Am I worrying about my shrimp to much?

Recently I bought 8 cherry shrimp and put them in my 20 gallon that I've been cycling with nerite snails for a little bit over a month and now that I have said cherry shrimp in there I'm worrying about every little thing from a shrimp not moving as much as the others to whether or not their light is causing them to freeze up. I'm decently sure they're fine but I keep doubting myself as time goes on. So I just want to know the following, How do shrimp usually act, why is it that during the mornings a few of my shrimp just sit there and not graze, and how do I know if my shrimp are happy in their tank or not?

 

The water parameters from the tank still cycling probably has a lot to do wit their behavior. It’s usually better to put them in an established tank that been running for 3-4 months or more after the cycle is stable. Just my .02

 

As kallililly1973 said, it would have been better to wait another couple months before adding the shrimp, but that doesn't necessarily mean there's a problem. Some moving more than others probably isn't anything to worry about. Just staying in one place isn't necessarily a problem.

. . . and how do I know if my shrimp are happy in their tank or not?

If they don't start dying, and in a month or so you see berried females, they're probably happy.

 

As kallililly1973 said, it would have been better to wait another couple months before adding the shrimp, but that doesn't necessarily mean there's a problem. Some moving more than others probably isn't anything to worry about. Just staying in one place isn't necessarily a problem.



If they don't start dying, and in a month or so you see berried females, they're probably happy.

Ok I knew that it was recommended to cycle your tank for around 3-4 months but I figured that since a lot of the stratum had been cycled in my old tank for around 6 months I though it would have been fine. Also a quick side note I have noticed that one of shrimp has molted so that's a plus.

 

Hi. I've had my shrimp since Sept last year. One thing I notice is mine aren't early risers..LOL Their light goes on at 8am, I'll see them sitting there for a good hour and then start swimming around. Unless its on food days I feed mine every 3 days, so when I add some food they swarm like its going out of style. And once they start breeding, and have lots of them you will start to settle down and relax. Started with about 6 shrimp and now have over 40 of them. One male the other 5 were females soooo loads of shrimplets.

 

If there's lots of plants and hiding places then they should be fine

 

I feel for you and your worries. I'm new to shrimp and snail keeping and at first I was agonizing over everything in the tank from parameters, to molts, to feeding schedules. I found the more minimally you make changes in the tank the better shrimp fair. They tend to stress molt if you do abrupt water changes temperature or PH wise. They love crab cuisine, blanched zucchini, and having a Wondershell to munch on. Having Java Moss is very helpful for a hiding space and for microflora for shrimplets to eat. My light has a sunrise and sunset mode, I strongly recommend Hygger lights. I believe the more natural the tank is the happier the inhabitants are, but that's just me.
Best of luck to you and happy shrimping!

 

Ok I knew that it was recommended to cycle your tank for around 3-4 months but I figured that since a lot of the stratum had been cycled in my old tank for around 6 months I though it would have been fine. Also a quick side note I have noticed that one of shrimp has molted so that's a plus.

The logic behind letting the tank age for shrimp is because they sustain primarily off of algae and biofilm that becomes established during that time

 

Animals only give birth if they know that the fry will have a good chance of survival and if the conditions are not bad so if you see shrimplets then you know your shrimp are happy.