I bought an ecosphere a few months ago and realized I needed to rescue the four shrimp in there so I decided to setup a tank. I bought a 5 gallon tank (planned on adding more shrimp).
I setup the tank with sand, rock, java fern, and algae from this site. I run led lights that came with the tank 12 hrs on and 12 hrs off. I tested the water once a week for 4 weeks and the ph, ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates stayed the same the whole time. The ammonia may have gone up somewhere between 0 and .25 ppt. I'm assuming since I only tested once a week that I might have missed some of the spikes that happen during cycling.
I decided to add the four opae ula from the ecosphere a week ago. The first two days they swam around their new tank a lot. Since then I see one or two of them a day. That worried me at first but I've read they like to hide... and they have plenty of places to do that. I had two that were red and two that were white. The red ones I noticed yesterday were really really red! Which I took as a good sign. This morning I saw both red ones swimming around just fine. This afternoon one of the red ones was swimming really odd... jerky, like he was struggling to go up in the water. He would slowly make it up and then kind of sink back down and hit the bottom on his side and flip over on his legs and sit for a bit and then do it again. This got me really worried. I tested the water again and everything is the same... the ammonia is somewhere between 0 and .25 ppt I believe. The other shrimp are still swimming fine. Would the ammonia be causing this at that low of level?
I'm stumped and I'd be super sad if I lost this little guy. I was hoping to rescue them... not kill them. Anyone have any recommendations or other advice??? I'd really appreciate it!
I also have a video I can post of him if you guys think that will help. I have a snail that will be here tomorrow... not sure what to do about that.
Shrimp Having Trouble Swimming!
Moderator: Mustafa
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JasonG3333
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Re: Shrimp Having Trouble Swimming!
I first got into Opae Ula after freeing 2 shrimp from an Ecosphere I had for 6 years. That was about 9 months ago, and they're still doing fine. I even brought up their hiding, like you did, in my first post on this site ( viewtopic.php?f=16&t=5199 ), and it turned out to be nothing, as Mustafa attests to in his reply to my concerns. I've since cycled and put them in a 2nd tank with a few other shrimp I bought ( viewtopic.php?f=16&t=5360 ), and they still seem ok.
Regarding the flipping out and then sinking to the bottom like that, I've actually seen that several times in my tank with some baby shrimp who had recently emerged from their eggs and were in their bobbing phase. Every now and then one would act as you described. And of the 5 or 6 baby shrimp that "hatched", only 2 of them are still living, so who knows. I almost feel like the ones who were spazzing out were the ones who LIVED, not the ones who died. The reason I say that is coz I once saw one of my adult shrimp acting like that, repeatably flipping out then falling limp to the bottom, but then it molted! Upon its final sink to the bottom, it suddenly popped out of its molt!
They may also act similarly when something is wrong, so I can't rule that out for you for sure. Especially when folks set up Opae Ula tanks that stray in any way from what Mustafa suggests ( http://www.petshrimp.com/opaesetup.php ), there's a greater chance, in my opinion, that something could go wrong with the water. For example, including the java fern instead of ONLY including the macroalgae from this site (as far as plants go). It may be fine, as I'm sure others have attested to, but I would still keep an eye on the balance of things with that in there. As you can see from the 2nd link I included above, I am a bit concerned myself with an alternate plant I recently added to my tank. I actually may end up cycling a new tank and start over fresh without that in there. I'm definitely keeping a close eye on things since introducing that.
Also, you don't directly mention any calcium carbonate material in your tank, something you have to have in there to keep the acidity in check (as you may already know). If that sand is aragonite or that rock is coral or calcium carbonate rock, then your good to go. But if its a silica-based substrate, and the rock is just lava or something, then that is definitely an issue.
To sum it up, the jerk-n-sink may be ok. Just keep an eye on the little guys. And good luck, fellow Ecosphere-shrimp-releaser! We are The Chosen Ones! Hope to get an update...!
Regarding the flipping out and then sinking to the bottom like that, I've actually seen that several times in my tank with some baby shrimp who had recently emerged from their eggs and were in their bobbing phase. Every now and then one would act as you described. And of the 5 or 6 baby shrimp that "hatched", only 2 of them are still living, so who knows. I almost feel like the ones who were spazzing out were the ones who LIVED, not the ones who died. The reason I say that is coz I once saw one of my adult shrimp acting like that, repeatably flipping out then falling limp to the bottom, but then it molted! Upon its final sink to the bottom, it suddenly popped out of its molt!
They may also act similarly when something is wrong, so I can't rule that out for you for sure. Especially when folks set up Opae Ula tanks that stray in any way from what Mustafa suggests ( http://www.petshrimp.com/opaesetup.php ), there's a greater chance, in my opinion, that something could go wrong with the water. For example, including the java fern instead of ONLY including the macroalgae from this site (as far as plants go). It may be fine, as I'm sure others have attested to, but I would still keep an eye on the balance of things with that in there. As you can see from the 2nd link I included above, I am a bit concerned myself with an alternate plant I recently added to my tank. I actually may end up cycling a new tank and start over fresh without that in there. I'm definitely keeping a close eye on things since introducing that.
Also, you don't directly mention any calcium carbonate material in your tank, something you have to have in there to keep the acidity in check (as you may already know). If that sand is aragonite or that rock is coral or calcium carbonate rock, then your good to go. But if its a silica-based substrate, and the rock is just lava or something, then that is definitely an issue.
To sum it up, the jerk-n-sink may be ok. Just keep an eye on the little guys. And good luck, fellow Ecosphere-shrimp-releaser! We are The Chosen Ones! Hope to get an update...!
Re: Shrimp Having Trouble Swimming!
Thanks for your post! I actually found him dead yesterdayJasonG3333 wrote:I first got into Opae Ula after freeing 2 shrimp from an Ecosphere I had for 6 years. That was about 9 months ago, and they're still doing fine. I even brought up their hiding, like you did, in my first post on this site ( viewtopic.php?f=16&t=5199 ), and it turned out to be nothing, as Mustafa attests to in his reply to my concerns. I've since cycled and put them in a 2nd tank with a few other shrimp I bought ( viewtopic.php?f=16&t=5360 ), and they still seem ok.
Regarding the flipping out and then sinking to the bottom like that, I've actually seen that several times in my tank with some baby shrimp who had recently emerged from their eggs and were in their bobbing phase. Every now and then one would act as you described. And of the 5 or 6 baby shrimp that "hatched", only 2 of them are still living, so who knows. I almost feel like the ones who were spazzing out were the ones who LIVED, not the ones who died. The reason I say that is coz I once saw one of my adult shrimp acting like that, repeatably flipping out then falling limp to the bottom, but then it molted! Upon its final sink to the bottom, it suddenly popped out of its molt!
They may also act similarly when something is wrong, so I can't rule that out for you for sure. Especially when folks set up Opae Ula tanks that stray in any way from what Mustafa suggests ( http://www.petshrimp.com/opaesetup.php ), there's a greater chance, in my opinion, that something could go wrong with the water. For example, including the java fern instead of ONLY including the macroalgae from this site (as far as plants go). It may be fine, as I'm sure others have attested to, but I would still keep an eye on the balance of things with that in there. As you can see from the 2nd link I included above, I am a bit concerned myself with an alternate plant I recently added to my tank. I actually may end up cycling a new tank and start over fresh without that in there. I'm definitely keeping a close eye on things since introducing that.
Also, you don't directly mention any calcium carbonate material in your tank, something you have to have in there to keep the acidity in check (as you may already know). If that sand is aragonite or that rock is coral or calcium carbonate rock, then your good to go. But if its a silica-based substrate, and the rock is just lava or something, then that is definitely an issue.
To sum it up, the jerk-n-sink may be ok. Just keep an eye on the little guys. And good luck, fellow Ecosphere-shrimp-releaser! We are The Chosen Ones! Hope to get an update...!
The day after I witnessed his weird swimming he would barely move at all. The other 3 shrimp seem just fine and the snails are doing well also. So far I've done PH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, Calcium, and Phosphate tests and everything is good! I'm not sure what happened to the little guy and I might not ever know. I do have coral rock in there 
Re: Shrimp Having Trouble Swimming!
Thanks for your post! I actually found him dead yesterdayJasonG3333 wrote:I first got into Opae Ula after freeing 2 shrimp from an Ecosphere I had for 6 years. That was about 9 months ago, and they're still doing fine. I even brought up their hiding, like you did, in my first post on this site ( viewtopic.php?f=16&t=5199 ), and it turned out to be nothing, as Mustafa attests to in his reply to my concerns. I've since cycled and put them in a 2nd tank with a few other shrimp I bought ( viewtopic.php?f=16&t=5360 ), and they still seem ok.
Regarding the flipping out and then sinking to the bottom like that, I've actually seen that several times in my tank with some baby shrimp who had recently emerged from their eggs and were in their bobbing phase. Every now and then one would act as you described. And of the 5 or 6 baby shrimp that "hatched", only 2 of them are still living, so who knows. I almost feel like the ones who were spazzing out were the ones who LIVED, not the ones who died. The reason I say that is coz I once saw one of my adult shrimp acting like that, repeatably flipping out then falling limp to the bottom, but then it molted! Upon its final sink to the bottom, it suddenly popped out of its molt!
They may also act similarly when something is wrong, so I can't rule that out for you for sure. Especially when folks set up Opae Ula tanks that stray in any way from what Mustafa suggests ( http://www.petshrimp.com/opaesetup.php ), there's a greater chance, in my opinion, that something could go wrong with the water. For example, including the java fern instead of ONLY including the macroalgae from this site (as far as plants go). It may be fine, as I'm sure others have attested to, but I would still keep an eye on the balance of things with that in there. As you can see from the 2nd link I included above, I am a bit concerned myself with an alternate plant I recently added to my tank. I actually may end up cycling a new tank and start over fresh without that in there. I'm definitely keeping a close eye on things since introducing that.
Also, you don't directly mention any calcium carbonate material in your tank, something you have to have in there to keep the acidity in check (as you may already know). If that sand is aragonite or that rock is coral or calcium carbonate rock, then your good to go. But if its a silica-based substrate, and the rock is just lava or something, then that is definitely an issue.
To sum it up, the jerk-n-sink may be ok. Just keep an eye on the little guys. And good luck, fellow Ecosphere-shrimp-releaser! We are The Chosen Ones! Hope to get an update...!
The day after I witnessed his weird swimming he would barely move at all. The other 3 shrimp seem just fine and the snails are doing well also. So far I've done PH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, Calcium, and Phosphate tests and everything is good! I'm not sure what happened to the little guy and I might not ever know. I do have coral rock in there