# Planted Tanks > Beginners' Corner >  need help with shrimps (new member and newbie)

## genki89

Hello everybody, 

Need some help to get my shrimps going. I got a new small fish tank with 10 shrimps. Got it from seletar farmway (nanyang aquarium), and day 1 seems pretty good.

2days later 1 to 2 died. And it stopped and shrimps are going real good with overhead filter, heater that is set to 24.5 in my office. And yes it is planted. The shrimps i got was white head bee (not sure what is the difference between crystal black) and they started mating after a month.

Then suddenly, 6 of the shrimps died and i am left with 2. Just happened so, 1 male and 1 female are left. Need some help over here  :Sad:  i do water change weekly around 20% each time.

Thanks in advance

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## Urban Aquaria

Some additional details would help...

1. What are the dimensions of the tank? 
2. What substrate are you using?
3. Any buffers, additives or chemicals dosed in the tank?
4. How long has the tank been running for and is the tank fully cycled?
5. What are the current water parameters? pH, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, gH, TDS etc?
6. What type of plants and density of plants do you have in the tank? 

A photo of the tank will really help alot too.

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## genki89

Fish tank L22 x W15 x H17
Black ertilised soil. I got it from the open backet sold at the place where i got the shrimp. So im not sure what soil is that.
Nothing is placed near the tank and the tank is fully cycled for 2 weeks together with water milfoil and java fern (roots are hanging all over the leaf by the end of 1st week) before introducing the shrimps on the 3rd week.
Water parameters have yet to get the kit to check. And i got a over head led lamp which will be on over weekend 24hr and weeday 8hrs.

Thankd

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## Urban Aquaria

Okay, without knowing what type of soil substrate and with unknown water parameters, i can only suggest the most likely scenario why your shrimps died, based on your existing tank details.

Your tank's dimensions indicate only an approx. 5 liters of water volume, that is very small and although shrimps have relatively low bio-loads, small tank water volumes are highly susceptible to large and sudden changes in water parameters. Most shrimps, especially those bee shrimps you got, are sensitive creatures and very intolerant to sudden fluctuations in water conditions.

Just leaving the tank to run for 2 weeks does not mean it is cycled... it often takes much longer for a tank to achieve a stable cycle (up to 6-8 weeks, sometimes longer). Only when the water parameters are tested and stable, then you can confirm its cycled.

What most likely happened is when you added in the shrimps in the 3rd week, the weaker ones died quickly due to the uncycled tank conditions and fluctuating parameters, the rest managed to survive for a while more, but as the tank is still cycling, it is going though a series of toxic ammonia and nitrite spikes. Due to the small volume of water, the toxic levels eventually accumulated too high in a short period of time and the shrimps got killed.

The remaining 2 shrimps are most probably the most hardy ones in the group, so hopefully they can still survive until the tank is fully cycled. Don't add anymore shrimps, give the tank more time to cycle, test the water to make sure its stable, then can resume adding in a few more shrimps (but don't overload the tank with too much livestock as the water volume is still very small).

As for your lights, no need to leave them on for 24 hours during the weekends, too much light just increases the chances of algae issues. If you currently have to manually switch the lights on and off everyday... then just can get a cheap socket timer to schedule the lights to automatically switch on and off on a daily basis.

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## genki89

Thank you so much. Didn't know the water cycle for small tank are so different from the bigger 1.

I will test the water parameters before adding in new stock. Once again, thank you

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## Urban Aquaria

> Thank you so much. Didn't know the water cycle for small tank are so different from the bigger 1.
> 
> I will test the water parameters before adding in new stock. Once again, thank you


Yeah, small tanks tend to be much more difficult to achieve and sustain a cycle compared to larger tanks... its all about water volume and dilution. 

It takes very little ammonia to quickly hit toxic levels in a small tank, whereas the same amount of ammonia barely even registers in a large tank.  :Smile:

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## genki89

Hahaha i had a 4 feet tank, probably 30 litre housing angel and is breeding perfectly fine.

I was thinking it will work out fine with shrimp but didn't know so much diff between big tank vs small tank, fish vs shrimp

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## stressed

guess its a combination of factors.... small tank - toxicity builds up quickly. from your description, your tank is new and was not cycled with "livestock", only plants, thus, with the introduction of shrimps, the filter cycling physically began....

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## genki89

This is how it looks like. Is the plant correct or suitable for the shrimp?

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## kurty

I'm using the right side, the shrimps love it and plant outgrow easily.. require frequent trimming

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## genki89

I does that too and i realise that when water condition turned bad, so does the plants.

Sorry new to this hobby so kind of killed some shrimps during this expedition... the plants can be use to replant and it will also grow well too

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## jiajuen900

For the Java Fern, you should take it out of the soil. If you leave the rhizome of the plant in the soil, it will eventually suffocate and die off. For plants such as Java Fern, they feed directly off the water column so you should expose the roots.

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## jiajuen900

If you are looking for a pure shrimp tank, you could do with more plants  :Cool: 

Maybe some moss or Marimo balls. Shrimp will love them.

And I second what UA said. You should get a timer for the tank. It will be beneficial for the tank in the long run. Especially for the plants  :Smile:

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## genki89

Thanks all for the guidance. 

The java fern that are rooted, are actually rootless. I presume the roots grew at the end of the leaf that are hanging freely. I just bundle the end of the leafs with a cable tie as weight to prevent them from floating around.

As recommended by UA, i will get the timer together with the moss ball on my mext trip to a nearby aquarium shop.

Btw, does the moss ball grow over time, or die or just plainly get consumed?

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## Urban Aquaria

> The java fern that are rooted, are actually rootless. I presume the roots grew at the end of the leaf that are hanging freely. I just bundle the end of the leafs with a cable tie as weight to prevent them from floating around.


The roots growing from the java fern leaves are actually the baby plantlets (thats one of the ways they propagate). The main plant's own roots do grow out from the rhizome too (the LFS plant supplier usually just trim them off for neatness). The main plant's roots will naturally grasp around objects and dig into soil, but the rhizome itself cannot be buried, or else it may start to rot.





> Btw, does the moss ball grow over time, or die or just plainly get consumed?


Marimo moss balls are actually a form of cladophora algae, but its a non-invasive algae variety so relatively okay to add to tanks. They grow super slowly... like only a few millimeters a year. So if you see particularly large ones, they have probably been around for a very long time.  :Grin:

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## genki89

> The roots growing from the java fern leaves are actually the baby plantlets (thats one of the ways they propagate). The main plant's own roots do grow out from the rhizome too (the LFS plant supplier usually just trim them off for neatness). The main plant's roots will naturally grasp around objects and dig into soil, but the rhizome itself cannot be buried, or else it may start to rot.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Marimo moss balls are actually a form of cladophora algae, but its a non-invasive algae variety so relatively okay to add to tanks. They grow super slowly... like only a few millimeters a year. So if you see particularly large ones, they have probably been around for a very long time.


My java fern actually do not have any roots when it comes with it. Maybe 2 to 3 leaf are bond together with roots. In such case, will my java fern that does not have roots survive like the water milfoil? Or will the roots start to grow over time?

Sorry, abit nooby with water plants and small tank set up.

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## Urban Aquaria

> My java fern actually do not have any roots when it comes with it. Maybe 2 to 3 leaf are bond together with roots. In such case, will my java fern that does not have roots survive like the water milfoil? Or will the roots start to grow over time?
> 
> Sorry, abit nooby with water plants and small tank set up.


For Java ferns, their leaves are attached to the rhizomes, if you are referring to the horizontal green "stem/runner" that the leaves grow from, those are the rhizomes, not the roots. 

Here is a photo with label for reference:



Photo Source: http://www.disky-design.dk/fish/plan...-pteropus.html (more photos in the link)

The roots themselves will grow from the rhizome and are usually dark brown/black in color.

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## jiajuen900

> My java fern actually do not have any roots when it comes with it. Maybe 2 to 3 leaf are bond together with roots. In such case, will my java fern that does not have roots survive like the water milfoil? Or will the roots start to grow over time?
> 
> Sorry, abit nooby with water plants and small tank set up.


Java Ferns are actually quite a hardy plant so I am quite sure they will survive as long as they are kept under relatively decent conditions with their rhizomes above the substrate.  :Wink: 

They might do better if tied or attached to a piece of driftwood (like how they come when purchased at LFS) or some rocks.

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## genki89

Hello all, sad to say, all my shrimps died before i can get the test kit.

I noticed that there are a layer of oil after i added ocean free 8000 bacteria. It should be bateria bloom as i can see the plants are greener, bubbles everywhere.

But this layer of oil doesn't seem to go away after 1 month of water change weekly...

In fact, i even increase the water change from 20 to 50 percent (week by week 10% extra). Need help on how to remove this layer of oil... 😯

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## jiajuen900

The layer of oil is surface film. It's an organic layer excreted by plants and decomposing organic matter. Usually quite common in planted tanks.

You can use a surface skimmer to get rid of the film.

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## wongce

Get a surface skimmer as mentioned by jiayuen900 or you can simply add a air pump with airstone to have some water movement. 

I normally use the second option as pumping more air is better for fauna. Well, as long you are maintaining low tech setup without co2 should be ok...

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## genki89

I'm aiming for low tech but adding air pump seems redundant here as i have a overhead filter. Correct?

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## jiajuen900

> I'm aiming for low tech but adding air pump seems redundant here as i have a overhead filter. Correct?


Does the outlet from the overhead filter create a lot of surface agitation?

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## genki89

Im using the small outlet to let the plant and soil to settle down. Once the base has firm up, i can switch to bigger output, which will create some kind agitation.

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## jiajuen900

> Im using the small outlet to let the plant and soil to settle down. Once the base has firm up, i can switch to bigger output, which will create some kind agitation.


I see. The surface agitation will help with the surface film. You could consider redirecting the output instead to minimize agitation

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## genki89

Ok thanks man.

Btw, can i put it that it doesn't really matter if the bubbles is not all over the place (maybe afew staying at the corner of the tank). But the tank is still good and healthy to keep the shrimp?

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## CalvinTBC

In my opinion, best to restart the cycling process... 
There could be other unknown reasons why your shrimps are dying... It is better to check the soil, ph, temp and read up more information on shrimp rearing.
Cycle with old tank water like I do to speed up the process (partial exchange water with mature tank also helps). You can also add ceramic bricks to your filter to increase bacteria growth rate or add some bacteria growth solutions to boost the water stability.

I'm also a low tech newbie in the learning process.
Start off with some hardy shrimps like Cherries, Yellows, Sunkists/Orange, Snow Balls, Rilis, Fire Red etc as your experimental fauna. 
Get some marimo ball, java moss (attached to larva rocks or driftwoods etc to save your trouble), ferns and nanas as your plants.

Good luck with the next setup.  :Wink:

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## genki89

Hi everybody, managed to clear the oil film with the max output of water filtration with overhead.

Next, i actually saw afew water test kit ranging from 15.90 to 30+.

Which is the ideal test kit, good and still within that price range? And do the test kit have expiry date? And to be cost efficient, in the long run, which will save more, digital or manual test kit (how many run can this kit do)?

Thanks again 😅

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## Urban Aquaria

Any of the name brand test kits which use chemical reagent tests should work well... popular ones are like the API Freshwater Master Test Kit which test for Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate (the 3 main test components in a tank cycle) as well as high and low range PH. This test kit usually costs around $50+ (depending on where you buy it). It can do a few hundred tests, so more than enough for most aquarists.

Those cheaper test kits you saw in the $15-$30 range are usually using paper test strip methods (which are much less accurate) or only measuring just one parameter, so you'll need to buy a few different ones to test all the necessary parameters, therefore the costs will add up. Hence its usually cheaper to buy a complete set with all the tests included in one package.

Yes, chemical reagent tests have an expiry date so do check it before buying.

For digital testing, so far i've only seen the cost effective ones for pH testing, which is usually around $50-$70 (can be cheaper if ordered from online sources), you'll also need to get the pH calibration solutions too. Though pH isn't as important a parameter for testing if a tank is cycled or not, its utilized more if you are keeping fishes or shrimps with specific pH requirements.

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## hyper28

API Freshwater Master Test Kit should be good

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## genki89

I could not find the test kit with all in 1 except the paper test kit... i gave up looking for it and i bought sakura shrimp and top up my white head bee once again.

Btw, is there any shop that will charge me a minor fee to do water testing?

So far, this is the 1st time no casualties after 3days. What i do notice is, occasionally there will be big bubbles coming out from the soil with no smell. Read online is due to my nitrate is eating up the bacteria or smth which is a good sign. Correct?

All and all, the water still needs to be tested... 😧

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## jiajuen900

I was at Sea view today. They have stock for the all in one test kit.

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## Urban Aquaria

Do note that even if you use test kits, when trying to monitor a small tank (ie. 10 liters or less), the results can change in just the course of a day as there is very little water volume to buffer parameter fluctuations, hence everything spikes up and down much faster. So its possible you may test the parameters are okay in the evening, but the next morning somehow excess ammonia build up and some weaker shrimps my be affected.

If your shrimps are appearing to be okay at the moment, it could be an indication that the tank system is stabilizing as time goes by. Just have to be careful not to change the tank conditions too drastically when adding or removing things.

The bubbles coming out of the soil are usually gases (ie. hydrogen sulfide) created by anaerobic bacteria colonies in the soil that are processing the organic waste... quite often if you smell a stinky rotten odor from the tank, its most likely due to the release of those gases. Its a good thing that the gases are being released on their own, as it can become toxic if they accumulate in the soil and build up to large quantities and then released all at once.

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## genki89

Thanks. I will carry on and monitor closely.

I read online and notice that sakura is actually cherry, but they are more brilliant in colour. Is that statement true? And also, care for sakura is the same as cherry?

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## Urban Aquaria

> I read online and notice that sakura is actually cherry, but they are more brilliant in colour. Is that statement true? And also, care for sakura is the same as cherry?


Yeah, sakura shrimps are basically a grade of cherry shrimps, same as for fire reds and painted fire reds.. along with all the yellow, black, blue, chocolate, orange, rili etc variants. They are all from the same species Neocaridina Davidi (formally known as Neocaridina Heteropoda)... just specifically line bred to focus and improve on their respective grades and colors.

Do note that if you mix the different grades and colors together, they will usually end up producing random offspring and over generations eventually revert back to their original wild form and coloration (which are the clear colored versions).

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## genki89

Hello all, its been 2 week (i guess), since i gotten the new shrimps.

Update on the weird syndrome i noticed today (3rd week i suppose).

My current stocks, 3 sakura and 7 bee. 1st time i saw my bee mating, and i have never seen my sakura mated or berried, but yes, i saw 2 mini sakura shrimplets. At 1st i notice only 1 colourless shrimplet, but after the 3rd week, i saw 2 reddish headed shrimplets with colourless body.

Can anybody explain how this 2 shrimplets happen? And also, i noticed 1 female bee on the 2nd day died after "mating" what happen? Thanks all the expert here in advance

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## Urban Aquaria

> Hello all, its been 2 week (i guess), since i gotten the new shrimps.
> 
> Update on the weird syndrome i noticed today (3rd week i suppose).
> 
> My current stocks, 3 sakura and 7 bee. 1st time i saw my bee mating, and i have never seen my sakura mated or berried, but yes, i saw 2 mini sakura shrimplets. At 1st i notice only 1 colourless shrimplet, but after the 3rd week, i saw 2 reddish headed shrimplets with colourless body.
> 
> Can anybody explain how this 2 shrimplets happen? And also, i noticed 1 female bee on the 2nd day died after "mating" what happen? Thanks all the expert here in advance


It could be possible those shrimplets managed to hop in with the other shrimps... newborn shrimplets are really tiny and quite often people don't notice them in the bags, and they easily get transferred around with the nets. Shimplets usually only get noticed after a few weeks after they grow larger and more visible.

The one female bee shrimp dying could just be a coincidence, when individual shrimps die it might be due to many reasons (ie. weak, ill, old etc)... if only one shrimp die then its not really a big issue as you can't really pinpoint the exact reasons anyways, but if alot of them die at once then you'll have to check what is really wrong with the tank.

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## genki89

Ok... thanks for the quick reply. I also noticed 1 of the shrimp seens to be molting, but froze and died. I understand it might be some deficiency in calcium. Any natural vegetable which i can use as a supplement? Best is it can bought easily from super market. 

Thanks bro

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## Urban Aquaria

> Ok... thanks for the quick reply. I also noticed 1 of the shrimp seens to be molting, but froze and died. I understand it might be some deficiency in calcium. Any natural vegetable which i can use as a supplement? Best is it can bought easily from super market. 
> 
> Thanks bro


I guess you can try feeding them a small slice of cucumber or zuchinni every few days (make sure you rinse the slices thoroughly and boil for a few minutes before usage, fresh slices can stay in the tank for up to 36-48 hours, just remove when it starts to break apart)... not sure if that supplies them with sufficient calcium though.

For a more direct calcium and essential minerals supply, you can just add a small piece of mineral rock (ie. BorneoWild Mine Rock) or dose liquid mineral additives designed for shrimps (ie. Mosura Mineral Plus or Azoo Mineral Plus).

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## genki89

Ah.. thanks. I will try both cucumber and the liquid minerals.

Instead of boiling the cucumber, soaking it in boiling water serve the same purpose... correct?

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## Urban Aquaria

> Ah.. thanks. I will try both cucumber and the liquid minerals.
> 
> Instead of boiling the cucumber, soaking it in boiling water serve the same purpose... correct?


Yes, you can also soak it in boiling water for a few minutes, that does a similar job, its mainly to soften the slices so that the shrimps can eat it readily (otherwise they'll have to wait an extra day for the slice to soften naturally in the tank).

As you have a very small tank and few shrimps, just put in a small slice at a time, maybe 3-4cm slice is sufficient (remove the parts with seeds).

The rest of the slices you can store in a zip lock and put in the freezer, they can be kept frozen and used for a few months.

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## genki89

Hello all, this is 1 month after the new shrimps i bought.

New update on the shrimp qty. Sakura im left with 3 big, only saw 1 of the small guy, the other have not seen it for quite awhile.

Bee shrimp left 3 seen, 2 missing and for sure 3 died. I need a little help in identifying this pic, it looks a bit different and i hope it is what it seen to be, berried.

Sorry for the sluggish photo, this is s4 not ipone6

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## Ingen

Its a female but not sure if it's berried. You should be able to spot many eggs (tiny round thingy) attached to it.

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## genki89

I am wandering what goes wrong now and my studies are, what shrimps will survive and breed at temp around 27 to 28.

During office hour, water temp will drop to 24. After office hour, and non working days, 28. As i understand shrimp cannot take drastic temp change, i maintained it at 27.5.

Apart, to keep my amonia and nitratr low, i need to change water level at 30% weekly. I also need to rescape my tank as it appear to be a jungle now, and some plants started to turn yellow.

Now, i got everything in place except for shrimp that will survive and breed at 27 to 28 degree. Any shrimp recommendations? Thank you and sorry for being so noob at shrimp -.- my tank is actually 5 litre desktop tank

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## CalvinTBC

Snow balls, fire reds and cherry reds


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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## Urban Aquaria

> I am wandering what goes wrong now and my studies are, what shrimps will survive and breed at temp around 27 to 28.
> 
> During office hour, water temp will drop to 24. After office hour, and non working days, 28. As i understand shrimp cannot take drastic temp change, i maintained it at 27.5.
> 
> Apart, to keep my amonia and nitratr low, i need to change water level at 30% weekly. I also need to rescape my tank as it appear to be a jungle now, and some plants started to turn yellow.
> 
> Now, i got everything in place except for shrimp that will survive and breed at 27 to 28 degree. Any shrimp recommendations? Thank you and sorry for being so noob at shrimp -.- my tank is actually 5 litre desktop tank


27-28°C is an okay temperature for a tank, most shrimp species can live well in that temperature range. You can still look at keeping RCS (red cherry shrimps) or their other color variants... CRS (crystal red shrimps) could also be kept too, though breeding may not be as ideal as at lower temperatures. 

Changes in temperature between 24-28°C are usually fine as long as the change is gradual, occurring over a few hours (not like suddenly change in a few seconds). I keep cherry shrimps in outdoor tanks with temperatures that gradually change from 25°C at night to 29-30°C in the day (sometimes up to 31-32°C on very hot days), and they still live and breed well. 

I guess your main limitation would mainly be the tank volume of 5 liters. At such small water volumes, water parameters and temperatures change alot quicker, which has a greater effect on shrimps. Even if a small tank is cycled, it can de-cycle and then re-cycle back again within the span of just a few hours, almost impossible to track unless you test the water every hour. When shrimps die in small tanks its usually due to those unseen fluctuations.

To minimize such issues, keep the bio-load and feeding as low as possible to reduce toxic buildup (ie. 5-6 shrimps and only feed a very small amount of food every few days), fill the tank with fast growing plants and sufficient light to soak up the excess nutrients and supply good aeration to increase oxygenation in the tank.

Upgrading to a larger tank (if possible) would help alot too.  :Smile:

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## genki89

UA as always, everything as detailed and as professional as ever.. hope 1 day i will be like you.

The tank i will be upgrading will be 2ft tank after i shift my house. But the 5 litre tank basically is for office desk. So i doubt i will be upgrading it. I kept it at this small due to crs haven, that small bottle with afew cherry...

Im thinking of what the uncle at sea view told me, change all the rooted plants to moss/drift woods that has moss tied to it. What is your view on this?

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## Urban Aquaria

> Im thinking of what the uncle at sea view told me, change all the rooted plants to moss/drift woods that has moss tied to it. What is your view on this?


You could do that too... most shrimp keepers usually have lots of moss tied to wood or rocks in their tanks, they are alot easier and less messy to handle when being shifted around. The moss also creates lots of areas for micro fauna and bio-film to grow too, which is good food for shrimps and shrimplets.

Only thing with moss is they are not exactly fast growing plants that can soak up alot of nutrients, so you'll have to use other plants to do the job. The most common method is to add easy fast growing floating plants like frogbits, dwarf water lettuce, salvinia natans/minima etc, and supply them with ample light (floating plants take Co2 directly from the air so they can still grow fast in low-tech tanks).

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## genki89

But i am running over head filter... will it keep floating around?

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## Urban Aquaria

> But i am running over head filter... will it keep floating around?


Some current at the water surface moving the floating plants around is okay... though not too much that they constantly get water splashed on them or pushed/submerged under the water (that will affect their growth).

If your tank gets alot of water splashing at the surface, then you could use other floating plants that don't mind being submerged, like hornwort or water wisteria.

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## genki89

Need help to identify this sinking pallets.
Somebody gave it to ne but i could not find the nutrients facts. Although theres a pic of crs at the other end of the bottle (i cannot upload the image for some reason), i still find it not trust worthy.

Thanks

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## Urban Aquaria

Looks like those generic fish food... i guess if you are not sure about it and don't know/trust its expiry date, then better not use.

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## genki89

Okay i am back after 1 month of procrastination due to work.

I have remove my fern due to the display became jungle  i got a new floating plant (hoping it was duckweed as the shop owner do not know the actual name) and a christmas moss (hope this is as good and sturdy as java moss). I also got a new algae wafer by ocean nutrition. 

And as i was told that my water may contain inpurity, i also bought Azoo active filter. While looking for the batch of sakura shrimp, i hope what most online articles is correct; pick those that are left afew days on the display (previous batched i only took those that is filled with air or freshly packed) i am quite lucky to find 3/4 air filled bag, with afew baby shrimp and afew berried sakura.

What i did was doing the slow drip acclimatisation method (over 2 hours instead of 24 hours). While doing the rescaping, the berried shrimp actually gave birth. Hope this time round, my batch of shrimp will be successful. 

Any comment on the above method for new shrimp hobby? I also need help to identify this plant as well. Thank you very very much.

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## Urban Aquaria

The floating plants you got are _Limnobium laevigatum_ (aka amazon frogbits).

Btw, is that a heater in the tank?

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## Dscheng

I think so.. the heater look big lol. I need heater for my office and mini chiller for my nano tank. So troublesome.

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## genki89

Yes. It's the smallest i can find.
Weekdays water temp will drop to lowest 23. Over the weekend 28 to 29.

So i use the heater and set it at 27 to 28.

So is the floating plant easy to take care or those that are tedious?

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## Urban Aquaria

Its rather unusual to see a heater being used to increase temperature in a tank, most people would welcome the lower temperature in their shrimp tanks (increased oxygen content, slower growth rate and less molting issues etc). Even if the weekend temperature is higher, the changes are gradual anyways so the shrimps shouldn't have any issues with that.

Frogbits are relatively easy to grow and maintain, just that they do need ample lights and sufficient nutrients to grow well, if you spot the leaves yellowing or melting, then remove those affected parts. Their roots tend to grow very long too, so you many need to trim them regularly to avoid the trailing roots getting tangled into the filter intake.

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## genki89

I see. Thanks. Will monitor the result and see if this will churn out successful.

Well judging by the size of my tank, it is not gradual temperature increment nor decrement.

Im only having a 5 litre tank thats why i also need to change the water 30% to 40% weekly to avoid the high amonia spike or any other factor that lead to sudden water parameters changes.

With your experience, my approach of this maintenance feasible? Or too ks liao? Hahha

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## Urban Aquaria

> I see. Thanks. Will monitor the result and see if this will churn out successful.
> 
> Well judging by the size of my tank, it is not gradual temperature increment nor decrement.
> 
> Im only having a 5 litre tank thats why i also need to change the water 30% to 40% weekly to avoid the high amonia spike or any other factor that lead to sudden water parameters changes.
> 
> With your experience, my approach of this maintenance feasible? Or too ks liao? Hahha


Your maintenance schedule sounds okay... with small tank volumes it just requires more care and effort to keep the parameters stable. It'll mainly depend on how much bio-load the tank and filter have to handle too.

If your shrimps are doing okay with 30-40% weekly water change then can carry on the schedule, though switching to a more frequent (but smaller, ie. 20% every 3 days) water change schedule may be better for the shrimps on the long run, less sudden change in parameters each time.

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## genki89

Hahaha yeah... i reduced the feeding like u advice earlier from daily to once every 2 to 3 days.

Maybe i try 20% water change on tue. Wash filter plus 20% water change on fri.

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## toshinobu

I put in 2 amano shrimps into my tank. I thought that they should've been hardy. One is gone 2 days later and the other 2 more days later....
My parameters were ok.... Its a bit hard to keep them

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## genki89

Everything seems good after 2weeks. The oil film is lesser, or i should say i hardly see any... thanks to the top water plant. 

The shrimplets are doing fine but the adults not so, 50% gone. The leafs are melting, chipping and new leaf sprouts. So i guess its normal?

I also found a nest of unknown eggs which i removed. However, i noticed there are 2 baby snails (those round shell found commonly on plants). Do you guys think i should remove them or just leave it in the tanks since they are not causing problems to my shrimps as of now

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## Urban Aquaria

If you spot snail egg sacs, it would be better to manually remove them if possible, otherwise you may face an increasing population of pond snails in the tank. 

Pond snails are harmless to shrimps, but they do compete for food and resources, and if the snail population becomes too large it can look quite unsightly to some people... unless you like keeping snails too.  :Very Happy:

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## genki89

After much tries, finally i see this mamma berried (i hope that what i see is right. Seems to have alot of circles stuff. Slightly yellow under the light)

I saw it constantly flapping water underneath. But i was confused, do they eat their own eggs? I saw this shrimp taking out its eggs and putting it back.

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## Urban Aquaria

Berried shrimps will constantly fan the eggs to create circulation around them, they will also re-position the existing eggs in the process of creating new ones, its a normal activity.

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## genki89

Wah heng ah. Thanks.

There was a few time position of the shrimp, lighting and location was good, but my camera really chui all the photos blurred

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## genki89

Today i changed the tank water and observed for about 10min.. the berried shrimp no longer carry eggs nor there are any new baby shrimplets. What happen? Miscarriage or she eat her own egg? Please help.. thanks

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## Urban Aquaria

Could be the eggs all hatched and the shrimplets are hiding.

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## genki89

When i 1st bought this pack of shrimps it also have berried shrimps. After i release the bag, more shrimplets was seen.

But this time round i cannot even see a single shrimplets. Did some online research, some say need to wait 4 days to 7 days to actually see the shrimplets. Hope it will really happen.

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## Urban Aquaria

Sometimes its possible the bag of shrimps already contain lots of newborn shrimplets, if you can see them then they are usually already a few days old, very common for shrimplets to get netted in during packing.

Newborn shrimplets are very tiny and transparent... like a spec of dust, usually you'll only see them after a few days after they molt a few times and grow larger.

If you really don't see any shrimplets or none that at least survive to juvenile size, then could it be the water conditions are not so conducive for their development, shrimplets tend to be alot more sensitive than adult shrimps. They molt very often, so any molting issues will affect them much more.

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## alanchow76

Usually the larger tanks (bigger than 2, 3 ft) are more stable and the shrimps will breed like nobody business.
Perhaps the water parameters are more stabilized due to less changes in parameters.
It happened in my 3 feet planted tanks.
I also saw this in a 4 feet tank that succesufuly bred PBL.
Ada soil and simple setup

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## genki89

Need help to identify the snail. Its not what i thought to be garden snail

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## Urban Aquaria

> Need help to identify the snail. Its not what i thought to be garden snail


Thats just a common pond snail (aka bladder snail).

http://www.planetinverts.com/pond_snail.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physidae

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## genki89

Ua really freshwater excoppdia

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## Urban Aquaria

> Ua really freshwater excoppdia


Well, i've spent enough time dealing with those critters before, so quite familiar with them.  :Grin:

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## Vincentwangzx

Hello! I'm so glad I found this forum! I live in Punggol and I have been following Fishlore for a year or so! Didn't know we had a local forum sia! Anyway, I just want to say that I keep a 5 litre tank at work too, and face similar issues of temperature as you! I keep a planted tank, with a fast growing plant and I used spiderwood to make a tree with Java moss. Here's a pic of my shrimp on a Marimo moss.  :Smile:  ImageUploadedByTapatalk1423497282.273101.jpg
I keep 8 RCS some are fire reds. I have an oto in there to manage algae too. His name is MJ cos sometimes he moves backwards like moonwalking. Haha. Nice to know a fellow shrimp keeper! 


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## genki89

Hahaha welcome. Everything in my tank is stable. Now just left the breeding part. Im also thinking of getting some wood to add my big moss ball at the top so it looked like a rain tree.

But have to wait till it breed and after cny. Where u got urs? Seaview or c328?

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## Vincentwangzx

Why does everyone talk about Seaview here? Where is it ah? I buy my stuff at Serangoon North Petsmart, and a few other shops along the pet walk 


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## genki89

Seaview is at seletar. Lfs where i get almost everything there. I am not sure about the price but it is somewhat cheaper compare to those void deck shop. More variety and give u "idea" on ur scaping

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## Vincentwangzx

I see! And c328? Paiseh new here so not sure of the terms


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## genki89

Its the lfs at clementi. But i doubt u will go since ur office might be around AMK industrial park.

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## Vincentwangzx

Haha, my office is at Pasir Ris, but I live in Punggol, so made sense for me to go Serangoon North.  :Smile:  soon I will have to go to work at Jurong East! Might be able to visit Clementi Blk 328!  :Smile:  


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## Vincentwangzx

Here's a picture of my 5l tank! 
ImageUploadedByTapatalk1423531479.846090.jpg


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## genki89

Hahaha everybody scape looks more awesome than mine... i think i need to pumped up 200% when i do my 2ft tank at home...

And UA is right. I just notice afew super tiny shrimplets. 

Here's my new scape after 1 monthuploadfromtaptalk1423534086708.jpg

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## Urban Aquaria

> Why does everyone talk about Seaview here? Where is it ah? I buy my stuff at Serangoon North Petsmart, and a few other shops along the pet walk


Seaview is situated at No. 2 Seletar West Farmway 2.... its around 10x larger than the neighborhood LFS, definitely worth a visit.

If you are in that area, can also check out another LFS called SunPets which is just down the road, they specialize in aquascaping and shrimp keeping. 




> I see! And c328? Paiseh new here so not sure of the terms


C328 is Clementi Florist & Aquarium, situated at Blk 328, Clementi Avenue 2, #01-210... go on a friday night just for the experience, its like trying to navigate through the crowds at annual PC Show.  :Grin: 

Also check out the other LFS in the same block, like Polyart (open 24 hours) and Arowana Avenue.

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## Vincentwangzx

Thanks @Urban Aquaria! I'll definitely pay them a visit soon! 


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## genki89

After CNY, 4 days no feeding loss afew baby shrimp and juvenile shrimp. How you guys keep your shrimp well fed during the time you go overseas and house nobody?

And one more thing, i saw some new creature living in the tank... 1st was this black dots with some sticky pad. It was all over the tank. Initially i thought it was snail, but it just stick there and does not move like snail. I removed all as it is a sore eye. (Will take photo again if it return) happened twice already.

The 2nd weird staff is this white looking creature. Everything looks like shrimp, but the tail is longer, fins widely spread (3 fins) and the head is round that look like mantis. Body structure is like shrimp but round. I try to take photo but i lost it now. It is translucent green. Any idea what it could be and should i remove it? It is bigger than my adult shrimps. Im keeping sakura

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## genki89

Ok. Did some thorough research and found the black dots are harmless seed snail or seed shrimp.

The other is damselfly. How it got in there the 1st place? The tank was in the office...

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## Urban Aquaria

Quite possible a damselfly flew in and laid eggs... or the eggs were already attached to plants that were recently introduced into the tank. Either way its best to remove it as soon as possible, they will hunt the shrimps as part of their diet

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## genki89

Just removed it from the tank. uploadfromtaptalk1424674915440.jpg

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