ShrimpP Posted July 8, 2015 Report Share Posted July 8, 2015 Going to be getting some Caridina and Neocaridina shrimp soon and have been doing quite a bit of research on them, but still wanted to ask for any pro tips from experienced shrimp keepers (whether in breeding or just care to have them in optimal health through molts) and/or any mistakes you have learned from the hard way so that I can avoid those mistakes. Not looking for basic care specs, but info/tips that aren't usually found on a care spec sheet. Specific shrimp I plan on getting are: Neocaridina: Neon Yellow/Golden back,......Caridina: Blue Bolts or OEBT Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OMG Aquatics Posted July 8, 2015 Report Share Posted July 8, 2015 The biggest mistake most people make would be impatient. There is no fast way out of this for new starters. When I first started, many have said cycle a good 30 days but I just rushed it and didn't wait at all. Who wants to wait 30 days right? Another mistake would be water parameters. I just checked pH, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. I wasn't aware that GH and KH were very important as well. Soothing Shrimp and Lyana 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RyeGuy411 Posted July 8, 2015 Report Share Posted July 8, 2015 The biggest mistake I made when starting out was overfeeding. That is the number one reason for shrimp deaths. Unless you have a large colony 50+ shrimp they do not need to be fed more than once or maybe twice a week. Always include leaf litter and adding Bacter AE once a week helps to keep biofilm available. eozen81, adrand, Faralon and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soothing Shrimp Posted July 8, 2015 Report Share Posted July 8, 2015 Acclimation Not knowing water params Unseeded filters Using tap water from my area And making spinach the diet for my yellows which turned them funky colors. All this caused my first 9 tanks to die years ago. I just didn't have basic knowledge. Now the worst mistake for someone new is not being on a shrimp forum. True, it's a hands on learning curve, but with so many people to turn to for help in pm or posts, the various opinions, experience and knowledge is fantastic! Lyana, eozen81, adrand and 2 others 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greenteam Posted July 8, 2015 Report Share Posted July 8, 2015 My big mistake was constantly trying to get the "perfect" parameters. I would try to constantly adjust the water thinking I was helping, but in the end most things died. Now I just keep it super simple. I setup the tank properly from the start (active substrate & RO water) do a full cycle ~30 days after that I just top-off with pure RO and do a WC once a month. Lyana, chemd36 and mayphly 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lyana Posted July 8, 2015 Report Share Posted July 8, 2015 I did pretty much all the above. My biggest problem turned out to be my tap water. My neos wouldn't breed in it so I killed some off trying to mess with the water. It was much easier once I switched. Recently lost some moving to new tank without letting cycle first, and lost a couple cards to the heat wave, temp got to 79 in tank because I have them in my basement and thought it was cool enough so wasn't paying attention. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DETAquarium Posted July 8, 2015 Report Share Posted July 8, 2015 The very first time I started keeping shrimp: I only used tap water with prime. Use RODI water from the beginning, it is a night and day difference. This helps keeping and breeding shrimp so much easier. When I started into the Caridina species: When I had say a shrimp die within the aquarium I would go overboard on trying to find a problem when at most times there wasn't. I am not saying don't test parameters if a shrimp dies, but if one shrimp dies every couple months, its ok, shrimp age, shrimp get sick, and shrimp do die eventually. As noted already the best pointer(s) that anyone can give is Research and be Patient. Lyana, Faralon and Shrimpie 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaykidding Posted July 8, 2015 Report Share Posted July 8, 2015 What is unseeded filter and how often do you guys do water changes because i do mine 1 every week. When Green Team said he does a water change once every month that shocked me. So, how often do you guys do water changes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RyeGuy411 Posted July 8, 2015 Report Share Posted July 8, 2015 I do water changes about every 3-4 weeks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChadO Posted July 8, 2015 Report Share Posted July 8, 2015 An unseeded filter would be a brand new one that you just took out of the box, and has no bio life on it. For sponge filters, folks often run the new sponge filter in a second tank that is fully cycled and mature. The new sponge while it is running in the cycled tank will begin to build bio life on it, and become "seeded". After a period of time (maybe a week or two? This can be open for debate, and I imagine has a number of variables) you move the new filter from the cycled tank, and into the new tank you are setting up. Now, the filter has been seeded, has a good bio colony growing on it, and will aid the cycling process of the new tank - i.e. reducing the time it should take to fully cycle the new tank. Definitely a good practice to follow if you are doing sponge filters, and if you are doing canisters, you could still do it as well, though you are having to deal with extra flow in that case. As for water change frequency, that will vary, and I think what is most important there is what fits your schedule. Consistency can be huge in this hobby, so if you have the time to change once a week, and build your water up the same way - follow a good process - then that should be fine. If your schedule fits 2x a month or once a month, and you are still consistent, that is going to be fine as well. I had an 8 gallon that I started with in my office at work, and I changed water 2x a week. The crystals bred like mad for me. I don't see a "right" answer on frequency, as long as you can keep to the schedule and keep your water consistent when you do the changes, I don't think frequency is the crucial factor. Going one week one time, three weeks the next time, etc, that's when you invite trouble. Shrimpie 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soothing Shrimp Posted July 8, 2015 Report Share Posted July 8, 2015 Water changes can be great or a downfall. Stability is key. So if your water change has the exact same params, you can change it often. I change about between 2 weeks and a month, because every time there is a wc, something seen or unseen may be changed some. Shrimpie 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShrimpP Posted July 9, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 9, 2015 Great info everyone! Soothing Shrimp, first time hearing about the spinach changing coloration, makes sense, will keep that in mind. DETAquarium mentioned having issues with using tap water and prime, and needed to switch to RO/DI. Well for me keeping only Neos and Tigers, would tap water conditioned with prime/safe be okay? My tap water and tanks water parameters are always constant/stable. Not trying to say DETAquarium is wrong, but that's just probably what he finds works best for him. I do have a RO unit (I use as drinking water for humans, not aquariums so far) though if needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RyeGuy411 Posted July 9, 2015 Report Share Posted July 9, 2015 Great info everyone! Soothing Shrimp, first time hearing about the spinach changing coloration, makes sense, will keep that in mind. DETAquarium mentioned having issues with using tap water and prime, and needed to switch to RO/DI. Well for me keeping only Neos and Tigers, would tap water conditioned with prime/safe be okay? My tap water and tanks water parameters are always constant/stable. Not trying to say DETAquarium is wrong, but that's just probably what he finds works best for him. I do have a RO unit (I use as drinking water for humans, not aquariums so far) though if needed. Its not tap water in general, I have the same issue. My tap water tests fine, a little hard but fine for neos gh 8 kh 7 ph 7.8 TDS 200, I add prime and put it in the tank and shrimp die one by one. Switched to RO and remineralizer, no deaths. There can be things in tap water they do not show up on our test kits that are still toxic and prime wont neutralize. This is not the case for everyone but tap water is never completely stable and can change depending on many factors and the original source. To remove the possibility of something unknown in the tap water or the chance of the water changing many people find it easier to use remineralized RO. ChadO 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DETAquarium Posted July 9, 2015 Report Share Posted July 9, 2015 RyeGuy hit the nail on the head. When I used tap water in the beginning, I tested the parameters and similar to RyeGuy many of them were actually "Ok" for keeping Neos. As he eluded for some reason or another I would find my growing population dwindling in numbers over time. After switching to RODI water and remineralizing it, I had an immense increase in success. This coupled with "learning from my experiences" led me to enjoy this hobby even more. I am not saying keeping and breeding shrimp in tap water conditioned is impossible. As I am sure we have all done it both successful and not, but I find you will have fewer problems creating a water with parameters exactly to what your shrimp desire (or close to it). adrand and Soothing Shrimp 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soothing Shrimp Posted July 9, 2015 Report Share Posted July 9, 2015 Soothing Shrimp, first time hearing about the spinach changing coloration, makes sense, will keep that in mind. This led to my experiment with astaxanthin. Result was I now keep astax away from my neos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monty703 Posted July 12, 2015 Report Share Posted July 12, 2015 Start with something less demanding than high end shrimps! Get your feet wet with neos, maybe a few regular tigers (OEBTs are finicky at best and can die on you quickly, they are definitely NOT easy to keep) Ive kept them all, Neos, CRS, TBs, Tigers of all kinds, and Sulawesi. You need to learn how to keep the easy ones alive first before you jump into more costly ones....unless you have unlimited funds LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShrimpP Posted July 12, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 12, 2015 Soothing Shrimp, astax would be okay for increasing reds in red shrimp though right? Feeding spirulina powder cause shades of greening? RyeGuy and DETAquarium, ahh, I understand. If you didn't know, you could google your city water quality report and see what's in your water or give your local water district a call to ask. But I am not sure if everything is listed so it might not be entirely reliable. It's a good point about tap water possibly having harmful things added to it. I have kept Amano, ghost and bamboo/Singapore/flower shrimp and 4" crawfish/lobsters before and they all were fine. Crawfish bred a ton too. Not sure if it will be any different with the new shrimp I plan to keep (besides the more sensitive Caridinas) I will play it safe though, which is why I posted this thread to learn from others who went through the experience. I will try to start off slow with Neos and use RO water. Can't you use bottled drink water, or distilled instead so you don't have to add minerals with separate products? Not sure if that is wise (amount of minerals) or cost effective though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RyeGuy411 Posted July 13, 2015 Report Share Posted July 13, 2015 I forgot to tell you I am on well water, there is no water report unless I pay for one. And regardless I know something in the water is toxic to the shrimp so there is no point in having a full water test done. I have a very small tank on my desk at work and to make things simpler I use WalMart spring water for my RCS and they breed like crazy. Bottled water is fine just not cost effective on larger scales (my tank is 1.75g). And you can use distilled water but you have to remineralize just like RO it is to pure to use straight. A very important point about bottled water though, like I said I use WalMart water. The stuff labeled drinking water has a green label and top is RO filtered TDS of 4 so you cannot use it straight. If you wanted to use bottled for neos or tigers use spring water (WalMart jugs have blue label and top). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soothing Shrimp Posted July 13, 2015 Report Share Posted July 13, 2015 Soothing Shrimp, astax would be okay for increasing reds in red shrimp though right? Feeding spirulina powder cause shades of greening? Don't know about the spirulina. When I used it straight, my shrimp tended to dull, but don't know if that was coincidental, so don't feel confident enough to give you an answer there. Some people reported astax caused red on neos to slowly fade or turn brown with astax, but I did not test them on reds myself. It works very differently on neos than it does in crays/lobsters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesHe Posted July 13, 2015 Report Share Posted July 13, 2015 the common mistake is that keeping neos in acidic water. EricM 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
High5's Posted July 13, 2015 Report Share Posted July 13, 2015 My number 1 tip is don't over complicate things. Keep it simple. Soothing Shrimp and EricM 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shrimp Home Posted July 15, 2015 Report Share Posted July 15, 2015 I do water change at the weekend, for my 4 tanks. And just use tap water at my area. Still now everything is ok, shrimps are healthy and feed a lot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maylee Posted July 15, 2015 Report Share Posted July 15, 2015 well, here's one that I'm currently experiencing. Treat your plants before putting them in your tank or you could get unwanted pests moving in. Now I have to treat for hydra in a brand new cycled tank. Frustrating Amyers22 and Soothing Shrimp 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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