shrimp I am trying to raise

[adimeatatime]

Hi Neonshrimp,

Thanks for asking about my shrimp. I thought it might be good to start a new thread about my shrimp.

At the moment I have tiger, sri lanka and malaya I am trying to raise. I bought my first shrimp in early spring this year. They did pretty well until a couple of months ago and I lost most of them due to the substrate I was using causing water problems.

I have since changed the substrate to eco complete and am using filters now that are shrimp friendly. I am attempting to get some colonies re-established. I have an 80 gallon I am using for my shrimp, baby twig catfish and my whiptail cats.

Things seemed to be progressing well with the tiger shrimp until I started losing one or two a day. I finally moved what I had left into a different tank that had other shrimp (I moved the original shrimp to a tank that is now a shrimp tank as well), but am still losing some of them. It is strange because the shrimp I am losing are the berried females. The loses seemed to start when it got pretty cold here, but I don't know if it is related or not.

This has been a very difficult year and the problems started after my son's motorcycle accident last summer. He is healing well and I am now trying to get my tanks back up to par. In hindsight, I should have waited to get the malaya and sri lanaka's until I was better prepared to care for them.

[Neonshrimp]

Can you please let us know more about your shrimp tank setup and any water parameters if you have them. List the equipment you are using (heater, filter, etc). Do you have plants in it?

Hope things get better in your life and keep us informed .

[adimeatatime]

Hi neonshrimp,

Below is the info I have at the moment.

80 gallon

ph 7.0
temp 72

Heater Vis Therm VTX-250
Marinland 350-b bio wheel with a nano cube sponge on intake (added to try and improve circulation after I started having problems.
Emperor filter with sponge on the intake
2- hydroV sponges (I removed to try an air stone that hasn't made any difference in the shrimp)

I have a 2215 eheim that I plan to put on the tank. My dog chewed up the intake, so I just received the new one. I plan to remove both of the hang on the back filters after this filter has been running for a while.

Java fern
moss
corkscrew vals
frogbit
duckweed(working on removing)
several anubias nana
2 - driftwood that I have had for several years

4 adult twig catfish and 5 young that hatched in this tank
4 whiptail catfish
trumpet snails (I trap and remove what I can periodically)
ramshorn snails (I trap and remove what I can periodically)

Food-Bio Blend Herbivore
zuchinni
lucianato kale

Six gallon marineland

ph6.6
70

thermal compact heater
1-hydo I sponge

java moss
duck weed

trumpet snails
ramshorn snails

Bio Blend Herbivore food

both tanks have eco complete

I'm not sure what are the best test kits to get. I probably need to do more water testing. We use well water and I get my tank water from an outside hydrant that I put into a barrel and warm up before putting in tanks. We have a water conditioner on our inside water and I didn't think I should use that water in my tanks. I hope this isn't more than you needed to know, but enough to give a good idea of my set up.

Thanks for your interest in my issues with my shrimp. I have been reading everything I can find to try & figure out what the problem is. When I moved the shrimp to the smaller tank, I used the drip method because of the difference in the ph in the 2 tanks and I didn't want to stress the shrimp even more.

My son is doing well. We are just playing catch up now.

Pat

[Neonshrimp]

Hi adimeatatime,

I don't have much experience with using well water but there are a few members of this sight who do and hopefully they can help you with that.

I use RO water that is mixed with my tap water and it has been working well for me. I too use the drip method when introducing or moving my shrimp to another tank.

I would recomend buy test kits that are chemical or use probes. The test strips tend to be less sensitive and accurate from what I hear.

[adimeatatime]

Hi neonshrimp,

I am seeing a few tiny baby shrimp in my 6 gallon tank now. Maybe, I have gotten whatever the problem was corrected. What types of shrimp are you raising?

Pat

[Neonshrimp]

Congratulations Good to hear you have baby shrimp. Do you know what type the babies are?

I am focused now on my yellow shrimp, bee shrimp and the good old RCS. But I also have other types including red nose shrimp, tigers, CRS and orange bees. I know, I know this is why I am a shrimp nut

[adimeatatime]

I think they are tiger shrimp. I haven't seen any berried Malaysia, yet.

Sounds like you have your hands full How are they doing for you?

[Neonshrimp]

They all seem to be healthy and active in their tanks. I think I have finally found the right water conditions for them after almost two years raising them. I think the main thing is that the tanks are mature and it is a balanced mini ecosystem

[adimeatatime]

I agree that they do better in aged, balanced tanks. I will be glad when my 80 gallon tank balances back out. I used the old water and filters when I changed the substrate. It made me sick when my ph tanked. I had been trying to monitor it, but guess I didn't change enough of the water that week. When I bought the substrate I was using, I didn't do enough research and/or search/ask the right questions. I changed to a substrate that isn't supposed to affect the water parameters. It seems to just take time to get the tank re-established and back the way the occupants need it to be.

Good luck with your shrimp. I will be watching for updates and pictures.

When I first started keeping fish, I struggled with keeping them alive. Thinking back, since my tanks are now established, I haven't had nearly as many problems.