Help With Fertilizer and Shrimp/Mixed Tank

[pomlady7]

Hi I have a 50 gallon mixed tank with  9 Cherry Shrimp, 12 Neons, 2 Pencil Fish, 2 Green Fire Tetras, 4 Chilis, 6  Otos, 2 Hillstream Loaches, 3 Mystery and 2 Rabbit Snails.

I  was using Flourish months ago with Potassium and Iron but nothing was happening as far as plant growth went, my Nitrates refused to budge from around 0-10ppm.  So I purchased Easy Green, plus the test strips a little over a month ago.

Using Easy Green once a week my plants started growing well.  The only thing is that I did lose a couple of larger Shrimp and a couple of Mystery Snails the last couple of weeks.  My Nitrates were staying at 25ppm.  I tried just a water column cleaning without cleaning the substrate but that didn't help, it stayed at 25ppm.   I read on different websites from people who raised Neo Shrimp that my Nitrates should be below 20ppm and if I wanted for the shrimp to breed, then it has to be below 15ppm!  

When using Flourish I did notice I did have a couple of Baby Shrimp and also Flourish didn't grow plants very well and my Nitrates were pretty well at 0!

This weekend I did a water change and did vacuum the substrate and it is now down to below 25ppm on the Aquarium Co-Op Test Strips which is great but now I am worried about using the Easy Green if it bumps my Nitrates back up to 25ppm!  If that is indeed what is causing my shrimp not to breed and a couple of deaths!

I know I do overfeed a bit too as I have so many different species in my tank, one likes this kind of food, one likes the other, etc.  I only feed once a day.

I also have a Bladder and Ramshorn problem brought in by a plant. 

I did buy 3 Dwarf Pea Puffers that are in a 20 gallon planted tank right now, that I heard will eat the pest snails and hopefully leave everyone else alone.  Supposedly they do except for maybe the big Mystery Snails and I might have to move them out.  But supposedly they are fine with Neo Shrimp, but will eat baby shrimp if they see them.  Also although I have read they should be in a species tank a lot of people, also seen on you tubes, have them in a community tank and they are totally fine.  If not they will have to return to their own tank!

I have lots of plants, a large piece of wood through the middle of the tank and rocks; so hoping there will be peace lol.

So  not sure what to do about keeping the plants healthy and growing well and what fertilizer should I use?  Go back to Flourish with very low Nitrogen in it, along with Potassium and Iron (I have an Iron test kit), or try Easy Green again and see if it raises the Nitrates too much?

Any ideas and thank you for any replies.

Edited April 2 by pomlady7

[JettsPapa]

On 4/2/2024 at 11:18 AM, pomlady7 said:

. . .   I read on different websites from people who raised Neo Shrimp that my Nitrates should be below 20ppm and if I wanted for the shrimp to breed, then it has to be below 15ppm!  

Don't believe everything you read.  Using Easy Green according to the directions shouldn't be a problem, and I strongly suspect the shrimp and snail deaths weren't related to the fertilizer or the nitrate levels.

[johnnyxxl]

On 4/2/2024 at 12:18 PM, pomlady7 said:

Hi I have a 50 gallon mixed tank with  9 Cherry Shrimp, 12 Neons, 2 Pencil Fish, 2 Green Fire Tetras, 4 Chilis, 6  Otos, 2 Hillstream Loaches, 3 Mystery and 2 Rabbit Snails.

I  was using Flourish months ago with Potassium and Iron but nothing was happening as far as plant growth went, my Nitrates refused to budge from around 0-10ppm.  So I purchased Easy Green, plus the test strips a little over a month ago.

Using Easy Green once a week my plants started growing well.  The only thing is that I did lose a couple of larger Shrimp and a couple of Mystery Snails the last couple of weeks.  My Nitrates were staying at 25ppm.  I tried just a water column cleaning without cleaning the substrate but that didn't help, it stayed at 25ppm.   I read on different websites from people who raised Neo Shrimp that my Nitrates should be below 20ppm and if I wanted for the shrimp to breed, then it has to be below 15ppm!  

When using Flourish I did notice I did have a couple of Baby Shrimp and also Flourish didn't grow plants very well and my Nitrates were pretty well at 0!

This weekend I did a water change and did vacuum the substrate and it is now down to below 25ppm on the Aquarium Co-Op Test Strips which is great but now I am worried about using the Easy Green if it bumps my Nitrates back up to 25ppm!  If that is indeed what is causing my shrimp not to breed and a couple of deaths!

I know I do overfeed a bit too as I have so many different species in my tank, one likes this kind of food, one likes the other, etc.  I only feed once a day.

I also have a Bladder and Ramshorn problem brought in by a plant. 

I did buy 3 Dwarf Pea Puffers that are in a 20 gallon planted tank right now, that I heard will eat the pest snails and hopefully leave everyone else alone.  Supposedly they do except for maybe the big Mystery Snails and I might have to move them out.  But supposedly they are fine with Neo Shrimp, but will eat baby shrimp if they see them.  Also although I have read they should be in a species tank a lot of people, also seen on you tubes, have them in a community tank and they are totally fine.  If not they will have to return to their own tank!

I have lots of plants, a large piece of wood through the middle of the tank and rocks; so hoping there will be peace lol.

So  not sure what to do about keeping the plants healthy and growing well and what fertilizer should I use?  Go back to Flourish with very low Nitrogen in it, along with Potassium and Iron (I have an Iron test kit), or try Easy Green again and see if it raises the Nitrates too much?

Any ideas and thank you for any replies.

Nitrate is fine at 25ppm.  I can't get mine to go past that my plants keep using it up.

Most any fish will be like a kid and eat anything that fits in the mouth, what are pest snails?  Bladder snails are great they eat detritus and algae pond snails are the same.  The population is self regulated by food availability. 

The easy green is good for a base fertilizer I have that and also root tabs.  

The nitrate is fine again not sure what you are concerned with unless it is nitrite which easy green won't add

[pomlady7]

On 4/3/2024 at 8:42 AM, johnnyxxl said:

Nitrate is fine at 25ppm.  I can't get mine to go past that my plants keep using it up.

Most any fish will be like a kid and eat anything that fits in the mouth, what are pest snails?  Bladder snails are great they eat detritus and algae pond snails are the same.  The population is self regulated by food availability. 

The easy green is good for a base fertilizer I have that and also root tabs.  

The nitrate is fine again not sure what you are concerned with unless it is nitrite which easy green won't add

Hi yes I put in some root tabs too when I received my order.  No there are no nitrites or ammonia in my tank. 

I was just reading on many sites to keep the nitrates below 20ppm to get the shrimp to reproduce more and to keep baby shrimp alive it should be below 15ppm, so I am presuming that is the issue.   

Before using Easy Green when my nitrates were almost nil, I still had the same kind of fish and I did have a couple of baby shrimp, so I am figuring that since my nitrates went up, that could possibly be the problem.  Thank you both for your replies.  

[johnnyxxl]

I think calcium is one big factor for shrimp 🦐 reproduction 

[JettsPapa]

On 4/3/2024 at 11:19 AM, pomlady7 said:

. . . I was just reading on many sites to keep the nitrates below 20ppm to get the shrimp to reproduce more and to keep baby shrimp alive it should be below 15ppm, so I am presuming that is the issue.   

That is not the issue.  Baby shrimp will not die with nitrates at 15 ppm (or even considerably higher).

[pomlady7]

On 4/3/2024 at 10:36 AM, johnnyxxl said:

I think calcium is one big factor for shrimp 🦐 reproduction 

I put egg shell in there all the time.  I also had 2 cuttle bones in there but speaking to my pet shop, which is a very large outfit, the fellow told me I had too high a KH and the reason was the cuttle bones as they raised KH as well as GH.

On 4/3/2024 at 10:51 AM, JettsPapa said:

That is not the issue.  Baby shrimp will not die with nitrates at 15 ppm (or even considerably higher).

So much conflicting information out there.  I am not saying the baby shrimp are dying because of high nitrates in my aquarium, I just don't see any.  Like they are not breeding.  

[JettsPapa]

On 4/4/2024 at 11:19 AM, pomlady7 said:

So much conflicting information out there.  I am not saying the baby shrimp are dying because of high nitrates in my aquarium, I just don't see any.  Like they are not breeding.  

Are you sure you have both sexes?  The males are smaller, and usually have less color, so it's not difficult to buy all females.

[pomlady7]

On 4/4/2024 at 9:21 AM, JettsPapa said:

Are you sure you have both sexes?  The males are smaller, and usually have less color, so it's not difficult to buy all females.

To be honest I have no idea what they are, just know a few months ago I did have 2 baby red cherry shrimp so must have had a female and male at the time.  Here are 3 of my neo shrimp but no idea what they even are.  I have seen 3 blue shrimp, 3 orange shrimp and 2 small and 1 large red cherry shrimp but could be more.

[JettsPapa]

All those are females.

[pomlady7]

On 4/5/2024 at 5:28 AM, JettsPapa said:

All those are females.

Oh wow, thank you,  good to know.  How can you tell?  I know some people said something about the back end looking thinner or something in the males?  Maybe because I have all females, if the rest are too, that is why I can't really tell one from the other?   

I saw 3 blues in my tank today (I had only seen 2 for a few weeks but the third is still there) and 3 yellows (all about the same size) but only 1 small red and the one that I posted the picture of, but  the other day I saw 2 small red ones. 

Now just hope for a male in the group and I am set to go lol.  If nothing comes of it in the coming month I might buy a few more and see what happens.    Appreciate you letting me know.

[doktor zhivago]

On 4/5/2024 at 9:52 PM, pomlady7 said:

Oh wow, thank you,  good to know.  How can you tell?  

Male shrimps are small and tend to be much less colorful. Mine are almost transparent. The females are largest and more colorful.

 Here's some of mine making babies in 20+ ppm nitrates

[pomlady7]

On 4/5/2024 at 7:11 PM, doktor zhivago said:

Male shrimps are small and tend to be much less colorful. Mine are almost transparent. The females are largest and more colorful.

 Here's some of mine making babies in 20+ ppm nitrates

Oh wow, they are different!  At least one of the red smaller ones has the look of a male, it has slight red lines through it, not all red.  I was thinking it was what they call a "cull" if I was raising them to sell.  Maybe it is a male.  Thank you so much for your picture.  Explains a lot!

[Myrium]

(Tried to just post the link, but was flagged as spam.)  This guide from the Shrimp Farm website is handy.

[pomlady7]

On 4/6/2024 at 3:44 PM, Myrium said:

(Tried to just post the link, but was flagged as spam.)  This guide from the Shrimp Farm website is handy.

Thank you very much.  I think I found one that is a male.  The others do look like all females, what I have found anyway.

He seems to swim around the tank a lot when he is on the move,  compared to the others too.

On 4/6/2024 at 3:44 PM, Myrium said:

(Tried to just post the link, but was flagged as spam.)  This guide from the Shrimp Farm website is handy.

Thank you very much.  I think I found one that is a male.  The others do look like all females, what I have found anyway.

He seems to swim around the tank a lot when he is on the move,  compared to the others too.

[JettsPapa]

On 4/7/2024 at 11:38 AM, pomlady7 said:

Thank you very much.  I think I found one that is a male.  The others do look like all females, what I have found anyway.

He seems to swim around the tank a lot when he is on the move,  compared to the others too.

Thank you very much.  I think I found one that is a male.  The others do look like all females, what I have found anyway.

He seems to swim around the tank a lot when he is on the move,  compared to the others too.

I think that's a female also, but I'm not 100% sure.  I know it can be difficult, but can you post a picture looking at the shrimp more from the side and less from the top?

[JoeQ]

Not to thread steal, but a question (I think) would be good for the thread. Isn't "shrimp safe" fertilizers more of a marketing gimmick than an important consideration when fertilizing shrimp tanks?

[pomlady7]

On 4/8/2024 at 5:46 AM, JettsPapa said:

I think that's a female also, but I'm not 100% sure.  I know it can be difficult, but can you post a picture looking at the shrimp more from the side and less from the top?

Oh geez I hope not.  I have another picture of the same one closer taken the same time.  There is also another similar skinny type red one, not as colorful but I did not get a picture of it as yet.  Will try today.  

[pomlady7]

On 4/8/2024 at 6:06 AM, JoeQ said:

Not to thread steal, but a question (I think) would be good for the thread. Isn't "shrimp safe" fertilizers more of a marketing gimmick than an important consideration when fertilizing shrimp tanks?

I just read that they have either no copper in them or very minimal for shrimp.  Easy Green is suppose to have none and Flourish has 0.001% in it.  I know both are safe.   

I was just trying to keep the nitrates down as I was advised to do on another thread.  I do have Nano fish in there too.  Easy Green has 2.66% nitrogen where as Flourish has 0.07% nitrogen.

The only thing I did not buy yet is a TDS meter and a lot of people have them, so thinking I should as it could be my mineral content in the tank, since all my testing seems fine.  I have soft 5ppm Spring Water coming from my tap and using Equilibrium to raise GH and some egg shells now.  I had 2 cuttle bones in the tank but speaking to the pet store I ordered my Easy Green from, he told me that cuttle bones also cause the KH to raise and he thought I should remove them, so I did.

[pomlady7]

Here is the other one I think is a male.  What do you think?

Also I just ordered a TDS meter today from Amazon, so hopefully see how much TDS I have when it arrives.

Thanks everyone again for all your help.

[JettsPapa]

On 4/8/2024 at 5:42 PM, pomlady7 said:

Here is the other one I think is a male.  What do you think?

Also I just ordered a TDS meter today from Amazon, so hopefully see how much TDS I have when it arrives.

Thanks everyone again for all your help.

I do believe that one is a male.

[Myrium]

On 4/3/2024 at 11:42 AM, johnnyxxl said:

Nitrate is fine at 25ppm.  I can't get mine to go past that my plants keep using it up.

I have the same "problem."  If your nitrates stay low all the time from greedy plants, how often do you do routine water changes?  This is assuming minimal evaporation losses due to glass lid, and no obvious emergency situations like an ammonia spike from a bacterial bloom or something.

[johnnyxxl]

On 4/8/2024 at 9:06 AM, JoeQ said:

Not to thread steal, but a question (I think) would be good for the thread. Isn't "shrimp safe" fertilizers more of a marketing gimmick than an important consideration when fertilizing shrimp tanks?

I would just always check the content of the fertilizer for copper content making sure it is zero or nearly zero as was also stated.