Shrimp not moving much?

[KalElx]

Hello again!

 

Eventually I will come on here and be a master of shrimp but until then, I still need help to get the perfect tank going for my little shrimpos and I appreciate any help I can get.

 

So....

 

I set up a 5 gallon tank about 2 - 3 months ago specially for shrimp. I cycled it without any livestock and made sure the water parameters were good for a while before I did. About a month ago I added 2 Amano Shrimp and 2 snails in the tank to get rid of algae (it worked amazing) and they were doing great. I checked the water parameters often for the first couple of days and everything was still stable.

 

Fast forward to a week ago. Finally picked the type of shrimp I want to keep, went out to the store and voila, 6 beautiful Green Jade Shrimp (   lol ). Tested the water a couple of hours after adding the shrimp and everything seemed fine again, I was on the right track! I added some Prime in the tank, just in case the tank would do a "mini-cycle". Almost 2 days later, I went back to the store to get another 6 Green Jade to complete the stock in my tank. I figured, let's test the water before dumping the new batch in (did 2 hour drip acclimate). 

 

Uh oh, oh no.... Ammonia is 0.6 and Nitrite is 0.3.... SHIT!!! After stressing out for a while for having batch number one in this water and unfortunately acclimating the new shrimp in that water too (stupid me), I decide that the best thing I could do is do a 40% water change and to add some more Prime. I also decide to empty some water from the shrimp bag I was acclimating and re-acclimated with the new water with the Prime added. I add the Green Jades in the tank 1 hour after that. I test the water a few hours later and everything was all back at zero (phew). The next day, I did about 30% - 40% water change once more and added Prime again, just in case.
 

Finally, the issue that is in my title. It is now day 2 that I am watching my once active Green Jades just sitting around not doing a whole lot. At this point maybe the damage is done because of the little traces of Ammonia and Nitrite. However, I'm thinking this isn't the case because I added Prime for the first batch before ever adding them in and it should have taken care of a low spike like that because it remains active for 24 - 48 hrs. I am now thinking that my little shrimpos are not too fond of Prime.... None of them are dying but I am very uneasy with them staying so still.

 

Any ideas? Thanks in advance as these are not cheap shrimp and although they are growing in popularity, they are still pretty rare.

 

I must mention that I did add some plants while the first batch was in there if that makes any difference. Also, one of my Amano shrimp seems to have developed a tick with it's back legs. Seems to be twitching them. Although, he is one of the shrimp still searching for food in the tank.

 

Hopefully you all have enough information. I am posting a picture of my tank just so it makes this a little more personal.

 

Thanks again. 

[ibebian]

They're probably in some amount of shock due to the constant changing. Keep dosing prime at the 5 gal dose. It will handle the NH3 and NO2, and check params daily. Don't go too nuts with the water changes because that will stress them out too.

The plants are good and will soak up the nitrogen.


In the future, best not to mix in LFS tank water, prob more of a gamble than necessary!