[Aboy6]

Hello,

I’m back here to ask about Mineral Junkie from GlasGarten.

I’m new in the shrimp hobby and I want to learn more and more about my neocaridina shrimps.

This weekend I was in my local aquarium shop and I meet a guy that keeps shrimps. He has a few years in the shrimp hobby, he was telling me what he’s using Mineral Junkie to feed his shrimps, he use almost all products from GlasGarten. He use Mineral Junkie twice at week to feed his shrimps (he has two 40 gallons tanks heavy planted) he recommend me to use the Mineral Junkie as well.
I’m currently using shrimp baby, bacter AE and Shrimp Fit+ In my 10 gallons shrimp tank.
My tank has a few plants (working to get more) I’m using sand as my substrate. I have maybe 40 shrimps in my tank.

Since I’m using GlasGarten products I’m seeing less losses in my tank and that helps me to have a few cross breading shrimps. 🥰
I feed my shrimps with shrimp baby and raw cucumber (organic) or boiled (non-organic) for 15 minutes.

I want to asking for help from you guys:

it’s a good idea just to feed my shrimps just with mineral Junkie in order to prevent to lose more shrimps?

By the way. Since last week and today I lose 5 shrimps. 😞

Thank you for your help.

 

[somewhatshocked]

Shrimp (plural, only one S - encompassing all types of shrimp) are detrivores, so they eat detritus - waste - and will eat pretty much anything you offer them if they're hungry.

I have a pretty well sought after shrimp food line that people have tried unsuccessfully to duplicate for years, so please take this to heart when I tell you this: You do not need to buy fancy food for your shrimp. Not my food, not GlasGarten, not Bacter AE, not Mineral Junkie. You can feed them a frozen spinach leaf, a piece of zucchini, seaweed, other vegetable matter, some occasional fish food or a sinking pellet and they'll be just as healthy. Just keep things varied and only feed what your shrimp will eat within an hour - remove any leftovers. Feed every 2-3 days, not every day.

Anyone telling you that you need to buy a particular food line is lying to you in order to make money or make themselves feel better. Sure, shrimp-specific foods can provide everything a shrimp needs to survive and thrive but they're not necessary. Don't buy them unless you have extra money to spare or just want to have several types of food on-hand and don't want to deal with fresh veggies.

Let's figure out why you're losing shrimp.

What are your water parameters? kH, gH, TDS, ammonia/ammonium, nitrite, nitrate?

How long was the tank set up before shrimp were added? How was the tank cycled?

How much are you feeding of each food and how frequently? Generally, when someone new to keeping shrimp starts losing a bunch, they're either overfeeding, the shrimp were unhealthy from the beginning or there are issues with water parameters and stability. But without more specifics from you, there's no way to be certain.

Things you should do today that will help: Turn your heater off and remove it from the tank. There's no reason Neocaridina shrimp should be kept in water that's 78.9F. They'll do best in room temperature water. I keep mine in the high 60s and never in water warmer than 72F if I can help it.

 

[Aboy6]

Shrimp (plural, only one S - encompassing all types of shrimp) are detrivores, so they eat detritus - waste - and will eat pretty much anything you offer them if they're hungry.

I have a pretty well sought after shrimp food line that people have tried unsuccessfully to duplicate for years, so please take this to heart when I tell you this: You do not need to buy fancy food for your shrimp. Not my food, not GlasGarten, not Bacter AE, not Mineral Junkie. You can feed them a frozen spinach leaf, a piece of zucchini, seaweed, other vegetable matter, some occasional fish food or a sinking pellet and they'll be just as healthy. Just keep things varied and only feed what your shrimp will eat within an hour - remove any leftovers. Feed every 2-3 days, not every day.

Anyone telling you that you need to buy a particular food line is lying to you in order to make money or make themselves feel better. Sure, shrimp-specific foods can provide everything a shrimp needs to survive and thrive but they're not necessary. Don't buy them unless you have extra money to spare or just want to have several types of food on-hand and don't want to deal with fresh veggies.

Let's figure out why you're losing shrimp.

What are your water parameters? kH, gH, TDS, ammonia/ammonium, nitrite, nitrate?

How long was the tank set up before shrimp were added? How was the tank cycled?

How much are you feeding of each food and how frequently? Generally, when someone new to keeping shrimp starts losing a bunch, they're either overfeeding, the shrimp were unhealthy from the beginning or there are issues with water parameters and stability. But without more specifics from you, there's no way to be certain.

Things you should do today that will help: Turn your heater off and remove it from the tank. There's no reason Neocaridina shrimp should be kept in water that's 78.9F. They'll do best in room temperature water. I keep mine in the high 60s and never in water warmer than 72F if I can help it.

Hello,

thanks for your replay.

I cycled the tank for about 2 weeks with a sponge filter that was used in a cycled tank (a 7+ weeks) the reason why I put them in the tank was because I panicked because I got worms in my temporal tank. 😞

Yes, you are right. I have a habit to feed them everyday.

My water parameters are:


6/7/2021

Ph: 7.6
High Range Ph: 7.4
Ammonia: 0 ppm
Nitrite: 2.5 ppm
Nitrate: 5.0 ppm
Gh: 8
Kh: 3
TDS: 217 ppm

About the heater I can try to do that. But, I’m a little worry to do that.

What about lower the temperature?

 

[ElleDee]

2.5 ppm nitrite is a serious problem and means your tank is not yet fully cycled despite the sponge filter. With fish that means big, frequent water changes until the bacteria catches up, but I don't know if there are any accommodations you should make with shrimp. This is definitely an acute problem that must be handled in the immediate term. You can worry about proper feeding and care after this is brought under control. You should pause feeding them for the moment because that food is adding to your nitrite problem.

(And I would not hesitate to remove the heater, but that issue is much less important than the nitrite.)

 

[Aboy6]

2.5 ppm nitrite is a serious problem and means your tank is not yet fully cycled despite the sponge filter. With fish that means big, frequent water changes until the bacteria catches up, but I don't know if there are any accommodations you should make with shrimp. This is definitely an acute problem that must be handled in the immediate term. You can worry about proper feeding and care after this is brought under control. You should pause feeding them for the moment because that food is adding to your nitrite problem.

(And I would not hesitate to remove the heater, but that issue is much less important than the nitrite.)

When frequent water change you mean weekly or daily? Sorry for the stupid question.

 

[somewhatshocked]

Frequent. As in daily or multiple times per day.

Your tank is not cycled and that's your problem. It's not ready for shrimp and won't be for weeks or a month or more.

Remove the heater and re-read what I wrote. It is unnecessary and a potential problem for you. You don't need a heater.

 

[Blue Ridge Reef]

You know how in real estate, they say "location, location, location" in regards to property value? With shrimp, it's "Stability, stability, stability." I've had Neos spawn and thrive in hard water and extremely soft water. They can adapt to a lot, as long as change happens very slowly. Large water changes are never ideal, I do 10% a week in my own tanks. And to keep things stable, I'll set tanks up for months with growing plants before they ever see a shrimp. The more mature the ecosystem, the less things change. And you can't really rush this.

Shrimp keeping is very different than keeping fish in regards to feeding. As food goes; in a typical shrimp tank less is usually more. My rule of thumb is, if they don't swarm the food; they didn't need to be fed that day. Consider how small a shrimp is, then consider the size of its stomach:

In a healthy mature planted tank, until numbers get high, they really don't need supplemental feeding. Detritus, algae and biofilm is abundant. More harm is done than good when putting in more food than they can eat. They are sensitive to nitrogen spikes from rotting food, though I wouldn't change large amounts at once. Wishing you luck.

 

[somewhatshocked]

In a healthy mature planted tank, until numbers get high, they really don't need supplemental feeding.

This is another reason to "cycle" a tank/let it run for 2-3 months before shrimp are added. All the goodies that grow in a tank over time will be there for them and you'll have more success when that's the case. While you can keep shrimp in a new tank? Mature is always better. Like @Blue Ridge Reef's signature says? Nothing good happens fast in an ecosystem.

A note on water changes: since you have ammonia & nitrite present, you'll have to do water changes. As long as you match parameters (kH & gH the same), it'll be easy. Just slowly add new water back to the tank. If you change 1/4-1/2 of the water, just drip the new (parameter matched) water back into the tank over the course of an hour. Could do it a little more quickly but taking your time is best for now. There's tons of information about it here on the forum if you use the search function.

 

[Aboy6]

This is another reason to "cycle" a tank/let it run for 2-3 months before shrimp are added.

I wish I have the space to do that. Maybe in the future. 😕 our fist tank broke and we ended separate all the fish and shrimps. That’s the main reason why my shrimps was in a temporal container.

A note on water changes: since you have ammonia & nitrite present, you'll have to do water changes. As long as you match parameters (kH & gH the same), it'll be easy. Just slowly add new water back to the tank. If you change 1/4-1/2 of the water, just drip the new (parameter matched) water back into the tank over the course of an hour. Could do it a little more quickly but taking your time is best for now. There's tons of information about it here on the forum if you use the search function.

I don’t have ammonia but I will do the water change and add the water extra slowly this time, I always go slow but I will do as you say.

About the search... I try it but they are lot of post in here, I don’t know where to start looking.

 

[somewhatshocked]

I don’t have ammonia but I will do the water change and add the water extra slowly this time, I always go slow but I will do as you say.

About the search... I try it but they are lot of post in here, I don’t know where to start looking.

You do have ammonia present. If you've got a nitrite reading, there's ammonia present. Ammonia gets processed into Nitrite. Nitrite gets processed into Nitrate. And until that Nitrite reading is 0, your tank is not cycled or ready for shrimp. They will inevitably continue to die until the tank is truly ready for them.

The search isn't confusing or complicated. You just have to put in the effort if you want to learn. It's like googling something. You start by typing in what you're looking for. Be specific when you do. You'll then get a list of posts you can read through. You'll even have options to search within a specific sub-section of the forum. I find it really helpful.

It would also help you to read through tank journals here of people who keep shrimp. And to read as much as you can in the Shrimp section. You'll learn a ton just by doing that.

 

[Zoidburg]

To add in to this....

What is your source water?


If the answer is "tap", what are your source water parameters?

 

[Aboy6]

To add in to this....

What is your source water?


If the answer is "tap", what are your source water parameters?

RO water with shrimp minerals Gh/Kh+

 

[Aboy6]

Hello everyone,

A quick update about the tank:


6/10/2021

Ph: 7.6
High Range Ph: 7.4
Ammonia: 0 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Nitrate: 0 ppm
Gh: 8
Kh: 3
TDS: 218 ppm


After two days of changing water (15% per day) my Nitrites are 0, also I unplug the heater but left it inside “just” in case.
A few more shrimp dies 😭 but 3 of my females just had babies. 😍
I want to thank you guys for all the help in this. I will keep it post it and maybe some pictures.

 

[Zoidburg]

Agreed then, it doesn't sound like your tank was fully cycled.

Please let things settle and keep an eye on the tank and let us know how they do!

 

[Aboy6]

Agreed then, it doesn't sound like your tank was fully cycled.

Please let things settle and keep an eye on the tank and let us know how they do!

Yes, sir.

 

[somewhatshocked]

Great news to hear things improved!

And even though you've lost several adult shrimp, all those babies will definitely make up for it. They'll also likely grow up to be much stronger and more adapted to their environment than the adults.

 

[Aboy6]

Great news to hear things improved!

And even though you've lost several adult shrimp, all those babies will definitely make up for it. They'll also likely grow up to be much stronger and more adapted to their environment than the adults.

That’s what I’m hope so. 😍

Here is my tank.

 

[Aboy6]

Quick update in my tank.

everything is going a little better I just check the parameter on my water:


6/18/2021
Ph: 7.6
High Range Ph: 7.4
Ammonia: 0 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Nitrate: 5.0 ppm
Gh: 8
Kh: 4
TDS: 234 ppm


I have a little of Nitrate but I have water lettuce in my tank. Hope this help.

 

[Zoidburg]

Parameters look good! Nitrate can be higher without issues.