# ACK! Shrimp on the Way, Water Out of Whack



## pawslover (Feb 22, 2006)

I have a 5 gal planted tank that has been established for years. This is one of the first tanks I set up specifically to be a planted tank. I believe there is a little bit of laterite and peat on the bottom, then eco-complete mixed with gravel. Lighting is 15 watts fluorescent. No CO2. I occasionally add Seachem root tabs and Excel, no other ferts. Plants are mostly anubias, some java fern and moss. The plants maintain OK, but haven't done very well with growth in this tank. I may shorten the light periods to address that.

For most of that time the tank has been up, I have kept a single betta in there. Several months ago, the betta died. I moved a pair of gudgeons in there & they promptly died. I checked the water, ammonia high (don't remember exactly, but more than the first couple of slots on the color chart), no nitrites & high nitrates, maybe 50 or so. I have not added any more fish to the tank.

I have continued to do water changes on it when I do my other tanks, usually every other week, but sometimes once a week. I added some water sprite. When I decided to make it a shrimp tank, I removed the aquaclear & added a sponge filter. It has been running this way since early this month. I have not been monitoring the water like I should with the holidays and all.

Ammonia is still high reading at 1, 0 nitrites and nitrates about 10. I don't know where the ammonia is coming from. I have not noticed a problem in my other tanks and the last time I checked the tap water, it did not register any ammonia. Now I have shrimp on the way and am not sure what to do to fix it. I don't really want to use anything like ammolock as I'm not sure how that affects the plants and the nitrogen cycle. Do the ammonia filter inserts work? Would that bring it down enough temporarily if I just suspend it in the tank? With the sponge filter, I can't really add it to a filter.

Also, is this level of nitrates too high for the shrimp? I did a 20% water change last night after checking the water and plan another one today.

Any thoughts or suggestions appreciated.


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## mikenas102 (Feb 8, 2006)

If nothing has been in this tank for a month it's hard to believe you would have any ammonia. I suspect a bad test kit. The only other thing I can think of is you have something dead or decomposing in there that you don't know about. Dead fish or rotting wood or something like that. Don't worry about the nitrates. I keep shrimp in a planted tank with the nitrates at 30. Zeolite is usually whats in those ammonia absorbing pads for the filter. They will help if there really is ammonia there but you'll have to place it in the flow. Still though, I think your test kit is on the fritz.


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## pawslover (Feb 22, 2006)

Thanks for the info on the zeolite. I used this test kit a good bit in Oct when setting up a tank in my office and it appeared to be working correctly. When I got such high readings last time on this tank when the gudgeons died, I suspected a problem with the test kit as well. I tested another tank for ammonia and got a 0 reading so I think the kit is OK. I don't have any driftwood in there. Since the tank has been so lightly stocked, I hope I don't have a dead fish in there. Dead snails are a possibility though. I do have one small ceramic decoration in there that was for the gudgeons to spawn, but I have used it for years so I'd be surprised if that were the cause. I may just pick up some zeolite on the way home today and maybe a new test kit to be on the safe side.


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## mikenas102 (Feb 8, 2006)

Another question. Why are you adding root tabs if you are only using anubias, java fern and moss? I assume you probably have the anubias and fern tied to something so there is no need for root tabs.


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## pawslover (Feb 22, 2006)

The anubias and java ferns are in the substrate. I also have a compact sword in there that I forgot to mention. Maybe I don't need the root tabs.


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## mikenas102 (Feb 8, 2006)

You do know you're not supposed to bury the rhizome of the java fern and the anubias? Burying the rhizome on either of these will cause it to rot.


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## pawslover (Feb 22, 2006)

I have the rhizome on the surface of the substrate with the roots tucked into the substrate.


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## pawslover (Feb 22, 2006)

Curiouser & Curiouser.

pH 6.0 or 6.2

tested ammonia with a different kit that I already had, shows .5 to 1

tested GH & KH with 2 different kits, same results
KH 2
GH continued adding drops until the top of the scale listed for the kit, never reached the end result color. Water also did not go through the expected color changes on the way to the final result so I do not know if either is accurate.

There is no driftwood in the tank. 1 little ceramic decoration which I have had for years, plants and a sponge filter. Nothing that I'm aware of which would be buffering the tank until there is something weird about the substrate.

I'm picking up the shrimp at the PO in the am. Any suggestions?

I don't really have anywhere else for them to go unless they would be OK with some gudgeons in a 12 gal.


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

I've been hearing about goofy ammonia readings lately, so maybe out of curiosity try checking the level on your other tank/tanks.

If you do indeed have ammonia in the tank, you can always set up a small container (a couple of gallons would be fine), and use some established material from another tank to put your shrimp in until you figure out what's going on.


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## pawslover (Feb 22, 2006)

I've checked the ammonia on 2 other tanks and both read 0 so I don't think it's the kit although I still have no idea why that tank has ammonia. Just to be on the safe side until I figure out what's wrong in there, I put a divider in another tank and they will go in there for now. I am taking a sample of water from the 5 gal with the weird readings to the LFS today to get a double check on the readings.


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## Purrbox (Jun 1, 2006)

How long has it been since you gave your substrate a good gravel vac (or at least as much as possible without harming the plants)? It could be that as long as your tank has been set up, there's too much mulm built up.


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## pawslover (Feb 22, 2006)

I tried doing more frequent water changes on this tank for several days, but still saw ammonia. I tried the zeolite, ammonia came down, confirmed by my LFS. Then I pulled all the plants and did deep vacuuming of the whole tank, actually had to refill the tank 1 1/2 times to be able to finish the deep gravel cleaning since it didn't take long to empty a 5 gal. Then I replanted and have left it alone for the last 2-3 wks. 

Now my readings are:
Ammonia .5
Nitrite 5
Nitrate 5

It seems to be in the 2nd stage of a regular cycle, but I'm not doing anything to get it to cycle. I get normal readings on my other tanks. This tank has substrate (eco-complete & gravel over a little peat & laterite), a sponge filter and heavily planted, no inhabitants. These readings make no sense to me. Anything else to do short of breaking it down & starting over?


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## Tex Gal (Nov 1, 2007)

I wonder if it's the peat moss. I was reading that if you have rotting vegetation and wood (peat is that, right?) it could keep your ammonia levels high. I started a 10 gal tank with ADA AquaSoil and it took about 2 months to get ammonia to 0. I had put a tiny layer of peat down first. After I read this I tried to vacuum most if not all of the peat up. It was a mess as it got stuck in my siphon. Here is that thread link to my tank set up.
http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/shrimp-other-inverts-planted-aquariums/46980-new-shrimp-tank-10-gal.html

I know that AquaSoil is famous for it's ammonia spikes, but not for as long and as severe as I experienced. I was changing water right and left!! I was doing it EVERYDAY. I added mulm when I set up the tank. I really think the layer of peat may have had something to do with it. I used Stability, Prime, Ammo chips, Purigen. It was a real bugger - but it finally settled down and is fine. My shrimp are fine and happy as are their tank mates, pygmy rasboras.

It will pass. Keep trying....


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