I've got baby green shrimp!

[Mustafa]

*Don't* do water changes, don't feed. Just don't do anything until the shrimp are doing well and stop dying. One thing you should do is to have bright lights...2-3+ watts per gallon. Unless you have serious cycling issues it's not your fault that these shrimp are dying. Imported/wild caught shrimp are in a terrible shape when they arrive in the US and they weaken even more in the holding tanks of various wholesalers/importers/retailers (as those are just "holding" tanks and don't really offer ideal condititions...far from it). So, if you buy imported shrimp you should basically be prepared to lose many if not most of the batch. You can get lucky sometimes and get a good batch, but that's really just a matter of chance.

If you had the same problems with shrimp that have been domestically bred (i.e. in aquaria), then I would suggest a different strategy as most shrimp bred in aquaria (as opposed to imported) should be in good shape (which, of course, is not always a given either since some people do send weak shrimp as they have problems with their own tanks).

So, don't lose any sleep...just sit back and wait. Immediately remove any dead shrimp that you see, so it does not foul up the water. Your 10 ppm nitrate is not really the problem. The tank will take care of the nitrate in time.

[Baby_Girl]

edit: I wrote this post while Mustafa posted the one above.

no, I haven't been using leaves but now I think I definitely should. I certainly have oak trees around here I could harvest leaves from.

I had no idea they would help absorb nitrate. How does that happen, since they are dead?

How about Indian 'oak almond' leaves? The kind people sell for bettas. Are these the almond leaves Mustafa writes about in the articles? They provide the same benefits, just take longer to soak out the tannins, is that right? According to betta folks, the oak almonds have some magical substances that promote healing in fish.

[Baby_Girl]

thank you again, Mustafa, for reassuring me. I believe you're absolutely right about imported shrimp. Poor things. I should have known as much when I received only 2 males in an order of 25 shrimp. They must have gone through so much to make it this far.

I certainly have never had anywhere near these kind of problems with tank-bred shrimp. Those tanks are all doing beautifully, perhaps even multiplying too much! So it's good to know I'm not doing something wrong. (Nope, no cycling issues. I made sure to cycle and establish this tank for months beforehand with ramshorn snails)

OK, I will try my hardest to sit back and 'do nothing'. It's difficult because these new guys are so very precious to me. But I will take your advice to wait it out. I can't promise that I won't be running to the tank every hour to check on them, though

Thank you all for guiding me through this!

[badflash]

I had no idea they would help absorb nitrate. How does that happen, since they are dead?

How about Indian 'oak almond' leaves? The kind people sell for bettas. Are these the almond leaves Mustafa writes about in the articles? They provide the same benefits, just take longer to soak out the tannins, is that right? According to betta folks, the oak almonds have some magical substances that promote healing in fish.

I would avoid the indian almond leaves as they tend to make the water acidic.

The leave basically compost slowly and this removes nitrates. Loads oof micro-critters eat the leaves and the shrimp eat them.

[Baby_Girl]

I would avoid the indian almond leaves as they tend to make the water acidic.

ahh, thank you for that warning. I'll just stick to dead oak leaves, then. As far as anyone knows, any species of oak tree is OK? Of course, I plan to soak them for probably a week at least before giving them to the shrimp.

I see, so the decomposing microbes denitrify (or whatever the correct term is) and actually help eat up NO3. I gotta try it! Thanks again.


Just an update: as of this afternoon, no other losses. Everyone for the most part is green. Theyre still all picking and roaming about normally. I also saw a couple babies! Hazzah! So that tells me, if the hatchlings continue to survive, that I am not having water quality issues. I have been able to relax after Mustafa's words, and will just let nature take its course.

[badflash]

Any hardwood leaf, well dried should work, but I'd stay away from walnut as there are some odd-ball chemicals in them that act as a natural herbicide. Who know what that would do to shrimp.

[Newjohn]

I use Oak and Chestnut leaves.
The Chestnut leaves seem to brake drown faster than Oak leaves.

John

[shrimpbaby]

How are your green shrimp doing? Any updates?

[Baby_Girl]

they're doing OK. Had a few more deaths since I last posted. But for the most part, things are working themselves out in this tank. Oh yes, and they are all green now. The ones who were brown most of the time are probably the ones that died. The survivors have all resumed a lovely, healthy green color so I'm pleased. I did notice that a few of the earlier molts had a red-brown tinge to them, as if the shrimp were ridding themselves of the less attractive color and any stressors along with it.

The babies are still around. Some have grown a bit, and some are still tiny and newborn-looking so I'm pretty sure I had more than one batch of hatchlings. The ones that have grown are about 5 mm long now, and maybe 2-3 X thicker around the middle than when they were born. The older ones also are showing some color - more like golden (even reddish) right now than green, and I can see their little eyes glowing But man, do they grow slow. It's been ~3 weeks since my first batch of babies and they've barely gotten bigger. By this time, RCS would be nearly ready to have their own babies!

[Baby_Girl]

So this week I found even more dead adults in this tank. I actually lost more than I realized and count only 5 or 6 adults now. Of the survivors, both of my original males made it. I wonder what that means?

What also confuses me is that I have a lot of babies and they're doing great. They're growing quite well and scatter whenever I move anything to check for 'pinkies'. I must have at least 30 or 40 babies in there! While I'm sad about the loss of my adults, the fact that the new generation is coming along nicely mostly makes up for it. Of course, there's no guarantee they will make it to adulthood, but they seem to be doing well here at Week 3 or 4.

Do these events mean that the females were in a more weakened state or susceptible to stress? Was the stress of both having kids AND being caught/shipped conspire to kill off most of my females?

[shrimpbaby]

Do these events mean that the females were in a more weakened state or susceptible to stress? Was the stress of both having kids AND being caught/shipped conspire to kill off most of my females?

That would be my guess, yes. Seeing how these were imported shrimp, and full-grown adults (you don't know how old they were)it was only a matter of time.

The good news is that if your babies are still alive then you must be doing something right, and they will be a much healthier generation than their wild-caught parents.

[pixl8r]

Young shrimp are also much more adaptable to different water conditions. The adults may have just been punished too much.

[Baby_Girl]

thanks guys

You're absolutely right that 'it was only a matter of time'. Heck, those gals that died may have been 2 years old for all I know. The good news is I got babies out of them before they went to That Big Shrimp Tank in the Sky.

I wonder how long it will be until the kids turn green? So far, they're still golden or reddish. Maybe it's better for camouflage or something. The only way I know I didn't accidentally get some RCS babies in there is because these grow soooo much slower. But some are quite big now, maybe 6-7 mm long. Well, 'big' is a relative term

Will keep you all updated!