Can't Keep Shrimp Alive

To clarify for those asking...

1. Cherry shrimp need 5-10 GH, ideally. Higher is probably okay, lower causes molting issues.
2. KH (calcium carbonate) matters little, besides for buffering ph
3. Fluval stratum does lower ph to about 6.5 at most, but is weaker than other active substrates in terms of buffering and nutrient capacity
4. Active substrates strip KH, so do not add KH to a tank with buffered substrate, or you'll wear out the substrate quicker
5. Eco complete and flourite are not active, are neutral for ph and do not contain macronutrients for plants. They are not soil like active substrates are. They are far more porous than sand and gravel, therefore can house more bacteria.
6. Cuttlebone, egg shells, other animal products etc add KH
7. GH boosters like seachem equilibrium add GH
8. If you have really hard tap water, fluval stratum, being weaker than other active substrates, will be okay for cherry shrimp
9. Amano shrimp are peaceful and don't kill other shrimp. I've seen maybe one case of an amano killing a cherry, but nobody else has reported anything like it.

I personally don't have any issues keeping shrimp, I don't test my water, I do large water changes, I don't drip acclimate and technically do everything wrong according to most people, but I have no problem keeping them alive and healthy
One thing I did find though, was when a shrimp had a problem with a molt and had a 'split' section in it's shell I started added calcium (in my overhead filter), which seemed to help as I haven't had that problem since -I also often find the young ones in the filter snacking on the calcium, so while it isn't 'necessary' it does seem to help, especially if there's not a lot of calcium in their food source.
I've heard of other people saying their shrimp were dying from spits in their shells from lack of calcium, so just thought I'd mention it as it could be a factor.

 

Aquarius if your in the city your on the same water as me. My cherry shrimp are doing fine started with 7 about 6 months ago and I’ve got close to 200 now. Took about 2 months and the removal of a fish that came with the moss balls to get it going. Are there other fish in your tank? If looking for more shrimp I’ve got a lot to give away.

Dorothy I’ve got eco complete in my 90. Not happy with it waste of money. Debating taking it out. But I have added cherry shrimp about a month ago and there still doing good. Want to see if they will eat the algae associated with eco complete (green slime).
Op sorry don’t have an answer for you. I just got lucky here. I have no idea of gh or kh. Been feeding fish food and algae wafers. But since I have so many now I’m going to look into shrimp food.

Yes I'm in the city (North BX) so we should be on the same Croton Reservoir water system. I have everything from Amazon sword, to Anubias, to java fern and water Sprite in both my shrimp tanks. Both tanks are community tanks, shared with neon and ember tetras. I started with 6 in my 20 gallon. I noticed they were berried a few weeks ago. But I've lost about 2 or 3 in the last week. The one that died yesterday still has eggs under her belly so I didn't remove her from the tank, she is on the sponge filter and I'm hoping those babies will live?
Last week I went and bought another 6 RCS, 4 yellow, and 6 red and white shrimp for my other shrimp tank that has Amano and ghost shrimp. Just to see if I have better luck in that tank.
So yeah I'm guessing I may only have about 2 or 3 left in my 20 gallon and I'm really, really wanting to add more RCS to the 20 gallon, but it is getting expensive so if you have any I'd love to have them.

 

I know I'm super late to the party here, but to the OP I thought I should mention your gourami. Sparkling gourami are renowned for killing shrimp (especially after a molt) they hunt in packs to take them down and they will almost certain eat shrimplets. They probably won't get all the shrimp, but they aren't an ideal tank mate if you want to grow your shrimp colony.

 

Dorothy B. I second EcoComplete being terrible. It's basically a bunch of finely crushed lava rock. Plants do poorly in it in my experience. It is basically inert so unless you use root tabs and fertilize regularly it's not great. They put it in both of the freshwater 55 gallon tanks at work and I hate it. If it were up to me the bottom one (blackwater) would use plain sand and the top one (planted community) would have Fluval Stratum.

Have you considered a dirted tank? I have a glorious tank with little fuss. It's been established for 8 years and I've never fertilized. I can't say enough good about a dirted tank.

 

Yes I'm in the city (North BX) so we should be on the same Croton Reservoir water system. I have everything from Amazon sword, to Anubias, to java fern and water Sprite in both my shrimp tanks. Both tanks are community tanks, shared with neon and ember tetras. I started with 6 in my 20 gallon. I noticed they were berried a few weeks ago. But I've lost about 2 or 3 in the last week. The one that died yesterday still has eggs under her belly so I didn't remove her from the tank, she is on the sponge filter and I'm hoping those babies will live?
Last week I went and bought another 6 RCS, 4 yellow, and 6 red and white shrimp for my other shrimp tank that has Amano and ghost shrimp. Just to see if I have better luck in that tank.
So yeah I'm guessing I may only have about 2 or 3 left in my 20 gallon and I'm really, really wanting to add more RCS to the 20 gallon, but it is getting expensive so if you have any I'd love to have them.

New born shrimp may be eaten by fish?

I know I'm super late to the party here, but to the OP I thought I should mention your gourami. Sparkling gourami are renowned for killing shrimp (especially after a molt) they hunt in packs to take them down and they will almost certain eat shrimplets. They probably won't get all the shrimp, but they aren't an ideal tank mate if you want to grow your shrimp colony.

Wow how did I miss that? A gourami in a shrimp tank is a big no no.

 

Have you considered a dirted tank? I have a glorious tank with little fuss. It's been established for 8 years and I've never fertilized. I can't say enough good about a dirted tank.

I use aquasoil in all my tanks, though I had a dirted 3 gallon bowl for a while

 

Man which is correct? Lol

Lol, oops I did it again and corrected again, so sorry..
It is KH3 and GH 10-13

And yes I thought it might be the fish eating them but was told they were too fast and tiny to even see. And I have hiding places for them.

 

Lol, oops I did it again and corrected again, so sorry..
It is KH3 and GH 10-13

And yes I thought it might be the fish eating them but was told they were too fast and tiny to even see. And I have hiding places for them.

I hope there just hiding.

 

Lol, oops I did it again and corrected again, so sorry..
It is KH3 and GH 10-13

And yes I thought it might be the fish eating them but was told they were too fast and tiny to even see. And I have hiding places for them.

In my experience the shrimp will hide all day and only come out after hours so they can forage in peace. During the day the fish harass them to the point they can't come out in the open.

 

Lol, oops I did it again and corrected again, so sorry..
It is KH3 and GH 10-13

And yes I thought it might be the fish eating them but was told they were too fast and tiny to even see. And I have hiding places for them.

I think for the first months till you can see the babies the tank needs to be fish free. I think most fish will eat the shrimplets. Hey they all eat brine shrimp. I found once they get to about 1/2 inch most fish stop eating them. I’ve introduced them to both my other tanks and there living just not reproduceing.
Aquarius pm me for shrimp.

 

I know I'm super late to the party here, but to the OP I thought I should mention your gourami. Sparkling gourami are renowned for killing shrimp (especially after a molt) they hunt in packs to take them down and they will almost certain eat shrimplets. They probably won't get all the shrimp, but they aren't an ideal tank mate if you want to grow your shrimp colony.

Ah shoot. Perhaps I will separate them then. Would they not munch on the Shrimp if they were Killing them? I'm finding full bodies each time. I do have lots io moss and fun hiding spots and the gourami seem so shy. I will update tomorrow or next day once my gh/kh and tds stuff arrives

 

Copper sulfate kills shrimp, which is in most all fish food

 

I acclimated them over seveeal hours adding a small amount of tank water every 15 minutes. I'm wondering if I should get more next time and just hope a few hang on? I don't I feel bad because I am trying to care for them but I don't know if something I'm doing is causing this

Not sure if this was mentioned before, but what is your kH?

 

Copper sulfate kills shrimp, which is in most all fish food

Thanks I double checked I don't think my foods have it. I primarily feed new life spectrum and a weekly frozen treat. Hoping my test stuff comes today

 

Not sure if this was mentioned before, but what is your kH?

Yes OP has test kit on the way.

 

Yes OP has test kit on the way.

Don't know how to respond to everyone but my kh seems to be 4 and gh 7-8 I'm guessing I need to raise the kh.

 

Not necessarily. I'm thinking your gouramis had something to do with the deaths. 4 is borderline in my opinion. You can try to buffer it a bit, but it may not help.

 

Not necessarily. I'm thinking your gouramis had something to do with the deaths. 4 is borderline in my opinion. You can try to buffer it a bit, but it may not help.

Ok so I don't need to add coral or bone? Even just the two sparkling could take them down and still not try to eat them? So sad I saw them all bumping together and swimming about but I'm totally at a loss as to what else could have done it unless they were just all Ill to begin with :/ the only thing I'm waiting on is my tds meter. Everything else seems good.

 

Ok so I don't need to add coral or bone? Even just the two sparkling could take them down and still not try to eat them? So sad I saw them all bumping together and swimming about but I'm totally at a loss as to what else could have done it unless they were just all Ill to begin with :/ the only thing I'm waiting on is my tds meter. Everything else seems good.

The shrimp will need a calcium source. Bone works. Shrimp are sensitive. Ghost shrimp are sometimes sold as feeders. Those are weaker stock.

 

Some calcium comes from diet too, not just the water.
Note that shrimp exoskeletons are made of chitin, a complex sugar. Not calcium. There is a calcium deposited on the outside. The general consensus is GH affects shrimp more than KH does.

 

Some calcium comes from diet too, not just the water.
Note that shrimp exoskeletons are made of chitin, a complex sugar. Not calcium. There is a calcium deposited on the outside. The general consensus is GH affects shrimp more than KH does.

Ok thank you!

 

The shrimp will need a calcium source. Bone works. Shrimp are sensitive. Ghost shrimp are sometimes sold as feeders. Those are weaker stock.

I add a little API Calcium (liquid) to my shrimp and snail tanks regularly. The first time I used it I noticed an improvement in both their behavior and appearance.
Any pros and cons to using this product??

 

I add a little API Calcium (liquid) to my shrimp and snail tanks regularly. The first time I used it I noticed an improvement in both their behavior and appearance.
Any pros and cons to using this product??

I don't know. I always used a small piece of bone. 1 pro would be you don't see the bone, it can be an eye sore.

 

You can also make your own calcium blocks from calcium carbonate powder (mix into a thick paste with a little water, bake in paper patty pans in the oven at about 100 -150C for about 3 hours and then break into whatever size you like). They do crumble a bit once put in water but you can put behind a rock or somewhere out of sight (I just put a small piece in my overhead filters and often find baby shrimp in there snacking on it, but it will slowly dissolve in the water over time).

 

Well the good news is that my single remaining shrimp seems content so far. Either he is good at hiding from the gourami or he is the culprit. I ordered him some calcium so hopefully he will be very happy soon.