How many shrimp's in total now? I lost count and couldn't seem to spot the blue ones (apart from the one in the pic). Do you think they have slightly lost there colour any? Glad to here all seems to be going smoothly for now.
hi Dandyman - there was only ever 1 blue one in this tank as I lost the others through my ignorance about the importance of TDS acclimation at the time I got the blue ones. That's why she earned the name Marvel.
There are still 12 white pearls and just the 1 blue now, so quite often the blue one isn't visible. I even spot the teeny tiny Atom every other day or so.
I'm still doing avid head counts tho I manage to stop being apprehensive when I spot 8 or 9 of them at any one time! lol
The nitrates still seem to be settling however I'm going to try R.O water remineralized with Salty Shrimp to see if it will last a week in between water changes. That would be brill! Needing them about every 5 days now so it's improving but weekly is my aim if at all possible.
Am trying the temperature between 22.5 and 24 and they do seem to be more visible and active at that range.
Have got some snowflake food coming over from America to try. It sounds wonderful and altho it's not a staple food it doesn't foul the water column iso can be left in and promotes mycelia fungal growth on itself which the shrimp then eat. A good holiday food by the sound of it.
Will let you know how it goes once I've tried it.
There are still 12 white pearls and just the 1 blue now, so quite often the blue one isn't visible. I even spot the teeny tiny Atom every other day or so.
I'm still doing avid head counts tho I manage to stop being apprehensive when I spot 8 or 9 of them at any one time! lol
The nitrates still seem to be settling however I'm going to try R.O water remineralized with Salty Shrimp to see if it will last a week in between water changes. That would be brill! Needing them about every 5 days now so it's improving but weekly is my aim if at all possible.
Am trying the temperature between 22.5 and 24 and they do seem to be more visible and active at that range.
Have got some snowflake food coming over from America to try. It sounds wonderful and altho it's not a staple food it doesn't foul the water column iso can be left in and promotes mycelia fungal growth on itself which the shrimp then eat. A good holiday food by the sound of it.
Will let you know how it goes once I've tried it.
You must have tried the most exotic things for these shrimps. "I have got some snowflake food coming over from America" wow spoilt is an understatement! I need to stop going to the pet shop, always end up picking something up for the shrimp and fish, whether its cleaning products to certain foods lol
With my 55l tank just deciding what to do with the front part and ideally, I want to find a better internal filter or possibly external. I know you have to be quite careful with filters too with the shrimp. I do have the 220lh rated one which comes with the Pets at Home tank you have yourself. Ideally after something which is 10x my water volume.
I have seen this from AquaE not sure if this would be any good for them. I need a good filter though to help pick up the dirt and move around the surface area more. I have two running in the tank at the moment and I found the output is so little. Hopefully get all this done before the addition of shrimps.
Sounds like you are having a fun learning curve. Will be interesting to see what the interbreeding results bring out if I choose the multiple colour selection I was after.
With my 55l tank just deciding what to do with the front part and ideally, I want to find a better internal filter or possibly external. I know you have to be quite careful with filters too with the shrimp. I do have the 220lh rated one which comes with the Pets at Home tank you have yourself. Ideally after something which is 10x my water volume.
I have seen this from AquaE not sure if this would be any good for them. I need a good filter though to help pick up the dirt and move around the surface area more. I have two running in the tank at the moment and I found the output is so little. Hopefully get all this done before the addition of shrimps.
Sounds like you are having a fun learning curve. Will be interesting to see what the interbreeding results bring out if I choose the multiple colour selection I was after.
You wouldn't believe the tubs of food I've got for these fellas and what do they eat most of the time? Biofilm!!!
I've tried blanched spinach - ignored!
They do like the cholla log and the moss-ball tho that's likely to be what's growing on them too.
Sorry about the spoilt comment - it did sound a bit precious didn't it? lol
I've joined a shrimp-dedicated website and the majority of the members are from the US and Canada.
One of the members is sending me the snowflake food to try at a fraction of the cost here as a favour. I think I'll be getting twice as much for half the price so a quarter of what I'd pay here. In fact I've only seen it on one UK website so far.
There are a couple of snowflake listings on eBay UK but I'm paying even less than those including postage from the US!
It won't be a staple food - that's what the biofilm is for - it will be just as a treat once a week maybe and it can safely be left in the tank without polluting the water. It explodes into lots of little pieces so a little goes a long way apparently.
I think the favoured filters for shrimp tanks seem to be sponge-based. I have a small HOB with a sponge prefilter and a small internal filter which is fine for now but would probably need some kind of protection if and when shrimplets come along - fingers crossed!
Have you looked at the Hamburg Matten filters? They are shrimp-friendly - ideal really and need little if any maintenance once set up. The only reason I haven't got one is the tank is quite small and wouldn't comfortably accommodate one without using up a fair bit of space otherwise that's what I'd have.
I've tried blanched spinach - ignored!
They do like the cholla log and the moss-ball tho that's likely to be what's growing on them too.
Sorry about the spoilt comment - it did sound a bit precious didn't it? lol
I've joined a shrimp-dedicated website and the majority of the members are from the US and Canada.
One of the members is sending me the snowflake food to try at a fraction of the cost here as a favour. I think I'll be getting twice as much for half the price so a quarter of what I'd pay here. In fact I've only seen it on one UK website so far.
There are a couple of snowflake listings on eBay UK but I'm paying even less than those including postage from the US!
It won't be a staple food - that's what the biofilm is for - it will be just as a treat once a week maybe and it can safely be left in the tank without polluting the water. It explodes into lots of little pieces so a little goes a long way apparently.
I think the favoured filters for shrimp tanks seem to be sponge-based. I have a small HOB with a sponge prefilter and a small internal filter which is fine for now but would probably need some kind of protection if and when shrimplets come along - fingers crossed!
Have you looked at the Hamburg Matten filters? They are shrimp-friendly - ideal really and need little if any maintenance once set up. The only reason I haven't got one is the tank is quite small and wouldn't comfortably accommodate one without using up a fair bit of space otherwise that's what I'd have.
Mamashack said:
I tried cucumber with my guys and they loved it. Was a pain to anchor down though... Took me forever and at one point I was holding it in place for them until it stuck! It was fascinating to watch them munch away at and take it to the finest layer.
Lol, I was being sarcastic with the spoilt. Pets are spoilt. If you have pets and are a pet person, your pets will always be spoilt. It sounds brilliant this snow flake food, just had a quick Google, looks like aspestos...
I don't think I have heard of them filters. Any links will be interesting to have a look. I mean the good thing about this 55l tank in one sense, is that it does have the enclosement at the back where I can hide the filter anyway. I would prefer it not to be on there as it would give me much more space, but still provides a lot of space for filters and sponges in the back. Just got some polyester the other day too from pets at home to try help get the crystal clear affect.
This is just a basic look at the HMF, but it gives a good idea what they are about.
http
/www.seriouslyfish.com/a-basic-guide-to-the-hamburger-mattenfilter/
I
http
/www.seriouslyfish.com/a-basic-guide-to-the-hamburger-mattenfilter/I
Thanks for that info. Will have a bit more of a look into that. Watched a few videos and read a bit of information regarding it. Seems quite interesting. Still on the hunt though to find that perfect filter...
Got a quick update of my own which you might like to hear. I have got some more Shrimp! Gosh, I forgot how tiny they were. But it was quite good, when the lady was trying to capture them all, she caught a little baby who was still waiting to develop its colour, so I have a surprise one. But these are the following shrimp for the time being:
Crystal Shrimp Red (2)
Crystal Shrimp Black (2)
Cherry Shrimp (2)
Mystery baby
Left a few photo's for you below. Don't mean to hijack your thread!
Black Crystal Shrimp All shrimpies
Got a quick update of my own which you might like to hear. I have got some more Shrimp! Gosh, I forgot how tiny they were. But it was quite good, when the lady was trying to capture them all, she caught a little baby who was still waiting to develop its colour, so I have a surprise one. But these are the following shrimp for the time being:
Crystal Shrimp Red (2)
Crystal Shrimp Black (2)
Cherry Shrimp (2)
Mystery baby
Left a few photo's for you below. Don't mean to hijack your thread!
Black Crystal Shrimp All shrimpies
@mamashack the cucumber you put in, the next time u do it could you take a picture for me if you can im curiose to how much you put in, also how did you prepare it i like the idea and want to do it my self
- alao i hear those mattern filters altho very effective they take ageas to develop a lot longer than a standard filter but corect
me if i am wrong i think the idea behind them is u never clean them?
- oh forgot to reply GREAT lookong tank mama
thnx for the pics sos if i come across as pushy
@dandyman - that is very interesting you have black & red crystals as well as cherry as i have been having secound thoughts on my shimp to have i may jave 3 types now, fantasy blue, red cherry & blacl crystal, your shrimp look amazing
not to hijack the thread eothery but my tank has now cucled and have added my amanos to clean my algae
- alao i hear those mattern filters altho very effective they take ageas to develop a lot longer than a standard filter but corect
me if i am wrong i think the idea behind them is u never clean them?
- oh forgot to reply GREAT lookong tank mama
thnx for the pics sos if i come across as pushy @dandyman - that is very interesting you have black & red crystals as well as cherry as i have been having secound thoughts on my shimp to have i may jave 3 types now, fantasy blue, red cherry & blacl crystal, your shrimp look amazing
not to hijack the thread eothery but my tank has now cucled and have added my amanos to clean my algae
Way to go, Zik! That's good news! BTW you aren't pushy at all.
It's Dandyman that feeds cucumber, not me.
Now for some really bad news - I lost a shrimp yesterday and another today. They were noticeably opaque white as opposed to the translucent opal appearance they usually exhibit so it was quite evident.
The ammonia was 0.25 ppm which using TTA's recommended free ammonia calculator is about 0.007 ppm in this tank so not a lot you may think but it does show that something has changed in there. Did a big water change yesterday but it's still 0.25 ppm today - checked against tap water which was a resounding 0 using API. Have added some Tetra Safe Start hopefully to boost the bacteria colony just in case that is the cause.
So I now have to work out what has compromised the bacteria and/or shrimp.
One question that springs to mind is when I increased the TDS in this tank before adding the new shrimp a month ago, could that have harmed the bacteria? It was an increase from about 128 to 250.
Another question is could the unintentional drop in temp to 19 for a couple of days have compromised either the shrimp or bacteria?
Could something noxious in the banana leaf have been released by boiling it as instructed on the packaging?
There are so many variables, my head is spinning!
It's Dandyman that feeds cucumber, not me.
Now for some really bad news - I lost a shrimp yesterday and another today. They were noticeably opaque white as opposed to the translucent opal appearance they usually exhibit so it was quite evident.
The ammonia was 0.25 ppm which using TTA's recommended free ammonia calculator is about 0.007 ppm in this tank so not a lot you may think but it does show that something has changed in there. Did a big water change yesterday but it's still 0.25 ppm today - checked against tap water which was a resounding 0 using API. Have added some Tetra Safe Start hopefully to boost the bacteria colony just in case that is the cause.
So I now have to work out what has compromised the bacteria and/or shrimp.
One question that springs to mind is when I increased the TDS in this tank before adding the new shrimp a month ago, could that have harmed the bacteria? It was an increase from about 128 to 250.
Another question is could the unintentional drop in temp to 19 for a couple of days have compromised either the shrimp or bacteria?
Could something noxious in the banana leaf have been released by boiling it as instructed on the packaging?
There are so many variables, my head is spinning!
aaah noooo sorry for the loss mama, a drop in temp or rise in tds wont effect the bacteria but adding the banana leaf may have if that starts to decompose thats going to add ammonia like any leaf, i always remove a dead leaf asap in my tanks as it creates ammonia, so if kept in tank for a long periods then maybe that, plus with a tank with only a small amount of shrimp is bearly going to be cycled so any sort of increase in ammonia the bacteria colony is going to take a while, u tested for ammonia, try testing for nitrite that the killer IMO. so sorry for this i thought things where going so well for you.
and apologies if dandy can awnser the cucumber question then.
sorry for the loss mama, a drop in temp or rise in tds wont effect the bacteria but adding the banana leaf may have if that starts to decompose thats going to add ammonia like any leaf, i always remove a dead leaf asap in my tanks as it creates ammonia, so if kept in tank for a long periods then maybe that, plus with a tank with only a small amount of shrimp is bearly going to be cycled so any sort of increase in ammonia the bacteria colony is going to take a while, u tested for ammonia, try testing for nitrite that the killer IMO. so sorry for this i thought things where going so well for you.and apologies if dandy can awnser the cucumber question then.
I'd already taken the banana leaf out the day after putting it in as the water turned virtually black. But maybe the 5 min boiling of the banana leaves caused some toxins to be released quicker. I did leave the guava leaf in and 2 alder cones in there for grazing during the last week so I'll take them out. I thought shrimp were supposed to be ok with leaf litter, but as you say this filter hasn't had much of a challenge with only a handful of shrimp so maybe the bacteria died off gradually and the leaves were then to much to cope with.
All yesterday's results:
Ammonia 0.25 ppm (0.007 on free ammonia calculator)
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 10
TDS 285 (253 after water change)
Temp 22.4C
pH 7.8
Today's results
Ammonia 0.25
Nitrate 10
TDS 277 (259 after top-up)
temp 22.7C
There are some quite small shrimp in there so thinking about it rationally, wouldn't they be the first to be affected if the water parameters aren't right?
Even the teeny, tiny Atom seems to be growing well. The ones that died were the 2 biggest shrimp in the bunch I received so maybe they were old?
All yesterday's results:
Ammonia 0.25 ppm (0.007 on free ammonia calculator)
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 10
TDS 285 (253 after water change)
Temp 22.4C
pH 7.8
Today's results
Ammonia 0.25
Nitrate 10
TDS 277 (259 after top-up)
temp 22.7C
There are some quite small shrimp in there so thinking about it rationally, wouldn't they be the first to be affected if the water parameters aren't right?
Even the teeny, tiny Atom seems to be growing well. The ones that died were the 2 biggest shrimp in the bunch I received so maybe they were old?
could well have been, by sounds of it i dont think it was the banana leaf then other wise the ammonia would have been there the day after you took it out or sooner, when did you first notice the dead shrimp, maybe the dead shrimp has caused the increase in ammonia.
maybe the larger shrimp where old or even had a poor health i know with a lot of inbreeding shrimp catch illnesses and losses are greater
unless u know the cause of the increase in ammonia it will be hard now you have tacken out the cones n other leafs see if the ammonia falls then you know it was one of them maybe
maybe the larger shrimp where old or even had a poor health i know with a lot of inbreeding shrimp catch illnesses and losses are greater
unless u know the cause of the increase in ammonia it will be hard now you have tacken out the cones n other leafs see if the ammonia falls then you know it was one of them maybeThe 1st dead shrimp was there when I woke up yesterday morning. Other than them being a bit lethargic there was nothing noticeably different in the tank
The 2nd one I found this morning.
I hadn't tested the ammonia for a couple of weeks until the 1st death yesterday and then I checked absolutely everything I have a kit for. The only test that was off-kilter was the total ammonia. Free ammonia was 0.007 ppm according to the free ammonia calculator TTA linked in one of his articles or posts.
The assumption that it was the leaves might be a bit skewed since I have also added the Safe Start this morning when I found the 2nd dead shrimp and that the ammonia was still slightly +ve
Don't know if it's my imagination, but the shrimp do seem more active this evening.
Have tested the ammonia again this evening and it's not the bright yellow of 0 but on the other hand it's not as green as 0.25 ppm so I'll wait until tomorrow and recheck to see if it's any easier to distinguish in daylight.
The 2nd one I found this morning.
I hadn't tested the ammonia for a couple of weeks until the 1st death yesterday and then I checked absolutely everything I have a kit for. The only test that was off-kilter was the total ammonia. Free ammonia was 0.007 ppm according to the free ammonia calculator TTA linked in one of his articles or posts.
The assumption that it was the leaves might be a bit skewed since I have also added the Safe Start this morning when I found the 2nd dead shrimp and that the ammonia was still slightly +ve
Don't know if it's my imagination, but the shrimp do seem more active this evening.
Have tested the ammonia again this evening and it's not the bright yellow of 0 but on the other hand it's not as green as 0.25 ppm so I'll wait until tomorrow and recheck to see if it's any easier to distinguish in daylight.
Am happy to report I can see no more opaque white bodies today. The head count is good too so that's a big relief!
Ammonia this morning is still 0.25 ppm total and 0.007 free ammonia.
So today is a good day in the shrimp tank!
Ammonia this morning is still 0.25 ppm total and 0.007 free ammonia.
So today is a good day in the shrimp tank!
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