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Here we go again!


sdlTBfanUK

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Finally got a photo of how drab and uninspiring the tank looks, I did see 1 (must be bionic/super tough) red steel shrimp (full size) in there but there is a killi and 11 mosquito rasbora though you can't see them in the doom and gloom!

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I assume none of the Yellow King kong survived and so this will just be fish from here onwards? I plan to test the water within a few days but all the parameters are always comfortably within caridina parameters???

Simon

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I certainly wouldn't use it ever again, as the other tanks, and this tank previously, were so lush and full of life with the JBL substrate I used then! It is the only thing I did differently this time (that I know of) and the photos of the tank and shrimps previously speak for themselves???

On the other hand I am sure a product made by a speicalist shrimp product company in Gerrmany should be a good product and there must be people who have used it with success, so I am stumped and have to accept this just isn't going to work for 'some unknown reason' this time................ 

Simon

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  • 3 months later...

A few photos of the killie in this tank, he has 11 chilli rasbora keeping him company!

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I will probably redo this tank and try TB shrimp again when this and most of the rasbora have died off, and hopefull by then everything in the outside word has gotten back to more normal?

Simon

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Yes it is, I have had him nearly a year now. They seem almost exactly like betta, only one male, curious when anyone goes near the tank and enjoy the same foods etc! It is a shame that you can only keep 1 though as they are extremely pretty and interactive. I don't know whether he ate any shrimps ???

I took some (20ish) of the wild cherry shrimps from my old tank yesterday and put them in with the new betta to test whether he is a shrimp muncher? OMG, when I started digging around in the old tank there must be way over 100 of the wild type now, they are brown and clear so difficult to see..........

Simon

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13 hours ago, sdlTBfanUK said:

I don't know whether he ate any shrimps ???

Killis are known to eat shrimp. I wouldn't be surprised if it did eat some.

 

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  • 1 month later...

I saw 3 of the wild red cherry culls I dumped in the tank (All brown with a lighter brown stripe along the back) happily eating out in this tank this morning - difficult to see them! The water is totally wrong for cherry shrimp but they have been in there a month? The tank still looks grimey and boring though. PH6, tds 154, gh6-7, kh0.

It does beg the question though, why do these shrimp survive in this tank with the wrong parameters, but the caridina shrimp don't survive despite the parameters being ideal for them????? Oh well, I do have some shrimp in the tank for now I suppose.

Simon

Edited by sdlTBfanUK
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  • 1 month later...

I saw 4 brown shrimp with a cream stripe down their back this morning before the tank light went on, so obviously they like it in that tank. They are very difficult to see as the tank is very brown anyway but the shrimp (albeit they were red cherry culls) are quite attractive in their own way!

I managed to get 9L of the JBL substrate via ebay (so pounced immediately), what a lucky find (none anywhere else on the internet) so would be all set to start this tank again for the Taiwan Bee shrimps, but as the fish are doing well and postal services still a mess, that will not be soon?

Got air con unit this weekend for the room the tanks (and me usually) are in so thats another problem solved!

Simon

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Wow, you got AC for the room?!!

That's dedication. 

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I'll be honest it is mainly for my comfort, but the added bonus of coarse is that I won't need to worry about any of the tanks overheating (from ambient temperature), albeit thats a rare occurance over here!

Simon

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  • 5 months later...

I have ordered some bluebolt, black taiwan bee and black KK shrimp (5 of each) to see how this goes now, the parameters are perfect for Caridina shrimp and there have been wild type cherry shrimp living in that tank for about a year or more with no problems, so am going to give it another go! Decided to get a delivery done before winter sets in here, and also getting 20 bloody mary shrimp for the old tank so will try and fish out as many of  the wild types over the next few days to make room for the new red shrimps? I am getting this lot from ebay so will be interesting to see how that goes as it has been years since I used that for any shrimp?

I prefer red taiwan bee but will just see how these black ones go first, obviously red will be much more visible to the fish? I guess I can rule out poisoning or disease as a tank issue as there have been shrimp living in the tank for a long time now! It still doesn't look nice and green though with this different substrate, and the fish may be an issue - hopefully the shrimp that are sent will be big enough to reduce the risk of that, the listing states they will be 15mm?

Simon

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I am mainly buying the bloody mary shrimps, to top up red shrimp in that old tank but thought I may as well try some taiwan bee in the other tank as it must have been 2 years since I tried, and as I say, there have been wild type red cherry living in that tank! I am getting blacks mainly (and couldn't resist some blue bolt) as they won't be as visible to the fish as reds, but if it goes well I will get some red taiwan bee shrimp at some later date (probably next year though)!

I must have fished out about 50 wild type red cherry so far from the old tank to make room for the new ones in that tank! If the taiwan bee work out, then I will have those wild type cherry to remove from that tank as well, there aren't that many though, I don't even feed those shrimps in that tank!

I will post updates............

Simon

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Only day 2 but I have seen 6 of the new taiwan bee shrimp I got so that is looking hopeful, previously I saw no shrimp the next day after putting them in the tank so it is an improvement, but I am having to not get too excited and order more at this point??? All 15 may be alive but th tank is so densely planted I will never expect to see them all, and anyway they are new to the tank so would expect them to hide a lot more than when they are settled! Stunning shrimp though from an ebay sale, but too small and few to photo at this point, we will have to wait a while for those.

I assume from this that maybe they were poisoned by something in the tank before but after a few years of water changes/running that  is not now a problem??? Tank still isn't green and lush like the other tanks though so I definitely wouldn't use that substrate again!

Fingers crossed I am back with the Taiwan bee shrimp for good.......

Simon  

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23 hours ago, sdlTBfanUK said:

Fingers crossed I am back with the Taiwan bee shrimp for good

Fingers crossed here for you too.

So jealous that you can just buy off ebay. Not so simple to purchase new shrimp over here.

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Week one has passed and I have seen 5 of the 15 shrimps today, so I am very happy about that, they could have all survived but I will never know that as the tank is so dense with plants/wood etc (lesson for next time - less is more) and there are likely some hiding, but at least whatever the early problem was seems to have vanished/cleared as the shrimp previously put into the tank vanished by the next day of being added, and that was before I got the fish. I probably won't replace the fish though when they die if the shrimps carry on working as I am sure they would pick off any newborns if they see  them.

Whether I have the will power to hold off buying another load (the person I got them from have all the others I would like to get) remains to be seen? I should give it a bit longer, and it has turned quite wintery here all of a sudden! There is a quite small//bright red cherry (very pretty with the stripe) in that tank that has been there a while, so red taiwan bee may be safe with the fish as well???

Simon

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I have just ordered the red shrimps for delivery tomorrow, so I should be set then and can enjoy the tank through the winter and hopefully a growing colony. I saw 7 yesterday and so feel happy that whatever the problem was has sorted itself! Killiefish is no longer a threat as he died the other day, but he was nearly 2 years old so nothing suspect about that? I will start removing the wild type neocaridina when I see them to make room for the taiwan bee!

I have seen a very odd shrimp occasionally, it looks like a Calceo but I assume it isn't as there are only neocaridina in there. It is full grown size and has yellow eggs. It hides most of the time but I guess I will need to wait and see?

Simon

Edited by sdlTBfanUK
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I think I should start a new thread on this now as this is getting a bit long and it seems to be working now, and to keep it tidier and easy to find/follow! I will attach a link below once done!

Simon

https://skfaquatics.com/forum/forums/topic/15621-here-we-go-again-again/

 

Edited by sdlTBfanUK
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