I was thinking we need a section for "Fresh Water Disappointment", lol.

I did my gravel vac' and 25% WC yesterday. Tested the params' this afternoon and got: 0 ppm ammonia, 0ppm Nitrite, and 20-30ppm Nitrate. Still have shrimp dying however. Got another one with a cracked shell who is having trouble fighting the current. *Sigh. I've run out of ideas. Those 3 params' are fine, the pH is good, gdh is good, kH is good. Filter is running smoothly, temperature hasn't changed. I don't know. (Makes me want to give up!)

Then, I've got my 20g which is going through a fishless cycle. It's starting week 5 tomorrow. (Isn't fishless cycling supposed to be faster than cycling with fish??) Whenever I dose the tank to 4 ppm ammonia, 24 hours later it is at 1.5 ppm ammonia, 1ppm Nitrite and 10ppm Nitrate. It stays there for about 3 days, and then I re-dose so the bacteria doesn't die off. Again, after 24 hours, ammonia will read 1.5ppm, Nitrite will be 1ppm and Nitrate will be 10ppm. It's been this way for 3 weeks now - really annoying!!!!!

Not to mention, I've left the 20g tank lights off for a week now, since I saw that thick layer of fuzzy grey/white stuff growing on everything, and it's still there. The lack of light hasn't helped. (I'm telling you, I'm having terrible luck!!!)

I've got a 36g to cycle when (and IF) the 20g ever finishes, but the way things are going, I'm feeling like saying "forget it!!" I absolutely LOVE keeping fish and inverts, but these past few weeks/months have been awful!! (The first year back at the hobby was wonderful!)

Sorry, just needed to let all my disappointment out, and didn't think the tiki hut (which is for non-forum issues) was the place to do it, so I did it here. Thanks for listening.

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20g Heavily Planted http://www.aquariumforum.com/gallery...00&ppuser=8981
36g Bow Front Heavily Planted http://www.aquariumforum.com/gallery...00&ppuser=8981

I think we need a rant section too.

Holly I am sorry about your luck.I dont know what to tell you,Ive not really kept shrimp.I am wanting to get one of the Ebi tanks just for shrimp as all my fish see them as snacks.There is a new sponsor here just for shrimp so maybe PM them with some questions on whats going on.Other than that I am out of ideas.

On the tank cycling,all I can say is be patient.I know someone who was having a cycle do that too.It eventually cycled.Maybe you can add a little less ammonia?

But dont give up,itll get better.

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"Come to the dark side....we have cookies...and filters/heaters/and water changes!"

Thanks!

I'll look up that new sponsor and I guess I'll just keep waiting for the cycle to finish. (Was just hoping it would be sooner rather than later so the 10g animals could move and have more room.)

*Edit: Just found another dead female Cherry and one Black Diamond. It seems to be mostly female RCS that are dying. I've got another one with a big crack/space in her exoskeleton and she's about to die. I don't know what's wrong. There is lots of calcium in our water!! They were shedding like mad a few weeks ago, and now there are no exoskeletons - just dying shrimp! I stopped feeding the Fluval Shrimp Bites because of the copper in it, but there is tons of other food on the bottom for them to eat! (I've got planaria - there's lots of food!)

Can shrimp get a disease that makes it hard for them to shed? Nothing's changed! Their water is the same, food's the same....... the BDS are fairly new.... maybe 2 or 3 weeks ago..... but I've found 3 or 4 of them dead too. The only thing I can think of is that they are having trouble shedding (the cracked shells and lack of finding them on the gravel), but what can be doing it?

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20g Heavily Planted http://www.aquariumforum.com/gallery...00&ppuser=8981
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Holly, if is any consolation, I'm having the same problem with my 14g fry tank, plastic container thing. I'm getting high ammonia, super high NitrItes and high NitrAtes. It just won't seem to cycle. It is frustrating, especially since I have had such quick success with the three prior tanks.

I'm going to back off on the ammonia and dose only to 2ppm every other day and see how that affects things.

You know, I've hit some walls in this hobby too and like you have felt like throwing my hands up and saying "I quit!". But somehow I hung in there and things worked out. I am not known for my long term patience, a few hours is about all I feel comfortable dealing with. However, I had the lives of my fish to consider and that encouraged me to keep doing the best I can and let the outcomes be what they are.

Dig deep, hang in there and a day will come soon that you'll be glad you did.

Good luck to both of us and join us in our celebrations.

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60g tall, all artificial plants, Rainbow tank; 55g for African Cichlids. 20g long for fry; 20g hex, 2 black Angels at my desk; 10g planted, with 50 Molly fry; 10 gal, 2x 13w cfl lightning, planted; 2g hex for "Buddy the Betta"; Wanting a 200g +, MTS getting bad.

I hear you on the problems and rants, I'm glad you got it out. I had the same issues when changing fish stock in my 29 gallon and ended up battling cottonmouth. Seems my entire world was ending then, but it was a learning experience and I've moved on to a world of happy established aquariums, but it wasn't easy.

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Officially fishless until after the move....tune in later for details!

Maybe your tanks just aren't ment to have shrimp in them? I think mine are the same way. I loose Amanos in two different tanks, but believe they can't handle high amounts of CO2. If that is it, guess I'll just have to do without.

Not sure why your tank hasn't cycle. I did a fishless cycle on my 125g and it took right at 4 weeks. You went about yours in a much different way than I did. I dosed the same amount it took to get me to 4ppm everyday, then dosed half that every other day once nitrites started showing. I never tested to see where my ammonia sat after the first time until my nitrites started to soar. Sort of seems your way is just going to keep doing the same way it is. Stop thinking bacteria dies in just days...doesn't occur that fast.

Lastly, we've all had times we wished we had never gotten started in this mess. I know I have, or at least felt like I should've been happy with what I had. It is usually change that causes our issues whether it be adding more tanks, plants, modifications, inhabitants, etc... Just have to get through it, take a breath, and move on.

Thanks every one! At least I know I'm not the only one who's had these problems.

I guess maybe my tanks aren't meant to have shrimp in them, like jrman said. (I'm taking a sample to a LFS that's pretty good, to make sure there isn't any copper in the water - I don't have the test at home.) If there's none in the water, I guess it just wasn't mean to be.

I will dose less ammonia and see if that helps anything with they cycling. (I guess the grey fuzzy things will have to be scraped off and sucked out.)

Thanks again everyone.

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Forgot to mention, if the fuzzy stuff was the start of BBA it can survive a total blackout, indefinitely. Reducing light keeps it from continuing to spread, but that is about it. It usually has to be manually removed or if you have Excel and dose a little more than the recommended amount it will kill it.

Noooooooooooo! (Lol!) Just my luck! It doesn't seem to be dying, so I guess it is the start of BBA.

Will Excel harm my frogs, shrimp or snails once they are moved into that tank? (If so, I'll have to manually get as much as possible out, then leave the rest up to the snails - who ate the BBA in the last tank.)

Also, does Excel mess with the cycle?

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Excel can be harmful to inverts, but doesn't affect anything else.

It won't hurt the inverts or anything if its treated before putting the critters in the tank, excel dissapates in 24 hours. Thats why if used for plants it needs to be dosed everyday.

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220 Tank build
http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/sta...late-3253.html

Oh, perfect! Thanks!!! I guess I just dose daily until it goes away.... which is fine, because the cycle's kinda' stalled anyway, so it doesn't matter if it takes a week or so.

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