My 1st Planted Shrimp Tank

[Chris Yew]

This is my 1st Planted Tank which I intend to use for my shrimps. It's a standard 2 ft tank and using a off the shelf Nutrafin CO2 set;

http://www.guppiesonli.com/cpg/albums/userpics/10059/Chris%20Planted%20Tank%20c.jpg

Here are my 1st lot of Cherry Shrimps;
http://www.guppiesonli.com/cpg/albums/userpics/10059/Cherry%20Shrimps%201.jpg

http://www.guppiesonli.com/cpg/albums/userpics/10059/Cherry%20Shrimps%202.jpg

http://www.guppiesonli.com/cpg/albums/userpics/10059/Cherry%20Shrimps%204.jpg

I put in about 4 adult and 26 young shrimps in the planted tank. The tank is cycled less than a week. After a day, all the shrimps died.

I'm not too sure if the shrimps died of shock and stress, as after I put the shrimps in, I'm still using my hands to plant the plants. Also while the shrimps are in, I've only a female guppy in the tank. I saw the guppy chasing the shrimps. (The tank photo was taken after the shrimps are dead).

[Robert]

Hi Chris,
at first congrats to the great new tank! It looks really nice. But now to your cherry shrimps. I guess they died through a poisoning because normally even stressed shrimps do not die all at once. You said you setup the tank one week ago. I guess you used a new filter for the tank. So there are not enough useful bacteria to reduce the ammonia into nitrite and later on into the less poisonous nitrate. So what you should have now in your tank after about one week is a typical "nitrite peak". It's a typical phenomenon in new tanks, that's why you should cycle your tank at least for four weeks. It needs three til four weeks before the bacteria populations in the tank and in the filter are big enough to do their job (reducing the ammonia in less poisonous chemicals). Do some bigger (~50%) water changes in the next days and measure the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels. There should be no ammonia, no nitrite and only very few nitrate in the tank if there is just one guppy. Normally nitrate levels til 20mg/l should be OK for cherries but more sensitive shrimps won't do well in such an environment. RRememberthat ammonia nandnitrate are very powerful poisons and shrimps are eextremelysensitive in this cases. Also measure the amount of copper in your tanks water because it's also very poisonous to shrimps. A third reason for the death of your shrimps could be chlorine and/or chloramine. Add water conditioners before you add new the water into the tank. So please do some water changes, measure the mentioned chemicals and wait some weeks more before you add new shrimps. It safes you some money and will be better for the shrimps.

best regards

Robert

PS If you put a second, aged filter into you tank, you can support the bacteria of your new filter and it helps to reduce the current ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels but you still have to wait until you tank is well cycled before you can add new shrimps and fishes without a risk for their life.

[silane]

Hi Chris,

Do you use any base fertilizer and liquid fertiliser? Did you overdose?

[Confusekid]

You need to make sure the tank is totally cycle and double cycle before you introduce shrimp into the tank. Also there is a strict procedure to introduce shrimp into 'new environment'. Roughly what you need to do.
1. leave the plastic bag in the tank for atleast 2 hour; best with light off.
2. Added the tank water into the plastic bag. the amount should be around 20% of the amount in the plastic bag.
3. Leave the bag for another 1 hour.
4. After that slowly let the shrimp out of the plastic bag.

Jack

[Chris Yew]

Hi guys, thanks so much for the detail infos.

I believed and realised the number of mistakes I made for my 1st shrimp attempt hehe - pls forgive this newbie... I've intentionally put the female guppy not juz for 'catching mosquito larvae but to test the water condition. It seems that shrimps are even more sensitive than guppies. Probably due to even smaller body size and characteristics of different species.

I've used the same water from the shrimps that I purchased from and add another half from the tank water - then leave it in a pail for 2 hrs before adding them into the planted tank. So like you guys said, my tank may not have cycled enough. I'm onli using a small internal filter as I've no intention for fishes.

I didn't use any base fert. as some said the base fert. may leech and cause the death of shrimps. But the Ocean Free Bio Gravel is said to be a mixture of normal gravel with fert. as told by the seller.

Frankly, using such planted tank with stem plants, I find it difficult to maintain the plants with shrimps inside. Maybe I should consider another tank with simply riccia tied to wire mesh or driftwood, and some moss - juz for the shrimps. Easier to maintain and harvest of shrimps if they breed.

Will try again after the tank is fully cycled. :)

[jojoecute]

After reading above mentioned, i really learn more knowledge on shrimp tank setup...

Will try to be more patient for setting up new tank... Before a great lost...

Tonite will be setting up another 3ft x 1ft x 1ft at home..

[Chris Yew]

Wish you good luck jojo! I'm still preparing my next setup - a smaller one juz for shrimps. :)


After reading above mentioned, i really learn more knowledge on shrimp tank setup...

Will try to be more patient for setting up new tank... Before a great lost...

Tonite will be setting up another 3ft x 1ft x 1ft at home..

[Confusekid]

After reading above mentioned, i really learn more knowledge on shrimp tank setup...

Will try to be more patient for setting up new tank... Before a great lost...

Tonite will be setting up another 3ft x 1ft x 1ft at home..
Joe,
You really play BIG!!!!! What you going to keep?

Jack

[jojoecute]

After monitoring some shrimps....

I think i m tempted with CRS & Diamond....
Other shrimps just to fulfill my curousity.....

I find that Tiger is more active the Bee..
Malayan is nice looking after it stable now - many colors type..

1 thing bad on me is once i interested i go all the way....


Joe,
You really play BIG!!!!! What you going to keep?

Jack

[Confusekid]

After monitoring some shrimps....

I think i m tempted with CRS & Diamond....
Other shrimps just to fulfill my curousity.....

I find that Tiger is more active the Bee..
Malayan is nice looking after it stable now - many colors type..

1 thing bad on me is once i interested i go all the way....

Tiger and bumble bee need strong water circulation and high O2 content if not you will see dead shrimp the next morning.
Also make sure that the shrimp are not too closely related if not they will cross-breed. Blue, green and cherry will cross with each other. You do not want to have CRS giving blue right(you know what i mean).

Jack

[Robert]

Hi Jack,
blue (which one do you mean? There are said to be at least 3 blue species, perhaps more) and green won't cross-breed. Green shrimps do not cross-breed with any other shrimp in my experience. Cherries do "cross-breed" but only with other subspecies of Neocaridina denticulata. They won't crossbreed with greens. Perhaps with blues if these blues are a subspecies of N. denticulata or a closely related species.

Tiger and diamond shrimps cross-breed easily because they are closely related species of the Caridina serrata group. I don't know yet if bumblebee also cross-breed with tigers but there is the possibilty. I never had hybrids before although I keep bumblebees and tigers in the same tank. But I would be careful. I have just a very small group of bumblebees, so not enough shrimps (and also space at the moment) to give them their own tank yet.

Diamond and Crystal Red "cross-breed" of course because they are the same species and the Crystal Red is only a autosomal recessive mutation of the diamond. So I wooldn't keep them in the same tank if you would like to breed a pure CR population in your tank for a long time.

BTW, it's true that tiger and diamond shrimps are a bit more sensitive than your bee/new bee shrimps. But they do not need a strong water ciruculation if there is enough oxygen in the water. Floating riccia is easy to keep and produces a lot of oxygen, you can see it if there are lots of bubbles. It's a good way to get enough oxygen in a small tank if you use only a spong filter.

best regards

Robert

[Confusekid]

Hi Jack,
blue (which one do you mean? There are said to be at least 3 blue species, perhaps more) and green won't cross-breed. Green shrimps do not cross-breed with any other shrimp in my experience. Cherries do "cross-breed" but only with other subspecies of Neocaridina denticulata. They won't crossbreed with greens. Perhaps with blues if these blues are a subspecies of N. denticulata or a closely related species.

Tiger and diamond shrimps cross-breed easily because they are closely related species of the Caridina serrata group. I don't know yet if bumblebee also cross-breed with tigers but there is the possibilty. I never had hybrids before although I keep bumblebees and tigers in the same tank. But I would be careful. I have just a very small group of bumblebees, so not enough shrimps (and also space at the moment) to give them their own tank yet.

Diamond and Crystal Red "cross-breed" of course because they are the same species and the Crystal Red is only a autosomal recessive mutation of the diamond. So I wooldn't keep them in the same tank if you would like to breed a pure CR population in your tank for a long time.

BTW, it's true that tiger and diamond shrimps are a bit more sensitive than your bee/new bee shrimps. But they do not need a strong water ciruculation if there is enough oxygen in the water. Floating riccia is easy to keep and produces a lot of oxygen, you can see it if there are lots of bubbles. It's a good way to get enough oxygen in a small tank if you use only a spong filter.

best regards

Robert
Robert, You know what I mean. The example I give is just a exaggeration, just to get the point across.

My tiger and new bee always drop the next morning in my planted tank even though I know that the O2 level is more than enough in the day. That's the reason I say that strong water circulation is needed.

Jack

[silane]

BTW, it's true that tiger and diamond shrimps are a bit more sensitive than your bee/new bee shrimps.



Over here, diamond is more hardy then bee shrimp (you call it new bee there). It can be due to wild and bred form, the water parameters play a part or other factors

[jwarper]

buy a water test kit and test for metals in the water. Any substantial amount of copper in the water will make the shrimp drop like dead flies.

[gnome]

Looking at Chris' tank, it would be very hard to believe that ammonia or any other product of cycling would have caused the shrimp demise - that is, unless you are deliberately adding this in large amounts to your tank. I say this because the amount of waste two little guppies and a bunch of little shrimp would produce would be *immediately* consumed by the plants. Even if nitrifying bacteria are not present, the plants would consume the ammonia before there is any chance of it being converted to nitrite or nitrate. It would be a different story if it were a sparsely-planted tank with lots of fish. Or could there be a lot of nitrate in your tap water? This would be rare in the U.S., but I think in other countries, it is not out of the question.

Even pH shock is believed to take *days* to "take effect."

We would have to know the tank parameters to make any attempts at guessing, including fertilizers added and the amounts. I agree with jwarper that it looks more like some sort of poisoning. I had a similar thing happen when I introduced both shrimp and a new plant into a tank. I believe the plant leached out some sort of insecticide or natural toxin (it was Lobelia cardinalis 'small form' still mostly in emersed form) and all of the new cherry shrimp and two of my three old Yamatos died one by one in the 2-3 days following. The new platies were okay, though.

Good luck with the new shrimp tank you're setting up. I like to keep my shrimp in "low tech" tanks. Adding fertilizer and CO2 and that sort of thing seems to stress out invertebrates very quickly if the conditions are unstable or too extreme.

-Naomi

[NoDeltaH2O]

You've got the makings of a great planted tank there. The plants look like they are doing very well with the CO2 and lighting levels you have. After your cycle completes, you'll have VERY HAPPY SHRIMP in there. Do you get your shrimp on aquabid? Do you live in the US? Our selection of shrimp in the US is so small; all I can ever find are Amanos, ghost shrimp, and last month I finally found Bamboo Shrimp and got two of them. I would really like to have several kinds of shrimp like you all have but cannot find them cheaply. Maybe I need to give up on finding them "cheap", and just fork out some cash...