Should I throw everything away or not?

[rambamodam]

Hi everyone!

 

I've been meaning to sell/giveaway my cherries and amano's to start a Taiwan bee tank. The TDS in this tank is around 350 and my question to you guys is... after i clear out the tank should I just throw the old eco-complete substrate away and start new or should I just replace old water with RODI and go from there? Thanks guys/gals!

[miniminx136]

If the shrimps in your current tank are healthy/thriving, I'd think that replacing water with RODI and re-mineralizing would be a better idea. There's probably a microbial community/ecosystem developed in your tank already that'd probably benefit the shrimps, and no real point of cycling again and waiting.  

 

Good luck on your new tank! (I've started out with cherries too, but Taiwan bee's are just too cool xD) 

[rambamodam]

Sounds good! I'll just go ahead and replace the water then.

 

And yes, Taiwan bee's are definitely awesome! I also love the extra challenge in keeping them too lol.

[Greenteam]

Setting up for a TB tank you might want to do a few things to ensure a successful tank. 

 

1. Upgrade substrate from eco-complete to active soil. Anything like SL-Aqua, ADA, ContraSoil.. etc 

       -This step will ensure a stable PH. Simply switching to RO water does not ensure your PH will not bounce up an down. 

 

2. Switch to RO water and make sure you buy a remineralizer like Salty Shrimp GH+. Plain RO water will not meet the requirements shrimp need. Roughly TDS of 100-150 and Gh 5 is what you should aim for.

 

What I would keep is the filters going till you make the change. This way the cycle process will go much faster.