My first stressful 24 hrs of Cherry Shrimp keeping

[GlennO]

So the little shrimp tank I decided to set up was cycled so yesterday I head off to the LFS to get some Cherry Shrimp. I decided to get yellow ones and got 2 females and 3 males. $55 for 5 of them, yikes! Oh well, lets hope they survive and multiply! I get them home and in the tank and immediately they are zooming everywhere, stopping momentarily to feed on a shrimp pellet. Cool!

Then today I notice a dead one on the bottom. Dang. 4 left. A few hours later and I can only count 3. I shifted filters, rocks, plants but still can only find 3. I'm thinking they are probably all going to die soon. Then I notice 2 more shrimp clinging on to the silicone way up top in the back corner of the tank. Huh? So I still have 5? Turns out the 'dead' one was just a molted shell. It seems that I had a shrimp molt after less than a day in the tank.

So right now I'm feeling quite relieved. But hoping tomorrow is a little less stressful for this novice RCS keeper!

Btw they are quite sedate now compared to yesterday. Is it normal for them to be hyperactive when first introduced?

 

[richiep]

Did you drip acclimatise them

 

[Crimson_687]

What are your parameters and how did you acclimate? If they are sitting at the top or acting it irritated it could be something in the water they aren’t familiar with or is harmful to them. Could also be low oxygen

 

[GlennO]

Did you drip acclimatise them

Not quite. I used a syringe and added 15ml of tank water to the bag every 15 min for 2 hours.

What are your parameters and how did you acclimate? If they are sitting at the top or acting it irritated it could be something in the water they aren’t familiar with or is harmful to them. Could also be low oxygen

No ammonia or nitrite. Nitrate about 10-20. pH 7.6. I tested the pH of the LFS water at 7.3.
Have a sponge filter so oxygen should be fine.

 

[JettsPapa]

Yes, swimming around is fairly normal when first introduced.

Shrimp do better with an established tank so they have biofilm to feed on. It's usually recommended to let a tank "season" for at least 2 months, and 3 is better before adding shrimp. Did you maybe move some plants, decor, etc from an existing tank? If not, it would probably be a good idea since that stuff should have some biofilm on it.

 

[GlennO]

Yes, swimming around is fairly normal when first introduced.

Shrimp do better with an established tank so they have biofilm to feed on. It's usually recommended to let a tank "season" for at least 2 months, and 3 is better before adding shrimp. Did you maybe move some plants, decor, etc from an existing tank? If not, it would probably be a good idea since that stuff should have some biofilm on it.

Thanks for the idea. I expected to have to supplement their feed but I could probably take some algae covered rocks from my display tank. I also added a product called Shrimp Biofilm+.

 

[JettsPapa]

Thanks for the idea. I expected to have to supplement their feed but I could probably take some algae covered rocks from my display tank. I also added a product called Shrimp Biofilm+.

I'm not familiar with that product, but moving algae covered rocks to the shrimp tank would be a good thing.

 

[richiep]

At least you've given them a start by using a syringe maybe not ideal but you at least have a better start than no acclamation, the one that moulted was probably from shock but should now live, I hope the others are OK for you

 

[jmaldo]

Turns out the 'dead' one was just a molted shell. It seems that I had a shrimp molt after less than a day in the tank.

Same here when I started my 10g,
Agree. seasoned tank is best, but...
Yes, go ahead and add the rocks, other than that just leave it alone and monitor.

Hopefully you are past the initial acclimation and no more losses.

Good Luck!

 

[JettsPapa]

I just thought about something else. If you have some dry brown leaves that will break down fairly quickly, I'd add one or two of those also. Shrimp love to graze on decaying leaves.

 

[GlennO]

I'm not familiar with that product, but moving algae covered rocks to the shrimp tank would be a good thing.

The product could be snake oil for all I know, but I thought it might help.

I just thought about something else. If you have some dry brown leaves that will break down fairly quickly, I'd add one or two of those also. Shrimp love to graze on decaying leaves.

I’ll have some mulberry leaves in a couple of days.

 

[Flyfisha]

Fingers crossed for the little guys.
I just thought I would add something that may or may not explain the frenzied swimming on day one? But is something to remember if you see that behaviour again.
When a female molts she releases a hormone to say it’s time to mate. This makes the males swim around wildly looking for her.

I would add any old ornaments, wood or rock. The cherry shrimp can do a good job of cleaning plants that are able to be moved when you have a few dozen. Hopefully that’s soon.? The principle of maturing a tank is a sound one . I believe adding old objects and a dirty OLD sponge filter is good enough especially as you don’t have an army to feed.
Edit
I was able to find the address of a handful of places in my town that have mulberry trees growing on public land by researching school “silk worms“ caterpillars . They are feed on mulberry tree leaves.

 

[barbiespoodle]

Welcome to the fascinating and addicting world of shrimp keeping from one fairly new to it.

You do sound like you have taken time to research which puts you a step ahead of me when I first started. I saw them one day at the lfs and thought they were cute and from there I've had a mixture of plain dumb luck and research. But I also got so captivated that I have recently set up my 3rd shrimp tank.

So I'm going to open my big mouth and tell you my experience as I delved into this new world of keeping shrimp.

First, at first it was discouraging. I would eagerly check my tank everyday, several times a day and often wouldn't see the same number of shrimp I put in. And I did have deaths, maybe because they didn't make the adjustment or were on the older side when I bought them. Then suddenly out of the blue I catch a glimpse of a baby. I might not see another baby for days on end, but then I'll notice a sub adult, then another, then another, you got to remember the babies are pros at hiding. In time, the next thing I knew, I started seeing new shrimp and before I knew it, I had an active fascinating tank with a lot more shrimp than I originally put in.

In short, don't get discouraged, take it as it comes, and it will be so worth it in the end. Looking forward to future post from you as your shrimp journey progresses.

 

[richiep]

Mulberry leaves in my book are the best you can use just mak sure they are completely dry

 

[barbiespoodle]

Richie, I am so lucky in that I have my tiny little 4 acres and in that the birds through their droppings have seeded my little piece of heaven with lots of mulberry seed which have sprouted many mulberry trees. I not only have the pleasure of mulberries to eat and cook with, fresh mulberry berries are wonderful, but the shrimp love the young par boiled leaves and before the leaves start to color to fall for the winter, I'll collect them and dry them for winter use. Matter of fact, got to do that on my next day off, we are going to have an early winter here.

 

[GlennO]

Mulberry leaves in my book are the best you can use just mak sure they are completely dry

I’ve bought a packet of dried leaves, but I thought it was fine to add fresh green ones?

As an update so far so good, all still alive. Went back to the shop yesterday and got 2 more females, so now have 4F & 3M. Most of the time when I look at the tank it looks empty. They seem to come out of hiding more of an evening.

 

[richiep]

Thats great i love the fruit its delicious, the trees were brought to the uk by the Romans who used the leaves for medicinal purpose and I'm fortunate to have a tree to myself

 

[richiep]

I’ve bought a packet of dried leaves, but I thought it was fine to add fresh green ones?

As an update so far so good, all still alive. Went back to the shop yesterday and got 2 more females, so now have 4F & 3M. Most of the time when I look at the tank it looks empty. They seem to come out of hiding more of an evening.

They recommend to dry all leaves to take the sap out,

 

[GlennO]

I have a crabapple tree in my yard I think I can use those leaves too.

 

[richiep]

Heres a bunch you can use safely
Alder (leaves and cones)
Almond
Apple*
Apricot*
Ash
Banana*
Beech
Crabapple
Guava
Hibiscus
Indian Almond
Madrona
Maple
Mulberry
Oak
Peach*
Plum*
Poplar
Baby spinach
Stinging Nettles

 

[barbiespoodle]

Richie, when I do use fresh mulberry leaves, I only pick the young ones, my trees produce leaves all through the growing season, and then I par boil them, never put them straight into the tanks. I never heard of making sure to dry them because of the sap, but so far, so good, maybe because they are young leaves and par boiled takes care of the sap problem. The shrimp will have them down to skeletons the first day and the silver dollars, aka, my plant assassins, have them gone in minutes. Didn't know about the medicinal use, I just know the berries make fantastic cobbler or just a nice nibble as I tour my gardens. Plus the birds and squirrels love them. But I will admit that during the fruiting season I make sure my car is in the garage or else I'll have purple stains all over my car thanks to the birds.

Glenn, you have totally up your chances of babies by adding more shrimp. And you really do seem on top of things, at first I didn't even know male from female, you sure got me on that one. I am so loving hearing from a budding shrimpaholic, wasn't too long ago that I was one myself

 

[richiep]

I've got a patio mulberry tree and i use those leaves but they're not as good as the large ones and you're right they disappear in no time and my oak leaves are in for months, there is a leaf that people used for shrimp and the sap is toxic but when dried its safe and I can't remember which one it is and it's something like de-icer thats in the sap
I'll have to dig it out

 

[GlennO]

Glenn, you have totally up your chances of babies by adding more shrimp. And you really do seem on top of things, at first I didn't even know male from female, you sure got me on that one. I am so loving hearing from a budding shrimpaholic, wasn't too long ago that I was one myself

I was able to speed up the cycle a bit but even so I had time for some research. I'm still learning though. I didn't know about sexing to begin with and didn't even enquire about the sexes when I bought the first 5 but after getting them home the differences were pretty obvious. When I went back to the store I asked specifically for females.

How often and how much water do you change? I'm used to doing large weekly changes in my fish tanks but with so little waste in this shrimp tank I can't see that that would be necessary. Also I think they need more cover which might be why they hide a lot. I planted it with cuttings from another tank but they will take time to grow.

 

[JettsPapa]

Heres a bunch you can use safely
Alder (leaves and cones)
Almond
Apple*
Apricot*
Ash
Banana*
Beech
Crabapple
Guava
Hibiscus
Indian Almond
Madrona
Maple
Mulberry
Oak
Peach*
Plum*
Poplar
Baby spinach
Stinging Nettles

You can add magnolia to that list. I have some in all my shrimp tanks. They're large, thick leaves that break down quickly, and the shrimp love to graze on them.

 

[barbiespoodle]

Water changes in my tanks is kind of complicated because I have 4 tanks in various stages of establishment.

But I will focus on the 3 shrimp tanks.

First take into consideration the size and age of my tanks compared to yours. Age being a main factor.

My oldest shrimp tank is the red tank. It is a 20 gallon, been going long enough that the plants have quite a bit of growth so it's on the heavily planted side. It also has emersed houseplant roots as well as sponge filters going long enough to build up biofilm as well as me letting biofilm grow on 2 sides of the tank (I keep 2 sides of the tank clean for viewing). Add to that driftwood and rocks, also bio film collectors. That tank could go weeks without a water change if things get hectic for me, for instance, during one of my hospital stays. But I do a small water change, about 20%, even less, every week I'm home for the simple reason it makes me feel like a proper shrimp mama, lol.

The blue tank is about half as established as the red tank, again another 20 gallon. The plants have grown well and again I have emersed houseplant roots, driftwood and sponge filters. It hasn't had time to grow as much bio film as the red tank, but the shrimp still manage to find enough to feed on. That tank I do try to do every week and at least 20%. But it can go 2 weeks if need be.

The newest tank, a 10 gallon cull tank requires more water changes. The plants still need time to grow. I did use aged sponges in the filters, so there's that for the shrimp to feed on. It's in a darker corner so the emersed houseplant roots aren't as abundant and to top it off, I added white cloud mountain minnows to the tank. That one gets about a 40% water change every week. It's still new enough that I haven't had to test it with a hospital stay, but I think it could go 2 weeks if need be, it seems to be getting well established, I just feel it need more time before I test the let it go two weeks theory.

In short, how often a water change is done depends on your tank set up. Plants and emersed roots help in stabilizing a tank but weekly water changes are just plain good for your shrimp regardless of your water prams. Fresh water is like when you are able to open up a window and airing out your house. Plus in my case, it's therapy, never work.

To show off again, these are my shrimp tanks, the first pic is of the red tank, you can see how it's getting crowded with plants and roots, but I love the look and the shrimp seem to enjoy it. The second pic is of the blue tank, it's just starting to get plant crowded, I do need to trim that what ever it is stem plant again. And the third is the cull tank with the wcmm's. You can't see it, but there is actually quite a few shrimp.

 

[GlennO]

Thanks that’s good info. Your tanks look great, much better than mine. Might look better when the plants grow.

 

[barbiespoodle]

Your tank is lovely, I love the way the yellow shrimp show up against the black substrate. As nice as it is now, it's only going to get better as the plants grow and the shrimp reproduce. Oh yea, I also love that lower rock, I kind of have a thing for rocks, I'm forever picking them up on my walks, and that is a cool one.

Richie, I have added magnolia to my list, thanks for the info. Soon I'll be gathering leaves to dry for winter use and I do have a large magnolia. Plus their leaves are so big that I won't need many. I do still have some indian almond leaves, but why pay for leaves when I have so many in my gardens I can use?