RoyaleButterfly Posted June 2, 2023 Share Posted June 2, 2023 I’ve had my shrimp in this big tank for almost a week. Today is the first morning I woke up with no deaths and I found molts that looked healthy. Yesterday I changed the food I was feeding and added 2 new ACO filters. The water is looking better and my shrimp seem to be happier. My Mystery snail was very active and today he’s just been resting. My shrimp absolutely love the Xtreme shrimpee pellets they even threw some bladder snails off the pellets. I have seen 3 baby blue shrimps and saw tiny molt float by this morning when I was doing my checks. 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guppysnail Posted June 3, 2023 Share Posted June 3, 2023 I’m glad they are settling in. Mystery snails are very active then stop for naps after they get full bellies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoyaleButterfly Posted June 3, 2023 Author Share Posted June 3, 2023 Thanks @Guppysnail he’s been all over the tank today! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoyaleButterfly Posted June 3, 2023 Author Share Posted June 3, 2023 Day 2 of no Shrimp deaths! The Bamboo shrimp was out all night helping eat the food in their dish. This morning it was gone. I got to propagate my plants today and replant the trimmings I can’t wait to have a forest in the left corner. My Java Ferns are growing but I’m not sure how to propagate them so research must be done. The water is so clear today I can see everything and was able to do some turkey baster clean up. I just have to add a cup of water back into the tank and it should be good to go. I’m so excited I’m hoping my shrimp will get pregnant soon. After all the deaths I only have blue and red now. I know if they mix they will turn brown ish eventually and I’m okay with this for now. Because I love shrimp for being Shrimp the colors are just a bonus to me. I do have plants to eventually set up a 2nd tank but right now it will have to wait. The attached photo is from today. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoyaleButterfly Posted June 10, 2023 Author Share Posted June 10, 2023 Update! It has been about a week or so and no more shrimp deaths. I have one shrimp that had a bad molt and I thought he was gonna die but he did not. However, he seems to be broken/disabled now but he is fighting for life and has been figuring out how to eat. his legs don't look normal and his nose is straight down. I honestly have no idea how he survived. He went from laying on his side to now he figured out how to stand up and swim and eat. I feel bad for him but the colony checks on him every morning and sometimes in the evening then they leave him alone. No one is bullying him or anything. Has anyone ever dealt with something like this? Will post a picture of him in a few minutes. I added Catappa leaves last night and the shrimp love them! I have counted approx 20 adult shrimp not counting my single bamboo shrimp. They love to eat and have been really enjoying everything I have in their tank. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nabokovfan87 Posted June 11, 2023 Share Posted June 11, 2023 On 6/10/2023 at 9:15 AM, RoyaleButterfly said: Has anyone ever dealt with something like this? Maybe it was stuck trying to molt? I haven't dealt with that particular issue in my tank. I have simply lost shrimp due to not being able to molt properly. 😞 . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoyaleButterfly Posted June 12, 2023 Author Share Posted June 12, 2023 Yeah, I think he got stuck trying to molt then he somehow survived it. He has figured out how to eat and keep himself upright now. Update: I added Catappa leaves and tested the water today. The PH is 6.4 and the KH is 0. The GH is between 150 and 300 hardness 0 nitrites, 50 nitrates (dosing easy green), and chlorine 0. I have an API master freshwater kit on the way. should be here this week. I ordered 3 lbs of crushed coral based on ACO instructions. I am unsure how to add this to the tank. @nabokovfan87 any ideas on the best way to add crushed coral and whether will it help stabilize the ph and kh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nabokovfan87 Posted June 12, 2023 Share Posted June 12, 2023 On 6/12/2023 at 11:51 AM, RoyaleButterfly said: The PH is 6.4 and the KH is 0 Yeah, that acidic of water shouldn't be a major issue (some people keep caridina with the neocaridina shrimp in that situation). If you can, I would recommend the liquid test kits, as I personally had a very difficult time reading the strip test results. On 6/12/2023 at 11:51 AM, RoyaleButterfly said: The PH is 6.4 and the KH is 0. The GH is between 150 and 300 hardness 0 nitrites, 50 nitrates (dosing easy green), and chlorine 0. Kh at about 60-80 ppm is ideal I think to keep the water stable enough. Hopefully we can get it there for you and the little shrimp! I use a few methods to add CC to a tank and some were more successful than others. One common method is something called a "shrimp filter" that you can make from an old plastic container and add to the tank. I'll grab a video and link that below. Instead of soil, you would add some crushed coral to that container over time and that would slowly boost up the KH for you. As always, go slow! @Chick-In-Of-TheSea has a friend who added a monumentally small amount of coral to the tank and ran into a few issues as a result. Even just doing a little handful a week might be a great way to start buffering the KH up. Personally, I opt to run tests in a 5G bucket. Take a cup of crushed coral and add it to the bottom of a bucket with an airstone and a lid. That gives you a testing method and after 7-21 days you'll have a general idea of how fast that impacts your water parameters. That being said, you can then take that same water from the bucket and slowly drip it back into your tank while you work on figuring out what your CC setup will be. Other methods include: A. Add it to your substrate B. Add it to a HoB or polishing filter in a media bag C. Add it to the top of a sponge filter in a media bag (rest the bag on top around the uplift tube). D. Shrimp filters: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chick-In-Of-TheSea Posted June 12, 2023 Share Posted June 12, 2023 On 6/12/2023 at 3:13 PM, nabokovfan87 said: @Chick-In-Of-TheSea has a friend who added a monumentally small amount of coral to the tank and ran into a few issues as a result. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nabokovfan87 Posted June 12, 2023 Share Posted June 12, 2023 Thank you! @Chick-In-Of-TheSea 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoyaleButterfly Posted June 22, 2023 Author Share Posted June 22, 2023 @nabokovfan87 I finally got my GH and KH tests as well as a Master freshwater test kit. I have started journaling the water parameters. The GH is 18 and the KH is 2. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nabokovfan87 Posted June 22, 2023 Share Posted June 22, 2023 Sweet! Good to hear. A GH that high definitely explains some molting issues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoyaleButterfly Posted July 26, 2023 Author Share Posted July 26, 2023 Okay, I did my monthly water parameters check. The results are as follows KH 2 GH 25 PH 7.0 Ammonia .50 ppm Nitrite 0 ppm Nitrate 0 ppm I am putting 3 pumps of easy green in my tank once a day, I added more live plants and started feeding Repashy as well as the Xtreme shrimp pellets. They absolutely love the pellets. I see them eat the Repashy on and off all day. I will add a current picture of the tank in the next post. 🙂 No shrimp (Except Disabled Carl) has passed away, no molting issues, and no breeding. Any ideas on how to help them thrive more? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoyaleButterfly Posted July 26, 2023 Author Share Posted July 26, 2023 Yes it looks green because of all the red root floaters 🫠 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nabokovfan87 Posted July 26, 2023 Share Posted July 26, 2023 On 7/26/2023 at 5:30 AM, RoyaleButterfly said: I will add a current picture of the tank in the next post. 🙂 No shrimp (Except Disabled Carl) has passed away, no molting issues, and no breeding. Any ideas on how to help them thrive more? There's a lot to unpack... 25 GH is about double the value that you want it to be. Your last test was 18, now you're up to 25. This is concerning because the trend is going to get worse and it's already going to present issues for the shrimp. What is the GH of your water change water? Let's start there before we get into more complex solutions. On 7/26/2023 at 6:20 AM, RoyaleButterfly said: Yes it looks green because of all the red root floaters 🫠 Out of curiosity, what is the substrate here? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoyaleButterfly Posted July 26, 2023 Author Share Posted July 26, 2023 On 7/26/2023 at 12:41 PM, nabokovfan87 said: What is the GH of your water change water? The water I use for water change is 6 GH. I did a 10% water change this morning after I took the readings because of the ammonia and now the GH of the tank is 17. On 7/26/2023 at 12:41 PM, nabokovfan87 said: Out of curiosity, what is the substrate here? I used Sand and the little tiny chunks you can see are from 1lb of crushed coral that I put in 2 months-ish ago ~ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nabokovfan87 Posted July 26, 2023 Share Posted July 26, 2023 On 7/26/2023 at 11:25 AM, RoyaleButterfly said: I used Sand and the little tiny chunks you can see are from 1lb of crushed coral that I put in 2 months-ish ago ~ Ove time, you'll want to try to get another LB of crushed coral in there. The recommendation is typically 1 lb per 10 Gallons. Given the situation, it's important to see it go up just a little bit. Like everything, it's just something to keep an eye on. On 7/26/2023 at 11:25 AM, RoyaleButterfly said: The water I use for water change is 6 GH. I did a 10% water change this morning after I took the readings because of the ammonia and now the GH of the tank is 17. Try to keep your water changes at about 30% every 2 weeks for shrimp. Too often and it causes issues with the shells and if you're not changing enough volume then it would lead to the GH being a bit high. Ultimately it's all about consistency and the way a lot of people handle that word for shrimp is to simply ignore the tank and not clean it. It's not something I personally recommend due to how that affects your water parameters. The idea here, for this situation, is to try to get your GH below 15. I would give the tank about 3-5 days without any changes, proceed with a normal water change, and then give the tank that 2 weeks window to see what it does. That will give us a great idea of how the KH is behaving and plan accordingly as well as your GH. Thankfully, your tap water is pretty great for Neos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoyaleButterfly Posted August 8, 2023 Author Share Posted August 8, 2023 okay, I waited a few days then did a 30% water change and the GH is 17 after 24 hours of being in the tank. My biggest concern is my water is evaporating pretty fast. I have seen in youtube videos that if your water evaporates and you just add water that it makes the GH high as well. If I don't do another water change in like 2 weeks the water will be crazy and it will have evaporated probably 30% on its own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoyaleButterfly Posted August 8, 2023 Author Share Posted August 8, 2023 I just found a dead shrimp and funky worm crawled out of it I presume this is Planaria? it had the head of what they look like online. I am going to buy some no-planaria as soon as my LFS opens. I also have found some Scuds in my tank I have been manually removing them is there another way to get rid of them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nabokovfan87 Posted August 9, 2023 Share Posted August 9, 2023 On 8/8/2023 at 7:38 AM, RoyaleButterfly said: I just found a dead shrimp and funky worm crawled out of it I presume this is Planaria? it had the head of what they look like online. I am going to buy some no-planaria as soon as my LFS opens. I also have found some Scuds in my tank I have been manually removing them is there another way to get rid of them? It could be 1 of 3-4 different things, including planaria.https://aquariumbreeder.com/understanding-dwarf-shrimp-diseases-and-parasites/ On 8/8/2023 at 6:01 AM, RoyaleButterfly said: okay, I waited a few days then did a 30% water change and the GH is 17 after 24 hours of being in the tank. My biggest concern is my water is evaporating pretty fast. I have seen in youtube videos that if your water evaporates and you just add water that it makes the GH high as well. If I don't do another water change in like 2 weeks the water will be crazy and it will have evaporated probably 30% on its own. If you top off with RO / Distilled water you would minimize the impact of evaporation. If you do a water change with a large enough (and often enough) that also keeps the tank closer to your tap water conditions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoyaleButterfly Posted August 10, 2023 Author Share Posted August 10, 2023 okay is 30% big enough? Would I need to do it 2 or 3 three times a week? I was doing 10% a day to maintain. I have been thinking about getting Distilled or the water softener pillow. no more dead shrimp and I have tried to get that Planaria (confirmed it) I can't seem to suck it up out of the tank and I don't wanna break it. No Planaria will be in this weekend Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nabokovfan87 Posted August 10, 2023 Share Posted August 10, 2023 On 8/10/2023 at 2:08 PM, RoyaleButterfly said: okay is 30% big enough? Would I need to do it 2 or 3 three times a week? I was doing 10% a day to maintain. This video dives into the issue a bit more, especially the 2nd half of the video. Essentially, 30% water change every 2 weeks is the norm and should be pretty sufficient. Water changes more often than that would cause a bit too much stress. On 8/10/2023 at 2:08 PM, RoyaleButterfly said: I have tried to get that Planaria (confirmed it) I can't seem to suck it up out of the tank Yeah, you're likely going to have to have a planaria trap or just wait for the meds to immobilize them. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoyaleButterfly Posted August 11, 2023 Author Share Posted August 11, 2023 I am concerned about my Mystery Snail. From what I have read all medicine that kills planaria will kill my Mystery Snail. It sounds like the best-case scenario is to rehome my snail. How would I know if I set up the planaria trap that it would get any attacking my Mystery snail? Any ideas? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex S. Posted August 11, 2023 Share Posted August 11, 2023 (edited) On 6/2/2023 at 3:31 PM, RoyaleButterfly said: I’ve had my shrimp in this big tank for almost a week. Today is the first morning I woke up with no deaths and I found molts that looked healthy. Yesterday I changed the food I was feeding and added 2 new ACO filters. The water is looking better and my shrimp seem to be happier. My Mystery snail was very active and today he’s just been resting. My shrimp absolutely love the Xtreme shrimpee pellets they even threw some bladder snails off the pellets. I have seen 3 baby blue shrimps and saw tiny molt float by this morning when I was doing my checks. What species of plants are those that have the pink stems and the pink leaves? I love the color it adds to the tank! Edited August 11, 2023 by Alex S. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoyaleButterfly Posted August 11, 2023 Author Share Posted August 11, 2023 On 8/11/2023 at 3:11 PM, Alex S. said: What species of plants are those that have the pink stems and the pink leaves? I love the color it adds to the tank! The ones that are skinny and long are Rotala Magenta and the other ones that are shorter with bigger leaves are Alternanthera Rosanervig. Current update picture. This is how much water has evaporated from my tank since I did the 30% water change last weekend. I’m starting to see a lot more scuds they have no issues reproducing. Still no berried shrimps 🥲. I’ll do another 30% change next weekend. And clean some of the algae off the front glass. I also have a water softener pillow coming in and I’m going to add more crushed coral then it should just be maintenance from there 🫠 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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