Red Cherry Shrimp immediately stricken

[lsundbye81]

I have a 10 gallon tank that has been cycling for about 2 weeks. There were no plants at all in the tank, just two small guppies. I've been using Stress Zyme as indicated on the label to help add beneficial bacteria to the tank. I thought it might be okay to add shrimp at this point and bought 5 Red Cherry Shrimp as well as two small poof-ball looking plants and another tangled sort of water plant that does not root. I am sorry I don't know the names of the plants. I am living in Germany and do not quite speak the language yet and am also very new to keeping live plants. I can tell you that the plants came from a tank that had shrimp in it. The shrimp's introduction to the tank was not as gradual as it should have been and the shrimp were immediately stricken once added to the tank. Some were having trouble standing, and one looked completely dead. They have perked up a little, now able to hold onto substrate but are not moving very much at all and I'm very worried that I may have stressed them beyond what they can handle. I turned off the light to avoid stressing them further. What should I have done differently to ensure the shrimp had a better start in the tank? Is there any way I can improve their surroundings so that they get better? Thanks in advance for your help. These are my first shrimp and I feel terrible about what I have done to them.

[Ransonk]

Hi I just purchased 5 RCS myself today and I don't know much about them yet, but just as a precaution did you acclimate them to the water before you placed them in the water?

[Mustafa]

Sounds like your tank has not cycled yet...2 weeks is usually too early to add shrimp. You probably have very high ammonia levels. Ammonia is deadly to shrimp even at very low levels.