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leaking shrimp tank HELP!!!


Memphis118

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I found out today that my tank is leaking water, and I am not sure what to do, that wont kill off some of my Crystal red shrimp..

 

I am thinking:

 

I can purchase a new tank, then transfer over the old substrate, water, and canister filer to the new tank, then put in all the plants, and CRS into it. 

 

By doing this... I assume it will cause a new / mini cycle? If that happens, I will lose my CRS huh?

 

What options do I have that would save as much of the CRS as possible?

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I believe the leak is coming from the bottom of the tank, which would require me to strip the entire tank apart to deal with the issue. I figured since its leaking, getting a new / potentially bigger tank would be better overall. My worry is, if I switch over to a new tank, it would completely start the cycle again, causing the CRS to die, since most likely an ammonia spike will occur

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This is what i would do ... someone more knowledgable can correct  any of my steps if they are murderous.

 

I would buy the new tank.   And buy new substrate.  I would not keep the substrate you have cuz.. well.. Ick.   Then Id scoop or siphon as much water as I could from the old tank to the new tank.  (not sure how big the tank is)  Keep all your filter media/filter/plants/wood the same   Top off with remineralized RO water if needed . (depending on how much water you save. )     Add Tetra safe start and as long as the water temp is close to what it was in your leaking tank, add the shrimp right in.  (acclimate if the water is very different)  

 

With all your filters the same and much of the same water  hopefully you will insta cycle. Your parameters should be pretty close to the same.  I think you would be fine. 

 

Good luck!

 

PS the reason I would get new substrate is that once you start stirring up the old substrate it will probably be filthy .. also will start releasing gases.     And its just not necessary so start clean.   Your plants will bring in the old food, algae and biofilm. 

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This is what i would do ... someone more knowledgable can correct  any of my steps if they are murderous.

 

I would buy the new tank.   And buy new substrate.  I would not keep the substrate you have cuz.. well.. Ick.   Then Id scoop or siphon as much water as I could from the old tank to the new tank.  (not sure how big the tank is)  Keep all your filter media/filter/plants/wood the same   Top off with remineralized RO water if needed . (depending on how much water you save. )     Add Tetra safe start and as long as the water temp is close to what it was in your leaking tank, add the shrimp right in.  (acclimate if the water is very different)  

 

With all your filters the same and much of the same water  hopefully you will insta cycle. Your parameters should be pretty close to the same.  I think you would be fine. 

 

Good luck!

 

PS the reason I would get new substrate is that once you start stirring up the old substrate it will probably be filthy .. also will start releasing gases.     And its just not necessary so start clean.   Your plants will bring in the old food, algae and biofilm. 

I might be wrong but from what I understand of Tetra Safestart, it is useless to use for low ph tanks.

It states that if you use something like prime to detoxify ammonia, Tetra Safestart will not work and should be added after 24-48 hours. 

With that said, Tetra Safestart doesn't work well with non toxic ammonia. Assuming your ph is 6.5, Tetra Safestart will most likely do nothing since the amount of toxic ammonia in your tank is near none.

 

I dosed 150mL of Tetra Safestart in 10g tank at 5.5 PH and cycle isn't going anywhere.

I dosed 50mL of Tetra Safestart in a 10g tank at 7.4 PH and cycle is completed in 4 days. (I'm only adding roughly 10-15 shrimp so dosing .25 ppm ammonia daily and is removed within 24 hours by beneficial bacteria.)

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I wasnt suggesting it to detoxify ammonia Poopians but to add beneficial bacteria just in case his cycle needed a boost.  (which it shouldnt but since safe start is harmless no reason not to)  

 

 I don't know what is PH is in the tank but in my 6.0 ph tank it completed my cycle that had been stalled for 2 weeks in 24 hours. 

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Thanks for all the advice everyone!

 

I tore down the 30 gallon... and went with a 17 gallon rimless tank. Kinda sucks that I have to down grade, but oh well. 

 

Instead of keeping the same substrate (due to high debris) I went and got Mr. Aqua plant substrate that buffers PH down to 6-6.5. Currently I have a Rena Xp3 running on it (switching out the impeller for Xp1) to slow down the flow, and have some plants / wood in the tank.

 

Once everything settles down, I plan on moving my CRS from the 5 gallon bucket, back into the new tank. Pictures will be up soon 

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Side note, instead of putting the CRS in the tank immediately, I put them in a 5 gallon bucket, with an airstone, heater, and some plants. Once the tank is fully cycled again, I will begin the transfer. Hopefully the CRS survive in the bucket. Shouldn't be an issue hopefully

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