UPDATE - I finally transferred my shrimp from the vase to the tank. The vase had been in service for 7 years with no water changes - just topping off the water as needed. Trying to capture the shrimp with a net while still full of water was impossible. So I used a measuring cup and started taking water out and putting it in a separate bowl. I also took out all of the decorations and shells. When there was a few inches of water left, I used a small cup to capture several shrimp at one time and then scooped them out of the cup with a tablespoon (thanks to the person on the this forum that suggested that
) and put them into the new tank. I also used my shrimp net at this point, but ultimately decided it was easier to use the cup/tablespoon method because the shrimp did not want to swim out of the net. I think I killed one shrimp when trying to scoop him out of the cup using the tablespoon because it looked like his “end” was missing when I put him in the tank, yet he swam away.
When it looked like all the shrimp were out of the vase, I started to remove the substrate by tablespoon to find any hidden shrimp or snails. I was not expecting the mess that occurred at that time by disturbing the substrate (blue gravel) - green cloudy water. As I removed the substrate I found a few snail shells, they did not appear to be alive. I also scraped out a green thick film that was coating the bottom of the vase and covered with gravel - was not expecting that and it was pretty gross - not sure what it was. Also, a lot of the blue gravel had lost its color and turned pink which made it difficult to see if any shrimps were left behind. Ultimately, I think I transferred them all .... or at least I hope so.
It sure did not feel like I transferred 30 shrimp. Not sure I would want to do this again and half way through I was thinking I should just keep two tanks.
My original tank never really had green algae, but had brown algae on the decorations and shells. However, when I was removing the decor, I noticed that some of the shells and rocks had what looked like black mold on them. I was going to add a few of the shells to the new tank but decided not too- not knowing if the black mold looking stuff was healthy.
So, now its a wait and see if the shrimps will thrive in the new tank and breed. The new tank has the macro algae I bought earlier this summer. However, I am thinking that I have too much crap/decorations in the new tank and should remove some so the shrimps have more room ....
Thanks for reading.
Oh well, better late than never ..... fingers crossed that she can hold them and I will see babies in a month or so ...
. But, still no visible algae and the last time I fed the shrimp was Christmas. Should I feed?? Thanks for reading.
