10 Ember Tetras and some 6 yellow Neocaridina Shrimp

[jodisgermanshepherd]

Hello, I bought some ember tetras from 2 different fish stores. I got them home assimilated them to the water, here is my challenge with the fish and then I will move to the shrimp.

The Embers I have 4 out of the 10 that look really really good. The others are almost translucent. They don't come out from the back of the tank. SO last week I bought some backing to put on the back glass hoping that would push them out a little. But they all just hang out in the back. They don't seem to really even come out for food. I don't see any ick on them just look bad. I have never in 20+ years had a problem with Tetras not being friendly and food motivated.

Ok Then my shrimp. I keep trying to keep shrimp in this tank but they will just start dying off for no reason. They seem to do well for about a week or 2. Then they will start slowly dying off at one a day.

Here are my water parameters:
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 5
PH: 7.4
KH: 12 drops
GH: Never Changed to green.

My temp over night sits about 74-76 during the day it may be 76-78 too hot??

I will post a photo from my phone so you can see the fish,


Thank you in advance for your help.

 

[CassCats]

74-76F is good for embers.

There are some ember tetras that can come out as grey, but they also can simply be taking their time coloring up. I know my newest ones took about 2 weeks to really show their color. I do find that these guys will prefer to hide out more among dense plants if kept in groups less than 15 but space can be an issue since I don't know your tank size. Mine hid when I kept them 8-10 years back, but the newest ones I ended up going for 18 of them and they're way more outgoing and behavior totally changed with the numbers difference.

As for the shrimp... yeah if you aren't getting a reading on your GH, it means you have 0-18ppm (0-1°)GH which is wayyyy low for neocaridina and it's not hard enough to molt properly for them. On the other hand, your KH is too high to keep the softer water shrimp such as caridina. Your water is fine for ember tetras though, but maybe have to reconsider the shrimp option, or learn to fiddle around with reverse osmosis water and remineralizing to where the neocaridina shrimp would thrive more with it (5° or 90ppm GH+ and KH 1-5° or 18-90ppm)

 

[MaloK]

If I understand the API GH test correctly, it's from orange to green... So saying:

GH: Never Changed to green.

Makes me thing of very hard water and the test was not completed.

@jodisgermanshepherd, how many drops did you use when attempting the test ?

 

[jodisgermanshepherd]

If I understand the API GH test correctly, it's from orange to green... So saying:



Makes me thing of very hard water and the test was not completed.

@jodisgermanshepherd, how many drops did you use when attempting the test ?

Yes I assume very hard water. Suggestion? I was upto 30 drops and it still hadn't changed. So I just stopped. Should I try it again.

 

[MaloK]

Yes I assume very hard water. Suggestion? I was upto 30 drops and it still hadn't changed. So I just stopped. Should I try it again.

Yes, If you want to know exactly where you're at...

But for the current reading you have (30 drops), compared to the chart, you have minimum 530 ppm = 30 dGH

That is more than 5 times the maximum suggested for Cherry Shrimps. And maybe more.

I never used the API test... I have no clue how precise it can be... I use the Nutrafin A7830 test and was able to go up to 1400 ppm, 78 dGH. And the reading was right. ( 70 drops ).

If the shrimps you get comes from (much) softer water, they suffer an extreme osmotic shock after introduction.

 

[Essjay]

Are you on mains water or well water? If it's mains, your water provider's website may give your GH (which they'll call hardness). You need a number and the unit of measurement as there are several units they could use.

 

[CassCats]

Yeah you may have extremely hard water. That could do it too, and this can also impact your tetras who are softwater fish

 

[MaloK]

When I test water known to be very hard. To save on the test drops, if you have distilled or demineralized or Ro/Di water.

You can make a solution 1:3 (Test water:distilled) and multiply the result by 4

It's faster and less wasteful.

 

[jodisgermanshepherd]

Yeah you may have extremely hard water. That could do it too, and this can also impact your tetras who are softwater fish

OK here is my question for you. I tested the water out of the tap with my TDS monitor. Out of the tap it came out at 23. When I test the aquarium is almost 500. I don't understand what the huge variant would be caused by. DO you have any suggestions on this? Thanks

 

[jodisgermanshepherd]

Yeah you may have extremely hard water. That could do it too, and this can also impact your tetras who are softwater fish

My water comes out of the tap at 23 on the TDS monitor. I don't know what happens once it goes in the aquarium. Should I test the water out of the tap down the line?

 

[jodisgermanshepherd]

If I understand the API GH test correctly, it's from orange to green... So saying:



Makes me thing of very hard water and the test was not completed.

@jodisgermanshepherd, how many drops did you use when attempting the test ?

I did about 40 drops before I stopped.

 

[Essjay]

I tested the water out of the tap with my TDS monitor. Out of the tap it came out at 23. When I test the aquarium is almost 500.

Something in the tank is increasing TDS.

How often do you do water changes, and how much each time?
Do you have anything in the tank which could be increasing hardness eg limestone rocks, crushed coral substrate? TDS includes GH and KH.
Do you have live plants and if so do add fertiliser? If yes, what brand and how much?

 

[jodisgermanshepherd]

Something in the tank is increasing TDS.

How often do you do water changes, and how much each time?
Do you have anything in the tank which could be increasing hardness eg limestone rocks, crushed coral substrate? TDS includes GH and KH.
Do you have live plants and if so do add fertiliser? If yes, what brand and how muc

I have a 10 gallon tank and I use a Fluval 107 as the filter system.

I do a water change once a week either 1 or 2 gallons

I don't have coral or lime stone in my tank and I just opened the filter to make sure I didn't put coral in it when I set it up. I did not the filter is only stocked with the items that came from fluval.

I do have a small Decoration that looks like a little house I bought for the aquarium. That is the only thing and it is full and covered in Moss.

I do have live plants I use the Flourish as a supplement but haven't used it in a couple weeks as I thought maybe that is what was killing the shrimp. When I was using the Flourish I used very little in the water before I put it into the tank. like maybe a drop of it into the gallon bucket before I put it in.

I did set up a new tank here about 2+ months ago and used the black sand from Stoney River brand. But I wouldn't think the substrate is causing it.

Thank you for replying,
Jodi