Some Questions

[fish.com1]

Hi all,

I recently did another post about setting up my shrimp tank. SAntway what i am doing is running the sponge filter for the shrimp tank on my mature tank, and then on my shrimp tank i am setting that up with just heater,lights,plants,gravel etc. I am going to leave the filter for over a month to mature and the shrimp tank for a month so that can build up sopme micro-organisms for the young shrimp to feed on(when they are added after the month) and so the plants can start to grow. I have a few questions:

1. In the shrimp tank with the heater and lights etc do i need to add any water conditioners to the water, if there aren;t going to be any shrimp in the tank? I will add liquid ferts for the plants though.

2. In the shrimp tank in the month when the microorganisms are growing do i need to do any water changes in this tank?if so how big?(tank = 35 litres)

3. At the end of the month in the shrimp tank do i need to do a big water change and add some water conditioner to the tank before adding the mature filter and shrimp to prepare it for the shrimp? If so how big a water change? Will the plants keep the water parameters?

4. Because mjy filter is a sponge filter and it has only one sponge, instead of changing it should i just rinse it in tank water every water change?

Thanks.

 

[FiSh123FiSh]

1. In the shrimp tank with the heater and lights etc do i need to add any water conditioners to the water, if there aren;t going to be any shrimp in the tank? I will add liquid ferts for the plants though. - IMO I would it is just a load simpler and you don't have to worry about it later on.

2. In the shrimp tank in the month when the microorganisms are growing do i need to do any water changes in this tank?if so how big?(tank = 35 litres)
You will need to cycle it as if it was any normal tank. You no test for the NN&A this is so you can add your shrimp in later.

3. At the end of the month in the shrimp tank do i need to do a big water change and add some water conditioner to the tank before adding the mature filter and shrimp to prepare it for the shrimp? If so how big a water change? Will the plants keep the water parameters? You should be doing the water changes to correct the NN&A and get them down to 0. The plants will not keep the water parameters down.

4. Because mjy filter is a sponge filter and it has only one sponge, instead of changing it should i just rinse it in tank water every water change?
Thats is perfect.

Hope this helps,

Tom.

 

[fish.com1]

1. In the shrimp tank with the heater and lights etc do i need to add any water conditioners to the water, if there aren;t going to be any shrimp in the tank? I will add liquid ferts for the plants though. - IMO I would it is just a load simpler and you don't have to worry about it later on.

2. In the shrimp tank in the month when the microorganisms are growing do i need to do any water changes in this tank?if so how big?(tank = 35 litres)
You will need to cycle it as if it was any normal tank. You no test for the NN&A this is so you can add your shrimp in later.

3. At the end of the month in the shrimp tank do i need to do a big water change and add some water conditioner to the tank before adding the mature filter and shrimp to prepare it for the shrimp? If so how big a water change? Will the plants keep the water parameters? You should be doing the water changes to correct the NN&A and get them down to 0. The plants will not keep the water parameters down.

4. Because mjy filter is a sponge filter and it has only one sponge, instead of changing it should i just rinse it in tank water every water change?
Thats is perfect.

Hope this helps,

Tom.

Sorry don't think you quite understood here. I am cycling my tank by putting my filter for my shrimp tank in my old established community tank not in the shrimp tank. I will be leaving the filter in the old established community tank, so it can mature, get a good growth of bacteria etc. Meanwhile, in the shrimp tank, i will be setting it up with NO filter(it's in the old established community tank) just heater and lights and gravel etc. There will be no shrimp or anything living(except the plants) in the shrimp tank. I have been told if i set up the shrimp tank the plants will be fine without a filter, and will grow and settle in as long as the heater and lights are on(which they will be). So the reason i am setting up the shrimp tank is so the substrate,wood and other rocks in the tank can grow some microorganisms and algae for the shrimp to feed on when they are put in the tank(after the filter has matured in the established tank). So i am going to leave the filter and the shrimp tank to mature for at least a month and after that month i will put the mature filter from my established tank into my mature (microorganisms and algae etc) shrimp tank with growing plants.

so:

Do i need to do any water changes in the shrimp tank in the month it is maturing? I don't think i have to because the plants won't mind and there isn't anything living apart from the plants in the tank. Is this right?

Because there hasn't been anything to produce waste in the shrimp tank over the month will the water stats be just the same as my tap water stats? If so at the end of the month should i just put my mature filter in the shrimp tank, and add water conditioner and then add the shrimp? Will i need to do any water changes? If the waters just been sat there for a month there shouldn't be a difference (stats wise) in the water at the end of the month to what it was at the start of the month. So at the end of the month should it just be the same as my tap water stats?

thanks guys.

 

[Syphoniera]

Speaking as One Who Knows Nothing, I wound up plunking cherry shrimp in a 5 gallon I'd been growing out plants in.
They were and are fine - active, healthy, and breeding.
If you're adding much in the way of ferts, though, you might want to do a small water change just prior to the addition of the shrimp, in case of any mineral - especially copper - build-up, and you'll probably have been removing any dead leaves and whatnot all along, so there should be no major ammonia production within the tank to cause problems.
However, I'm no expert, and one may pop by in the next ten minutes, exclaim in horror, and explain exactly why I'm talking through my hat.
I do that a lot...

 

[fish.com1]

Speaking as One Who Knows Nothing, I wound up plunking cherry shrimp in a 5 gallon I'd been growing out plants in.
They were and are fine - active, healthy, and breeding.
If you're adding much in the way of ferts, though, you might want to do a small water change just prior to the addition of the shrimp, in case of any mineral - especially copper - build-up, and you'll probably have been removing any dead leaves and whatnot all along, so there should be no major ammonia production within the tank to cause problems.
However, I'm no expert, and one may pop by in the next ten minutes, exclaim in horror, and explain exactly why I'm talking through my hat.
I do that a lot...

Thanks. Any other thoughts?

 

[fish.com1]

So if i just do a water change at the end of the month, do a water test to make sure everything is fine then add the filter and shrimp. Should this be ok?