Adrian Posted June 24, 2020 Report Share Posted June 24, 2020 This is my first post. I am brand new to this hobby. I picked up a shrimp tank someone was selling for cheap, I want to clean it and put new substrate in the tank and replace all the plants but dont know how to go about doing so without killing anything. Current setup is a Topfin Retreat 5 gallon All-In-One tank, biomax pieces in the filter compartment with an insert filter. Water parameters tested (0 ppm Nitrate N02, 4 KH, 5 PH and 79 degrees) Pics of setup below Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Posted June 24, 2020 Author Report Share Posted June 24, 2020 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OblongShrimp Posted June 25, 2020 Report Share Posted June 25, 2020 Why are you replacing the plants and substrate? You can probably manually clean a lot of the algae off those plants or spot treat with 1ml of Hydrogen peroxide per gallon (get a syringe and slowly apply it directly to the algae. It will start bubbling and in a day or so turn purple and die). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Posted June 25, 2020 Author Report Share Posted June 25, 2020 I didnt know I could do that to the plants. Like i said I'm new to this. How can i clean the nasty substrate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OblongShrimp Posted June 27, 2020 Report Share Posted June 27, 2020 Do you have a gravel vacuum? Basically a wide tube attached to a rubber hose that you can use to drain water. Something like a Python water changer (see link below). You can use that to clean out the junk in the substrate and then just stir the substrate up a little if it is the surface of it that has algae on it. You could also just remove the very top of the substrate if you want. The last picture shows some algae on the glass by the substrate, that is normal. You can push the substrate away and clean it off the glass if you want but it will come back over time.' You don't want the tank too clean since shrimp feed off the biofilm (bacteria and small algae) https://www.amazon.com/25-Foot-Python-Aquarium-Maintenance/dp/B000255NXC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Posted June 27, 2020 Author Report Share Posted June 27, 2020 Awesome thank you! i just wanted to clean the tank to make it look nicer. i found one of those vacuum's at the pet store and worked out great! Also did a 1:19 bleach treatment to the plants and that too worked really well. Thank you for your help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Posted June 27, 2020 Author Report Share Posted June 27, 2020 Can i add more active substrate to the tank? Mix the new with the old? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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