Should I Clean Tank Before Adding More Fish?
by Aquaboy on Thursday, September 9th, 2010 | 4 Comments
My ghost shrimp died two days after I got them. I took them out of the tank and now i’m cycling the tank before I get another fish.
But do I need to clean it or use any medication to rid the tank of any possible parasites or sickness from the shrimp?
How would I do this without messing with the cycle, or will the cycle kill the bad things?
Thanks! 
Note: I want to get a female betta fish and later some more ghost shrimp.
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I wouldn’t worry too much at all about it~ If they were dead for a while before you scooped them out, they just release ammonia into the aquarium, which is what fish waste releases too.
Ghost shrimp straight from the store die pretty easily. I always try to buy extra to make up for any deaths.
I believe I’ve read that ghost shrimp are (at least somewhat) resistant to (most?) diseases, so you should be ok as far as that is concerned.
Sorry your shrimp died.
Never hurts to do water changes (and vacuum). After cycling the water gets changed anyway so you should be ok.
Depending on the size of your tank even female Betta’s will sometimes chase down shrimp and eat them. Having plants and other places for the shrimp to hide in will help their chances of survival.
Good luck ‘fishing!’
You should probably unplug the filter and empty the water. Let the tank air dry to kill all of the bacteria. Clean the gravel and plants let them air dry as well. Then take out the filter and rinse it.
Then you can fill the tank and start the cycling, you don’t want any bacteria to be in their for your new fish.
You always do a water change at the end of the cycle, then add fish.