New shrimp

[cspina]

Hello,

I am just a tiny shrimp container keeper. It is one of those enclosed self everything little glass jar. That come with 4 shrimp in it. I have had the little jar for almost 1 year. 3 of the shrimp have died over time and I want to give my one some company. I ordered and rec'd the shrimp today and was surprised with no instructions on how to acclimate them to my little glass jar? Which is a seal jar, self contained. Any suggestions on what I need to do with the shrimp that arrived today in a sealed baggie to introduce them safely to my container? Should I open up the bag and mix some of the water from my little take (which is like 3/4 cup) with the new shrimp, or just dump the 3 shrimp into my jar? should I add some of there water to it? HELP please.

[cspina]

well shoot.. 6 views and no replies? is anyone reading a shrimp owner?

[SuperProofer]

Well, I'm not really sure what to say. Normally, you want to free the shrimp from the sphere, not put more in. If it's still sealed, opening it will be difficult without upsetting and tossing about the decor that's inside.

What you should do is start a new tank to move them all into. But since you already have the new shrimp and not a cycled tank, not sure which direction to advise you. I would say start a new tank ASAP and hope the shrimp you just ordered can survive long enough for it to cycle fully. Maybe transfer them to a small container in the meantime just so they aren't in a bag that could possibly leak. And most definitely keep them in their same water until the new tank is ready. Then just dump them all in. No need to acclimate them.

[Vorteil]

Yes start a new tank or jar. It will be fine if it's not fully cycled. Mix up your own brackish mix with distilled water and salt used for marine tanks. Many fish stores sell both types of water as well. I have some of my opae in both quart and half gallon jars as well as tanks. Maybe do a quart jar as a temporary or long term solution.

You can add the 3 opae in there. You understand that's there's probably no nutrients in that sphere. It also needs to be opened up from time to time for air/gas exchange.

[sliphorn]

Hello,

I am just a tiny shrimp container keeper. It is one of those enclosed self everything little glass jar. That come with 4 shrimp in it. I have had the little jar for almost 1 year. 3 of the shrimp have died over time and I want to give my one some company. I ordered and rec'd the shrimp today and was surprised with no instructions on how to acclimate them to my little glass jar? Which is a seal jar, self contained. Any suggestions on what I need to do with the shrimp that arrived today in a sealed baggie to introduce them safely to my container? Should I open up the bag and mix some of the water from my little take (which is like 3/4 cup) with the new shrimp, or just dump the 3 shrimp into my jar? should I add some of there water to it? HELP please.

=======

Sealed containers are bad because the shrimp eventually die from starvation. Read the step by step instructions on setting up a tank found elsewhere on this site. After setting up and cycling a new container/tank you'll be good to go. Research is your friend. Vorteil is correct about setting up a temporary jar.

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[cspina]

Thanks everyone for chiming in. I have no idea who to believe about the little glass container. The gal that sells them states they are fully contained and you do not need to do anything accept add distilled water if the water were to evaporate. I have had the little container with ONE shrimp in it for 8 months and he/she is happy and healthy. I have only had to open it once to poor about 2 tbls of water to it. Is it a fluke that it is still alive? are the flowers or decorations inside the container made from whatever the shrimp needs to survive? Don't know. Don't know if there is salt in container? Just seems to be a mystery. I added a little bit of the water from the new shrimp to my container, then added on shrimp to mine. So far 24+ all seems to be well. I will wait one more day before I put the other 3 shrimp in there. Attached if the photos came through is my little container. Thanks again for your help folks.

[Dch48]

If the container gets enough light for algae to grow, that is what the shrimp feed on. Without some algae they will slowly starve. You should keep it near a window. Maybe a very small amount of a plant based food like veggie flakes added every 3 weeks would be good but you have to be careful not to use too much. One small flake would be enough.

I don't see any algae growth in your pictures so that shrimp is living on biofilm. That is microorganisms that grow on all surfaces of everything in the container. It is comprised of bacteria and other life such as diatoms and micro algae. It is what used to be called aquarium slime.

Eight months is a long time in the life of some aquarium shrimp but to an animal that can live up to 20 years, it's nothing.

[cspina]

Thank you for your reply. I have added the other 3 in today. The container has already been really clean. It is in diffused light all day. I will move it closer to a window. I will also pick up some plant based food and only add one flake every 3 weeks.

My last concern is if the decoration in my tank are not providing anything nutrional value to maintain the shrimp (which is what I thought originally) then there is no salt in my tank. Now I am concerned about the 4 I just added from Petshrimp.com if they will survive without it when my tank only has whatever water it originally came with an a couple extra tbls of bottled water and a couple tbls from the petshimp.com plastic bag the new shrimp came from.

Again, I know this is not ideal and what all of you would like to see me do. This is what I have to work with and I want to keep them healthy and happy for whatever time they have.

[cspina]

that post was supposed to say The container has ALWAYS been really clean. (not already). I have never done anything to it.

[Dch48]

The water does have salt in it. The reason you use distilled to replace evaporation is so your salt content does not increase. What evaporates is, in essence, distilled water. The salt and other minerals do not evaporate and the shrimp do not consume it. You don't need to add any salt. If the container was made right, it had brackish water in it to begin with so it still does.

No, the decorations are not a food source per se but they do provide more surface area for algae and biofilm to grow on. I would leave them in.

[cspina]

DCH48 - thank you very much for all your info. have a great weekend.

[Dylan]

Spirulina powder is a great plant based food - probably better than flakes because you can feed a lessor amount. For your small size tank a toothpick- tip worth of Spirulina powder is probably more than enough every few weeks. (I still haven't fed my tank and probably don't have to for quite a while)

[cspina]

thank you - I will look for this. I am going tomorrow to pick up some food.

[cspina]

One other ??. Is it normal for the shrimp to fight each other? I noticed one of the new shrimp and my old shrimp going at it today. Just for a few seconds.

[Super Jess]

If you are able to remove the top to add distilled water then it's not really a sealed system like the EcoSphere, which is likely what a lot of readers thought you were referring to.

You should definitely remove the top regularly to allow for gas exchange, or maybe just prop it slightly open so there's a gap but not enough room for stuff to fall in.

The shrimp don't fight, but they may chase each other for mating. And sometimes they just sort of bumble into each other in a careless way

Good luck