Help - Novice Shrimpkeeper

[Angela]

Hi there,

About 6 weeks ago I set up a Biorb 8L tank with artificial decor, put in a pre-sponge filter to make my filter shrimp safe and did my best to cycle it (made some rookie mistakes with that). The tank is not heated. Ammonia, nitrites and nitrates all read 0. All other levels are reading in safe ranges but pH has been high (close to 7.8-8). I just added bacter ae and a catappa leaf.

I have 10 blue dream shrimp that have been in the tank about a week. They have been consistently pretty active until last night. I added a very small amount of bacter ae for the first time yesterday and also washed/boiled/cooled/added a catappa leaf for the first time. 

 Last night my dog got sprayed by a skunk which unfortunately saturated our whole house, including the room with the tank in it. I put several bowls of vinegar out to help with the smell but no other chemicals. 

My shrimp have been totally MIA since last night. I can't find a single one......I'm wondering if any of yesterday's events may have been problematic for the shrimp?? Tested the water again today, no changes from what was noted above. 

Any insight would be much appreciated, thank you!

Angela

 

[jayc]

55 minutes ago, Angela said:

My shrimp have been totally MIA since last night. I can't find a single one

They have to be in there some where, it's only an 8L tank.

You can't see any of them?

 

 

[sdlTBfanUK]

They must be hiding somewhere! They usually hide naturally at certain times, having shrimplets, moulting etc.

Have you done a water change in the last day or so, that  can trigger a moult which in turn means they will hide?

It doesn't sound like anything relating to the dog/skunk from what you have stated! The PH isn't that far off that I would think it is a big problem.

It is a very small tank so don't use too much bacter ae or anything else for that matter!

Was the catappa leaf fresh or dried and from a reliable source (no polution or other chemicals)?

You didn't spray the room with air freshener?

As JayC says, they must be in there, even the bodies if they died? Hopefully it has resolved itself and they are out and about now, let us know. Is this a round or cube shaped tank?

Simon

[Angela]

Good morning,

I can find one shrimp this AM.....I bought a starter kit and the substrate included are fairly large rocks, so there are lots of cracks the shrimp can crawl down into out of sight. Usually I can find at least 5-6 though. It is a round tank which makes it a little harder to see. I got the leaves from SunGrow, which had good reviews but doesn't specifically state they are chemical free (I would assume that is a given.....it must not be ?). I didn't use any air freshener......just vinegar. I did about 20-25% water change three days ago because I had an ammonia spike (.2). I did a water change and treated it with Prime and it dropped to 0.

Thoughts about the tank being unheated? I've gotten mixed info on how important that is for shrimp?

Thank you!

[sdlTBfanUK]

I looked up the leaves and they should be pesticide free and meant for Betta so they should be fine!

Those round shape tanks are probably not very shrimp friendly as they don't have much base area, which is where the shrimp spend their time. If you were getting an ammonia reading then the tank probably wasn't cycled properly and there probably may not be enough biofilm in such a small tank with plastic plants etc. When you change water you need to add the new water slowly for shrimps as they are a lot more sensitive than fish, I use a dripper. Also could the shrimp be getting stuck/trapped in the large substrate, I've not heard of this being used with shrimps before?

Depending where in the US you live will depend on whether a heater is required, cherry shrimp can tolerate fairly cool water!

See if the situation changes in the next few days as the shrimp may be hiding/moulting with the water change? Let us know how it goes.

Fingers crossed that they are just hiding and still alive and well?

Simon

[jayc]

Hi @Angela,

try removing the rocks slowly, one at a time. You don't need rocks in a shrimp tank.

 

[Angela]

Thank you for all of your feedback! I definitely didn't do the water changes gradually.....no I don't think this tank is a good option for shrimp for a lot of reasons. Attached is an image.....you can see the substrate provided in the starter set are pretty large. 

Suggestions on a better choice if I were to get a different setup? Assuming I would also need to have it for some time to cycle before transitioning shrimp over?

[jayc]

Yeah, that tank is way too small. Water will just get pollute way too fast. You'd need to be changing water everyday. Ain't no one has time for that!

Look for a 20L tank at a minimum, one that has a built in filter at least.

[sdlTBfanUK]

That tank has more room half way up so I would say it was meant for maybe a betta but even then it's a bit small! The base area is very small!

Shrimp only really use the BASE of the tank so you would be best with a tank with as bigger base as possible and it doesn't need to be a tall tank unless fish are going into it as well. You don't need more than a foot height wise! Usually 20-30L (As JayC says) is about right.

Take a bit of time to consider everything if you are starting again, substrate, plants, filter, what type of shrimp you want (I assume cherry/neocaridina). It doesn't need to be expensive unless that is what you want but I use sponge filters that were only about £12. Something like the linked below is perfect (I know you can't buy this as it is UK but just to give you idea, it may be available in your country???) as it has light and filter inbuilt and is shallower than a traditional fish tank - I have one of this tank!  Substrate can be sand/grit for cherry shrimp so that is fairly cheap.

https://www.pro-shrimp.co.uk/aquariums/2019-superfish-home-25-aquarium-black-8715897201400.html

Simon

Ask as many questions here as you need!

Simon