Dead berried shrimp :(

mmccarthy781 said:

Thanks for all the helpful information everyone! I'll try and get fluval mineral supplement today.

Acitydweller, about the heavy metals, recently I havn't been using any water conditioner because I was told aging your water gave you the same benifits. Should I start using prime?

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Aged water is an old school practice in the hobby however it does not address anything other than chlorine. If your local water treatment facility uses chloramine to treat your water so that it's drinkable, you will want to use a water conditioner to break the bond of chloramine, which inhibits the proper intake of oxygen in fish and other aquatic life (except plants). If they use chlorine, the best thing to do is age (let it sit) the water from the tap for a few days. Chlorine will evaporate in that amount of time. Chloramine will not no matter how long you age the water. this also goes for heavy metals and all other nasties we find in water that make up TDS.

Product Description
Prime® is the complete and concentrated conditioner for both fresh and salt water. Prime® removes chlorine, chloramine and ammonia. Prime® converts ammonia into a safe, non-toxic form that is readily removed by the tank’s biofilter. Prime® may be used during tank cycling to alleviate ammonia/nitrite toxicity. Prime® detoxifies nitrite and nitrate, allowing the biofilter to more efficiently remove them. It will also detoxify any heavy metals found in the tap water at typical concentration levels. Prime® also promotes the production and regeneration of the natural slime coat. Prime® is non-acidic and will not impact pH. Prime® will not overactivate skimmers. Use at start-up and whenever adding or replacing water.

Why It's Different


Nearly all companies manufacture a product that removes chlorine. None of those, however, can compare in quality, concentration, or effectiveness to Seachem’s flagship product: Prime®. Prime® is the second most concentrated dechlorinator on the market after our own aquavitro alpha™. A single 100 mL bottle will treat 1000 US gallons of tap water. Prime® will remove both chlorine and chloramines from municipal water supplies.

Prime® also contains a binder which renders ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate non-toxic. It is very important to understand how those two functions work together. All dechlorinators operate through a chemical process known as reduction. In this process, toxic dissolved chlorine gas (Cl2) is converted into non-toxic chloride ions (Cl-). The reduction process also breaks the bonds between chlorine and nitrogen atoms in the chloramine molecule (NH2Cl), freeing the chlorine atoms and replacing them with hydrogen (H) to create ammonia (NH3).
Typically, dechlorinators stop there, leaving an aquarium full of toxic ammonia! Seachem takes the necessary next step by including an ammonia binder to detoxify the ammonia produced in the reduction process.

Be very careful when purchasing water conditioners. If your municipality includes chloramines in the water supplies, a standard sodium thiosulfate dechlorinator is not enough. Prime® promotes the natural production and restoration of the slime coat rather than relying on artificial or non-native slime compounds. A further bonus for the reef hobbyist—Prime® will not overactivate protein skimmers.

Source: http://www.seachem.com/Products/product_pages/Prime.html

When you use prime, you will notice a strong sulfur smell. this is normal per the description above.

regarding your PH, go with either what the seller water parameters were, or by what is ideal for the breed. Other people may have success with a certain water parameter but they also may not be disclosing what else they are or arent aware of.

Cherry Shrimp water guidelines from Shrimpkeeping.com

Always aim high and shoot for the stars. Dont settle for what others have done or have gotten away with.

Overgrowth said:

Use a remineralizer, like Shirakura Ca+ or Fluval mineral supplement.

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+1 i concur with Overgrowth. i have used both with great success. FMS is more readily available while Shirakura is offered by some of our beloved sellers on Sns. I happily purchased mine from Morphadalus.

Our LFS advised not to add Prime directly into tanks as it would starve or negatively affect the existing beneficial bacteria in the tank. I suppose that in itself makes some sense. The bottle itself doesnt suggest doing so but also doesn't advise against it either. YMMV so use your own judgement here.

With that said, i normally pretreat new tap water with Prime prior to a water change.

When measuring the water parameters for shrimp, look at Gh/KH/PH / TDS and temps as your key indicators. the first three are closely related. Google this if you need more clarity here. dGH represents the degree of general hardness. you normally would divid PPM by 17.86 to get the degree measure. This is normally unnecessary but it all depends on your testing tools.

In hindsight, Fluval neglected to include a dropper on their mineral supplement product. try to get one from your local pharmacist. Target gave me a bunch of syringes which work equally well. note how many drops it takes to raise the GH to your desired level. it will make your life much easier going forward.