Re-using material, will bacterial bloom still occur?

[joteo]

Hi,

I decided to re-do an old tank that had 3 shrimp in it.

As I've re-used everything without washing, does it still need to go through conditioning, or can I just put in the shrimp back in?

I took out the shrimp, left the filter in, didn't wash it. Emptied most of the water. I took sand from another tank and put it in. Then planted the plants. After that, I topped up the tank with fresh water.

I was just wondering if it's possible to put the shrimp back in immediately? Or will there be bacterial bloom like in a new setup? Do I still need to put in one fish as a sacrifical lamb?

Thanks
joanne

[dageti]

I just did something similar yesterday when resetting an old tank for my upcoming Chrom.'s

What I did was, I took out the internal filter, rinsed the sponge parts from the mulm and left the water with the ceramic noodles alone.

In my opinion, if you didn't rinse the filtering media where the actual bacterial colonies live, you didn't wash the bacteria off so you shouldn't go through cycling again. Also injecting bottom material from a long running tank was a good idea, since it contains a lot of bacteria.

The shrimp shouldn't be affected by NO2 the way fish are anyway, because their respiratory pigments are different (copper- and not iron-based if I remember correctly). However, they're still a bit on the sensitive side when it comes to sudden changes in water parameters. I'd suggest you acclimate them to the new conditions using the 'drop-by-drop' method. I hope I was of some help.

francesco

[joteo]

Yes you did. Thanks very much.

joanne

[FC]

Hi Joanne,

I have the same view as Francesco. Just a point to add, the shrimp will do fine if they used to frequent water. In the past, I used to change more than 50% of water each time I do re-scape, I left the fishes/shrimps in the tankl as I do that which help too.

[joteo]

Freddy,

When you do that, doesn't the water get really murky as you are re-scaping? I always think the fish/shrimp will choke from all the crud that comes up. That's why I took them out first.

joanne

[FC]

Hi Joanne,

I thought the same too when I first did that. However, they do not seems to suffer. I find that they prefer to be stuck in murky water for that moment than to be transfered in and out. They often emerge happier (seems to me) after the water change, like having a shower . I never get any casualty with this method.

[timebomb]

Joanne,

It has long been rumoured that our aquarium shrimps are very sensitive to water changes. I don't know about other shrimps but I can vouch for the fact that the Cherry and Malayan Shrimps are very tough critters. Often, I make massive water changes without taking out the shrimps but they don't seem to be the worst for it. Just recently, I siphoned out almost all the water in one of my tanks and added new gravel. The shrimps were struggling on the surface of the gravel when the water was taken out and were almost buried when I added the new gravel. Yet, after filling in the tank with water again, the shrimps were all there and alive. Not a single shrimp died. I'm not exaggerating as it's easy to spot a dead shrimp. When they die, they turn red in colour just like a fried shrimp.

Loh K L

[joteo]

Kwek Leong,

From your reply, can I also guess that topping up with new gravel also doesn't require conditioning as well?

So for example, if I'm watching the budget, I can setup a tank with a bag of gravel, and several months later when the bonus comes in, I can get another bag, put it in and everything will go on as normal?

Are Malayan Shrimp the same as Malaysian Rainbow Shrimp?

What if I have an old filter, old gravel, old plants, old water and I want to replace my old filter media with new, or if I want to put in a new filter altogether. Will there be bacterial bloom?

Thanks
joanne

[timebomb]

So for example, if I'm watching the budget, I can setup a tank with a bag of gravel, and several months later when the bonus comes in, I can get another bag, put it in and everything will go on as normal?

Hmm, I'm not sure if everything will be as normal. Please take note we are talking only about the sensitivity of shrimps to new gravel or new water. If you're referring to fish, especially the expensive ones, I won't advise that you top up gravel indiscrimately.

Are Malayan Shrimp the same as Malaysian Rainbow Shrimp?

I've not heard of Malaysian Rainbow shrimp but when I wrote of Malayan shrimps, I refer to those tiny, colourless ones that are scavengers.

What if I have an old filter, old gravel, old plants, old water and I want to replace my old filter media with new, or if I want to put in a new filter altogether. Will there be bacterial bloom?

There's really no reason to replace filter media unless it's wool. As for whether there will be a bacterial bloom, I think it depends on the size of your filter in comparison to the size of your tank. For instance, if you have a small tank but a big filter, it's not a good idea to wash the filter media thoroughly or replace it entirely as it can cause all sorts of problems, one of which is disease. But if you're using a small filter with a big tank, then you can do all sorts of things with your filter and nothing will happen.

If you're going to add a new filter, the best way to do it is to run the new filter with the old one together for a few days before taking away the old one.

But heck, Joanne, if it's all just because of 3 shrimps, then I would say go ahead and do whatever you like If the 3 don't survive the sudden change, just come over to my place and help yourself to those in my tanks. I have plenty. My Malayan shrimps are pretty rare in the market these days. I heard the shops don't sell them anymore. I like the Malayan's because they don't grow very large. At adult sizes, they are still very small and they breed easily. I bought some years ago and now they are in all my tanks. Here's a picture:



Loh K L