Cherry Shrimp keep dying

[alexhk]

I have a 20 gallon planted tank with Eco Complete substrate since December. I added some zebra snails, 4 Amano shrimp and 10 cherry shrimp. But the cherry shrimp keep on dying. I did water change weekly but didn't work out well still. Then in March I got another 10 cherry shrimp, again, they were fine for a few weeks but then start dying and now only one left. But all Amano shrimp and snails are fine. So I don't know what went wrong. 

Also I have a small glass jar for 3 gallon without filter, I use Bio Stratum as substrate and some plants. I started with 10 yellow shrimp and they are all fine and breed.

So I wonder what went wrong with the 20 gallon. I tested the water, KH is very high for both tank for 300ppm, I am not sure if is because of the hardness cause I do see those dead cherry shrimp has "White Ring", so maybe is molting problem. But if I use the same water for both 20 gallon and the 3 gallon jar, then why the cherry shrimp are not doing good but the yellow shrimp are good. Now I am trying to mix with RO water and see how it goes.

It just with the same hardness of water, cherry shrimp are dying but yellow shrimp are good and breeding. Don't know why is that. I first thought about maybe is the substrate, but now is too late and too much work to change the substrate for the 20 gallon from Eco Complete to Bio Stratum. 

Edited May 27 by alexhk

[AllFishNoBrakes]

I agree that the difference could be the substrates. Also, maybe you were just doing too much to the 20. Have you tried cutting back on water changes? To maybe twice a month or even once per month? Is the tank well established with algae and biofilms for them to graze? 
 

What are the other parameters? Ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, gH, and pH could be super helpful. 
 

By what the internet says, I should probably be keeping caradina shrimp as my water is soft, lower pH, with little to no kH. That being said, my cherries and my blue diamonds thrive. So, parameters aren’t everything, but could be helpful for someone smarter than me to help identify what the issue is. 
 

My secret to shrimp is: Get them locally bred if possible. Shrimp raised in your water should thrive almost immediately. If they’re not bred in your water, but you can get the colony breeding, then those shrimp born in your water should do great. Once THOSE start breeding, those babies should be bulletproof. 
 

The other key is a well established tank, with algae and biofilms for them to graze on day in and day out. 

[alexhk]

On 5/27/2024 at 10:27 PM, AllFishNoBrakes said:

I agree that the difference could be the substrates. Also, maybe you were just doing too much to the 20. Have you tried cutting back on water changes? To maybe twice a month or even once per month? Is the tank well established with algae and biofilms for them to graze? 
 

What are the other parameters? Ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, gH, and pH could be super helpful. 
 

By what the internet says, I should probably be keeping caradina shrimp as my water is soft, lower pH, with little to no kH. That being said, my cherries and my blue diamonds thrive. So, parameters aren’t everything, but could be helpful for someone smarter than me to help identify what the issue is. 
 

My secret to shrimp is: Get them locally bred if possible. Shrimp raised in your water should thrive almost immediately. If they’re not bred in your water, but you can get the colony breeding, then those shrimp born in your water should do great. Once THOSE start breeding, those babies should be bulletproof. 
 

The other key is a well established tank, with algae and biofilms for them to graze on day in and day out. 

Thanks for your tips. I did water change 1-2 a month. Now I am doing weekly with RO water and trying to bring the GH down. The tank is already established well with plants, biofilm and algae. The 3 gallon jar has baby yellow shrimp so I guess even with hard water, they still doing ok.

How often do you feed your cherry shrimp and what do you feed them?

I prefer not to change the substrate totally...cause I heard some people doing well with Eco Complete for shrimp tank.

[AllFishNoBrakes]

For my shrimp only tank, I feed mine Xtreme Shrimpee every other day. I’ve tried some Shrimp King foods, other specialty foods, and blanched veggies. The Xtreme works for me. They also graze on the algae, biofilm, and any other morsels they find. 
 

I also have shrimp in community tanks, and I don’t feed the shrimp specifically. These tanks get fed daily, so they get whatever fish food bits, baby brine shrimp they might find, a taste of an bloodworm here and there, algae, and biofilms are in the tank. 
 

Both scenarios have worked out pretty well for me. 

Edited May 28 by AllFishNoBrakes

[Lennie]

I have  off parameters for the ideal neocaridina shrimp keeping. DKh is around 18, gh sits above 10 dGh .  The biggest help for molting issues was Montmorillonite Clay powder for me, not playing around the parameters. I saw it from Mark’s channel 

I use water softener even, and my tap reads 0gh due to that but above 300 tds. Then I even dose GH+ on that. So I have to check my tds if I dont forget but I believe it it very high

If it is shrimp only tank, I would try to lessen water changes and try keeping water parameters stable instead. Neocaridinas are very hardy normally. I am not sure amanos and neocaridinas are a good combo tho
 

 

Edited May 28 by Lennie