How bad did I screw up?

[Lovemyshrimpers]

So I've had my Supershrimp in their 5 gal. Tank for about 2 months now. I have not had any casualties, yet. We went to Florida for the holidays and I brought back some shells with me that we picked off the beach. I rinsed them and dried them (these do not have a spiral in them more like clam shells). The shrimp were all over them. That was a couple of weeks ago and they all seem to be fine. Here comes my problem...my mother shipped me the rest of the shells we got off the beach and I thought I had rinsed them before we left but can't remember for sure. The shells are bigger and have spirals in them, I don't know now what I was thinking but I put them in the tank and checked on the shrimp like 10 min. later and all of my shrimp were out swimming fast all around the tank. So I looked up sea shells in this forum and decided I had made a mistake and took out all of the shells I had put in. So they were in there for about a half an hour. Is that enough time that I would have released harmful ammonia? My guess is that time will tell as far as if they are going to be okay or not? I'm just stressd I really enjoy them and want them to be happy!!! Thanks for any input. PS I have read all the rules, set up instructions, and a lot of the discussions

[KenCotigirl]

I do not know/think you have a problem. When introducing food or adding new items or disturbing the substrate my shrimp will be very active. They settle down after a period of time. If this continues by morning remove the extra shells. If any shrimp die test for ammonia. Keep us updated

Ken

[Lovemyshrimpers]

Thanks for reply Ken. I did take out all the shells I had put in that seemed to upset them (they were in there for about a half an hour) and they are mellowed out today so , hopefully I didn't upset the chemistry too much.

[KenCotigirl]

LMS I believe one problem with people is their expectations. Better put is their expectations are based on the sellers tank pictures where shrimp are swimming arround like fish. Most dwarf pet shrimp are benthic. They crawl on surfaces. The Opae Ula's come from a habitat without predators. They are more inclined to swim in open water but they are not fish. So you rarely see more than a few shrimp at any given time swimming. Opae Ula's are from still water while most other shrimp are from areas were there is water movement. Some Opae ula keepers use filters and bubblers. This creates water movement and causes the shrimp to be much more active (swim about). Is this bad? Does it stress them? Shorten their life? Affect breeding? I do not know. The Opae ula just do not need it. I will post two pictures, one before feeding and one while feeding.

What was rant this about? Halocaridina rubra are mellow unless disturbed or eating.