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3K views 24 replies 9 participants last post by  oblongshrimp 
#1 ·
Over the past few days, I noticed that some of my Rili's and STS have been randomly hanging out at the top of my tank, at the waters edge.

I havent done any drastic changes to my tank, just the occasional 1.5g water change (did one yesterday). It has been well established for nearly a year now. I don't really dose anything at all, just using root tabs, and the occasional one pump of iron midweek. Flora consists of flame moss, taiwan moss, and dhg, substrate is yubao. I don't test my GH and TDS, so I dont have those numbers for you, which I'm going to assume, are critical to assess my current situation.

A little bit about these shrimp. The STS were all born in this tank, the mama died a couple weeks later, and from what I've counted, I have around 10 survivors, all of which are in the juvie stages of their lives now. I counted 9 of them in the pic below.

Well, I just came home from dinner and saw this.



All but one of my STS are hanging out at the top. My cO2 is in check, and is just over 1bps. Food is fed every other day, I rotate between Borneo Grow, Kens Veggie Sticks w/ Calcium, Hikari Crab Cuisine and Borneo Barley. Water temp has been pretty steady around 68-70˚. I use an AC20 for filtration, and have it on the side of the tank, so it gets nice flow across the entire tank, bounces off the far wall, and circles back around.

Please help, I'm getting worried that this isn't a good sign. :icon_cry:
 
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#2 ·
Uhh do you have a co2 indicator? even if its 1 bps, it may be cuasing the shrimp to seek o2, explaining why they're running to the surface.

I would decrease it immediately.

You really should get a test kit that'll give us information about water conditions....
we need to know....

ammonia
nitrite
nitrate
ph
gh
kh
tds

Also there may be a high iron count idk, so you should check that out too.
 
#8 ·
thanks hedge.

well, turning off the c02 seems to have had a positive effect, as the shrimp are no longer hanging out where they were in the pic.

i know its a stretch with that 7.8ph, the one thing i think i had going for me was that th babies have made it this far, about 1.5 months or so. just wishful thinking i suppose.
 
#16 ·
it really doesnt matter what type of filter he has as long as hes got good flow and surface agitation a spray bar really wont have much of a effect vs a hob, they both can provide surface agitation only main thing is the spray bar can tone down the current while keeping the same flow but thats about it.
 
#15 ·
you can run co2 but you have to do it in SMALLER ammounts, this is why high light tanks dont do well with shrimp. one bps doesnt mean much as if its a small tank vs large tank there is a huge difference in volume of water and with doing a 1.5g wc im guessing is a 10g tank or something small, in that case you might have to go like 1bubble every 4 sec or so maybe even less if you want them to be breeding, this is why most people dont use co2 on these tanks.

mine is set @ 1bubble for 4 sec on a 20L and i can still see a drop in ph of about .4 i dont want much as i really want the shrimp, its just there to help out the plants even with that little ammount i still can see o2 being made and rising to the surface. fauna will show better signs than a dropchecker can tell you you just have to learn to read those signs, swimming at the top gasping for air is one of the last ones btw. if your tank is needing that much co2 your light is WAY to much for the tank & shrimp, then its time to down grade the output if that is the case. happy shrimping ;)
 
#18 ·
If you want maximum reproduction and health for your shrimp, IMO I'd quit the CO2, lower your ph slightly and get a sponge filter (for their simplicity and cheapness, they're the best at providing good O2). If you're not a big fan of somewhat ugly sponges in your tank, one option is to cover it with some ferns or moss.

Good luck :)
 
#19 · (Edited)
thanks again everybody.

i cant believe i forgot to mention my tank is an 11.4g mr. aqua, the lighting is quite high, t5ho, 2x 18w bulbs, 10k....however, per Hoppy's recommendation, I do have two layers of fiberglass window screen in between the bulbs and the the splash guard to tame the light. the light sits about 4" above the water line, and about 12" above the substrate. i think i'll add one more layer of screen to further tame the light, and just scrap using the co2.

i am keeping red rili's in this tank as well, what is a good method of lowering the pH? (besides switching to aquasoil, lol)

i do have an airpump with a sponge filter, i just dont like the splashing bubbles that occur (my tank is rimless and i dont have a lid/cover).

i should also mention, my rili's are breeding like crazy, and the baby survival rate is really high. although, i know they aren't as sensitive as the tigers.
 
#22 ·
thanks, i actually do have some IAL i can throw in there, i'll soak them first so the tannins dont murk up my water.

i took out the co2 setup, and put in a sponge with air-pump, it is kind of soothing actually, haha. the shrimp seem happy, and havent even come near the surface since i made the changes. i also put in one more layer of window screen to tame my light, so knock on wood, all should be good now!!!
 
#25 ·
Its an O2 deficiency that has the sitting at the surface. I had a tank in which they would do that each morning until the light came on and the plants starting making O2. The tank did not have CO2 on it but it didn't have enough surface agitation at night to keep the O2 levels adequate.
 
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