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A dedicated forum and online store for the Opae ula shrimp! 

Share photos/videos, journals and logs for your Opae ula tank setups for others to read.
 #8112  by Owlbit
 
Algae In Space wrote: 28 Jul 2019 21:22
Owlbit wrote: 28 Jul 2019 17:38 I had to siphon the sand (front easy to reach section only) and do a 20% water change. I dosed Seachem Prime and Stability.

Ammonia was high. pH dropped to 7.8. Nitrite 0. Nitrate <10. My poly filter (two little cut cubes) probably helped remove any toxic ammonia.

I guess the tank is going through another cycle due to the bioload. Shrimps are fine, with no loss. Snail is... still eating everything in sight.

I will just have to test twice a day and do a water change when needed for now.

Do you still have the filter running?
No filter. Just a mini oxydator and 2 - 1" cubes of poly filter sitting on the sand. I even took a nice picture and labeled things. :blush:
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 #8117  by Algae In Space
 
Ah yes! It could also be due to warm water in summer! A partial water change could be a good idea. Strange I never had issues of that kind. Well every tank is unique.

PS: You forgot to label each individual Opae Ula :smile:
Last edited by Algae In Space on 29 Jul 2019 18:57, edited 2 times in total.
 #8120  by Vorteil
 
Just continue to let the tank runs it's course. No water changes, Keep in mind your tank needs the opae's waste to feed the algae. If you continue to clean it up there will be no nutrients for the alage to feed upon.
 #8121  by Owlbit
 
I found the cause last night. It was a dying/dead tiny horned nerite. No clue what happened to him.

The ammonia was at 4.0, which was way too high to just leave alone. The poly filter, as I understand it, does not remove ammonia, but sorbs it. So it makes the ammonia still available for the cycle.

Ammonia was 1.0 last night and I left it alone. This morning the reading is 0.25. These numbers I am not so worried about since the source of the problem has been taken care of. I think I will just not keep snail in this 2.5 gallon tank once I have my 5 gallon going. I was planning to transfer my big nerite (who is a pig eating all the algae) to my 5 gallon and to keep a small horned nerite in the 2.5 gallon tank. But for whatever reason the little horned nerite just didn't thrive and ended up polluting such a small tank.

There is algae growing in the tank, but as soon as it grows nice on the rocks, the snail comes and eats it all up. :what: There is still green in the back area of the tank that isn't easily seen from the front and my lava rock is starting to get some green back. I am glad the snail is grazing on the glass again so the rock has a chance to get more green.

If I could go back in time, I would have used lava rock substrate with minimal sandy areas so that most of the poop can fall between the rocks and be out of sight. This is my plan for the 5 gallon tank as soon as I find a good source of safe lava rock. I have not had the chance to visit the local Home Depot yet. My 5 gallon tank is going to be more rocky.
 #8124  by Algae In Space
 
Owlbit wrote: 29 Jul 2019 19:21 I found the cause last night. It was a dying/dead tiny horned nerite. No clue what happened to him.

The ammonia was at 4.0, which was way too high to just leave alone. The poly filter, as I understand it, does not remove ammonia, but sorbs it. So it makes the ammonia still available for the cycle.

Ammonia was 1.0 last night and I left it alone. This morning the reading is 0.25. These numbers I am not so worried about since the source of the problem has been taken care of. I think I will just not keep snail in this 2.5 gallon tank once I have my 5 gallon going. I was planning to transfer my big nerite (who is a pig eating all the algae) to my 5 gallon and to keep a small horned nerite in the 2.5 gallon tank. But for whatever reason the little horned nerite just didn't thrive and ended up polluting such a small tank.

There is algae growing in the tank, but as soon as it grows nice on the rocks, the snail comes and eats it all up. :what: There is still green in the back area of the tank that isn't easily seen from the front and my lava rock is starting to get some green back. I am glad the snail is grazing on the glass again so the rock has a chance to get more green.

If I could go back in time, I would have used lava rock substrate with minimal sandy areas so that most of the poop can fall between the rocks and be out of sight. This is my plan for the 5 gallon tank as soon as I find a good source of safe lava rock. I have not had the chance to visit the local Home Depot yet. My 5 gallon tank is going to be more rocky.

Ha! So a dead snail was the cause. Makes sense.

Yeah I exclusively had trumpet snails in my tank for one year now. I put just 3 nerite snails in my tank some weeks ago and they got rid of all my algae on glass and rock :dead: Just amazing how big their appetite is. I am glad I got only 3!
 #8125  by Owlbit
 
OMG, this this snail has a huge appetite. I really need to have a larger tank for him because he is eating everything green in the tank and seems to have gotten bigger. There is a crack on his shell and I wonder if it was because his shell doesn't have a zipper to handle all his eating. Parts of the rock that had a nice coat of green is now bare bone white. The lava cubes that had a nice green sheen are now just black/grey. He moves so fast through the tank I can't keep up with where he is. The poor little shrimps have to scavenge the sand, poly filter sponge, and crevices he can't reach. I didn't realize he would have such a huge appetite.
 #8126  by Algae In Space
 
Owlbit wrote: 31 Jul 2019 01:00 OMG, this this snail has a huge appetite. I really need to have a larger tank for him because he is eating everything green in the tank and seems to have gotten bigger. There is a crack on his shell and I wonder if it was because his shell doesn't have a zipper to handle all his eating. Parts of the rock that had a nice coat of green is now bare bone white. The lava cubes that had a nice green sheen are now just black/grey. He moves so fast through the tank I can't keep up with where he is. The poor little shrimps have to scavenge the sand, poly filter sponge, and crevices he can't reach. I didn't realize he would have such a huge appetite.


I got them because I was hoping they would eat my hair algae. Now the only thing left IS hair algae :dead:
Well at least I don't have to scrub the glass anymore...! But all the lava is like

Before

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After

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 #8221  by Owlbit
 
I think there is a problem.

Help if you know what is going on.

They are all hanging out at my oxydator. There were a few near the surface using my snail as a platform. If this was a fish tank, my first guess would be suffocation. But I didn't know if these shrimps can suffer the same issue. The oxydator is a nice source of oxygen and there are shrimps inside the brown section where the glass tube sits in. What can I do? What is wrong with my shrimps?
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 #8222  by odin
 
Nothing to be worried about, they are just hanging out. These shrimp require very little oxygen in the water. Keep calm and carry on :)


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