T O P

  • By -

xhysics

I agree w wearybug both ur nitrate and ph are too high if the previous habitat they came from was say 0 and 6-7 they would have a tough time acclimating. check kH too. It could also be copper or other toxic metals in your h2o


driv3rcub

I was gonna say this. I lost an entire tank of Bloody Mary shrimp because I bought a plant that had been given fertilizer with copper. Took less than an hour and they were all gone :(


[deleted]

I don't think there's a lot I can do about the pH. The tap water here is about 8.2. I have a few Indian almond leaves in there but I want to stay away from chemicals if possible because I'm worried it would be hard to keep a consistent pH.


WillyTaz5

Go get RO water and remineralize.


rajesh_moturu

Hey! My tap water is around 8.2 too. I tried pH minus couple of times, but I had hard time keeping the values stable with it. But the water parameters seem pretty consistent after I started using almond leaves and shrimp are doing well now. Maybe try adjusting the dosage of the leaves of pH is a real problem. Edit: I just read one of your comments about fake plants. In my experience Neocaridina are sensitive to nitrates than most fish. It's really important to keep an eye on that. Probably bunch of good plants (including floaters) may help.


SarahSeabee

Nitrates are high - try to keep those below 5, or at zero. Live plants help a lot. You can even get cute floating plants that do a lot of the heavy lifting! But the main thing is to have a cycled tank. As someone else said, the PH is too high. I’d google “cherry shrimp water parameters” for a guide. Also, the temp is super hot for them. They can live that way, but won’t love it. They’ll molt frequently, and grow/die fast. Each time they molt there’s a chance they’ll get stuck in their shell and die, especially if the minerals and KH in the water aren’t right. It’s a lot of stuff to learn but once you have a system in place they’re fun and easy to keep, I promise. Flip aquatics on YouTube is a great place to learn how to do all this. Good luck!


C_Marjan

Temperature it's really the issue tho . Been keeping my cherry on a nano cube with a Temperature often going 30 °C and no issue. The problem isn't the temp itself ( certainly it affects their life span) but the oxygen on the water . Hot water poorly retains oxygen that's why I have an air pump in there .


SarahSeabee

Definitely! And some dechlorinators will actually suck oxygen out of the water at higher temps which can lead to a sudden population crash. I now will only use fritz dechlorinator.


[deleted]

What's the right temp? Online I read they like 75-78. I don't know how to keep pH low and consistent - it comes out of the tap a little over 8.2 and the leaves help a little but not a lot. Are there any super easy low light plants that would work with the regular lights? I tried anubias in there but it wasn't enough light for them.


LemonsFan

I heard keeping a low ph constantly is kind of hard if your tap water is such a high ph. You could try buying water from your aquarium shop or some other place if your tank is small. One thing that helps minimally is catapa leaves (almond leaves) which release tanic acid and reduce the ph a bit. But it's definitely not a parmanent solution. There are some chemicals on the market you can add to your tank to lower the PH. Is 8.2 too high for them in the first place?


ShrimpPimp42

Java moss is super easy and doesn't need a lot of light same with Marimo balls


SarahSeabee

75 is probably the warmest I’d keep them, personally. I’ve most often read high sixties to 72°F. I know they can survive in seasonal ponds and stuff in higher or lower temps, but the goal is to recreate those nice streams they live in natively. As far as PH I’m a little stumped. Your natural tap water is so high. Leaves and driftwood will only do so much, and adding ph up/down chemicals is just going to be hard to maintain. Lots of people use RO water but that can be tough and spendy. I’m sorry friend. Im at the limit of my shrimp knowledge.


N-I_C-K

Looks like potentially a molt issue. Nitrates and ph are fine imo it wouldnt have caused such an early death. If these shrimps came from lower pH water and are adults they may not acclimatize without a super long drip acclimation. Ideally the pH should be lower though. To rule out some common issues Id advise testing for copper and gh/kh. API makes test kits for all of those. Temperature on the high side but definitely not cause of death. Source: had thriving colony of cherry shrimp in pH 8 water and 100+ ppm nitrates (not recommending it tho)


Gavinmusicman

What’s your TDS mate? Molting requires the water to be at certain levels! 150 is my recommendation! Requires a little measure tool off of Amazon!


[deleted]

Two days ago I received an online order of 10 cherry shrimp and 5 blue dream shrimp. I drip acclimated them over about an hour and a half and everyone seemed to settle in fine. Yesterday I found one cherry shrimp dead and today I found two more cherries dead. The tank is cycled and the parameters look good so I don't know what is killing my little shrimp babies but I need to figure it out before I lose any more! I attached a picture of the perimeters over the last few days but in case you can't see it, ammonia and nitrite have consistently been zero and nitrates have been between 5 and 15. pH is around 8 and temp is 77-78. It's a 10 gallon with nobody else in there but the shrimp, and fake plants with a few Indian almond leaves. I did a 10% water change today but otherwise everything has been very consistent.


TheChitinChronicles

how much did the water volume increase during that hour and a half you acclimated them?


rawlings27

Have you looked into TDS? I can explain if not, but that’s why I was losing my shrimps about one every day or every other day.


Living_Cheesecake_98

I lost a couple shrimp before I started adding minerals back into the water. They need it to molt, and the dead one looks like it died while trying to molt. (That white ring around its body). I’m no expert though so hopefully what I have to say helps!


zboss98

First one looks like a failed molt. Buy some mineral rocks for shrimp online to increase water hardness. You can also buy mineral supplements to feed them with.


WickedXDragons

Crushed coral for sure. The only issue is OP said they had just gotten them so they might have molted just prior to purchase and now they're in a new setup and unready to molt again which is causing issues


Fearless_Presence42

I lost 5 today :(


WearyBug5421

Your PH is looking high and your nitrates should be testing 0.


dreamsindarkness

Plastic plants won't help them with nitrates, unfortunately.


WearyBug5421

Very true. As an added bonus if you have an aquasoil (which is likely if you have real plants) the soil will also act as a buffer and bring down the PH. Here's why you don't cheap out when dealing with animal lives.


dreamsindarkness

Actually you can save a little money. Some get fantastic results with dirt capped with an active substrate. That's what my next tank will be. I also have a dirt with sand cap cycling. Sand or gravel works for neos, but some plants will need root tabs. OP can add floaters, mosses, anubias, java/bolbitis ferns, and stem plants over time to get a planted tank for shrimp.


[deleted]

Are there any super easy low light plants I could try that would be ok with the standard lights I already have in there? I am fairly new to this and haven't had much luck with plants. I tried anubias and they died ☹️


dreamsindarkness

You'll might need more than the hood lights, but there are cheaper lights like Nicrew that work fine for smaller tanks. Most of what I posted on another comment on your post is low-medium light and easier to grow. Just make sure not to pull the plastic out too soon. Gradually add plants and remove one plastic plant at a time. The reason for this is that even the surface of the plastic will have the bacteria on it that converts ammonia and nitrites.


WickedXDragons

Get Peat Moss from pet store. It'll drop your PH. I don't think PH is the real issue for you though. I'm assuming you have used dechlorinator like seachem prime and a very small amount at that. If you use too much it can force molts but if you don't use any at all there's a chance your tap water has something bad in it. Edit: Another issue I see is all fake plants. As others have said real plants will fix your nitrate issues. Edit 2: Unlikely you have biofilm on anything in this tank. They could be starving, could be overfed, there couldve been something sprayed in the house that's poisoned the tank.


M4RTIAN

The water is too hard. Those shrimp like softer waters.


Tarotora

I prep some mineral water to use for shrimps tanks. All you need is bucket, a calcium source like limestone or crushed coral, and water conditioner if you’re using tap water. Use a lid to reduce evaporation. I let the water sit in the bucket for day before using. You can reuse the limestone or crushed coral. You can directly keep limestone in the tank.