Is my tank not suitable for shrimp? Two deaths

I recently bought 5 neocaridina cherry shrimp- my first shrimp ever- locally to try before buying nicer shrimp online. I’ve had issues with fish from my LFS on occasion but it’s the only place that has shrimp.I’ve been keeping fish and snails for years with limited issues and I recently decided I wanted to try shrimp. I was always hesitant because my water is extremely hard (270 ppm gh) but I decided to try. I bought 5 cherry shrimp, drip acclimated them for an hour, and added them to the tank. The tank has been set up for 4 months and has a good layer of biofilm over everything. Overnight I had one death, then nothing for a day, then another death today. The shrimp looked fine to me- colored normally didn’t look to be molting. The shrimp are always happy looking on the plants not farting around or swimming to the surface or anything. Is it my water hardness?


Tank
What is the water volume of the tank? 10 gallons
How long has the tank been running? 4-5 months
Does it have a filter? HOB shrimp filter w my own media
Does it have a heater? Yes
What is the water temperature? 75F
What is the entire stocking of this tank? (Please list all fish and inverts.)
3 cherry shrimp
Rabbit snails - 2 juvenile, 1 baby, 1 adult
6 mini Asian stone catfish (currently 0.5 inch)
Maintenance
How often do you change the water? Weekly
How much of the water do you change? 10%
What do you use to treat your water? I use API conditioner and I treat the water with tetra easy balance to raise my kH- I know it’s controversial but I’ve used this buffer forever and have never had issues
Do you vacuum the substrate or just the water? No just water change

*Parameters - Very Important
Did you cycle your tank before adding fish? Yes
What do you use to test the water? API master
What are your parameters? We need to know the exact numbers, not just “fine” or “safe”.
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 5
pH: 6.8
GH: 270 ppm
KH: 70 ppm

Feeding
How often do you feed your fish? Daily with sinking bug bite pellets, algae pellets, and seaweed occasionally, have shrimp Bacter AE on the way as well
How much do you feed your fish?
What brand of food do you feed your fish?
Do you feed frozen?
Do you feed freeze-dried foods?

Illness & Symptoms
See above
How long have you had this fish?
How long ago did you first notice these symptoms?
In a few words, can you explain the symptoms?
Have you started any treatment for the illness?
Was your fish physically ill or injured upon purchase?
How has its behavior and appearance changed, if at all?

 

Hello,

I wish I had a definitive answer for you, but I don't think the hardness is the issue. Mine is about the same, and neos thrive in my water (though at 8.2 my pH is quite a bit higher). Your pH is probably on the low end of what they're comfortable with, but I don't know that it's a problem either.

Some deaths are common when introducing shrimp to a new tank. It may just be that they're struggling with adapting to your water. If you can get some of them to last long enough to produce young the next generation should be much hardier.

 

Hello,

I wish I had a definitive answer for you, but I don't think the hardness is the issue. Mine is about the same, and neos thrive in my water (though at 8.2 my pH is quite a bit higher). Your pH is probably on the low end of what they're comfortable with, but I don't know that it's a problem either.

Some deaths are common when introducing shrimp to a new tank. It may just be that they're struggling with adapting to your water. If you can get some of them to last long enough to produce young the next generation should be much hardier.

Ok thank you! I’m hoping the rest survive I’m really enjoying them. Fingers crossed. I want to keep trying even if they all pass (I really hope they don’t) but wasn’t sure if my water was just not good for them. Originally I was going to use RO and remineralize so thats still an option but I’ll have to try that in a shrimp only tank next

 

I recently bought 5 neocaridina cherry shrimp- my first shrimp ever- locally to try before buying nicer shrimp online. I’ve had issues with fish from my LFS on occasion but it’s the only place that has shrimp.I’ve been keeping fish and snails for years with limited issues and I recently decided I wanted to try shrimp. I was always hesitant because my water is extremely hard (270 ppm gh) but I decided to try. I bought 5 cherry shrimp, drip acclimated them for an hour, and added them to the tank. The tank has been set up for 4 months and has a good layer of biofilm over everything. Overnight I had one death, then nothing for a day, then another death today. The shrimp looked fine to me- colored normally didn’t look to be molting. The shrimp are always happy looking on the plants not farting around or swimming to the surface or anything. Is it my water hardness?


Tank
What is the water volume of the tank? 10 gallons
How long has the tank been running? 4-5 months
Does it have a filter? HOB shrimp filter w my own media
Does it have a heater? Yes
What is the water temperature? 75F
What is the entire stocking of this tank? (Please list all fish and inverts.)
3 cherry shrimp
Rabbit snails - 2 juvenile, 1 baby, 1 adult
6 mini Asian stone catfish (currently 0.5 inch)
Maintenance
How often do you change the water? Weekly
How much of the water do you change? 10%
What do you use to treat your water? I use API conditioner and I treat the water with tetra easy balance to raise my kH- I know it’s controversial but I’ve used this buffer forever and have never had issues
Do you vacuum the substrate or just the water? No just water change

*Parameters - Very Important
Did you cycle your tank before adding fish? Yes
What do you use to test the water? API master
What are your parameters? We need to know the exact numbers, not just “fine” or “safe”.
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 5
pH: 6.8
GH: 270 ppm
KH: 70 ppm

Feeding
How often do you feed your fish? Daily with sinking bug bite pellets, algae pellets, and seaweed occasionally, have shrimp Bacter AE on the way as well
How much do you feed your fish?
What brand of food do you feed your fish?
Do you feed frozen?
Do you feed freeze-dried foods?

Illness & Symptoms
See above
How long have you had this fish?
How long ago did you first notice these symptoms?
In a few words, can you explain the symptoms?
Have you started any treatment for the illness?
Was your fish physically ill or injured upon purchase?
How has its behavior and appearance changed, if at all?View attachment 876066View attachment 876067

I recently bought 5 neocaridina cherry shrimp- my first shrimp ever- locally to try before buying nicer shrimp online. I’ve had issues with fish from my LFS on occasion but it’s the only place that has shrimp.I’ve been keeping fish and snails for years with limited issues and I recently decided I wanted to try shrimp. I was always hesitant because my water is extremely hard (270 ppm gh) but I decided to try. I bought 5 cherry shrimp, drip acclimated them for an hour, and added them to the tank. The tank has been set up for 4 months and has a good layer of biofilm over everything. Overnight I had one death, then nothing for a day, then another death today. The shrimp looked fine to me- colored normally didn’t look to be molting. The shrimp are always happy looking on the plants not farting around or swimming to the surface or anything. Is it my water hardness?


Tank
What is the water volume of the tank? 10 gallons
How long has the tank been running? 4-5 months
Does it have a filter? HOB shrimp filter w my own media
Does it have a heater? Yes
What is the water temperature? 75F
What is the entire stocking of this tank? (Please list all fish and inverts.)
3 cherry shrimp
Rabbit snails - 2 juvenile, 1 baby, 1 adult
6 mini Asian stone catfish (currently 0.5 inch)
Maintenance
How often do you change the water? Weekly
How much of the water do you change? 10%
What do you use to treat your water? I use API conditioner and I treat the water with tetra easy balance to raise my kH- I know it’s controversial but I’ve used this buffer forever and have never had issues
Do you vacuum the substrate or just the water? No just water change

*Parameters - Very Important
Did you cycle your tank before adding fish? Yes
What do you use to test the water? API master
What are your parameters? We need to know the exact numbers, not just “fine” or “safe”.
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 5
pH: 6.8
GH: 270 ppm
KH: 70 ppm

Feeding
How often do you feed your fish? Daily with sinking bug bite pellets, algae pellets, and seaweed occasionally, have shrimp Bacter AE on the way as well
How much do you feed your fish?
What brand of food do you feed your fish?
Do you feed frozen?
Do you feed freeze-dried foods?

Illness & Symptoms
See above
How long have you had this fish?
How long ago did you first notice these symptoms?
In a few words, can you explain the symptoms?
Have you started any treatment for the illness?
Was your fish physically ill or injured upon purchase?
How has its behavior and appearance changed, if at all?View attachment 876066View attachment 876067

Some shrimp can sometimes die from not being use to the water they are acclimated into, My water parameters are 7.2 ph and a tds over 400+. When I got my neocardina shrimp I had about 18 and lost about 8 with acclimation over a course of a week. After that, the 10 that were alive started breeding in my water and acclimated to it well. When your shrimps breed, the new generation will be able to tolerate the water you have. A good tip is, once the shrimp are in, don't change anything. I haven't touched my shrimp tank ever since I put them in and they been breeding like crazy.

 

Some shrimp can sometimes die from not being use to the water they are acclimated into, My water parameters are 7.2 ph and a tds over 400+. When I got my neocardina shrimp I had about 18 and lost about 8 with acclimation over a course of a week. After that, the 10 that were alive started breeding in my water and acclimated to it well. When your shrimps breed, the new generation will be able to tolerate the water you have. A good tip is, once the shrimp are in, don't change anything. I haven't touched my shrimp tank ever since I put them in and they been breeding like crazy.

Ok good to know! I was just getting worried. Hopefully the ones in there live and breed fingers crossed