A new CRS is inacive

[beanbag]

So yesterday I picked up 3 CRS shrimp from a sketchy aquarium in Chinatown.  They were kept in pretty bad conditions of TDS 700+, GH 4, KH 8, pH 8!

After I got them home, I did a several hrs acclimation to my current water conditions of TDS 160 GH6 KH3 pH 6.9.  (I am still slowly lowering kH some more)

During the acclimation, I noticed that one of them was more inert than the others, but they were all a bit inert from the stress, so whatever.

After I dumped them in the main tank (along with some Bacter AE), two of them started walking around and picking at things, while that one was still inert and did not move around much.  Or rather, it did more around a little and its mouth flapper things were going at full speed, but it wouldn't use its claws to pick at anything.

The same thing today: Two of the CRS are acting normal and occasionally picking at things.  The inert shrimp is still being inert and barely moves around, although it's mouth flapper things are moving.  (claws are not).

I have a feeling this guy is a goner, but I just what to know if there is anything I can do to save it. Maybe quarantine?  It doesn't visibly look like it has any aliments.

Or maybe add Bacter AE again so it can get food straight to the mouth?  My tank still seems low on biofilm, so the shrimp don't graze much unless I spam everything with Bacter AE, bee pollen, biofilm buildup inside my water tubing, etc.

[jayc]

That's about all you can do, provide it with the right conditions.
Try feeding them some frozen blood worms. The increased protein might help.

That's about all you can do, provide it with the right conditions.
Try feeding them some frozen blood worms. The increased protein might help.

[beanbag]

Oops, it went and died already.  The two other CRS seem fine so far.

Could it have been the too-drastic change in water conditions, or could the shrimp have already been subjected to something earlier, and even though I gave it "better" conditions, it was still too late?

[jayc]

48 minutes ago, beanbag said:

even though I gave it "better" conditions, it was still too late?

Yes, thats very likely. Being exposed to the wrong conditions for too long. Then a drastic change in the conditions has stressed it too much.

[beanbag]

Hmm, in retrospect, should I have given it a much longer acclimation, like 1-2 days?   My guess is that this aquarium didn't care very much about the shrimp, so they got them from the breeder, dumped them straight into their tank with the bad water, and then try to sell them off as soon as possible. 

In related news, now the other two CRS are becoming less active.  This time when I spammed Bacter AE, all the neo shrimp went wild, but these two guys walked around a bit but didn't graze.  Yesterday they were picking at just about everything and today I didn't see any reaching out and putting stuff in their mouth.  Its as if they stopped using their grabber claws. 

Update: I found out how to at least temporarily make them more active.  I was switching around my water lines and therefore dislodged the biofilm growing inside them.  This sprayed the tank with a fine "dust" of tiny particles everywhere.  The two CRS moved around a bit more, but still they didn't actually seem to pick at anything.  It's kind of weird.

Update2: Now they're both slowly picking at things with their claws.  So far 40+ hrs from the aquarium, and still alive.  Fingers crossed.  Besides bee pollen and Bacter AE, what's a good grazing food I can spread all over the tank?

Edited October 29, 2018 by beanbag

[Zoidburg]

Chinatown.... that conjures up one or two places.... I know one place that was just *overgrowing* with plants but recommends using Seachem Neutral Regulator with Acid Buffer or something like that to "create ideal conditions" for shrimp. I saw several dead shrimp which I kind of ignored at first, but after testing out the products... yeah, no. While trying to chase a specific pH you are causing pH swings and raising the TDS through the roof! Not worth it!

 

Regardless, if these shrimp were raised in Caridina parameters, they will not thrive unless they are put into Caridina parameters. This means that you need a new tank for them which could potentially take up to 6-8 weeks to cycle.... simply lowering the KH may not be enough.

 

And you might want to consider supporting the many California based breeders and hobbyists!

[beanbag]

53 minutes ago, Zoidburg said:

And you might want to consider supporting the many California based breeders and hobbyists!

Are there any in the Silicon Valley area?  Is there a list or something?

[Zoidburg]

There's a list, of sorts, in a FB Shrimp group.

 

I know Discobee, BuyPetShrimp, Jojo Neos, Barbee's Shrimp, Andrew Wayne are all located in California. There are others that I'm sure I'm forgetting.... Barbee imports his shrimp from his Taiwan breeder. He's actually getting together a new order for shrimp and could be taking pre-orders? I haven't done pre-orders with him, but I have purchased shrimp from him twice. BuyPetShrimp has a mix of imports and home bred. JoJo just buys shrimp from whoever. Don't know much about Andrew's shrimp, other than the fact that he's got nice shrimp! And Discobee... not sure how often, if ever, he sells his shrimp. He tends to be pretty quiet about what he keeps...

 

At least two of them are in the Bay Area, two around Sacramento....

[beanbag]

Not to get too far off topic, but...

Sorry, I don't use Facebook, so I can't connect with the community that way.  Yes, I would rather buy from a local breeder and skip the extra step of the fish store.  Ideally I'd just go to their house with a tupperware and pick up some shrimp.

Best I know of is some aquarium club that has a swap meet, but they meet in San Francisco (too far north to bother visiting)

To get back on topic, the two CRS that survived seem to be doing ok.  The first week, they were picking at the cholla log 24/7.  Now they pick at the cholla log 50%, pick at the substrate 30%, and 20% of the time they kind of just stand around frozen.