Shrimp dying / everything else thriving?!

[Proy]

Update 3:

The community tank is thriving! Everyone is doing well.

The 2 Shrimp tanks are doing ok.

The tanks are Fluval Flex 15’s. One is white and the other is black.

The white tank is doing well, I used cycled media to get the tank up and running. After a few days of running the system with Endler’s, I removed them and added 12 Blue Dream Shrimp. Shrimp range in size from basically newborn to full grown. These Shrimp were added 6/8. I had 1 immediate loss but none after that. The tank seems to be doing ok. Because it’s a “fresh” tank I’ve been adding Glasgarten “Shrimp baby” & “Bacter AE” almost daily as I wait for a good amount of Biofilm/algae to setup. Every 2-3 days I’ve been adding Shrimp King “Complete” into a feeding dish. All inhabitants are grazing constantly and occasionally visiting the feeding dish.

White Tank Parameters:

Ph: 7.2, Ammonia: 0, Nitrite: 0, Nitrate: < 5ppm, Kh: 4, Gh: 12, TDS: 330 which is a bit high so I’m doing a 10% water change and dripping fresh water (shrimp tank plus water conditioner and temperature adjusted) back in slowly.

The black tank is concerning, I again used cycled media to get the tank up and running. Ran the tank with a few Endlers and my 3 remaining Orange Sunkist Shrimp while I waited to buy more Sunkist Shrimp. Shrimp are all adults. These Shrimp were added roughly 6/6. The tank seems to be doing ok. Because it’s a “fresh” tank I’ve been adding Glasgarten “Bacter AE” every 2 days as I wait for a good amount of Biofilm to setup. Every 2-3 days I’ve been adding Shrimp King “Complete” into a feeding dish. All inhabitants are grazing constantly and occasionally visiting the feeding dish.

Black Tank Parameters:

Ph: 7.1, Ammonia: 0, Nitrite: 0, Nitrate: < 5ppm, Kh: 4, Gh: 12, TDS: 227 which is lower than the white tank and I’m not sure why as both are setup exactly the same. Perhaps the additional shrimp in the white tank adding to overall TDS.

I added small bags of crushed coral into the sump section of each tank to add minerals and stabilize any Ph fluctuations. I also have some Red Root Floaters in each tank to suck up any Nitrates. I added small clumps of moss to each tank for some living plants for any babies to hide in. I’ve noticed molts on both tanks. I’ve not seen any white line issues.

Questions/Concerns:

I had a Sunkist Shrimp die in the black tank last night. I have no idea why. No white line. No parameters fluctuated wildly. It was big but definitely not full grown, so age was not a factor. Any ideas or questions that might lead to ideas… I have 10 Orange Pumpkin shrimp arriving tomorrow and I’m concerned for their safety if a shrimp just died in that tank.

Do I need to worry about Calcium or Phosphate levels at all?

Based on the photos included, do I need to add anything or make any adjustments. I designed each tank with hiding places as a top priority. There will be no tank mates, only shrimp.

I looked into RO systems but they are a bit too pricey. Any alternatives? 
 

Any thoughts or ideas are greatly appreciated!

Thank You!

[Allan]

My Endlers kill shrimp for fun.  They don't eat them after, they just peck at the shrimp until they are dead.  Tons of plants for shrimp to hide in, but the enders seek them out, it's like a game to them.

[nabokovfan87]

On 6/14/2023 at 12:16 PM, Proy said:

White Tank Parameters:

Ph: 7.2, Ammonia: 0, Nitrite: 0, Nitrate: < 5ppm, Kh: 4, Gh: 12, TDS: 330 which is a bit high so I’m doing a 10% water change and dripping fresh water (shrimp tank plus water conditioner and temperature adjusted) back in slowly.

Parameters all look perfect.  I assume no heater, room temp?

 

On 6/14/2023 at 12:16 PM, Proy said:

lack Tank Parameters:

Ph: 7.1, Ammonia: 0, Nitrite: 0, Nitrate: < 5ppm, Kh: 4, Gh: 12, TDS: 227 which is lower than the white tank and I’m not sure why as both are setup exactly the same. Perhaps the additional shrimp in the white tank adding to overall TDS.

I added small bags of crushed coral into the sump section of each tank to add minerals and stabilize any Ph fluctuations. I also have some Red Root Floaters in each tank to suck up any Nitrates. I added small clumps of moss to each tank for some living plants for any babies to hide in. I’ve noticed molts on both tanks. I’ve not seen any white line issues.

Same question as above, temp?

Kh looks ok, especially with the PH at 7.  If you're seeing a ton of organics, that's when I'd be concerned about the KH and the ph crashing on you.  Ultimately getting that KH up slightly will be fine, but I don't think either tank really needs any sort of a KH or GH booster.  If you're doing RO top offs and stuff, over time I can see that KH drooping a little bit, that would be my only concern!

On 6/14/2023 at 12:16 PM, Proy said:

I had a Sunkist Shrimp die in the black tank last night. I have no idea why. No white line. No parameters fluctuated wildly. It was big but definitely not full grown, so age was not a factor. Any ideas or questions that might lead to ideas… I have 10 Orange Pumpkin shrimp arriving tomorrow and I’m concerned for their safety if a shrimp just died in that tank.

Do I need to worry about Calcium or Phosphate levels at all?

No, your GH is fine and you're feeding calcium based foods. All of those things check out.

Check the shrimp for common shrimp diseases and just keep an eye out for that aspect of care.  Cloudy shrimp, fuzzy patches of fungus, parasites, etc.  That could be at play here.  It's just something to keep in mind when you have a death.  Sometimes shrimp pass and it could be as simple as they didn't get to the feeding dish or there was a slight stress trigger.  Check all the basics and go from there.  Parameters look perfect to me.  I would focus on monitoring, methods, and stability. 
 

On 6/14/2023 at 12:16 PM, Proy said:

Based on the photos included, do I need to add anything or make any adjustments.

The tanks look great!  In terms of the only adjustment I personally would encourage, I would like to see you add 1-2 airstones per tank if possible.  That is something that the shrimp will appreciate and the added oxygen will be good for them long term.  I do see some air in the back middle section, so if you've already got air going, awesome! 🙂


My second thing is just a simple nudge and encouragement.  Next time you're at the pet stop grab yourself some anubias nana.  It's not a very complicated or difficult plant to care for.  You wedge it into a section where the wood and rock meet and it will give the baby shrimp a plant as well as the females a place to go for molting.  The artificial plants look great! I do think anubias is one of the best plants to start with, especially anubias nana, available everywhere.  You potentially won't need any fancy lighting needs, you may not even need to dose in anything to the tank given your setups.  It's a great place to start if that's something you'd like to do. 

(sidenote, the floating plants look great too.  It's always funny to me when it get so hard to tell what plants are real vs. artificial at first.  I do a lot of squinting trying to make sense of what I'm looking at on certain ones. 😂)

I really like your setups.  Just keep things consistent and make notes of what you're seeing.  Maybe start a journal and we can follow along with your progress?

On 6/14/2023 at 12:16 PM, Proy said:

Any alternatives? 

Zero water is a pretty nice water filter system!

Edited June 14, 2023 by nabokovfan87
added note.

[Proy]

On 6/14/2023 at 3:58 PM, Allan said:

My Endlers kill shrimp for fun.  They don't eat them after, they just peck at the shrimp until they are dead.  Tons of plants for shrimp to hide in, but the enders seek them out, it's like a game to them.

I’ve removed all Endlers just in case.

Thank you!

[Proy]

On 6/14/2023 at 4:22 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Parameters all look perfect.  I assume no heater, room temp?
 

Same question as above, temp?

Kh looks ok, especially with the PH at 7.  If you're seeing a ton of organics, that's when I'd be concerned about the KH and the ph crashing on you.  Ultimately getting that KH up slightly will be fine, but I don't think either tank really needs any sort of a KH or GH booster.  If you're doing RO top offs and stuff, over time I can see that KH drooping a little bit, that would be my only concern!

No, your GH is fine and you're feeding calcium based foods. All of those things check out.

Check the shrimp for common shrimp diseases and just keep an eye out for that aspect of care.  Cloudy shrimp, fuzzy patches of fungus, parasites, etc.  That could be at play here.  It's just something to keep in mind when you have a death.  Sometimes shrimp pass and it could be as simple as they didn't get to the feeding dish or there was a slight stress trigger.  Check all the basics and go from there.  Parameters look perfect to me.  I would focus on monitoring, methods, and stability. 
 

The tanks look great!  In terms of the only adjustment I personally would encourage, I would like to see you add 1-2 airstones per tank if possible.  That is something that the shrimp will appreciate and the added oxygen will be good for them long term.  I do see some air in the back middle section, so if you've already got air going, awesome! 🙂


My second thing is just a simple nudge and encouragement.  Next time you're at the pet stop grab yourself some anubias nana.  It's not a very complicated or difficult plant to care for.  You wedge it into a section where the wood and rock meet and it will give the baby shrimp a plant as well as the females a place to go for molting.  The artificial plants look great! I do think anubias is one of the best plants to start with, especially anubias nana, available everywhere.  You potentially won't need any fancy lighting needs, you may not even need to dose in anything to the tank given your setups.  It's a great place to start if that's something you'd like to do. 

(sidenote, the floating plants look great too.  It's always funny to me when it get so hard to tell what plants are real vs. artificial at first.  I do a lot of squinting trying to make sense of what I'm looking at on certain ones. 😂)

I really like your setups.  Just keep things consistent and make notes of what you're seeing.  Maybe start a journal and we can follow along with your progress?

Zero water is a pretty nice water filter system!

Temps are at 77F. I have heaters in there set below 77F just in case I have a strange temperature fluctuation.

I’m using conditioned tap water for all water changes and top-offs. I know RO would be better but right now it’s a cost issue. I hope to get there soon.

I studied the deceased shrimp for quite a while and couldn’t find anything out of order. I looked over the remaining 2 Sunkist and they look healthy.

Side note / question: yesterday I noticed one of the males swimming all around the tank. Assumed he was after the female. Woke up today and a male had passed. I looked for the other 2 found them and made sure they were ok. It wasn’t until I read your reply that I really looked and my female is berried! Could the male have passed doing his thing?

I do have airstones in both tanks. I keep the pump on low for minimal disturbance. I’m going to increase the air volume a bit just to be sure.

I’m a bit hesitant on live plants due to the struggles they caused in my previous setup. You’ve given great advice so far, so i’ll pickup one for each tank. But I don’t want to go down the road of fertilizers, so I hope they be ok without.

I’m going to spend some time looking into the Zero setup.

I am keeping logs for each tank. I’ll look into journaling them.

Thank you so much for all the guidance!!!

I’ll continue updating.

If you want any specific pictures of the tanks to see how things are setup please just ask.

[Proy]

@nabokovfan87

Are these a good choice?

[nabokovfan87]

On 6/14/2023 at 3:38 PM, Proy said:

I keep the pump on low for minimal disturbance.

This is the most recent video I have on my tank.  It's short, but hopefully easy to see how / how much air I am pushing.  Most of my tanks I push a lot of air.  They manage to handle it and enjoy it.  It's mostly just due to the species I keep, colder water species, corydoras and river type of species that like a lot of movement, oxygenation.  Given your temp is at 77 (mine is 72-74 right now) you definitely will benefit from turning the air up just a tad if you wish.

The tank in the video has 2 sponges, pretty good flow, and just because the airpump is a bit too strong I added a third drop for an airstone to release any excess pressure.  The ziss air stones are nice because you can adjust the bubble size!  I'm not saying you need that much air, but just as an example of one tank, shrimp can handle it!

 

On 6/14/2023 at 4:29 PM, Proy said:

@nabokovfan87

Are these a good choice?

Both of those are used for shrimp keeping yes.  I don't use the salty shrimp stuff, but there are a ton of people that do, including other members on this forum.  Mark's Shrimp Tank's uses it as well. 🙂 

On 6/14/2023 at 3:38 PM, Proy said:

Side note / question: yesterday I noticed one of the males swimming all around the tank. Assumed he was after the female. Woke up today and a male had passed. I looked for the other 2 found them and made sure they were ok. It wasn’t until I read your reply that I really looked and my female is berried! Could the male have passed doing his thing?

The males definitely like to dart around don't they!  Females are generally grazing a lot for me.  If you're seeing stress movements, that is one particular behavior that is indicative of a water quality issue.  They would essentially be twitching and look like they are trying to escape and get out of the tank.  If you just see them swimming around, very normal!  You can see some of mine doing that in the video about too.  Typically it would be the female that passes after doing the deed, but ultimately, any shrimp that molts has a chance of passing just from the stress and being very vulnerable at that stage.

 

[Proy]

@nabokovfan87

That is amazing! Very jealous of your setup! Giant porous stone is awesome. What kind of stone is that? You are definitely pumping a ton of air into that tank. I just turned mine up.

The shrimp that passed was running around as expected. Maybe a bit more than usual which is why I thought he was searching for a female. But nothing erratic or jumpy.

Tested yet another parameter on both tanks…Phosphates are at 1.0, everything I read said 1.0 is fine.

So yeah, keeping my fingers crossed that everything from here is onward and upward. Had those 2 losses (1 blue dream from shipping/acclimatizing and the 1 Sunkist giving his life for the next generation:). Otherwise all parameters are steady, bio and mechanical filtration are good. I receive my order of 10 more Pumpkin/Sunkist tomorrow. I’ll put them through drip acclimation for 2 hours, get them in the tank, turn the lights off and hope everything goes well.

@nabokovfan87 Thank You again for all of the help and guidance!

 

[nabokovfan87]

On 6/14/2023 at 7:17 PM, Proy said:

What kind of stone is that?

Ohko / dragon stone.  Lava rock or seiryu stone is also gread.  Seiryu will add some hardness though.

Phosphate at 1 is quite fine. Plants need that.

Happy to help, let's get all of our shrimp colonies thriving!!!

[Proy]

Update 4:

Blue Dream tank is doing great. All water parameters are where they need to be. The juvenile shrimp are growing fast and I have not seen a dead shrimp in this tank for some time. I have at least one berried female.

My only concern is all the detritus on the floor of the tank. I’ll include a picture. Do I just leave it or try to keep the substrate spotless?

Now to the problem… 

The Sunkist tank has at least one shrimp a day die. I cannot figure out why as the parameters are exactly the same as the Blue Dream tank. I’ll run through the parameters again real quick.

Both Tanks as of this morning: Ph: 7.2, Ammonia: 0, Nitrite: 0, Nitrate: <5, Phosphate: 1, Kh: 5, Gh: 15. My Gh is higher than expected due to me adding some crushed coral in the sump to help with any molting issues. I have removed it. I have not seen any molting issues before or since…I regularly see whole molts around the tanks, none of the shrimp that have passed had a notable white line.

I have treated both tanks exactly the same. I’ve done a single 10%-15% water change. The water was temp adjusted and I used prime to treat the water which was dripped back into the tanks over 4 hours. Temperature is a stable 77F (Room temperature). on @nabokovfan87 suggestion I have added 2 small Anubius nana to both tanks. 
 

Questions:

The filtration/sump on each tank has fully cycled media, thus the already functioning bio filter. Parameters show that the bio filter is working. But the rest of the tank was cleaned/scrubbed to remove algae and old substrate. Because the tanks are fresh I have been feeding lightly everyday in the following manner…I add a little bit smaller than rice sized portion of Bacter AE and half that portion of Shrimp Baby to a cup with tank water, mix thoroughly and add to the tanks, dispersing everywhere. I do this to keep food readily available and also establish a good amount of Biofilm. I also add an extremely small portion of Shrimp King Complete to their feeding dish, this is removed after 3-4 hours, I rarely see either tank eating from the feeding dish. I’ve also positioned the tank light right above the uppermost driftwood to get a nice patch of algae going for them to feed on.

Am I feeding too much, polluting the tank? If this were the issue wouldn’t I see an ammonia or nitrite spike? 

I think I’m going to purchase a copper test kit even though I am 100% sure no copper has ever touch any of my tanks.

I’m at a loss, any ideas?

Including a few more pics. Please ask any questions you have, it’s killing me that I can’t get the Sunkist tank running correctly.

[nabokovfan87]

48 minutes ago, Proy said:

My only concern is all the detritus on the floor of the tank. I’ll include a picture. Do I just leave it or try to keep the substrate spotless?

Having that amount of mulm on the sand can definitely lead to issues.  I do siphon my sand, some is easier than others.  I would recommend having a bucket (or two) so that you can let the detritus settle after you siphon.  You'd want to let things settle and then give it an hour (or longer) to check for baby shrimp.  As you do this more and more you'll get better with the technique and know what to look for.  For a shrimp tank specifically this is the method that I use where the end of the siphon goes into the substrate and then you "pump" the waste up by pinching the hose open and shut.
 

 

 

56 minutes ago, Proy said:

Am I feeding too much, polluting the tank? If this were the issue wouldn’t I see an ammonia or nitrite spike? 

Not necessarily.  Some shrimp colors can be extremely sensitive to nitrates, very slight ammonia spikes, and it's all based on a variety of factors.  The place you source them from, the care before, etc.

58 minutes ago, Proy said:

Both Tanks as of this morning: Ph: 7.2, Ammonia: 0, Nitrite: 0, Nitrate: <5, Phosphate: 1, Kh: 5, Gh: 15. My Gh is higher than expected due to me adding some crushed coral in the sump to help with any molting issues. I have removed it. I have not seen any molting issues before or since…I regularly see whole molts around the tanks, none of the shrimp that have passed had a notable white line.

All of these look fine.  It may have just been that GH thing.  A water change will likely help and drop the GH down to where you want it to be.  After 2-3 more water changes, if you're continually seeing a death then we would lean more towards a contaminant.  You can always add carbon in the tank as well without that causing issues for you.  It would help to clarify the water and remove particles you don't want in the water.  For sponge filters, I place mine in a bag (or it comes in one) and I just rest it on top of the sponge filter around the uplift tube section.

 

1 hour ago, Proy said:

The filtration/sump on each tank has fully cycled media, thus the already functioning bio filter. Parameters show that the bio filter is working. But the rest of the tank was cleaned/scrubbed to remove algae and old substrate. Because the tanks are fresh I have been feeding lightly everyday in the following manner…I add a little bit smaller than rice sized portion of Bacter AE and half that portion of Shrimp Baby to a cup with tank water, mix thoroughly and add to the tanks, dispersing everywhere. I do this to keep food readily available and also establish a good amount of Biofilm. I also add an extremely small portion of Shrimp King Complete to their feeding dish, this is removed after 3-4 hours, I rarely see either tank eating from the feeding dish. I’ve also positioned the tank light right above the uppermost driftwood to get a nice patch of algae going for them to feed on.

Cutting back to feeding every other day is perfectly fine.  A lot of shrimpkeepers do only feed 2-3x per week.  There is a Mark's shrimp tank video on feeding as well as feeding behavior.  I'll try to locate both of those for you.  If you don't see the shrimp going after the food right away you could be overfeeding.  The main indication is of course the waster (nitrates) getting too high.

[RonBFree]

On 6/14/2023 at 4:58 PM, Allan said:

My Endlers kill shrimp for fun.  They don't eat them after, they just peck at the shrimp until they are dead.  Tons of plants for shrimp to hide in, but the enders seek them out, it's like a game to them.

I have cherry shrimp in my endler tanks.  The adults do fine but baby shrimp must be eaten as the numbers don't grow

On 6/14/2023 at 4:58 PM, Allan said:

My Endlers kill shrimp for fun.  They don't eat them after, they just peck at the shrimp until they are dead.  Tons of plants for shrimp to hide in, but the enders seek them out, it's like a game to them.

 

[JettsPapa]

On 6/24/2023 at 12:59 PM, RonBFree said:

I have cherry shrimp in my endler tanks.  The adults do fine but baby shrimp must be eaten as the numbers don't grow

 

Shrimp did fine with endlers for me.  Maybe you don't have enough places for the babies to hide until they get large enough for the endlers to leave alone?

Or maybe your endlers just are different from mine.

[Proy]

Update 5:

Community tank is doing very well.

Blue Dream tank is also doing really well. Multiple berried shrimp, activity in the tank is really nice. Backed off my feedings and left them to scavenge a bit more. My only concern is a Nitrate level around 10ppm. It’s not too high but higher than I want. I’ve done 2 15% water changes and vacuumed the substrate since my last post and I can’t seem to budge the Nitrate level. I added another small batch of red root floaters to help. All other parameters are exactly where I want them. Currently very happy with this tank.

Sunkist/Pumpkin Tank is also doing well. I have not had any deaths for a while now. I also backed off on my feedings and forced them to scavenge a bit more. All parameters on this tank are spot on. Again multiple berried shrimp…This where my only concern is…I had a female molt and drop her eggs. I’m not really sure why she dropped them. She was somewhat small so I can only think that she dropped due to inexperience?? I managed to recover the eggs and have them in a makeshift egg tumbler. I ordered a real egg tumbler, hopefully I can save them.

Overall everything has drastically improved. I will continue posting updates as worthwhile info pops up. 
 

Thank you to all that offered their advice. A giant thank you to @nabokovfan87 for all the help and direction!!! 

[nabokovfan87]

On 7/2/2023 at 11:38 AM, Proy said:

My only concern is a Nitrate level around 10ppm. It’s not too high but higher than I want. I’ve done 2 15% water changes and vacuumed the substrate since my last post and I can’t seem to budge the Nitrate level.

More plants over time will definitely help. I would recommend a minimum of 30% water changes every time you change water.

Keep the floaters thinned out to encourage the growth of the plants inside the tank at depth. This was a tip from Filipe and one I think a lot of us overlook.

On 7/2/2023 at 11:38 AM, Proy said:

I had a female molt and drop her eggs. I’m not really sure why she dropped them. She was somewhat small so I can only think that she dropped due to inexperience??

Entirely normal and a very good sign she was able to molt. This means she didn't hold the eggs at the cost of herself, which will get her back on pace for the next time she's berried. A lot of times the shrimp will force themselves to wait too long.

On 7/2/2023 at 11:38 AM, Proy said:

Overall everything has drastically improved. I will continue posting updates as worthwhile info pops up. 

That is awesome and very exciting. Very exciting to see more of the setups and how it changes over time. 🙂

[Proy]

On 7/2/2023 at 2:49 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

More plants over time will definitely help. I would recommend a minimum of 30% water changes every time you change water.

Keep the floaters thinned out to encourage the growth of the plants inside the tank at depth. This was a tip from Filipe and one I think a lot of us overlook.

Entirely normal and a very good sign she was able to molt. This means she didn't hold the eggs at the cost of herself, which will get her back on pace for the next time she's berried. A lot of times the shrimp will force themselves to wait too long.

That is awesome and very exciting. Very exciting to see more of the setups and how it changes over time. 🙂

Aside from the plants I have (Red Root Floaters and Anubias Nana) any suggestions for next addition? I really want to stay away from having to use fertilizer.

I’m so hesitant to do larger water changes due to the swings in parameters it may cause. Though I will acknowledge that adding water back in via drip will likely alleviate those swings. You’ve guided me in the right direction every time so i’ll move to 30% going forward.

As for the RRFloaters, I purchased rings that keeps them all together at the top of the tank. That way I’m not blocking light from getting to the rest of the tank. They are growing better in the Sunkist tank for some reason, even though there are more nitrates in the Blue Dream tank. Any thoughts on why that might be?

As far as her being able to molt…With my high Gh (15) I haven’t noticed any molting issues in either of the tanks. I have also been feeding the tanks Mineral Junkie by Glasgarten, I assume this is also helping with the molts. I received my egg tumbler earlier today and got it all setup. The eggs are still attached to the swimerettes (sp?) on the molt so it was pretty easy to get them setup in the tumbler. Now it’s just cross my fingers and wait.

Im going to post a bunch of pictures later today.

[nabokovfan87]

On 7/2/2023 at 2:32 PM, Proy said:

I’m so hesitant to do larger water changes due to the swings in parameters it may cause. Though I will acknowledge that adding water back in via drip will likely alleviate those swings. You’ve guided me in the right direction every time so i’ll move to 30% going forward.

My tanks don't get water dripped back in and I do 50% changes. Definitely don't do what I do. I share it simply to encourage that there is a lot we still don't understand about shrimp care.

The 30% comes from MSTs videos.

 

On 7/2/2023 at 2:32 PM, Proy said:

Aside from the plants I have (Red Root Floaters and Anubias Nana) any suggestions for next addition? I really want to stay away from having to use fertilizer.

I'm sure you could fit more anubiad in there! 😉

I also like java ferns and bolbitus heteroclita with plant weights at the base.  All of those you can get from the big box store. My plant weights I got from aquarium Coop

[Proy]

[JettsPapa]

On 7/2/2023 at 1:38 PM, Proy said:

Update 5:

Community tank is doing very well.

Blue Dream tank is also doing really well. Multiple berried shrimp, activity in the tank is really nice. Backed off my feedings and left them to scavenge a bit more. My only concern is a Nitrate level around 10ppm. It’s not too high but higher than I want. I’ve done 2 15% water changes and vacuumed the substrate since my last post and I can’t seem to budge the Nitrate level. I added another small batch of red root floaters to help. All other parameters are exactly where I want them. Currently very happy with this tank.

Sunkist/Pumpkin Tank is also doing well. I have not had any deaths for a while now. I also backed off on my feedings and forced them to scavenge a bit more. All parameters on this tank are spot on. Again multiple berried shrimp…This where my only concern is…I had a female molt and drop her eggs. I’m not really sure why she dropped them. She was somewhat small so I can only think that she dropped due to inexperience?? I managed to recover the eggs and have them in a makeshift egg tumbler. I ordered a real egg tumbler, hopefully I can save them.

Overall everything has drastically improved. I will continue posting updates as worthwhile info pops up. 
 

Thank you to all that offered their advice. A giant thank you to @nabokovfan87 for all the help and direction!!! 

I wouldn't worry about 10 ppm.  The shrimp in my tanks don't show any problems with it at 40 ppm.

[BuzzDaddy21]

On 5/30/2023 at 4:15 PM, RoyaleButterfly said:

, I have seen that amano shrimp can sometimes kill and eat neo shrimp.

I have never seen an Amano shrimp give two cents about any type of neo shrimp or anything else except food then they are hogs.

Also, no matter what I add to any tank I stopped believing in the hype of hours to acclimate and once the tank/bag water are close in temp. I release into the tank with no problems. (Of course, I don`t have the usual problems with tank water.)

Hope you find out what's going on.