Newbie question regarding starting of shrimp tank.

[thengz]

I've just bought the soil required to start a shrimp tank and will be doing the cycling process for the next two weeks.

I was told that when I put in the water into the tank, the soil should not be disturbed. I attempted to do this by putting the soil into the tank first and then laying a layer of plastic across the soil, before pouring the water in. Subsequently, I pulled the plastic out slowly.

However upon pulling the plastic out, the water became very cloudy. There is no huge particles of substrate floating in the water, but there are many tiny particles. This is the first time I'm using the soil (shrimp soil from CRS Haven), so question is, is this normal?

I have left the filter on (small hanging filter), and the tank is not with me now. I'm assuming after a few hours, the tiny soil particles should settle to the bottom again? Or have I done something wrong already? Please advise, and thanks in advance!

[reiner09]

Cycling usually takes a month or so..2weeks is probably insufficient.. It is normal for the tank to be cloudy at first..no worries about that..it will settle down after sometime.. do tell us more about your tank size and do buy test kits if you are serious about starting a shrimp tank..

[thengz]

The tank is 30cm by 19cm by 21 cm. Substrate covers about 2 cm at the front sloping to around 4 cm behind. I haven't put in the driftwood yet, will probably do that tonight.

[marimo]

its quite normal that water become slightly cloudy .. but not murky or muddy. they should clear up in hours and thats the advantage of using shrimp soil.

usually ppl pour some old sea mud below, etc , below and on top of soil as a addition supplement of minerals and TE for creating lake water like for plants and shrimps

also think carefully what shrimps you want to host ..to avoid interbreed and different parameters

advise to cycle 3-4 weeks. maybe faster if you have BB products or items from establish tanks.

dont worry about the driftwood.. better if you can boil the driftwood 1st. or bleach it. may contain snail eggs and pest

welcome and good luck !

[avex30]

Never use before Crs heaven shrimp soil.... most of the soil ada,benibachi,Gex should the same have more or less some particles if you feel uncomfortable with it. Than use a net to scoop it.

[thengz]

Yikes... Murky and muddy... Hmmm... Mine definitely not muddy. But I can barely see the back of the tank, is that considered murky? Hopefully it settles when I get home later!

[thengz]

Never use before Crs heaven shrimp soil.... most of the soil ada,benibachi,Gex should the same have more or less some particles if you feel uncomfortable with it. Than use a net to scoop it.

Nothing that my net can scope. The particles are too fine to be scooped. Haha... I'm guessing they'll settle down after a few hours/days as leefhke and marimo mentioned.

[reiner09]

I used crshaven soil before and from my experience, the water will appear cloudy later.. just do a 50% water change after a day..then let it officially start cycling..do not do any water change till your cycling is complete..only after ammonia nitrite is 0 ,do another 30-40% wc then you are free to add faunas(slowly,little by little)
and yes like what bro avex stated,there might be some larger particles floating around. just net them out..

[thengz]

Went home yesterday and saw a totally clear tank. Just did a water change again today. So from what I understand, I'll let this be and add in BB, etc? Time to get my test kits later. Test for nitrite, GH, KH and pH. I'm guessing once I know my nitrite is 0, the nitrogen cycle is in place. Is there anything else I should test for before I can consider the tank cycled? And should I add dead shrimps or things to speed up the growth of BB?

[Jianyuan]

Some people do add in ammonia and BB powder/liquid to kick start the cycling, as some soil do leech ammonia, some people do not need to add anything except for the BB powder/liquid.

For me, i only tested ammonia and nitrate after that 1 month of cycling that i did.

[thengz]

I used crshaven soil before and from my experience, the water will appear cloudy later.. just do a 50% water change after a day..then let it officially start cycling..do not do any water change till your cycling is complete..only after ammonia nitrite is 0 ,do another 30-40% wc then you are free to add faunas(slowly,little by little)
and yes like what bro avex stated,there might be some larger particles floating around. just net them out..

Hi leefhker,

I understand that you have used CRS Haven's soil before. They gave me an instruction on how to start the cycling process when I bought it, but their cycling instructions involves quite a number of water change in the initial week.

From what I understand,, you let your aquarium cycle without any water change after the first day. I'm assuming you added the BB and nothing else (i.e. fish food or fishes)?

[Jianyuan]

There are people who prefer different methods of cycling, some will not do wc every other day. Why? Reason being they want the ammonia to be in the tank for cycling to be under process.
For the first WC after you add water into your tank, most people do it to clear the floating particles.
Ultimately, no mater how many WC you do, your aim is to get your tank cycled at the end of day till you get a reading of 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite and some readings on your nitrate.

[thengz]

There are people who prefer different methods of cycling, some will not do wc every other day. Why? Reason being they want the ammonia to be in the tank for cycling to be under process.
For the first WC after you add water into your tank, most people do it to clear the floating particles.
Ultimately, no mater how many WC you do, your aim is to get your tank cycled at the end of day till you get a reading of 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite and some readings on your nitrate.

Yeah, thats what I thought. So I'm not doing any water change any more. Anything that I can throw in or should throw in to make cycling faster? I've heard people saying they put in fish food, or shrimps from the market, etc. But I already did an ammonia test this morning and the reading is way off the chart, so I shouldn't need to put in anything else other than the BB?

[reiner09]

Yes, you may want to conduct one more water change.if you like..lower it to something readable within the chart then let it run till the whole cycling process is over..do not do water change during the cycling, if not it will sort of slow down your cycling..after everything has ended do one more big wc to rid of high levels of nitrate then you will be free to add fauna already then..

[marimo]

by right you should do WC to bring ammonia to within reading chart , like 3-4 ppm
as off chart could be 7 , 8 ppm ~ and not efficient

but then where did your ammonia come from? the soil?

[Ecalyte]

The reason why you do water change is to reduce the amount of Ammonia in the water column as it's taking the space that dissolved oxygen should be taking. Too much Ammonia means less dissolved oxygen. Yes, Ammonia is food for the bacteria but without oxygen they die. So you have to balance food and air for the optimal bacteria colonization speed

[marimo]

Yes, Ammonia is food for the bacteria but without oxygen they die

yap yap thats the reason .. keep recalling why too much ammonium and unmature BB relation

[thengz]

Ai Carumba! Ok. Understand. Anyway, to answer one of the bro's question, yep the ammonia is probably from the soil. I didn't add anything else into the aquarium other than the soil and BB. Will do another water change then.

[thengz]

Now it makes sense as to why CRS Haven told me to do a few water changes. Cause the soil have quite abit of ammonia. If that's the case, I'll just follow their instruction and then after 2 weeks (the instruction ends after 2 weeks), let it continue to cycle for another 2 weeks before I start putting in shrimps.