Cherry shrimp

[fatherchris]

Good evening. I have been venturing into the hobby for a little bit now. Little over a year. Have a 55 gallon with peacocks in it. Decided to try my hands with cherry shrimp and for some reason they are dying off very slowly. Seems to be in the motling stage. I have inert gravel with crushed coral in it. Ph of 7.7, temp of 75, no ammonia, nitrite, or nitrates. have several low light plants, some hair algae on some, drift wood. some seem to molt just fine. just seems to be one a week. Not sure what to do. Have done water changes, 20 gallon tank. small water change once a week. maybe 2 or 3 gallons.

[nabokovfan87]

Hello hello, welcome!

In terms of cover for the shrimp and stress, how does the tank look?  Do they have a lot of places to hide?

Do you feed any foods specifically for the shrimp?

From ACO Blog:
https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/aquarium/breeding-red-cherry-shrimp

Quote

Red Cherry Shrimp Characteristics

Red Cherry Shrimp reach about 4 cm (1.6 inches). They prefer clean water with a ph of 6.5-8.0, and a rough temperature of 14-30 degrees C (57-86), most comfortable at a moderate room temperature of about 72 degrees. They are omnivores and typically live 1-2 years under ideal conditions. Be sure to keep all foods, supplements, or chemicals that have copper out of your shrimp tank.

Fortunately, Red Cherry shrimp adapt to a wide variety of conditions in the hobby aquarium. They can be kept in a desktop aquarium with as little as 2 gallons, but 8-12 gallons will allow for a more active colony, more breeding, and a livelier population. Shrimp love plants and hiding spaces, so it is important to include frill plants that allow them to sit on, groom, and feel safe. This is especially critical after molting, one of the most vulnerable times for the shrimp. They are also ravenous about eating the film of algae and micro-organisms that form on plant leaves, spending hours grooming their favorites. Shrimp also love to groom and hide in mosses, whether in a clump or tied onto a rock or wood.

From Aquatic arts:

Quote

RECOMMENDED TANK PARAMETERS:

• Minimum tank size: 2 gallons, recommended 10 gallon minimum for a colony
• Temperature: 64° - 78° F (17.8° - 25.5° C)
• pH: 6.8 - 7.5
• dGH: 6 - 15
• dKH: 0 - 10 
• TDS: 180 - 400

I would try to lower PH slightly and start there as well as foods.

Edited March 5, 2023 by nabokovfan87

[fatherchris]

I do not feed specific foods, just break up some algae waffers and put them in. this a pic, and no, the back light does not come on. ever. and thank you for the threads. i will read into them. 

 

[Theplatymaster]

@fatherchris maybe try feeding a food like Hikari Crab Cuisine? something will calcium in it for the shrimp to eat, it may make it easier for them to molt if thats where the die off has been.

[fatherchris]

I can stop by my LFS tomorrow and see if they have some. Can try that. 

[nabokovfan87]

On 3/5/2023 at 2:50 PM, fatherchris said:

I do not feed specific foods, just break up some algae waffers and put them in. this a pic, and no, the back light does not come on. ever. and thank you for the threads. i will read into them. 

Hikari has some shrimp based food. they have crab or shrimp cuisine, both work.  If you find the crab one, just crush it a little bit.  I also highly recommend checking out Mark's Shrimp Tanks on youtube (also just started putting his info on a website).  He's very easy to understand and you can look up pretty much anything on every single shrimp type.

 

Goldfish food can have some calcium in it, repashy powder is good (just check the ingredient list) and it comes in powder form.  Discus food also might work and is in a shrimp friendly shape (granules) as well as some food for cichlids (northfin has some 1mm pellets).  Betta food also small granules.  Just check the ingredients and get one that seems to work well for you.

I like the ShrimpKing standard food as well, good ingredient list and has some stinging nettle to help the shrimp specifically.