Ecosphere Empathy

[Sasquatch]

Well that’s too bad changing the water has such a negative effect since I will be moving the shrimps to their larger home in the next few weeks. It will set me back yet again but I think the new environment will be much better for them in the end, and that’s what matters. Patience is a virtue...

[Mustafa]

Changing the water per se doesn't have any negative effects, especially when it's necessary after something got into your tank that is affecting your shrimp...but obviously something got into your tank with the changed water last time you did it which caused the death. If you don't change the water you minimize the number of the things that could go wrong.

[Sasquatch]

We are 2 weeks into cycling the new tank. The snails and macroalgae were added a few days after the tank was started. Here is a photo from today:

No visible algae yet

This will be the final move for these shrimp for quite some time as I want them to start breeding... so I need to stop changing their tank water I feel good leaving the shrimp in a tank this large and well prepared, and plan to have hundreds of shrimp in here eventually!

Is it too much to expect to one day have a piranha-like swarm of shrimps that will devour any spider I drop into the tank?! I really don’t like spiders and that sounds like quite the spectacle

[Varanus]

They aren't really hunters. On the note of bugs in the tank, even with a almost complete cover on my tank I've had a couple insects get in over the years and even after the insect drowns the shrimp seem to have no interest in eating them (at least as long as they are floating on the surface).

In any event, there's no need to kill harmless spiders. Admittedly I have no fear of them so its easy for me to ignore or put them outside.

[Sasquatch]

Maybe I can bread the spiders in a spirulina powder and bake them before dropping them in the tank. In theory that could train the shrimp that spiders are food shrimp caviar if you will.

Tank has been cycling 3 weeks now. No visible algae yet, but since I have followed this sites instructions to a tee, and the shrimp will take a few days to arrive anyway, I placed an order for 15 shrimp. I chose 15 because once I combine them with the 10 I already have it will yield the following:

25 shrimp starting in a
2.5 gallon tank with a target population of
250 shrimp

The OCD is strong in me I know I know... anyways I plan to move my 10 shrimps using a net. I don’t wanna put any water from the old tank in the new tank as it is chalked full of hair algae, so I didn’t think the pour method of transferring shrimp was appropriate. Is there a less stressful way than netting anyone know?

[SuperProofer]

I used a small measuring spoon, that way they were never out of the water.

[Sasquatch]

The new shrimp arrived Friday, so I added them and my current shrimp to the new tank. The tank had been cycling over 3 weeks with snails and macroalgae. My current shrimp were moved from the old tank with a measuring spoon. This way I was able to keep the shrimp in water the entire move and avoid picking up any hair algae. One day later the shrimp seem to be doing well, but honestly I can’t count them all at once anymore so I’m hoping they’re all alive

Shrimp camping on the macroalgae

Top down view

Snail, shrimp, and molt

[Sasquatch]

The last 24 hours have been stressful. Last night one shrimp was acting odd. It would pop several times in quick succession and then float to the bottom, lay on its side or upside down, and not move for several minutes. That went on for several hours until I went to bed. This morning I checked and didn’t see it, so I hoped it had recovered.

Then today I watched a shrimp molt and immediately afterwards it displayed that same type of behavior, and now it’s dead:

Eat or be eaten

Could this have happened to more than one shrimp now? All the other shrimp look happy. Some are leisurely swimming laps, some are grazing, and overall the tank is more active than the previous one especially with the addition of snails. I haven’t ever fed this tank and I cleaned and boiled the rocks and sea fans before putting them in.

Anyone have any similar experiences? If I see any more shrimp go down should I assume something got in my water and do a water change?

[Varanus]

If only one is sure to have problems then its likely the problem was with that particular shrimp (the one who died may have been the same one you saw having problems the day before). If it was the water then more of the shrimp would likely be showing signs.

[Sasquatch]

Thanks for the advice. I did what I thought was best which was nothing! So far it seems to be working. The shrimp are active and really liking this rock, in fact...

They lava this rock!

[Sasquatch]

Another shrimp is down

I just counted and there are 23 of the original 25 still alive. If it was the water wouldn’t it affect all of them? I’m afraid a water change would stress them even more.

What would you guys do?

[Varanus]

Are the others still behaving normally? If so then just keep an eye on them. If any more die though I believe an 80% water change would be recommended.

[Sasquatch]

I found another 2 dead after I got home from work today. Ugh. Something must have got in my water, or they are sick and passing around some disease. I changed out 3/4 of the water. Hoping that fixes the problem...

[i<3Opae]

The water change should do the trick. It’s not a good feeling whenever that happens, hope everything will soon be okay again.

[Sasquatch]

Been a couple days since the water change. I count only 19 shrimp now that means I lost 24% of my population.

The good news is my snails seem to be reproducing. I have seen a couple small snails shooting up out of the sand recently. At least they seem to like the tank...