d3r Posted January 18, 2015 Report Share Posted January 18, 2015 Im sure you get this topic all the time..but id appreciate it if you help out one more time! Ive been keeping fish for 4yrs now and have gotten it pretty well figured out. stumbled upon dwarfshrimp a while ago and did some research...every where I read said how easy,low maintenance and hardy cherry shrimp are. so I pulled the trigger...ordered 20 cherry shrimp. cleared a 55gal to house them in til I get a smaller permanent home for them. theyre dying off randomly now and I need to know what to adjust. I got them thursday. And by today (sunday) im down 6. And the remaining 14 are not moving. Its a 55gal tank which housed guppies (2 sponge filters that have been cycled for 2months) Temp is 76degrees. bare bottom but theres décor for them to climb on. I w/c 30% weekly using seachem prime (when it housed the guppies. Havent done a change yet since it's had the shrimp) Ammonia is 0ppm Nitrite is 0ppm Nitrate is 5ppm lights on 6-8hrs a day. Fed them Hikari algae wafers..they seemed to eat fine. Took the excess wafer out after an hr. im on my way to get a copper test kit sometime today as I read copper is a big killer. I admit I went In over my head too quickly..need some expert advice to bail me out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OMG Aquatics Posted January 18, 2015 Report Share Posted January 18, 2015 What is your PH, GH, TDS? Did you slowly acclimate them? I noticed that when people start off with fish, they just drop them in the tank or at least the people I know do that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d3r Posted January 18, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2015 I think my ph test is expired..ill pick up another one once I get the copper test. a sheet came with the shrimp explaining how to acclimate them. I use the airline drip method with fish.. but the sheet told me to put them in a bowl and every 5mins(for an hr) add 2tbsp of the tank water they were going in. thats what I did. they were very active on day one. Then did a complete 180. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OMG Aquatics Posted January 18, 2015 Report Share Posted January 18, 2015 Some fish food may container cooper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d3r Posted January 18, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2015 Hmm I looked at the wafer pack n didnt see copper. Also just looked at the food I was feeding the guppies and didnt see copper on it either. Im heading out to get the tests right now. Ill report back soon. thanks for the replies! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d3r Posted January 18, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2015 Hmm I looked at the wafer pack n didnt see copper. Also just looked at the food I was feeding the guppies and didnt see copper on it either. Im heading out to get the tests right now. Ill report back soon. thanks for the replies! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jadenlea Posted January 18, 2015 Report Share Posted January 18, 2015 I would also lower the water temp. Shrimp don't need it so high and why waste the electricity? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d3r Posted January 18, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2015 Ok so.. copper 0ppm ph - 7 Kh - using the api kit..needed 4 drops to change. So I calculate that to 71.6ppm? Gh - only slightly changed a yellowish green on 12 drops so I calculate that to be 214.8ppm? (Ive never done these kh and gh tests before so idk how accurate they are. Ive owned them for 2yrs..idk what their shelf life is) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OMG Aquatics Posted January 18, 2015 Report Share Posted January 18, 2015 Ask the person who sold you the shrimp, what there GH and TDS are. If there's a big difference between theirs and yours, chances are the shrimps are dying because they can't molt properly. Neos tend to molt within a few days once introduced to new water parameters. I keep mine at 3 KH 8 GH Grammaknits02 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d3r Posted January 18, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2015 it was an online retailer idk if ill get a swift response. I do see that one molted.. well I see what appears to be a "skin"..I assume that means one molted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d3r Posted January 18, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2015 How would I lower GH n KH if need be? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greenteam Posted January 18, 2015 Report Share Posted January 18, 2015 Use RO water to lower the GH & KH. The issue will be keeping it at the level you want if you use tap water since it will just creep backup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d3r Posted January 18, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2015 Are my parameters too bad? I emailed the retailer to see what his params are. so the deaths could be caused by our params being too different? Even though theyre both in the acceptable range? the shrimp wont eventually acclimate to my params? Or will they just keep dropping like flies. I dont really know what to do at this point. Hmmmm. I do have a 10gallon free. Should I scoop up the remaining shrimp and fill the 10gal with RO water? Will that help? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metageologist Posted January 18, 2015 Report Share Posted January 18, 2015 You can't just drop the shrimp into ro water you will need to remineralize it to the be sired peramiters Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d3r Posted January 18, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2015 What if I put 50% ro and 50% water theyre in now.. or 75 - 20 or 80-20 etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metageologist Posted January 18, 2015 Report Share Posted January 18, 2015 What if I put 50% ro and 50% water theyre in now.. or 75 - 20 or 80-20 etc.I would go 80 tap 20 ro to start. Then test the mixture and see what your results are before putting any shrimp it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d3r Posted January 18, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2015 alright. Ill do that.. set up the 10gal. Fill it 80% with their current water. 20% ro water. then test. then drip acclimate the remaining shrimp and hope it works out. What are the ideal params? I think mine within reason except for GH right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d3r Posted January 18, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2015 Or should I not take from the water theyre currently in and start from scratch..incase something is wonky in the 55gal water? 80% new clean tap water (treated with prime) and 20% ro water? sorry I ask too many questions haha im just lost. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grammaknits02 Posted January 19, 2015 Report Share Posted January 19, 2015 Definitely need to lower the temp...68-70 would be more appropriate for them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d3r Posted January 19, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 19, 2015 ^ right. The temp is 73 in the "new" tank. And slowly dropping. Ph is the same. kh is the same. Gh is questionable. .. Im fairly certain my GH test is no good.. its supposed to turn orange after the first drop..but it turns pale yellow. Then darkens as I add more. Doesnt turn green like its supposed to...put over 30 drops in just for laughs and stayed yellow. Anyway.. gonna drip acclimate the shrimp soon. Cross your fingers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OMG Aquatics Posted January 19, 2015 Report Share Posted January 19, 2015 ^ right. The temp is 73 in the "new" tank. And slowly dropping. Ph is the same. kh is the same. Gh is questionable. .. Im fairly certain my GH test is no good.. its supposed to turn orange after the first drop..but it turns pale yellow. Then darkens as I add more. Doesnt turn green like its supposed to...put over 30 drops in just for laughs and stayed yellow. Anyway.. gonna drip acclimate the shrimp soon. Cross your fingers! Are you shaking after every drop for GH? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d3r Posted January 19, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 19, 2015 Yep...capping and turning it over bout 5 times. Stayed yellow from 1 drop to 35drops haha n the test doesnt say anything about yellow.. too late to go out and get a new test too :/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d3r Posted January 19, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 19, 2015 Welp.. 13shrimp left out of an original 20. Set up the new tank with 20%ro water. And 80%tap water. Params are the same with potential lower GH. Temp is 70degrees. I let the shrimp acclimate extremely slow.. drip method for 2.5hrs going to bed now... cross your fingers theres no deaths in the morning! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soothing Shrimp Posted January 19, 2015 Report Share Posted January 19, 2015 Many of us had (and have) the occasional TOD- especially while learning shrimping. Have you considered using remin Ro? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d3r Posted January 19, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 19, 2015 ^Remin RO? So no new deaths since last night. They all seem to be atleast 75% better..moving. .swimming and not dying LOL not QUITE as active as when they first arrived. I also went out and bought new test kits. tested the 10gal. copper - 0ppm KH - 4 GH - 5 Temp- 69degrees Also tested the 55gal they were originally in: Copper - 0ppm KH - 4 GH - 8 Temp - 77 degrees so what do you guys think the issue was? The high GH? Or the high temp? Bare tank? I want to figure it out so I can plant the 55gal and put the skrimps back in eventually. Thanks so much for all the help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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