Big emergency shrimp flipping over help

[Luka]

My shrimp keeps flipping over I did research and it says to do water change a big one and quickly. I don't have the time to heat up the water. My tank is a 15 gallon. I checked parameters earlier today and it was ammonia: .25 ppm, nitrites .25ppm and nitrates: 5.00 ppm

 

[brandon429]

Anytime there is ammonia in order to help we must see a full tank shot to look for details


Prime as an additive also works to bind it up, but a reading of .25 on an API kit is rarely accurate, pics will help

 

[Luka]

Anytime there is ammonia in order to help we must see a full tank shot to look for details

????

 

[brandon429]

We need you to post a full tank shot of you tank to help discern ammonia origins

In about 1000 Google search returns, .25 ammonia on an API test kit means none, zero ammonia, a misreading. Pics show other details not conveyed so far

Clearly your shrimp is stressed and it so far cannot be linked to ammonia. Same with the nitrites those are rarely toxic or accurately measured on API kits at the .25 level.

 

[Luka]

here

 

[thenanoreef]

How long has the tank been running. That picture looks like you set it up this afternoon!

thenanoreef

 

[brandon429]

Yep, that indicates no obvious source for ammonia unless it was directly added by you in some source. If your rock is 100% not cycled and that sand was dry sand non cycled some fish could make real .25

Surely you cycled it with testing?

Details revealed: a fish not gasping at the surface where true ammonia poisoning would attack the gills.

You don't have to heat up change water with a tank heater. I could produce 15 gallons for a water change at 68 degrees and have it 79 degrees in about 10 mins by making water in blue container water bottles and putting them in hot bath tub to bring up temps.

The test readings at those levels do not help and don't factor so we are left not knowing the culprit, you may do large water changes at any time however, pour back in matched water slowly to not kick up the sandbed.

Second detail

The rock isn't coralline or living animals spotted, so it's relatively new cycled rock I'd assume. What did you use to discern the cycle you did was complete

Did you ever do a 4 ppm digestion test before adding animals?

 

[Luka]

The tank was not setup this afternoon...thank you very much. Its been cycled and everything. Never did a 4 ppm digestion test and I used the test kit to figure out the cycle was complete. 100% sure it was cycled

 

[brandon429]

Still need more details but getting there

What steps indicated the cycle was complete and additionally

What form of ammonia did you present during cycle, raw ammonia, shrimp etc


How many weeks was that rock exposed to raw ammonia


Did you use any bottle bac


The only test that tells if barren live rock is cycled is a min 2-4 ppm digestion test so the cycle completion is in question still. Was the sand wet pack live sand, or all dry

 

[thenanoreef]

@brandon429 I think your throwing too much at him (Luka) all at once. That last post was a lot, even for me. Also about the water temp. Any way you do it, the water needs to be at room temp or +/- 1 or 2 degrees. To much difference will stress you fish and shrimp out even more. Trust me, I wiped out my whole system that way.

 

[brandon429]

I left spacing so each question would be easy to discern

The cycle completion is in question until those are answered anything short of the questions given leaves guessing room. Two fish not demonstrating ammonia poisoning matters in the equation

 

[Luka]

I used ghost feeding and I waited a week before adding fish / inverts I also used api quick start and microbe lift

 

[thenanoreef]

The tank was not setup this afternoon...thank you very much. Its been cycled and everything. Never did a 4 ppm digestion test and I used the test kit to figure out the cycle was complete. 100% sure it was cycled

I just meant that it looked like a relatively new setup. No offense intended. Cycled and your shrimp is "flipping" over. Very peculiar. I mean it could have the chemicals, but I don't think thats what did it. As for ghost feeding, it shouldn't cause an ammonia spike that would stress your shrimp that much where it is doing what its doing

 

[Luka]

I just meant that it looked like a relatively new setup. No offense intended. Cycled and your shrimp is "flipping" over. Very peculiar.

No worries and yes I understand. Doing a 2.5 gallon water change got 2 heaters working at the water you think that's good enough 2.5 gallons?

 

[brandon429]

Given the current info, the completion of the cycle is suspect

2/15 won't help.

Guessing cannot establish if the system can process two fish waste and their feed. Was the sand live or dry

Using heaters expect hours long prep time, compared to 10 mins mentioned above.

Ghost feeding has highly variable ammonia output

http://reef2reef.com/threads/new-ta...rimp-live-rock-no-shrimp.214618/#post-2507641


Another long read, but then again this tank above needed this kind of detail during cycling.

 

[Naiad]

Ok have you added any medication to the tank yet? Also are you running any carbon or other media at this point?

 

[Luka]

It was dry sand

 

[Lenny_S]

Luka, I don't think your tank is fully cycled. Any detectable ammonia is very bad and is an indication that you still don't have an adequate biological filter. If you can get some BioSpira ASAP that will help, you can't overdose it and I've seen it work miracles. It is so fast it's difficult to believe. Other than that, water changes are your best bet, the ammonia is more harmful than a little temperature fluctuation.

 

[Luka]

Ok have you added any medication to the tank yet? Also are you running any carbon or other media at this point?

Nope no medication and carbon media

 

[brandon429]

That matters too Luka as wet pack sand would have covered the nitrifers on two fish worth of waste. I deem this tank not ready for bioload yet per my thread details

All you have to do is take back fish change out all the water and maybe the shrimp w make it possibly not. You will never have to guess on a cycle ever again with the details linked. You had group A rocks and group A live sand. R2r is fast no

In under three mins you got full diagnosis and mitigation info yay.