[JadeCrystal]

So I recently got 4 Blue Dream Cherry Shrimp on Thursday and lost 2 in the past 2 days. The only thing I can think of is I didn't acclimate the shrimp well enough as I did cycle my tank (a 7.5 gallon shrimp tank specifically from Aqueon) and have a piece of driftwood, a moss ball, and a long plant with brown leaves (I spaced the name). I also may have had other issues with some things and I know my pH is around 7.6 or so (is this too basic?). My water has a water heater preset at 78 degrees F. I treat my water before adding it and I cycled my tank for wednesday night through thursday and added my shrimp thursday evening. They were fine until Sunday and today. I do have a pregnant female in my tank currently as well (she was pregnant when I got her right away). Could it be there's not enough shrimp in the tank? My research says they are social critters, doing well in groups of 10 individuals or so. I also plant to add some Caridina species too. The female hangs around the long plant the most. The other is often on the heater just chilling.

I think I need to reset my tank and maybe get another plant or two, maybe it's my bacterial seed? I would love some opinions on what to do now. I want to get a bucket so I can drip acclimate for a better time period and also reset my whole tank to make sure everything is fine. I want to also do a nitrate test, gh and kh test as well.

 

[minorhero]

So I recently got 4 Blue Dream Cherry Shrimp on Thursday and lost 2 in the past 2 days. The only thing I can think of is I didn't acclimate the shrimp well enough as I did cycle my tank (a 7.5 gallon shrimp tank specifically from Aqueon) and have a piece of driftwood, a moss ball, and a long plant with brown leaves (I spaced the name). I also may have had other issues with some things and I know my pH is around 7.6 or so (is this too basic?). My water has a water heater preset at 78 degrees F. I treat my water before adding it and I cycled my tank for wednesday night through thursday and added my shrimp thursday evening. They were fine until Sunday and today. I do have a pregnant female in my tank currently as well (she was pregnant when I got her right away). Could it be there's not enough shrimp in the tank? My research says they are social critters, doing well in groups of 10 individuals or so. I also plant to add some Caridina species too. The female hangs around the long plant the most. The other is often on the heater just chilling.

I think I need to reset my tank and maybe get another plant or two, maybe it's my bacterial seed? I would love some opinions on what to do now. I want to get a bucket so I can drip acclimate for a better time period and also reset my whole tank to make sure everything is fine. I want to also do a nitrate test, gh and kh test as well.

Soooo bottled bacteria can definitely help but despite the (to my mind) straight up fraudulent advertising they do not instantly cycle a tank. Your tank will take somewhere between 2 weeks to 6 weeks on average to cycle. It did not happen in a day. You should buy a liquid test kit (in the states API Freshwater Master Kit is recommended because its widely available and fairly cheap) and test your parameters. In the meantime its a good idea to do some big water changes once a day until your cycle settles out. Sadly if you are already losing shrimp that may continue. I would hold off adding any other animals until your cycle completes.

 

[JadeCrystal]

Soooo bottled bacteria can definitely help but despite the (to my mind) straight up fraudulent advertising they do not instantly cycle a tank. Your tank will take somewhere between 2 weeks to 6 weeks on average to cycle. It did not happen in a day. You should buy a liquid test kit (in the states API Freshwater Master Kit is recommended because its widely available and fairly cheap) and test your parameters. In the meantime its a good idea to do some big water changes once a day until your cycle settles out. Sadly if you are already losing shrimp that may continue. I would hold off adding any other animals until your cycle completes.

Thank you for the idea and tips! I really appreciate it. I am fairly new to keeping invertebrates and did a lot of research before this, however I definitely had an issue somewhere haha. I am a bit upset but I don't give up easily and just try to figure out what went wrong before retrying. Always sad to lose a critter, but it happens when trying something new I guess.

 

[minorhero]

Thank you for the idea and tips! I really appreciate it. I am fairly new to keeping invertebrates and did a lot of research before this, however I definitely had an issue somewhere haha. I am a bit upset but I don't give up easily and just try to figure out what went wrong before retrying. Always sad to lose a critter, but it happens when trying something new I guess.

Aquariums like a lot of animal keeping have a lot of people writing opinions about "how to" do things and some of it sadly is just not good advice. I subscribe to one very popular youtuber who constantly adds fish and shrimp to tanks that he only just setup while he pushes bottled bacteria as a wonder solution. He occasionally (though not usually) mentions losing a lot of those fish and shrimp later. Similarly some websites have just straight up bad information on them. It doesn't help that some information from say 15 or 20 years ago is just not in keeping with modern technology and thinking. It all makes for a confusing time when new.

Good news is you caught it now and not 10 tanks later wondering why you always have so many losses when the tanks are new.

 

[Asteroid]

Never be in a rush to add livestock that's how you minimize looses. A naturally maturing tank is far better than relying on something in a bottle. Get the tank growing the way you want it, do regular water changes and wait 2 months before adding any critters.

 

[JadeCrystal]

Aquariums like a lot of animal keeping have a lot of people writing opinions about "how to" do things and some of it sadly is just not good advice. I subscribe to one very popular youtuber who constantly adds fish and shrimp to tanks that he only just setup while he pushes bottled bacteria as a wonder solution. He occasionally (though not usually) mentions losing a lot of those fish and shrimp later. Similarly some websites have just straight up bad information on them. It doesn't help that some information from say 15 or 20 years ago is just not in keeping with modern technology and thinking. It all makes for a confusing time when new.

Good news is you caught it now and not 10 tanks later wondering why you always have so many losses when the tanks are new.

Agreed - glad I caught it now. I also started with 4 shrimp and if I can make sure my female stays alive - would be best as she has eggs. Trial and error - but I don't want to just shove everything. I want to do things right. And it may take time but worth it honestly. I also removed my dead ones when I noticed them right away so the pH wasn't affected and still seems to hold at 7.6 if my indicator is correct.

Never be in a rush to add livestock that's how you minimize looses. A naturally maturing tank is far better than relying on something in a bottle. Get the tank growing the way you want it, do regular water changes and wait 2 months before adding any critters.

Thank you! I appreciate the advice from anyone right now. They are gorgeous shrimp too. So if I can keep them healthy and good then yay. My heater is an Aqueon brand heater with the preset at 78 F but maybe I need to make sure everything is warm enough first. It is a tad difficult - my main worry was the cats but they don't seem to care about the tiny things haha.

 

[minorhero]

Also don't worry about the ph. My water is 8.2 ph in the summer and the shrimp breed just fine. Neocaridina are very hardy as are amano shrimp. Other shrimp species??? different story. But neocaridina at least are all good at 7.6 ph. You can also completely dump the heater. Neocaridina will do better at lower temperatures. Some folk even keep them outdoors year round literally breaking the ice on tubs so they can get oxygenated.

 

[Tiger15]

When I brought in new shrimp, I always drip acclimate them for hours as recommended. But when I do WC, I changed as much as 50% in minutes with new water of different temp and TDS and my shrimp showed no stress. In the wild, shrimp that live in small streams are subject to drastic change in temp and other parameters in storm events, so I wonder if long acclimation is an overkill.

 

[JadeCrystal]

When I brought in new shrimp, I always drip acclimate them for hours as recommended. But when I do WC, I changed as much as 50% in minutes with new water of different temp and TDS and my shrimp showed no stress. In the wild, shrimp that live in small streams are subject to drastic change in temp and other parameters in storm events, so I wonder if long acclimation is an overkill.

That is honestly a good question - I have no clue but maybe I didn't drip acclimate correctly.

Also don't worry about the ph. My water is 8.2 ph in the summer and the shrimp breed just fine. Neocaridina are very hardy as are amano shrimp. Other shrimp species??? different story. But neocaridina at least are all good at 7.6 ph. You can also completely dump the heater. Neocaridina will do better at lower temperatures. Some folk even keep them outdoors year round literally breaking the ice on tubs so they can get oxygenated.

Good to know - I worry about pH a lot and are you supposed to be sold adult shrimp or are adolescent shrimp better?

 

[minorhero]

That is honestly a good question - I have no clue but maybe I didn't drip acclimate correctly.

Good to know - I worry about pH a lot and are you supposed to be sold adult shrimp or are adolescent shrimp better?

It doesn't matter much, they grow up in a few months and start breeding pretty easily. If buying from a shrimp breeder I tend to get adolescent as that is what the breeder wants to get rid of, if buying from a fish store I get a mix because that's what the fish store has.

 

[Zoidburg]

If you are cycling a tank without fish, it doesn't hurt to set the heater to 84-86 and add in either Ace Hardware Janitorial Strength Ammonia (a few drops goes a long ways! so small bottle is sufficient!) OR Dr Timm's Ammonium. As mentioned, it usually takes several weeks to cycle a tank and shrimp do best in mature tanks that have algae and biofilm growth.

Once the tank is cycled, you can ditch the heater.

You don't mention what the GH and KH is of your water... so I'd recommend getting liquid test kits to find out. (which you mentioned wanting to do those tests)


Juvie shrimp do best in different parameters but if you wanted to get adults, you could try matching the parameters they were raised in - IF you know the parameters they were raised in and know how to match parameters. GH and KH being the biggest parameters to match. (that is, if you didn't have any shrimp to begin with)

 

[JadeCrystal]

It doesn't matter much, they grow up in a few months and start breeding pretty easily. If buying from a shrimp breeder I tend to get adolescent as that is what the breeder wants to get rid of, if buying from a fish store I get a mix because that's what the fish store has.

Ahhh - that makes sense. I went to a local pet store that take very good care of their animals and are often getting their products and critters from local breeders ect. over Petco.

If you are cycling a tank without fish, it doesn't hurt to set the heater to 84-86 and add in either Ace Hardware Janitorial Strength Ammonia (a few drops goes a long ways! so small bottle is sufficient!) OR Dr Timm's Ammonium. As mentioned, it usually takes several weeks to cycle a tank and shrimp do best in mature tanks that have algae and biofilm growth.

Once the tank is cycled, you can ditch the heater.

You don't mention what the GH and KH is of your water... so I'd recommend getting liquid test kits to find out. (which you mentioned wanting to do those tests)


Juvie shrimp do best in different parameters but if you wanted to get adults, you could try matching the parameters they were raised in - IF you know the parameters they were raised in and know how to match parameters. GH and KH being the biggest parameters to match. (that is, if you didn't have any shrimp to begin with)

Okay that's really good to know. I definitely debated getting a nitrate, gh, kh, and pH testing kit but the employee said pH would have been fine. Now I know better than to just test pH and go with my instinct on what is best for my critters.

 

[Griznatch]

The one thing I noticed that helped with shrimp loss, was placing them in a well established tank with stable water parameters.

I don't know if this is just coincidence, but there seems to be some correlation with cycling with guppies and snails. Seems to speed up the cycling, and the plants like it.

 

[JadeCrystal]

The one thing I noticed that helped with shrimp loss, was placing them in a well established tank with stable water parameters.

I don't know if this is just coincidence, but there seems to be some correlation with cycling with guppies and snails. Seems to speed up the cycling, and the plants like it.

Maybe getting a snail or two will be good? I am thinking about it for sure. Any good snail types which would work best with Neos?

 

[Asteroid]

The take away from this is:

1. Get young shrimp, they acclimate better. You don't need to drip acclimate. I only temp match by floating bag.
2. Neos can live/breed in a wide variety of parameters. I've breed them in KH 0 and I'm breeding them now in KH 12- 16.
3. Don't rush livestock. Let the tank mature naturally and develop bio-film, some algae, etc for shrimp to eat. Wait 2 months+

I started with 5 Sakura Red Neos and have breed at least 300 in under a year with fish in the tank.

 

[JadeCrystal]

The take away from this is:

1. Get young shrimp, they acclimate better. You don't need to drip acclimate. I only temp match by floating bag.
2. Neos can live/breed in a wide variety of parameters. I've breed them in KH 0 and I'm breeding them now in KH 12- 16.
3. Don't rush livestock. Let the tank mature naturally and develop bio-film, some algae, etc for shrimp to eat. Wait 2 months+

I started with 5 Sakura Red Neos and have breed at least 300 in under a year with fish in the tank.

Thank you - all of you. I worry so much and even did a bunch of research before getting the shrimp. Take away is make sure my tank is cycled properly and acclimate my shrimp correctly too. I really really appreciate the advice and help I have gotten from this. Seriously.

Is it common to have a shrimp like to hang out around the water heater or filter? I notice one likes to hide behind the filter and the female prefers the plant for sure.

 

[Griznatch]

I think some of it has to do with how comfortable/safe they feel. My 75 has hundreds of shrimp in it and they tend to stay spread out all over the tank until I put something in there they really like. I have a ten gallon that for a while only had a betta and 5 cherry shrimp. The betta does not really interact with them, but they still tended to hang out on the backside of filter sponge or in the rockpile. Until.. I added 20 or so from the 55. Now they seem more at ease, and cover all areas of the tank. I do have a few big females that seem to stake out prime spots on the filter sponge.
Except for my blue dreams, they are an odd bunch. They disappeared for like a month, until they started having babies...

 

[JadeCrystal]

I think some of it has to do with how comfortable/safe they feel. My 75 has hundreds of shrimp in it and they tend to stay spread out all over the tank until I put something in there they really like. I have a ten gallon that for a while only had a betta and 5 cherry shrimp. The betta does not really interact with them, but they still tended to hang out on the backside of filter sponge or in the rockpile. Until.. I added 20 or so from the 55. Now they seem more at ease, and cover all areas of the tank. I do have a few big females that seem to stake out prime spots on the filter sponge.
Except for my blue dreams, they are an odd bunch. They disappeared for like a month, until they started having babies...

My one female likes to hide on the leaves of the plant and stays clinging to it - I think it might be because of the eggs she is carrying and the other is hiding behind my filter at the moment haha.

 

[JadeCrystal]

If my tank has LED lights built in - should I turn them off at night and turn them on when I get up the next morning?

 

[evil8]

If my tank has LED lights built in - should I turn them off at night and turn them on when I get up the next morning?

Most people use a timer of one sort or another. Normal light periods are around 8 hours (give or take) depending on your particular system needs.