some general questions.

[d3r]

I have 10gal tank with 6 low grade cherry shrimp (a feeling out process since my expensive high grade cherrys all died within a month )

In the fish hobby cleaning the tank is very important.

how do you "clean" a shrimp tank? Do you gravel vac? Or let the waste just build up.

also how often should I feed a small group of 6 shrimp? Ive been feeding small amounts of algae tabs once a week.

My parameters are all good.

ive Tried 100% tap. .tried 100% ro..tried 50/50..they still died..just trying to see what else it could be.

thanks.

[aquariumlover10]

Theirs probably copper in the wafers, mine had them, killed abunch of stuff, get some snowflake food, I use a medicine squirter thing with airline and a small net on with s rubberband to vacuum poop and leftover food.

[9thdragon]

if you ever need some mix grade of cherry shrimps let me know i can shimp to you.

i have alot of them berried and trying to get rid of them asap.

i will give you one berried too if you ever needed.

[d3r]

That sounds like a cool idea aquarium lover.. often do you go through suckn poop though?

N I looked at the back of the package n it didn't have any type of copper listed in the ingredients...I did order some shrimp specific food thats on its way though.

[Jadenlea]

So,  what is more important than getting poop or food out of your tank is to keep an eye on the nitrate level  (assuming you are cycled and dont have to worry about ammonia much)    The general consensus on shrimp keeping is "The less you disturb the tank the better"     If your nitrates are fine  then leave the tank be.  I understand how hard that can be. I come from the fish world first too and was used to doing large changes every sunday.   Also, I cant stand a cluttered or dirty looking tank.   My shrimp do alot better though when Im not poking around in there.  

 

If you do have to do a water change, a lot of people just use air tubing because it is small and you will be less likely to suck up shrimp.   I got the smallest  siphon  t tube from my LFS.  It works fine.  I rarely suck up a shrimp but I always check my bucket before dumping.    Shrimp have a very small bio load so if all you have in the tank are a few cherries, your water can probably go a very long time between any changes.  

[Jadenlea]

PS..  In what period of time did you change over from 100 percent tap,to RO to 50/50?   That would make large swings in parameters.  Shrimp don't like that

[Jadenlea]

Another question.   After your first batch died,  did you start over on the tank?  new substrate, plants, wood, filter media,  washed tank?   

[d3r]

Ok heres my shrimp timeline:

Mid January - 20high grade cherry shrimp arrived. I place them in my pre cycled bare 100%tap 55gal tank with 1.5hr acclimation process. They started dying off 2days after.

Params were well within recommended however temp was a little high at 76.

A week later, As suggested I set up a 10gal with 50%tap 50% RO and temp of 72. Params still within reason. (13shrimp remaining)

Started treating with paraguard aswell.

They continued to die off a few per week til mid February when I switched to 100% RO (as suggested). Deaths continued but slowed up to Mid March (as I thought the paraguard finally worked)

bought 6 low grade cherries from lfs on March 23rd for a feeling out process but a few days later my final 2 high grade shrimp died. I switched back to 100% tap after that and added 20ish plants.

so far *knock on wood* the 6 low grades are doing fine after almost 3weeks.. but I still dont know what killed the others so im a little paranoid.

Edit- heres a pic of what it looks like now.

[aquariumlover10]

Usually weekly

[metageologist]

Do you know what your waters pH, gh, kh are. When you say tap water are you on a well or municipal.

have a gneiss day

[d3r]

Thanks aquariumlover.

My current params are

GH - 10

KH - 7

PH - 7.5

Copper - 0ppm

Ammonia - 0ppm

Nitrite - 0ppm

Nitrate - 5ppm

Tds - 150

These params havent swayed much from 55gal to 10gal and through all the different water combinations. Theyve been quite stable and certainly within the "Cherry Shrimp Range"

Im on municipal source..but Ive kept fish that are very sensitive to water params for years with 0 issues.

[JamesHe]

I dont' believe you have GH=10 and TDS is only 150ppm.

 

To keep cherries are pretty simple.

1, pool sand as substrate and mix cup full of crashed coral. 1" is good enough.

2, Keep GH above 8, use GH test kit to verify.

3, weekly 25% water change, make sure new water has GH=8

4, HOB (AC50) and/or 4" cube sponge filter (from Angelfish plus or Swisstropicals)

5, 10 Gallon aquarium, 5 gallon would do but I suggest you to start from 10 gallon.

 

with this setup, pH would be around 7.5

[Roborep1]

I dont' believe you have GH=10 and TDS is only 150ppm.

To keep cherries are pretty simple.

1, pool sand as substrate and mix cup full of crashed coral. 1" is good enough.

2, Keep GH above 8, use GH test kit to verify.

3, weekly 25% water change, make sure new water has GH=8

4, HOB (AC50) and/or 4" cube sponge filter (from Angelfish plus or Swisstropicals)

5, 10 Gallon aquarium, 5 gallon would do but I suggest you to start from 10 gallon.

with this setup, pH would be around 7.5

Agreed James. It's impossible.

GH is calcium carbonate in water. Each degree is equal to 17.9ppm. API and similar measure dGh or degrees.

TDS is measure inorganics and calcium is one of those. A dGH of 10 = 179 ppm or 179 TDS.

It's possible to dump say salt in RO waterand have TDS 500 with a hardness of zero. But you cannot have 10 and have the TDS you measured.

Check your meter against a known source and calibrate. Also how old is your test kit and check that against a source as well.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[d3r]

Hmm interesting. My meter is probably off.. I dont remember if I correctly calibrated it or not when I first got it.

id say my tests are good. The box says exp 2017.