How to keep Bee shrimp ?

thgng · Post by **thgng** » Mon Nov 29, 2004 4:57 pm

I have some black and white strip bee shrimps and some common bee shrimps.
I keep them together with Yamato shrimp and Red Cherry shrimp.
All the shrimps are fine but the bees are dying one after another again.

My tank parameter:

kH=5
NO2 = 0
NH3/NH4 = 0
pH is about 7- 7.5

I have put in some Indian almond leave, hopefully it will lower the pH further.
Unfortunately, the tannin make the water so dark that I cannot see the shrimp...

Can someone advice me how to keep them alive ?
Does anyone have any success breeding them ?

Post by **Mustafa** » Mon Nov 29, 2004 6:37 pm

I am breeding them. They seem to be happier in lower PH water, although I really do not think your shrimp are dying because of the PH....these shrimp are very sensitive and can even die if you overfeed them.

I have my bee shrimp in PH 6.8 right now...but PH 7 should be just fine.

Mustafa

thgng · Post by **thgng** » Tue Nov 30, 2004 10:16 pm

Mustafa,

Are you familiar with Indian Almond leaf (a.k.a. Catappa leave) ?
Do you think the Bee shrimp are sensitive to it ?

I used one leaf per gallon to lower the pH. But the water is so dark now that I'm not sure my test kit can tell the result.

What did you use to lower the pH for Bee Shrimp ?
Someone told me to add some salt in the water ? Is that true ?

Post by **Mustafa** » Wed Dec 01, 2004 8:58 am

You are going to kill your shrimp in the long run. You should have put only one leaf per approximately TEN gallons of water...not one per gallon!
Whoever told you to dose like that had no idea what they were talking about. Whoever told you that salt will lower PH also had no clue....so don't listen to all that.

My water comes out of the tap at a PH of 7 and I have used Oak leaves to get the PH to 6.8 (with some commercial humic and tannic acid extract added). I don't think bee shrimp necessarily need 6.8 PH...they'll do just find at slightly higher PH levels, too, as long as the PH and hardness is not too high.

thgng · Post by **thgng** » Wed Dec 01, 2004 7:22 pm

You are right... I'm so sad as many have died.

I will do a 50% water change immediately.

As for hardness, are you referring to gH or kH ?
My kH range from 4 - 5.

My LFS recommend 1 teaspoon of Sodium Bicarbonate per 50 Litres to raise the kH by 2.
I tried but some Red Cherry shrimps died. So I'm a bit skeptical now.

Another alternative I can use is Calcium Carbonate.
I have not tried. Do you use these 2 chemical weekly for your shrimp ?

As the Bees are more sensitive than Cherries, what is your recommended kH range i should use?
It is very easy to overdose using the above methods?

Do you think raising the kH artificially long term is harmful to shrimps ?
I know Calcium is good for molting. But how can the shrimps use the Sodium ?

Post by **Mustafa** » Wed Dec 01, 2004 8:59 pm

KH or GH at 4-5 is just fine. Don't change things constantly. The best shrimp tanks work if you do not change anything. And trust me, you have to stop listening to your LFS....they obviously have no idea about what they are doing or saying.

Get your tank established, throw some plants in there...get some good filtration and you're set.

Mustafa

thgng · Post by **thgng** » Wed Dec 01, 2004 9:37 pm

As the saying goes, "...less is more..."

Thanks Mustafa... I will try your method.

thezone · Post by **thezone** » Thu Dec 02, 2004 2:29 pm

hmmm if you want to lower ph the best way i find to do it is running CO2 it promotes growth of plants and algae and lowers pH. Just make sure your CO2 is consistant