fishcrazy Posted April 16, 2014 Report Share Posted April 16, 2014 Well, I have decided to start a journal on my Sakura/Fire Red Tank. I have been learning as I go with this tank as this was my first shrimp tank. I got my shrimp 3/10/2014. I only knew a few things about shrimp parameters, (especially gh/kh). I didn't have a liquid test kit or anything. I was just using test strips. This is how the tank looked when I first got my shrimp. I had just a moss ball, slate, and some anacharis. Everything was great until week 2-3 and I started losing shrimp, about 1-2 a week. I ignored it at first thinking it was just because of shipping. Louie 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishcrazy Posted April 16, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 16, 2014 After about another week, I received a suggestion to test Gh and Kh. I got a GH of 2 and KH of 3. Most of the shrimp looked like they were dying due to molting issues. I thought that the driftwood was making the water too soft, but I didn't remove it right away. I also added some Peacock moss, but the tank looked cluttered. This is how the tank looked. Louie 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishcrazy Posted April 16, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 16, 2014 Since I thought it was a driftwood leaking issue, I started doing daily water changes of about ½ gallon. The water was brown, so I was going to do water changes until it cleared; however, this didn’t work some shrimp was still dying. I did begin to see molts, but some still had molting problems. The GH was still only 2. I hadn’t tested my tap yet. I now added a layer of sand and an Aponogeton Bulb that has budded in my 29 gallon. All this was about another week later. This how the tank now looked: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishcrazy Posted April 16, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 16, 2014 A few days later I had a Berried Female and a heavy saddle female. The heavy saddled female become berried, but dropped her eggs. She died like 2 days after. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishcrazy Posted April 16, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 16, 2014 After the female died (about a week or so later), I finally decided to remove the driftwood and continue doing daily ½ gallon water changes the water was still really brown at this point. It seemed like it was working until I lost another shrimp. I began researching GH booster, but couldn’t decide on which one to get. Although, the shrimp wasn’t doing good the plants and moss were. I also decided to put and breeding house in the driftwoods place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishcrazy Posted April 16, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 16, 2014 I killed the Moss Ball because I took it out of the water and forgot to put it back in for hours. When I put it back in it turned brown and began to smell, so I removed it. I now added a feeding dish. Everything was going great until I lost my berried female. That was really a bummer. I finally decided to get the GH booster and raise the GH to help the shrimp. The first time I raised it by +2, so I now had a GH of 4. I saw a few more molts. This is how the tank now looked last week: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishcrazy Posted April 16, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 16, 2014 Finally, for this week. I thought the tank still looked cluttered, so I moved the Anacharis to my 10 gallon. I have also added some small Amazon Sword plants that were runners from my main swords. For lighting all I am using is a cheap $1.47 plant bulb 15 watts. I also raised the GH +2 more to give me a GH of 6. I have seen even more molts so I am happy. Everybody seems happier in general. I also have some more heavy saddled females (around 2-3), so on their next molt they should be berried. I have not had any more deaths *knock on wood* since raising the GH. I used GreenLeaf Aquariums GH Booster. I also decided to add some mineral balls. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishcrazy Posted April 16, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 16, 2014 Okay, now that I am done with that I will just add some random pictures of these guys. Louie 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soothing Shrimp Posted April 16, 2014 Report Share Posted April 16, 2014 You did the right thang. Gh is good, and the shrimp look much better. Next thing to figure out for fun is TDS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishcrazy Posted April 16, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 16, 2014 Thanks. I am waiting on my TDS meter to come in the mail. I think they are doing a lot better I saw 3 additional molts this morning. In my Orange Sakura tank the GH was also only 2, but no death. I still raised the GH in there as of now it's +2. On the next water change I will raise it +2 again, so the GH can be 6. My other parameters in my red tank are: Ammonia-0, Nitrites-0, Nitrates-5, pH- 7.0-7.4, KH-3, GH-6 tds(waiting on my meter) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishcrazy Posted April 25, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 25, 2014 Quick Update- No deaths since I raised the GH. I think I have a berried female, but I can't get a good view of her. I am still waiting for my TDS Meter that I ordered a week+ ago. Here are some pictures of the tank and shrimp now. I think I am going to change the substrate. Seems like the sand gets stuck on their legs: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subtletanks91 Posted April 25, 2014 Report Share Posted April 25, 2014 How are they doing with those mineral balls and food? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishcrazy Posted April 25, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 25, 2014 Excellent. They love the food. My snails love it too, they eat what the shrimp doesn't finish. Maybe the food is helping them darken up. To me they have got darker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishcrazy Posted April 25, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 25, 2014 Finally I got my TDS meter. My TDS by adding GH Booster is 290. Out of Tap it is 90. Is 290 too high? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subtletanks91 Posted April 25, 2014 Report Share Posted April 25, 2014 I'm not sure. Butbim glad the food is being gobbled up. Do they seem to be picking at the balls as well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishcrazy Posted April 25, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 25, 2014 I see them on the balls, but not sure if they pick at them or not. I guess they do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soothing Shrimp Posted April 26, 2014 Report Share Posted April 26, 2014 Finally I got my TDS meter. My TDS by adding GH Booster is 290. Out of Tap it is 90. Is 290 too high? Depends you feelings on it. I used to keep mine at 300-400+. Lately I've dropped them to ~140-200. I've dropped the gh lower too, and that played a part in TDS as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishcrazy Posted May 3, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 3, 2014 For some reason I am feeling bummed about shrimp keeping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pika Posted May 4, 2014 Report Share Posted May 4, 2014 What do you mean "bummed"? Still having deaths? Anything we (mostly people with more experience than I ) can help with? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ctaylor3737 Posted May 17, 2014 Report Share Posted May 17, 2014 Should try RO with Salty Shrimp when I started had the same problem. Now about 2 years later don't even really touch my tanks. Water changes are a breeze and my,parameters are stable nothing to worry about. Don't give up when they take off they explode lol -Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc4PC2 Posted May 17, 2014 Report Share Posted May 17, 2014 They look awesome! It is tough to get things stable. I am still working on it, and now doing a new tank on top of it. I know what I want the water parameters to be, it's just trying to get them to be stable all of the time, and then not to panic when anything changes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishcrazy Posted May 23, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 23, 2014 Sorry guys that I haven't updated. I was bummed because I tried my hand at Tigers and they died the next night.These guys are doing great. I got more cherries to go with in this tank and the tank starting to starting to bloom. I haven't had any deaths since adding GH booster and everything seems stable. The tall plants are mystery bulbs from Walmart, and the smaller plants are Amazon Sword Plantlets. This is how the tank looks right now: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pika Posted May 24, 2014 Report Share Posted May 24, 2014 Welcome back! I want to get some sword-types for my tank, but I'm worried they'll get big too fast. I'll be interested to see how your planters grow! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishcrazy Posted May 25, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 25, 2014 The Swords are growing slow I am thinking because the Aponogeton bulbs roots are so large. Even though they are growing slow they still look healthy. They are growing more leaves before they are growing height. Now the Aponogeton Bulbs literally grows in like 2-3 weeks. My set-up is really simple. Two 15 watt plant bulbs. If you look the Java Moss is growing out of control. I have Peacock Moss on the other side that is starting to grow nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishcrazy Posted May 31, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 31, 2014 Here are some more shrimp pictures. I think I got a better picture of the tank. Not sure which shrimp dropped some shrimplets, but I see tons of baby shrimp. I am happy they are doing good. There are a bunch of mixed grades in the tank. I have no clue what to do with the big plants. Also the Java Moss has grown a ton. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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