Blue Velvet Shrimp

[Crystal Jade]

So I lost 3 shrimp today - two out of my 8 Blue Velvet Shrimp and my one Blue Dream. I don't know why or what the cause was although my guesses involve either overfeeding or possibly water shock from a small water change. 

My parameters are as follows: 

GH: 5-6

KH: 5

PH: 7.6

Nitrite: 0 ppm

Nitrate: 0.25 ppm 

Water temp: 68-78 degrees F 

My water is tinged green and I have 4 live plants (including a Java fern), a moss ball, an Indian Almond Leaf, and a Rock in the tank itself as well as one small snail. I got  a siphon pump today to be able to do easier water changes. How would one go about water changes in an area that is a bit colder than many other places? I started using cold water after making a mistake on using hot water which could have been a problem... but now that things are a bit more in place I want to try and get stuff settled. 

If I got more shrimp: how long should I drip acclimate? 

What would be the best way to use tap water for water changes when I only have one heater? Or would I want to use distilled water? 

How often should I feed the shrimp? I keep reading all sorts of different tips and views. 

Is it okay and normal for shrimp to hide under the rock? I have some (4) pretty small and pretty transparent shrimp that I haven't seen since I introduced them into my tank. I don't want to move my rock and find dead shrimp underneath...Maybe I should just give up? I don't want to but maybe I should figure out what is up with my tank first. Because I have no clue why this is happening. Is it my Nitrate and Nitrite levels? 

 

 

 

[jayc]

2 hours ago, Crystal Jade said:

If I got more shrimp: how long should I drip acclimate? 

For as long as you need. To get the same water parameters as your tank.

This is where a TDS meter comes in handy.

 

2 hours ago, Crystal Jade said:

What would be the best way to use tap water for water changes when I only have one heater?

Drip the water into the main tank slowly. Assuming you have matched the water parameters of the new water, than dripping it into the tank slowly will not alter the temps of the new tank.

 

2 hours ago, Crystal Jade said:

Or would I want to use distilled water?

Not sure how distilled water fits into the previous question of heating water changes.

You'd want to use RO, distilled or rainwater to gain greater control over what goes into your tank, so that you can set the ideal parameters yourself. Tap water has all sorts of chemicals that impact water parameters, and not all of these chemicals are useful to shrimp or fish. So RO, Distilled and rain water takes out all those chemicals, so you can put back in just the right amount and only the essential minerals to sustain life.

 

2 hours ago, Crystal Jade said:

How often should I feed the shrimp?

Once every 2 days. 

But if they don't finish all the food, I usually leave it in. But I wont feed for another 3-4 days depending on how long the food lasted in the tank.

 

 

2 hours ago, Crystal Jade said:

Is it okay and normal for shrimp to hide under the rock?

If there are no predators around, than it is not normal.

This could be a general indication of sub optimal water parameters. Something is wrong if they are hiding too much.

 

2 hours ago, Crystal Jade said:

Because I have no clue why this is happening. Is it my Nitrate and Nitrite levels? 

What is the Ammonia levels in your tank? That is the crucial parameter. Crucial in the sense that this parameter will kill. Ammonia needs to be zero. Where as Nitrate is a long term issue. It doesn't kill as quickly as ammonia. 

Edited March 2, 2021 by jayc

[Crystal Jade]

Thank you! I am trying to make sure everything is good to go - and I want to take good care of my shrimp for sure. I just ordered an ammonia API test kit (I believe chemical tests provide more accurate results compared to the strip tests) and a TDS pen on amazon so I should get those Wednesday. I will try not to mess with my water too much until I get the necessary things I need. I am glad things seem to be so-so for now. I drip acclimated for 1-2 hours when I got my blue velvets with the current water in a specimen container and dripping tank water into the container itself. 

[Crabby]

Maybe I'm nitpicking, but 68-78 F? That's a pretty wide range. How have you been doing your water changes? Dripping the water slowly or just putting it in? That can temperature shock the shrimp. Cold water is better than hot (funky pipes and all) but if you're giving the shrimp a temperature shock in doing so, it could be just as harmful.

Edited March 2, 2021 by Crabby

[jayc]

3 minutes ago, Crystal Jade said:

I drip acclimated for 1-2 hours when I got my blue velvets with the current water in a specimen container and dripping tank water into the container itself. 

Rather than using "time" as a guide we should use the water parameters as the reference of when the shrimp/fish has had enough acclimation. 

Now that you have (or will have) a TDS pen, you just need to measure the TDS of your tank and the water the shrimp came in.

Lets say your tank TDS = 150. And the water the shrimp came in = 200.

So you start dripping water into the bag the shrimp came in. You keep dripping until TDS is close to 150 (TDS of your tank water). Say 155 TDS should be ok. This take as long as it needs to reach close to 150TDS. It could be 1 hour. It could take 12 hours. This is why I will hesitate telling someone that 1-2 hour drip acclimation is enough. It all depends on the start water parameters and how fast the drip is going.

Anyway, good luck, and I hope you sort the issue out without too many more deaths.

[sdlTBfanUK]

Sorry to hear you lost some shrimps!

How big is your tank and how long has it been running? Did you do the 'cycle'?

When doing a water change you should drip the new water into the tank. That will illiminate the temperature difference problem and any difference in parameters between the two waters.

When acclimating new shrimps you should drip acclimate them as long as you can, the longer you do that the better chance they have of survival. You will need to match the water temperature to that of the tank by floating the container with the shrimp in the tank once you have stopped dripping, before adding the shrimp to the tank!

The parameters you have I would think are acceptable so I would stick with tap water if that is what you are using, for now. RO water is ideal but you will then need to buy GH/KH+ to add the minerals. As I say, I would hold off using RO/distilled water for now until we can pin point the problem.

If your water has a green tint to it that may be an algae bloom? A white tint is usually a bacteria bloom and I have only seen that whilst a tank is 'cycling'. I think an algae bloom will mean there is less oxygen in the water as the algae absorbs it??????

Overfeedinng is very common. It will depend upon the size of the tank and how long it has been running etc. With only a few shrimp there may actually be no need to feed additional to the natural biofilm of the tank. As shrimps are feeding all day on biofilm it is usually better to see additional food as just a treat and feed very sparingly. Overfeeding with shrimps doesn't usually mean that the shrimps over eat, it usually means  too much uneaten food polutes the water and if you have green tinted water, algae bloom, that may be why? There usually comes a time, if you are lucky, that there are too many shrimps in the tank for the biofilm to sustain on its own, so as the population grows feeding may become more necessary.

Shrimp don't usually hide unless they are new to the tank or there are fish etc (even then they will usually adapt to them) or as JayC says, their is something wrong with the water quality?

 Simon

[Crystal Jade]

I haven't been able to find an ammonia test kit so maybe that was my problem but I woke up to no dead shrimp. Before I do a water change I want to make sure my water I have is correct with water parameters and GH and KH  especially. I did cycle my tank and it should be fully cycled by now. 

 

Thank you all!