How are the shrimp mailed?

[Neil]

I am thinking about purchasing all the materials to get started. Can I order the shrimp as well and let them hang out in whatever they are shipped in, or move them to a temporary jar until their permanent home has had time to cycle? Thanks everyone!

[Vorteil]

Yes you can.

[sliphorn]

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I prefer to set up the tank, let it cycle for a few weeks and then order the shrimp, snails, and algae. Some prefer to order the snails and algae about a week after setting up the tank and order the shrimp a couple weeks later.

They are shipped in a very very small amount of water.
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[DrMadness]

I am thinking about purchasing all the materials to get started. Can I order the shrimp as well and let them hang out in whatever they are shipped in, or move them to a temporary jar until their permanent home has had time to cycle? Thanks everyone!

I tried this. I ordered some from petshrimp.com and they are still in the bag they were shipped in and alive however I also purchased more from a separate dealer where some died over a short period of time. Its better to wait till your tank is ready to order from my experience but I guess it depends who you purchase them from.

[Dch48]

For what it's worth, I ordered the gallon's worth of salt and the macroalgae first. I set up the tank and put in a small horned Nerite snail. I put in some fish food like every 3 days and waited until the tank was fully cycled and I saw biofilm developing. That took about 5 weeks. Then I ordered 10 shrimp and put them in. Shortly afterwards I added another 8 shrimp from another source. Today, 16 months later, I have an estimated 50 shrimp of varying sizes and the Nerite is still going strong and has grown some. The macroalgae is larger and still bright green. I have never seen a dead shrimp.

[Neil]

Thanks everyone.

So what's the deal with these products that are supposed to help establish the bacteria faster? API Quick Start Nitrifying Bacteria, for Freshwater and Saltwater Aquarium and/or Dr. Tims products? It seems like one could add some of this (considering the relatively small volume of water and small biomass of the shrimp) at the beginning and subsequently every few days for two weeks or so until everything stabilizes to avoid die off from bioproducts. I'm concerned that if I wait for a month it will be too cold to send the live shrimp in the mail.

Even if what I am proposing above is a bad idea, is it a good idea to use one of these products when establishing the tank (2.5 gallons) just to get some hopefully good bacteria moving more quickly?

Thanks again for your help!

[Dch48]

Seeing as we're using brackish water, I'm sure the product made for fresh would not work. The bacteria would be killed by the salinity. A saltwater product would have a much better chance. For freshwater, I swear by Tetra SafeStart. It works very well. For this half strength seawater, I don't think it would.

[sliphorn]

Thanks everyone.

So what's the deal with these products that are supposed to help establish the bacteria faster? API Quick Start Nitrifying Bacteria, for Freshwater and Saltwater Aquarium and/or Dr. Tims products? It seems like one could add some of this (considering the relatively small volume of water and small biomass of the shrimp) at the beginning and subsequently every few days for two weeks or so until everything stabilizes to avoid die off from bioproducts. I'm concerned that if I wait for a month it will be too cold to send the live shrimp in the mail.

Even if what I am proposing above is a bad idea, is it a good idea to use one of these products when establishing the tank (2.5 gallons) just to get some hopefully good bacteria moving more quickly?

Thanks again for your help!

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Just stick with the tried and true method of letting the tank cycle on its own. Set it up, wait a few weeks and then buy the critters and macroalgae. Simple. Why the rush?
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[Neil]

I'm concerned about the upcoming cold weather and the impact on shipping.

[sliphorn]

I'm concerned about the upcoming cold weather and the impact on shipping.

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They are well packed and heat packs will be used if required.
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