Aquahuna 🤔🤔🤔

[Trailblazur]

Has anyone ordered shrimp from Aquahuna?

I’ve tried neocaridina twice from them and followed the acclimation instructions to a tee and still lose them 🤦🏼‍♂️

I think the coop orders from them and I’ve ordered fish in the past with no issue. 
 

i can’t figure this out though 😕

[nabokovfan87]

On 6/1/2023 at 7:41 PM, Trailblazur said:

Has anyone ordered shrimp from Aquahuna?

I have ordered amano and otos from them. Went well.

What is their method for neo shrimp acclimation? What is your tanks GH and KH values? If you don't mind please share a picture of setup.

 

[Trailblazur]

On 6/1/2023 at 11:08 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

I have ordered amano and otos from them. Went well.

What is their method for neo shrimp acclimation? What is your tanks GH and KH values? If you don't mind please share a picture of setup.

 

Thanks for sharing!! I can add a pic tomorrow. 
 

GH/KH is 7deg

The recommend slowly letting the bag get up to room temp if need be. Then floating the bag to match aquarium temp. 
 

Then they advise to put them into a container w the water and add 50% off that amount of water from the aquarium for 20 minutes and then do that once more. 
 

I tried that once, then also tried the drip acclimation like in the video you posted. Both times they all died within a few hours 😕

[nabokovfan87]

On 6/1/2023 at 8:21 PM, Trailblazur said:

The recommend slowly letting the bag get up to room temp if need be. Then floating the bag to match aquarium temp. 
 

Then they advise to put them into a container w the water and add 50% off that amount of water from the aquarium for 20 minutes and then do that once more. 
 

I tried that once, then also tried the drip acclimation like in the video you posted. Both times they all died within a few hours 😕

How quickly did things go from the bag being open to the shrimp being in the tank?

Normally you'd want acclimation ok neo shrimp or caridina shrimp to drip for anywhere between 1-3 hours. I tend to go by the volume of water and diluting double the water volume 3-4x.

Shrimp can be extremely sensitive to ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate if it's too high. That is how a lot of colonies crash. If they are going into an existing tank with fish or snails and those parameters are pretty intense, then I can see that being the cause.

Neos are also very sensitive to certain things we can't test for. Was the tank treated with meds in the past and there could be residue that contains a heavy metal? Maybe copper?

Is there hardscape that potentially has an issue, something like blasting sand or another component that may have metals in it causing some sort of sensitivity?

Lastly, how did they arrive to you? I assume something in the bag for them to attach to and then you had a generally good arrival?

I hope we can figure this out.

Edited June 2, 2023 by nabokovfan87
added more detail

[Trailblazur]

On 6/2/2023 at 1:42 AM, nabokovfan87 said:

How quickly did things go from the bag being open to the shrimp being in the tank?

Normally you'd want acclimation ok neo shrimp or caridina shrimp to drip for anywhere between 1-3 hours. I tend to go by the volume of water and diluting double the water volume 3-4x. // DID EXACTLY THIS 

Shrimp can be extremely sensitive to ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate if it's too high. That is how a lot of colonies crash. If they are going into an existing tank with fish or snails and those parameters are pretty intense, then I can see that being the cause. // THERES JUST A FEW CHILI RASBORAS AND PYGMY CORIES. 7.5ph, 3 GH/KH, 30 nitrate, 0 nitrite/ammonia 

Neos are also very sensitive to certain things we can't test for. Was the tank treated with meds in the past and there could be residue that contains a heavy metal? Maybe copper? // no meds. Treated w No Planaria a couple of months ago. But that has be water changed out by now. 

Is there hardscape that potentially has an issue, something like blasting sand or another component that may have metals in it causing some sort of sensitivity? // The San is Imagitarium from Petco 

Lastly, how did they arrive to you? I assume something in the bag for them to attach to and then you had a generally good arrival? // yes, small breather bag with little foam piece 

THX… I added responses to the quote above. 

On 6/2/2023 at 1:42 AM, nabokovfan87 said:

I hope we can figure this out.

 

[Odd Duck]

No Planaria can be quite persistent.  That could be the source of the problem.  Have you run carbon or Purigen post treatment along with at least 10 or so large water changes?  If not, I would do more big water changes using fresh activated charcoal after each water change, then consider trying again with shrimp.  Do you have snails doing well in the tank since your No Planaria treatment?  If snails aren’t surviving then the medication isn’t fully clear yet.  Snails appear more sensitive to it than shrimp.

[Trailblazur]

On 6/2/2023 at 12:05 PM, Odd Duck said:

No Planaria can be quite persistent.  That could be the source of the problem.  Have you run carbon or Purigen post treatment along with at least 10 or so large water changes?  If not, I would do more big water changes using fresh activated charcoal after each water change, then consider trying again with shrimp.  Do you have snails doing well in the tank since your No Planaria treatment?  If snails aren’t surviving then the medication isn’t fully clear yet.  Snails appear more sensitive to it than shrimp.

Thanks!!! I’ve done lots of large water changes. 
 

No purigen are carbon though. I will go ahead and do that today. 
 

I don’t have any snails unfortunately:/

[Odd Duck]

Small “pest” snails can be a good test for if No Planaria or dewormers are sufficiently cleared from the system.  You could get a few small ramshorns and see if they survive for at least a week.  If they do, return them to the pet store or give to a friend, OR keep them as part if a balanced system since they help with cleanup as long as you don’t get crazy overfeeding and make the population boom.  I have at least a few in nearly every tank - yes, on purpose.

[BuzzDaddy21]

On 6/1/2023 at 10:41 PM, Trailblazur said:

Has anyone ordered shrimp from Aquahuna?

I have several times, Amano's only and had only one problem (Large Amano's didn't make the trip.) and Aqua Huna replaced with 10 smaller Amano's and still have them today. (Stick with the smaller Amano`s.)

I don`t mess around and waste hours trying to acclimate any type of shrimp or fish, once the water is almost the same temperature, I just put them in.

Of course, I set up my tanks a lot different than most and don`t have many problems.

Aqua Huna stands behind their guarantee.

 

[Trailblazur]

Oh yeah, Aqua Huna has been great

[Torrey]

@Trailblazur I've only lost one shipment of shrimp since I changed my acclimation system.

1. I dose my Q/T with PraziPro as directed for shrimp, the moment the shrimp arrive

2. I pour the shrimp into the acclimation container

3. I add one drop Prime to 5 ml Q/T tank water, and pour in acclimation container with shrimp

4. I add an air stone on low

5. I set up the drip acclimation with water from Q/T (my drip acclimation quadruples the water volume over the course of 3 hours, hence air stone and plants)

6. I add some floating plants (toss them at the end of acclimation)

 7. I observe closely 

The single shipment I lost were not from Aquahuna. The shrimp displayed unusual behavior (way too calm after air stone was added, that normally perks them up as the Prime addresses ammonia build up and the O2 immediately offsets any oxygen deprivation).

My water actually tested identical to the water the breeder had, and I asked permission to look at the shrimp under a microscope. The shrimp came to me already sick (I've not gotten severely infected shrimp from Aquahuna, ever) and at least one had traveled with a planaria under the carapace.

Since no healthy, self-respecting shrimp is going to allow a planaria under it's carapace, the shrimp *had* to have already been ill at the breeder's, ill enough for planaria to hitch a ride (explains the overly calm behavior of all the shrimp, planaria emit a paralytic in their slime trail) and the PraziPro was the final stress to their system.

Breeder thanked me for the video of the shrimp, and gave me a complete refund, even though they died after I opened the bag (live arrival guarantees don't cover animals that die in QT generally)

Once they get a little more experience under their belt, I will try them again, because of the customer service from a new person and their willingness to learn.☺️

Hope this helps you enjoy better success with future shipments!

[nabokovfan87]

On 6/2/2023 at 8:55 AM, Trailblazur said:

THX… I added responses to the quote above. 

Programmer talk. fun fun,  OK so... on the AH directions it's vague the way you mentioned it, but I just wanted to confirm and clarify. 

"Then they advise to put them into a container w the water and add 50% off that amount of water from the aquarium for 20 minutes and then do that once more. "

^^ When you say add 50% of the water, the key with neos is to do so relatively slowly over a long period of time.  Add 1 spoon of water, wait 5 minutes, add another, etc.  Do that until the water has doubled in size, drain as much of the water you can out, then repeat that process again. (you can do this as many times as you feel necessary)

When you FIRST get the bag open, it is preferable to add 1-2 drops of dechlorinator.  an airstone is also a great thing to add.  That being said, doing the airline tube drip method makes it a bit easier, but adding the dechlor and airstone can help your chances here.

You mentioned pygmy corydoras in the tank. That might be a bit of excitement for overstressed shrimp.  I am not saying it's a cause or any issue.  I am mentioning it for the sake of keeping an eye on the way the pygmy's interact with the shrimp.  Especially when it comes to food and so forth.

ALRIGHT..... so the shrimp arrive, good condition and everything seems fine.  As long as the steps are done (basically that MST video above) then I cannot see any reason for issues with acclimation. 

7.5ph, 3 GH/KH, 30 nitrate, 0 nitrite/ammonia 

This is very likely your issue.
GH is too low.
KH is slightly low, but fine.
Nitrate is generally high for Neo shrimp. If you see nitrates in the tank then we'd want to get that down, especially to start with.  Again, showing any ammonia, nitrite, nitrate is going to be a bit of an issue for some sources of Neo shrimp.  Personally I would try to keep it below 20 ppm for them.  If your nitrates are at say 5-10 and you're dosing in fertilizers, perfectly normal range of nitrate.  If your nitrates are 30 ppm from the fish, you're dosing in ferts as well, I can foresee them having a bit of extra stress from acclimation.

Getting your water better suited for the Neos is going to really help.

You can use a shrimp buffer.  I use equilibrium for mine.  Just find something you want to use and get the GH in particular up. 7-8 is a good range to be at.

For Neo Shrimp:

Quote

RECOMMENDED TANK PARAMETERS:

• Temperature: 64° - 78° F (17.8° - 25.5° C)
• pH: 6.8 - 7.5
• dGH: 6 - 15
• dKH: 0 - 10 
• TDS: 180 - 400

 

Edited June 3, 2023 by nabokovfan87