What am I doing wrong?

A forum for discussing everything about the Supershrimp (Halocaridina rubra, Opae ula).

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Dodgeylauren
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What am I doing wrong?

Post by Dodgeylauren »

Hi!

I’ve had my super shrimp bowl set up for about three or or four years now (I’m not sure exactly). I followed all the set up instructions so I don’t think my initial set up was a problem, but over the last three years my shrimp population has diminished from ten to five, all my snails have died off (or maybe escaped??? I only found three shells), my shrimp haven’t bred at all and their color is very translucent. I’ll attach pictures of my set up. In addition to the algae I got from here I put three marimo moss balls in when I first set it up that still seem quite healthy. I was feeding them fluval shrimp granules once every couple of months for the first few years and recently I tried feeding them weekly to encourage breeding at the suggestion of a friend but that just seemed to make their water dirty. I’ve never changed the water I just top it off with distilled water when it started getting low. The bowl is in a room that gets some indirect sunlight.
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Mustafa
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Re: What am I doing wrong?

Post by Mustafa »

You have a sea fan and marimo balls. Those are among the top 3-5 killers of Supershrimp out there. They both rot *very slowly* and cause long term problems instead of immediately killing your shrimp (which they can also do by the way...especially when newly introduced.). Take them out immediately. Also take out that crystal thing to eliminate one more problem (no idea what it is and how water soluble it is). Then do a 80+ percent water change with newly prepared brackish water (see setup instructions on this website). If that white gravel isn't some kind of calcium carbonate, then take it out also to be on the safe side. That should solve your problems and your shrimp will finally reproduce too.

Also, only feed a tiny amount that can be finished within an hour or so every 2-3 months.
Dodgeylauren
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Re: What am I doing wrong?

Post by Dodgeylauren »

Thank you so much!
Dodgeylauren
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Re: What am I doing wrong?

Post by Dodgeylauren »

Ok great I removed the fan and moss balls (the crystal is an amethyst which google says is aquarium safe) I ordered some salt and substrate to replace the water and substrate with and some replacement snails, but what do you think became of my snails? Do you think they just crawled away?
Super Jess
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Re: What am I doing wrong?

Post by Super Jess »

The snails probably just died, or they are hiding in the substrate. You might want to use some type of cover on your tank to reduce evaporation and prevent airborne stuff from messing up your water.
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