Brine Shrimp

[s_anthony]

So I spend a few bucks a month at my LFS buying brine shrimp for my 2 tanks... but decided tonight on getting one of those little "educational" hatcheries...

I havn't tried it out yet, but wanted suggestions from folks here on what's the best practices on hatching, and keeping brine shrimp. The bags I get from the LFS usually last about 5-7 days for me, but I now have added aireation to the container I keep them in hoping possibly for another day or two for them to survive - although the usual bag sizes I get usually are enough for feed for 5 days...

Suggestions ?

 

[rshxt9]

Well, for me...I got a sea monkey kit. Those things never seemed to die jst as long as there was food and the water was changed weekly. Always, always use distilled water. I tried useing a decholrinator and they all died. So be safe and buy the water. Bubble stone is awsome! That'll surely keep them alive a little longer!

 

[Lotus]

The problem with the kits is that they produce baby brine shrimp, which is great for fry, but too small for most adult fish. Growing brine shrimp to adult size is a major pain.

Have you tried frozen brine shrimp?

 

[s_anthony]

Havnt tried frozen brine, but maybe the small ones will work for my neons - they never can seem to eat the bigger brines I get from the LFS... I'll look for those frozen ones next time I'm at the store, but tonight I have a much bigger problem in my main tank..


I did my usual tests, and Ammonia was friggin off the charts .. 4-5 on my test kit... Ph was at about 7/7.2, Nitrites were 0 PPM, and so were Nitrates..

I panicked... I did about a 60% water change, and retested... still Ammonia was showing 4-5 on my test... I vaccuumed the gravel and did another 25% change on top of that, and added 4 oz of fritz zyme and pulled my filter from my UGF and stuck it directly in the tank hoping it would clean up any extra stuff I stirred up from vaccuuming...

I'm going to give the tank a little bit to settle, and retest.. but do you think my test kit may have gone haywire... the fish show no stress (until after I cleaned that is) and no signs of being bothered by ammonia...

 

[s_anthony]

Oh geez.. something has to be really wrong here.. my test kit now shows 8.0 for Ammonia.. WTF?

I'm testing my 2nd tank now.. If I get the same results on that water, I'm assuming my test kit is screwed...

 

[s_anthony]

ok 2nd tank shows 2-4 and I think is still getting darker, so maybe my test kit is screwed. Normal tap water shows 0... I'm at a loss here on an explaination as to what is going on. I do normal water changes, and vaccuum... help?

 

[s_anthony]

2nd test went all the way to 8.0 too, but again tap water shows 0 ppm. I know there is no way both of these tanks can be so high and the fish be so happy... see my sig for current stocking..

Im assuming it is the test kit. I don't have many options right now other than to take some water to the LFS tomorrow after work to have them test it and possibly get a new set of ammonia test solution... but I also dont want to leave my fish overnight if this is the case... My tiger barbs are happy as can be chasing each other and my other tank is hiding now because I've disturbed their habitat, although show no signs of ammonia problems...

 

[Lotus]

If the test is supposed to be left for a certain amount of time, don't leave it longer, as it can give you the wrong results.

Have you tested tapwater that was treated with dechlorinator, to see if that's where the ammonia is coming from?

To be honest, if your ammonia was at 8, your fish would be showing signs of gasping at the surface, and other general sickness signs (lethargy or darting, hanging out at the bottom or top of tank, paleness).

 

[s_anthony]

Thats what I thought too... they show no signs at all of ammonia poisoning. Test kit sais 5 minutes is max on the solution. The test turns bright green/blue in way less than that.

I'll test now with the dechlorinator and let you know. I currenlty use Novaqua + for both tanks and thats what I used for my changes tonight...

 

[s_anthony]

tap water + novaqua are 0 PPM which I find odd.. what the heck is throwing the tank tests off like that ? I don't treat my water with anything other than novaqua, I don't put chemicals in my water to treat ph levels or anything like that (water changes only here)... I have plants in each of the tanks, but other than that there are no similarities on each of the tanks other than the novaqua and the food both tanks get...

 

[Lotus]

It is extremely odd, especially as your fish are showing no signs of distress. I would definitely get the water checked tomorrow by the store. I guess it's possible you have a little ammonia in the water, but the tests are reading way above that, but I don't know for sure.

I think if it were my tanks, I'd do another water change (no gravel vac), test again, and call it a night.

 

[s_anthony]

I'm planning on one more change on both tanks... and visiting the LFS tomorrow.

I currently use the Master Freshwater test kit from Aquarium Pharmaceuticals (however you spell it). I've not had problems with it before.. but It has been 2 weeks since I tested last with it. Fish seemed fine - but normally I do test weekly when I do my water changes - I just didn't get the chance last week ...

The test kit is kept under one of the aquariums, so I don't think anything could have tampered with it (heat, etc)... I'm just baffled..

I did have one plant in there that died in the past 2 weeks that I found when I cleaned the filter out of that tank.. a few small leaves were growin fuzzies in the filter tube... but if that was it, doesn't explain tank #2's problem.

 

[Katie217]

hmm im reading these posts and im completely confused, it just doesnt make sence! but im assuming that ur test kit is off, because the likely hood of it happening to BOTH of ur tanks at the same time, well its just not likely. and if u really have been keeping up with the water changes, then i dont see why the ammonia would do that. hmm this is really perplexing...hehe

 

[s_anthony]

Well, I'll be sure to post for those who are following the thread as soon as I have an update...

My tanks aren't overstocked (with the exception of the tiger barb tank which I plan on upgrading, but they are still very small barbs and currently only 4 of them), I do weekly water changes (at least 25%) I vaccuum 2 times a month, I don't overfeed (at least I think I'm not overfeeding - they eat everything that is in the tank within a few minutes)...

There are multiple plants in each tank... both have marineland bio filters, cartridge changed roughly every month, and cycled with a new one before the old one is changed, heaters are keeping the tank at 75 degrees for both.

Im going to do one more water change tonight, and I'm leaving the filter out of the UGF overnight in the 15 gal to filter the water from my vaccuuming earlier - I still see little particles floating that I can't net - either that or the water hasnt settled yet from being stirred...

 

[Lotus]

It's a little dangerous to stop a UGF, to be honest, as it can starve the bacteria to death, and give you a mini-cycle, or cause them to go anaerobic, if you have a deep substrate.

 

[s_anthony]

It's a little dangerous to stop a UGF, to be honest, as it can starve the bacteria to death, and give you a mini-cycle, or cause them to go anaerobic, if you have a deep substrate.

Well the tank is settled now after vaccuuming so I'll move it back to the UGF tube now then.. thanks for the info.. I didnt think that it would be a big deal... but now that you mention it, it does make sense

 

[s_anthony]

Well.. I went to the LFS tonight to take my water to em.. the guy that "does the water testing" wasn't there.. what a crock of ... it's a fish store for pete's sake.. does no one else know how to check water params...????

Anyway.. So I buy a strip test kit...

Normally I don't trust these things, but it was either that or buy the same darn test kit I have now that seemed to be malfunctioning... and I thought I would have better odds with the strips..

According to the test stips my numbers were completely different in both tanks... the one problem is that this darn test strip set doesn't test ammonia - and I couldn't find a test kit for ammonia, so I'm going with the best that I have now and taking a "guess"...

=====================================
I tested tank #1 - tank params are off and I broke it down for any new fish addicts just in case..
Nitrate 80 mg/L - BAD
Nitrite 1.0 - kinda bad
Hardness - 75 = soft/good
Alkalinity - 80 KH (ppm)
pH 7.2

So I'm assuming I did have high ammonia because of the high Nitrates, just not as high as the chemical kit I had was saying it was. Correct?

=====================================
Tank #2 -
Nitrates 40 mg/L - high, still safe, but plan on water changing anyway
Nitite .5 mg/L
Hardness 75 - Soft
Alkalinity 80 KH (ppm)
pH 6.8


So I spent my night doing water changes... I took both tanks down to 50% and refilled them. Waited about an hour and did a 25% change again in both tanks, and plan on doing one more before bed. So far tank #2 is beautifully rebounding with 20 Nitrates, 0 nitrites, hardness 75, alkalinity 80 and ph 6.8. Tank number 1 however is still frustrating me, and without knowing the ammonia levels I'm still scratching my head - Nitrates 40 mgL, Nitrites 1.0 mg/L, Hardness 75, Alkalinity 80 KH (ppm), pH 7.2.

So I'm doing one more change tonight in tank #1. Tomorrow I'm going to try again to take the water to the LFS. If I would have thought about it, I could have drove to PetSmart and had them do it - but I was in too much of a hurry to get home to my tanks to change the water...

More updates tomorrow...unless a drastic change after the next change before bed. I have my tubes still in the tank ready to suck all that water out... I just left them in so I didn't stress the fish too much...

 

[Lotus]

I guess something happened during your maintenance that caused a mini-cycle. Either you cleaned too thoroughly, or something happened with the water supply or dechlorinator.

Hopefully, both tanks will settle down in a day or two. Until then, keep testing and doing water changes (not fun, I know).

 

[s_anthony]

I should have also mentioned while chaning the water in tank 2 (the barb tank) I yanked out 3 plants. It's this horrible grass stuff that kept getting in my filter, and everywhere else in the tank.. the barbs LOVED playing in it, but I can't keep up with yanking the stuff outta the tank... I took some brazillian waterweed from the other tank and stuck a few more stems in tank 2 - it already had some, just added a few more. The plants in both tanks are growing like weeds. The Anachris(?) / Brazillain water weed I swear is growing 1 to 2 inches every other day on each stem..

 

[s_anthony]

Final params for tank #1 tonight are (drum roll please)

Nitrate 30 mg/L (ppm)
Nitrite .5 mg/L (ppm)
Hardness still 75
Alkalinity still 80
pH still 7.2

I assume that tomorrow's water changes will *hopefully* get me down to 0 Nitrite... not bad for 2 days worth of water changes