that your ph does drop you may have to age your source water for 24 hours before doing your water changes. This way you don't have to add any kind of chemicals to control the level.

In my humble opinion "less is best" when it comes to adding anything to our tanks except for fresh clean water. Fresh water is the best thing we can add for our water pets. Keep their water fresh and they bless us with long healthy lives.

hello mattgirl,

I actually have been testing everyday since I added tss . I never saw nitrite until yesterday. I checked again this morning.
ammonia is 2-4ppm
nitrite is now baby blue or blue so 0
nitrates are 40-60 again.

I redosed another bottle of tss yesterday the one for 70 gallon. I put aside 1 gallon of water with prime and some ph regulator last night after I dosed the second bottle of tss in case anyone here advised me to change water. tomorrow will be the 14th day of the original bottle of tss. it seems it is working but not enough bacteria to convert all the ammonia since I do constantly see nitrates ?

 

hello mattgirl,

I actually have been testing everyday since I added tss . I never saw nitrite until yesterday. I checked again this morning.
ammonia is 2-4ppm
nitrite is now baby blue or blue so 0
nitrates are 40-60 again.

I redosed another bottle of tss yesterday the one for 70 gallon. I put aside 1 gallon of water with prime and some ph regulator last night after I dosed the second bottle of tss in case anyone here advised me to change water. tomorrow will be the 14th day of the original bottle of tss. it seems it is working but not enough bacteria to convert all the ammonia since I do constantly see nitrates ?

I could be totally wrong but I think you are getting these ammonia and nitrate readings today because of the TSS you just added. I think but could be wrong that you were/are very close to cycled and another bottle of TSS wasn't necessary.

I think but am not totally sure that you don't complete understand what is supposed to happen only because of your last sentence.

The first bacteria is one that eats ammonia. The waste from the ammonia eating bacteria is nitrite. The second bacteria is one that eats nitrites. Then the waste from the nitrite eating bacteria is nitrate. There usually isn't another bacteria to eat the nitrates so they have to be removed with water changes. Nitrates are the final stage of the cycling process.

You had a small nitrite spike (often when using TSS this phase is so short it is often missed) and you were getting nitrates (the final part of the cycle). That was telling me that the original TSS had done its job and this tank was very close to cycled and just needed a water change and a few more days to complete its job.

By adding so much more TSS you now just have to wait it out or do small water change to slowly remove it and give the cycle time to balance out. A bottle designed for 70 gallons in a 10 gallon tank was a quite a bit too much but folks do say you can't add too much so I guess it won't hurt. It will just make your numbers wonky for a while.

 

I could be totally wrong but I think you are getting these ammonia and nitrate readings today because of the TSS you just added. I think but could be wrong that you were/are very close to cycled and another bottle of TSS wasn't necessary.

I think but am not totally sure that you don't complete understand what is supposed to happen only because of your last sentence.

The first bacteria is one that eats ammonia. The waste from the ammonia eating bacteria is nitrite. The second bacteria is one that eats nitrites. Then the waste from the nitrite eating bacteria is nitrate. There usually isn't another bacteria to eat the nitrates so they have to be removed with water changes. Nitrates are the final stage of the cycling process.

You had a small nitrite spike (often when using TSS this phase is so short it is often missed) and you were getting nitrates (the final part of the cycle). That was telling me that the original TSS had done its job and this tank was very close to cycled and just needed a water change and a few more days to complete its job.

By adding so much more TSS you now just have to wait it out or do small water change to slowly remove it and give the cycle time to balance out. A bottle designed for 70 gallons in a 10 gallon tank was a quite a bit too much but folks do say you can't add too much so I guess it won't hurt. It will just make your numbers wonky for a while.

please Correct me if I’m wrong about this . I was close to the end of my cycle I should have done a small water change to lower levels but instead I added another bottle of tss.

I know that tss bacteria can not survive if I dose with prime or do water changes with prime because it would kill the bottled tss bacteria ?

Can I correct this error of second bottle of tss with a 10-15% water change and double dose prime ? THe double dose of prime should not effect my original colony of bb?

 

please Correct me if I’m wrong about this . I was close to the end of my cycle I should have done a small water change to lower levels but instead I added another bottle of tss.

Correct. I really think your cycle was progressing just as it should have when adding TSS.

I know that tss bacteria can not survive if I dose with prime or do water changes with prime because it would kill the bottled tss bacteria ?

That is what I have read. I have never used any of the many brands of bacteria in a bottle but do understand the concept.

Can I correct this error of second bottle of tss with a 10-15% water change and double dose prime ? THe double dose of prime should not effect my original colony of bb?

I have never had shrimp so have to defer to those that do and the ones that understand how to care for them. If large water changes are detrimental to them then several smaller water changes over the next few day may need to be done instead of just one big one.

Just try to get that ammonia level down as low as possible with water changes and Prime should protect your fish and shrimp with the amount left.

Prime, even 5 times the normal dose will not affect the bacteria colony you have already grown. In most cases more is not always better so a normal dose should be fine.

 

Correct. I really think your cycle was progressing just as it should have when adding TSS.


That is what I have read. I have never used any of the many brands of bacteria in a bottle but do understand the concept.


I have never had shrimp so have to defer to those that do and the ones that understand how to care for them. If large water changes are detrimental to them then several smaller water changes over the next few day may need to be done instead of just one big one.

Just try to get that ammonia level down as low as possible with water changes and Prime should protect your fish and shrimp with the amount left.

Prime, even 5 times the normal dose will not affect the bacteria colony you have already grown. In most cases more is not always better so a normal dose should be fine.

So when I get home today. should do 10% water changes with normal dose of prime. tomorrow same thing and continue until ammonia levels get to 0? at what point should I expect cycle to be done? when there is ammonia readings and within 24 hours it becomes 0 ?

another question is . I have 8.4ph out of tap. but if I'm needed to do 10-15% water changes for next couple of days to get ammonia down I won't have enough time to let water sit to let ph go down. should I use the ph regulator ?

 

So when I get home today. should do 10% water changes with normal dose of prime. tomorrow same thing and continue until ammonia levels get to 0? at what point should I expect cycle to be done? when there is ammonia readings and within 24 hours it becomes 0 ?

When you see 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites and some nitrates you can consider the cycle complete. Since you have fish in here there will be a constant supply of ammonia but once you have grown a big enough colony of bacteria it will process the ammonia to nitrites then to nitrates in an endless loop and at that point the only thing you should get a reading of more than zero will be nitrates. The nitrates are kept under control with water changes.

another question is . I have 8.4ph out of tap. but if I'm needed to do 10-15% water changes for next couple of days to get ammonia down I won't have enough time to let water sit to let ph go down. should I use the ph regulator ?

Set out enough water to do your first water change tomorrow. Don't add anything to the water. Just before you do your water change add enough Prime for the full volume of your tank. After the water change set out water for the next day and repeat until your ammonia finally drops to zero.

 

When you see 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites and some nitrates you can consider the cycle complete. Since you have fish in here there will be a constant supply of ammonia but once you have grown a big enough colony of bacteria it will process the ammonia to nitrites then to nitrates in an endless loop and at that point the only thing you should get a reading of more than zero will be nitrates. The nitrates are kept under control with water changes.


Set out enough water to do your first water change tomorrow. Don't add anything to the water. Just before you do your water change add enough Prime for the full volume of your tank. After the water change set out water for the next day and repeat until your ammonia finally drops to zero.

thank you ! will do this when I get home. will follow up in a few days to see how things are going !

 

thank you ! will do this when I get home. will follow up in a few days to see how things are going !

You are so very welcome. Looking forward to a happy ending. I love 'em


BTW: You may not have to do daily water changes. Let your test be your guide. If the ammonia level is below one just add enough Prime to treat the tank. If it goes up to one or above do the water change to get it back down and again dose Prime.

 

You are so very welcome. Looking forward to a happy ending. I love 'em


BTW: You may not have to do daily water changes. Let your test be your guide. If the ammonia level is below one just add enough Prime to treat the tank. If it goes up to one or above do the water change to get it back down and again dose Prime.

so if ammonia below 1 dose the tank with enough for 10g. not a water change ? if above 1 do 10-15% water water change with prime.

 

Personally, I would slowly acclimate the shrimp to the new, higher ph by doing small, fairly frequent water changes to slowly increase the ph of the tank. I have a high ph at the house (8.4) and my neocaridinas don't seem to mind .. and higher TDS (265-295 out of the tap).

 

so if ammonia below 1 dose the tank with enough for 10g. not a water change ? if above 1 do 10-15% water water change with prime.

You got it I can't put a number on what it will take to get the ammonia below one though. It might take more or maybe less. Let your test results guide you.

Personally, I would slowly acclimate the shrimp to the new, higher ph by doing small, fairly frequent water changes to slowly increase the ph of the tank. I have a high ph at the house (8.4) and my neocaridinas don't seem to mind .. and higher TDS (265-295 out of the tap).

I agree. Hopefully these small water change being done will acclimate them. Problem in this case the PH from the tap was low and is now higher. Allowing the water to age will hopefully stabilize it before the water changes and the smaller than normal water changes will protect the shrimp without having to add chemicals to adjust it.

 

Personally, I would slowly acclimate the shrimp to the new, higher ph by doing small, fairly frequent water changes to slowly increase the ph of the tank. I have a high ph at the house (8.4) and my neocaridinas don't seem to mind .. and higher TDS (265-295 out of the tap).

my tds out of tap is like 30-40 . I think the shrimps and guppies would be more happy around 7ph ? what if I diluted the water I'm going to change with distilled water every time I did water changes. it does seem like it would make life easier if I just slowly acclimated them to new ph with prime over time. I can always drip acclimate new water into tank overnight also.

 

Since you just dosed TSS again, your numbers will be confusing for a little while. To start, I'd set out some tap water for 24 hours and see if the pH changes. If it does, that says you'll want to always leave your water out for at least 24 hours before using it for a water change or get something to increase your pH naturally, such as crushed coral. I wouldn't use anything chemical to change pH. If the pH of your tap water doesn't change after 24 hours, do small, frequent water changes to transition your tank to the higher pH. Probably around 10% every couple of days. I'd also wait a couple days to test parameters again because of the TSS. I used TSS on my 10 gallon and after 3 days tests showed that it was fully cycled. Since you were close, I'd imagine that's about all it will take till you see your parameters where they should be for a cycled tank.

 

Since you just dosed TSS again, your numbers will be confusing for a little while. To start, I'd set out some tap water for 24 hours and see if the pH changes. If it does, that says you'll want to always leave your water out for at least 24 hours before using it for a water change or get something to increase your pH naturally, such as crushed coral. I wouldn't use anything chemical to change pH. If the pH of your tap water doesn't change after 24 hours, do small, frequent water changes to transition your tank to the higher pH. Probably around 10% every couple of days. I'd also wait a couple days to test parameters again because of the TSS. I used TSS on my 10 gallon and after 3 days tests showed that it was fully cycled. Since you were close, I'd imagine that's about all it will take till you see your parameters where they should be for a cycled tank.

from what I'm getting from everyone is .
either raise the ph in the tank now slowly with coral or other natural ways but do not use ph regulators. ?
let water sit for 24 hours to see ph levels? <--- want to make sure I understand prime correctly. prime only works for 24 hours. if I dose water and let it sit past 24 hours prime won't be effective anymore and if this water went into the tank it would hurt my fish correct?

 

from what I'm getting from everyone is .
either raise the ph in the tank now slowly with coral or other natural ways but do not use ph regulators. ?
let water sit for 24 hours to see ph levels? <--- want to make sure I understand prime correctly. prime only works for 24 hours. if I dose water and let it sit past 24 hours prime won't be effective anymore and if this water went into the tank it would hurt my fish correct?

That is why I recommended not adding the Prime until water change time

Test the PH of the water you have set out for the water change the next day. It is possible that after gassing off over night the PH in it will be lower than it is straight out of the tap.

 

either raise the ph in the tank now slowly with coral or other natural ways but do not use ph regulators. ?

Yes. It is better to raise pH naturally than chemically. It's easy to accidentally add too much or not enough of a chemical and stress out or kill fish. Something like crushed coral is actually raising the kH, which stabilizes the pH and keeps it from dropping.

let water sit for 24 hours to see ph levels?

Yes. If it goes down, it's highly likely that you have a low kH.

want to make sure I understand prime correctly. prime only works for 24 hours. if I dose water and let it sit past 24 hours prime won't be effective anymore and if this water went into the tank it would hurt my fish correct?

Prime will still be effective as a water conditioner, it just will no longer be effective to neutralize ammonia & nitrite. So it won't hurt your fish, it just won't help if you still have ammonia or nitrite. If you need to let the water sit for pH concerns only, you can add prime just before you add it to the tank so it will still work for any ammonia/nitrite. If you're letting it sit because of the TSS, you'll want it to sit after adding the prime because the prime needs to lose its detox ability.

 

That is why I recommended not adding the Prime until water change time

Test the PH of the water you have set out for the water change the nest day. It is possible that after gassing off over night the PH in it will be lower than it is straight out of the tap.

mattgirl reading too much and too fast LOL.

Yes. It is better to raise pH naturally than chemically. It's easy to accidentally add too much or not enough of a chemical and stress out or kill fish. Something like crushed coral is actually raising the kH, which stabilizes the pH and keeps it from dropping.



Yes. If it goes down, it's highly likely that you have a low kH.



Prime will still be effective as a water conditioner, it just will no longer be effective to neutralize ammonia & nitrite. So it won't hurt your fish, it just won't help if you still have ammonia or nitrite. If you need to let the water sit for pH concerns only, you can add prime just before you add it to the tank so it will still work for any ammonia/nitrite. If you're letting it sit because of the TSS, you'll want it to sit after adding the prime because the prime needs to lose its detox ability.

I actually haven't tested the tank for kh/gh but my tap is 3kh 4gh those are including the first drops

ETNsilverstar mattgirl I'm getting a little overwhelmed with this LOL. adding crushed coral in a mesh bag that I hang in the water is okay? I actually run 3 sponge filters so no where in the filter to put.
how much crushed coral would it take to bring my ph to 8.4? or does it raise slowly dependent on the amount I put?
if my tap does go from 8.4 to something lower should I still put crushed coral?
and what if I let my tap sit and it goes from 8.4 to 7.4 but next time I let it sit for 2 days and it goes to 7? would the crushed coral help with this?

 

ETNsilverstar mattgirl I'm getting a little overwhelmed with this LOL. adding crushed coral in a mesh bag that I hang in the water is okay? I actually run 3 sponge filters so no where in the filter to put.
how much crushed coral would it take to bring my ph to 8.4? or does it raise slowly dependent on the amount I put?
if my tap does go from 8.4 to something lower should I still put crushed coral?
and what if I let my tap sit and it goes from 8.4 to 7.4 but next time I let it sit for 2 days and it goes to 7? would the crushed coral help with this?

I know too much information in a short period of time can be overwhelming. Let's take it one step at a time.

First let's find out if your PH drops in your tap water after setting out over night and then go from there. If it does then it is just a matter of aging your water overnight before each water change. If it doesn't then we can figure out what the best route to take will be.

 

mattgirl okay. will do. I have 1 gallon water set aside. which has 7.0 ph regulator in it . after reading all this I wish to not use it.
This morning my ammonia was 2-4ppm 0 nitrite 20-40 nitrate. instead of doing a water change today should I just dose the tank with enough prime for the tank and set aside another 1 gallon of water to see if ph drops and to do water change on thursday?

 

mattgirl okay. will do. I have 1 gallon water set aside. which has 7.0 ph regulator in it . after reading all this I wish to not use it.
This morning my ammonia was 2-4ppm 0 nitrite 20-40 nitrate. instead of doing a water change today should I just dose the tank with enough prime for the tank and set aside another 1 gallon of water to see if ph drops and to do water change on thursday?

That is what I would do. You don't want anything added to the aging water. I could be totally wrong but I think you are getting those high readings because of the TSS. As long as your water pets don't appear to be stressed I don't think waiting until tomorrow to start the water changes will be a problem.

I think what I would do is go ahead and set out enough water to change out at least 15%. If the PH does in fact go down you will have enough aged water ready to go ahead and do 15% instead of 10% since it might take that much to get the ammonia below one.

I really hope the PH does drop because it will make your water changes simple to do without having to do anything other than letting the water age.

Under normal circumstances I would be recommending 50% or more but we have to consider the health of your shrimp.

 

That is what I would do. You don't want anything added to the aging water. I could be totally wrong but I think you are getting those high readings because of the TSS. As long as your water pets don't appear to be stressed I don't think waiting until tomorrow to start the water changes will be a problem.

I think what I would do is go ahead and set out enough water to change out at least 15%. If the PH does in fact go down you will have enough aged water ready to go ahead and do 15% instead of 10% since it might take that much to get the ammonia below one.

I really hope the PH does drop because it will make your water changes simple to do without having to do anything other than letting the water age.

Under normal circumstances I would be recommending 50% or more but we have to consider the health of your shrimp.

okay. the fishes and shrimp are doing just fine shrimp are eating and swimming around . male guppy is chasing female around. will set aside some water tonight and dose tank with prime thank you !

 

mattgirl so just added prime to the tank . Saw one of my cherry shrimp drop her eggs. But fish and shrimp are still very active . Before I added prime I tested and these are results

 

mattgirl so just added prime to the tank . Saw one of my cherry shrimp drop her eggs. But fish and shrimp are still very active . Before I added prime I tested and these are results
View attachment 528671

These are the results I would expect to see after having the TSS added. Once you start doing the water change I have a feeling the ammonia will start going down fairly quick.

Keep in mind. Prime isn't going to remove the ammonia. It is just going to make it safer for your fish. It will still show up the same when you run the tests.

 

I agree with mattgirl. The ammonia looks like 1 from the pic, so I'd say you're safe for the night even if the reading isn't being caused by the TSS.

As far as the coral is concerned, yes, it can go directly into the tank. To figure out how much you need just requires watching and waiting. You could also add something like salty shrimp, though it is normally used to remineralize RO water.

 

I would like to chime in here IRT your shrimp. I don’t mean to sound overly down on your setup but, IMO, The fish you have added will more then likely eat your shrimp. But on the other hand your water parameters will more then likely kill your shrimp before they get ate.
RCS do not do well in a new tank, and need a well established and stable tank yours is far from either.
Now let’s look at reality, you got a mess on your hands what can we do to try to salvage this. If it was me I would, Rehome the shrimp in a different tank, yes it will be new but you can use one of your sponge filter as a seed. Get some Bactur AE to help establish your bio film. Maybe add some moss plants, Java fern. Your tap water is ok for RCS a bit high in PH but they will adapt.
IMO, the worst thing you can do is chase your PH, fish will mostly adapt to it. It’s the swings that kill them. Add prime until your ammonia levels go to zero.

Again I am not trying to be a wet blanket but you got some problems and the advise your getting is good but the shrimps are most likely not going to survive in this environment. Sorry.

 

I would like to chime in here IRT your shrimp. I don’t mean to sound overly down on your setup but, IMO, The fish you have added will more then likely eat your shrimp. But on the other hand your water parameters will more then likely kill your shrimp before they get ate.
RCS do not do well in a new tank, and need a well established and stable tank yours is far from either.
Now let’s look at reality, you got a mess on your hands what can we do to try to salvage this. If it was me I would, Rehome the shrimp in a different tank, yes it will be new but you can use one of your sponge filter as a seed. Get some Bactur AE to help establish your bio film. Maybe add some moss plants, Java fern. Your tap water is ok for RCS a bit high in PH but they will adapt.
IMO, the worst thing you can do is chase your PH, fish will mostly adapt to it. It’s the swings that kill them. Add prime until your ammonia levels go to zero.

Again I am not trying to be a wet blanket but you got some problems and the advise your getting is good but the shrimps are most likely not going to survive in this environment. Sorry.

Ty . I get what your saying I do notice ammonia is going down . I do not have another tank . I have plenty of hiding spaces for my shrimp in this tank . I stare at my tank quite often and have never seen my guppies go at shrimp even though there are very tiny ones . So you would still advise to move my shrimp even though ammonia goes down ?

I agree with mattgirl. The ammonia looks like 1 from the pic, so I'd say you're safe for the night even if the reading isn't being caused by the TSS.

As far as the coral is concerned, yes, it can go directly into the tank. To figure out how much you need just requires watching and waiting. You could also add something like salty shrimp, though it is normally used to remineralize RO water.

Tested again . And ammonia is a little lighter . I did set aside some water now for tomorrow tested it right now it’s about 8.4 ph so hopefully see a drop .

 

Ty . I get what your saying I do notice ammonia is going down . I do not have another tank . I have plenty of hiding spaces for my shrimp in this tank . I stare at my tank quite often and have never seen my guppies go at shrimp even though there are very tiny ones . So you would still advise to move my shrimp even though ammonia goes down ?

I wouldn't, personally. As long as there are plenty of hiding places, your survival rate will still be pretty high. You just have to be aware that it's a risk, though it's less of a concern as your shrimp population grows.

 

My tank and shrimp feeding today . Excuse my fat sponge lol

These are the results I would expect to see after having the TSS added. Once you start doing the water change I have a feeling the ammonia will start going down fairly quick.

Keep in mind. Prime isn't going to remove the ammonia. It is just going to make it safer for your fish. It will still show up the same when you run the tests.

I assumed or thought that by putting prime in now in the tank it would give my bb time to lower the ammonia ?

 

I assumed or thought that by putting prime in now in the tank it would give my bb time to lower the ammonia ?

The only thing Prime does is detox the ammonia in the tank thus protects your water pets until the bacteria has time to process it.. It won't do anything to speed up the growth of bacteria. I really do think you were successful with your first addition of TSS though so your ammonia should start going down soon. The water change will just help it along by removing some of it.

 

The only thing Prime does is detox the ammonia in the tank thus protects your water pets until the bacteria has time to process it.. It won't do anything to speed up the growth of bacteria. I really do think you were successful with your first addition of TSS though so your ammonia should start going down soon. The water change will just help it along by removing some of it.

Okay will See how the water turns out tomorrow after 24hrs. The new bottle of tss I added won’t negate the effects of first bottle correct ? Or start over ?

Hopefully after a couple of days of water changes parameters get to where they need to be

 

Okay will See how the water turns out tomorrow after 24hrs. The new bottle of tss I added won’t negate the effects of first bottle correct ? Or start over ?

No, the extra bottle you added shouldn't be a problem at all. It probably just added an extra bit of bacteria and caused your readings to go a bit off for a while. Let's hope the PH reading from the water you have sitting out will be close to what is in your tank and we can plan the water changed around that.