for anyone who is new to shrimp like me, this may be a useful lesson i learned the hard way. i am by no means an expert yet for shrimp, but passing along whatever knowledge i can at this point.
i tried CRS maybe 2 years ago and the tank never took off. people usually say how easy they are so i was disappointed the endeavor failed. i am now trying again with blue velvet shrimp, which people still say are relatively easy. i started to notice some odd behaviors. i saw one molt, but some were laying on their sides, moving in jolting manners, swimming in erratic spurts, etc.
i joined a FB group for shrimp, and they have been very helpful. after going through temp, ammonia, etc. they mentioned TDS was important. the seller noted his TDS when i purchased, but i honestly have never in my life owned a TDS meter. i always went off the fish behavior. if they were healthy, active, eating, etc...i figured all is well.
get a TDS meter before purchasing your shrimp. i knew shrimp are sensitive to the things like ammonia, nitrite and nitrates. all of those were testing out at zero or close to it, so i thought my tank was perfectly fine. topping off when needed, water is clear, etc.
but....of course there is a but...i was still losing shrimp. i only saw one or two actually dead, but have feeling more are gone in the rocks/plants. the most i have seen alive now are around 5-8 at a time out of the initial 20. its possible there are more hiding, but who knows. i know i dont have 20 anymore
i ordered a TDS meter and it came yesterday. the seller said his tank was 340 ppm, which by the meter chart is acceptable and moderate water in regards to hardness and dissolved solids. the EPA cutoff for water is 500 ppm to get into the red. i tested a few sources:
Distilled water -> 0 to 1 ppm
Filtered Water from Fridge -> 217 ppm
Tap water -> 252 ppm
My Shrimp Tank -> 742 ppm
turns out every time i topped off with tap water, i was raising my TDS. i was never thinking the water evaporating off left behind all its dissolved solids, so adding more tap just pushed this value higher into the danger zone. i am pretty sure that is whats causing the stress to the shrimp.
i am now doing water changes daily to gradually lower the TDS. you can shock the shrimp lowering too quickly, just like wild spikes in other params impact fish. the flourish excel i use for the plants also raises the TDS, so i know now to essentially do a water change then add my liquid ferts to keep the TDS down. this will mean multiple water changes per week and daily meter readings to keep the water params low and very clean for the shrimp.
another tip is to top off with distilled water, not tap. with distilled water having no dissolved solids it will lwoer the TDS if anything.
hope this helps anyone getting into shrimp. this is probably why my voyage into CRS a few years back failed too. it does not discourage me from keeping shrimp. i will replace the lost ones in my tank eventually. i am determined to get good colonies going and graduate into other species beyond the neos.
i tried CRS maybe 2 years ago and the tank never took off. people usually say how easy they are so i was disappointed the endeavor failed. i am now trying again with blue velvet shrimp, which people still say are relatively easy. i started to notice some odd behaviors. i saw one molt, but some were laying on their sides, moving in jolting manners, swimming in erratic spurts, etc.
i joined a FB group for shrimp, and they have been very helpful. after going through temp, ammonia, etc. they mentioned TDS was important. the seller noted his TDS when i purchased, but i honestly have never in my life owned a TDS meter. i always went off the fish behavior. if they were healthy, active, eating, etc...i figured all is well.
get a TDS meter before purchasing your shrimp. i knew shrimp are sensitive to the things like ammonia, nitrite and nitrates. all of those were testing out at zero or close to it, so i thought my tank was perfectly fine. topping off when needed, water is clear, etc.
but....of course there is a but...i was still losing shrimp. i only saw one or two actually dead, but have feeling more are gone in the rocks/plants. the most i have seen alive now are around 5-8 at a time out of the initial 20. its possible there are more hiding, but who knows. i know i dont have 20 anymore
i ordered a TDS meter and it came yesterday. the seller said his tank was 340 ppm, which by the meter chart is acceptable and moderate water in regards to hardness and dissolved solids. the EPA cutoff for water is 500 ppm to get into the red. i tested a few sources:
Distilled water -> 0 to 1 ppm
Filtered Water from Fridge -> 217 ppm
Tap water -> 252 ppm
My Shrimp Tank -> 742 ppm
turns out every time i topped off with tap water, i was raising my TDS. i was never thinking the water evaporating off left behind all its dissolved solids, so adding more tap just pushed this value higher into the danger zone. i am pretty sure that is whats causing the stress to the shrimp.
i am now doing water changes daily to gradually lower the TDS. you can shock the shrimp lowering too quickly, just like wild spikes in other params impact fish. the flourish excel i use for the plants also raises the TDS, so i know now to essentially do a water change then add my liquid ferts to keep the TDS down. this will mean multiple water changes per week and daily meter readings to keep the water params low and very clean for the shrimp.
another tip is to top off with distilled water, not tap. with distilled water having no dissolved solids it will lwoer the TDS if anything.
hope this helps anyone getting into shrimp. this is probably why my voyage into CRS a few years back failed too. it does not discourage me from keeping shrimp. i will replace the lost ones in my tank eventually. i am determined to get good colonies going and graduate into other species beyond the neos.
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