And away we go!

[Bryan]

Just set up my 2 1/2 gallon tank. Argonite substrate, lava rock, extra ugly fake plant. Water at 1.012 per my trusty refractometer.

Now, wait....

[sliphorn]

..
Nice.
..

[Super Jess]

They will love that rock!

[JoeG]

The tank, the light, the substrate, and the rock all look great. The shrimp will have a very nice home and good luck on your new adventure.

[Bryan]

Looking forward to it. Should be fun!

[Mustafa]

Your tank should be more than ready by now. Do you see any algae growth?

[Bryan]

Very little, but it is likely there. I did order 15 shrimp, 10 snails and the Macroalgae yesterday. We will see how it goes.

[Bryan]

Just received 15 shrimp, snails and the macro algae. Busy little guys! All looks good so far.

[Bryan]

[Bryan]

Looks like only eight of the original 15 have made it. Made the mistake of not acclimating the little bugs to either the temperature or the salinity. But the survivors seem to be faring fine.

[Varanus]

Did you see the bodies? If not then its possible some of them are just hiding. Acclimation normally isn't needed for these guys.

[Bryan]

That’s certainly a positive thought! I suppose time will tell. I received one adult out of the 15 in the shipment but haven’t seen that one in a week. Might show up sometime.

[Dch48]

Even in my little one gallon tank, it's not unusual to only see about half of the shrimp at any given time. They go into, under, and behind things like macroalgae and lava rock. I have even seen some of my smaller ones go down into the substrate. I have regular sized aquarium gravel in there.

[Mustafa]

That’s certainly a positive thought! I suppose time will tell. I received one adult out of the 15 in the shipment but haven’t seen that one in a week. Might show up sometime.

Hi Bryan,

There isn't just one adult. They were all adults of varying sizes. You may have gotten a "jumbo" shrimp that's probably 5+ years (or 10? who knows) old and think the others are juveniles in comparison. They are all of breeding age. It's just that this species does not get very large.

And as others have said, your shrimp are most likely hiding under and around that giant lava rock. Nothing unusual for this species. If they die it's pretty obvious (bright orange body) and with so few shrimp and snails the body won't just disappear suddenly either, let alone 7 bodies.

[Bryan]

Interesting! Obviously have a lot to learn. Thanks!