psitta Posted September 14, 2017 Report Share Posted September 14, 2017 Hello! I'm new to shrimpkeeping. I've been cycling my tank for like 5 months, and I have plants, snails, there's biofilm, weekly 20% water changes, Seachem Prime dechlorinator... My pH is ~7.5, 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites. Temp is 73°F, no heater it's just room temp. No idea the GH/KH. I grabbed two bloody marys from my LFS on an impulse a few weeks ago. One died, the other is fine and dandy. I ordered about 17 RCS from Aquatic Arts, they arrived two days ago and I acclimated them for 2 hours, monitoring them the whole time. One died an hour into acclimation so i stopped to let them sit before a while before continuing. Since the shrimps have been in the tank, I've had 3 more deaths all at least a few hours apart. I just fished the 3rd out now. Is there a problem with AA? Should I buy from somewhere else? I don't want to lose all these guys, I'm really loving these shrimps. What do I do?! (Picture cause they're cute) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aotf Posted September 14, 2017 Report Share Posted September 14, 2017 1 hour ago, psitta said: No idea the GH/KH. That could be a start. To successfully raise shrimp, you'll find that knowing what's going on with your water is critical. I'd recommend investing in a gH/kH test kit and a TDS meter. Are you injecting CO2? Sorry, shrimp get expensive really quickly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NotKelly Posted September 14, 2017 Report Share Posted September 14, 2017 Weekly 20% water change is a little overkill. That's recommended for most types of fishkeeping, but shrimp have a very low bioload and do not need that big of a water change that often. I do a 10% once a month in my shrimp tanks, although I have a lot of plants that soak up the nitrates so that helps a lot. Do you drip the new water into your tank? Shrimp like constant, stable water. Also would buy a gh/kh test kit. Definitely isn't a problem with aquatic arts, they're the only people I've ever bought shrimp from. I've never had a bad experience with them. psitta 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chappy6107 Posted September 15, 2017 Report Share Posted September 15, 2017 You will get good and bad reviews of aquatic arts as alot of their stock is imported and that by itself can cause a higher than normal death rate within the next few days of receiving them. I have nothing against them, but I prefer to buy my shrimp from sources I know are home bred and healthy. now on to your biggest concern. You can not blame/assume the seller is at fault without knowing your complete water parameters. The basic parameters you posted are generally good enough for fish, but when it comes to shrimp(even neos) you need to know your gh/kh. Many, many, many areas tap water is not healthy for shrimp. Some like myself have to use remineralized ro water. I would invest in a gh & kh test kit. And as far as water changes try to keep it to a maximum of 10% per week at most. and welcome to the forum! aotf 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aotf Posted September 15, 2017 Report Share Posted September 15, 2017 16 minutes ago, chappy6107 said: You can not blame/assume the seller is at fault without knowing your complete water parameters. I was going to respond with this but you beat me to it. I am one of those whose experiences with AA have been less than stellar, but my stance is that the seller should be presumed innocent until proven guilty. Unless the buyer has sufficient information about their own setup to reasonably rule themselves out as being at fault, it's unfair to blame the seller. psitta, get your kH/gH information and let us know what you find. If you find that your tank should be able to handle the shrimp you ordered, contact AA. Their customer service is excellent and they will do their best to make sure you have a good experience with them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psitta Posted September 15, 2017 Author Report Share Posted September 15, 2017 Thank y'all so much, I'll grab a kit today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psitta Posted September 15, 2017 Author Report Share Posted September 15, 2017 19 hours ago, aotf said: Are you injecting CO2? No, I am not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NotKelly Posted September 15, 2017 Report Share Posted September 15, 2017 19 hours ago, chappy6107 said: You will get good and bad reviews of aquatic arts as alot of their stock is imported and that by itself can cause a higher than normal death rate within the next few days of receiving them. I have nothing against them, but I prefer to buy my shrimp from sources I know are home bred and healthy. now on to your biggest concern. You can not blame/assume the seller is at fault without knowing your complete water parameters. The basic parameters you posted are generally good enough for fish, but when it comes to shrimp(even neos) you need to know your gh/kh. Many, many, many areas tap water is not healthy for shrimp. Some like myself have to use remineralized ro water. I would invest in a gh & kh test kit. And as far as water changes try to keep it to a maximum of 10% per week at most. and welcome to the forum! I'm actually really surprised. I never knew aquatic arts was imported shrimp. I feel bamboozled. I've never had a bad experience from them, but I guess I'm just lucky. Might even cancel a pending order I have with them right now, because I feel duped. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aotf Posted September 15, 2017 Report Share Posted September 15, 2017 11 minutes ago, NotKelly said: I'm actually really surprised. I never knew aquatic arts was imported shrimp. I feel bamboozled. I've never had a bad experience from them, but I guess I'm just lucky. Might even cancel a pending order I have with them right now, because I feel duped. To be fair with Aquatic Arts, I don't think they ever lied or claimed to breed their own shrimp. The owner (David) even posted a long response letter to a couple forums in response to complaints that the shrimp were carrying parasites, explaining their situation and the efforts they were taking with their sources to mitigate the issues with their shrimp. Their customer service is also really good, so in the event that you do have an issue with them, they'll do their best to resolve it. Personally, (having bought from them before without knowing the difference between imported and non-imported) I find their prices too high for imports when you can buy locally bred shrimp from other hobbyists for cheaper. This isn't a dig on AA: they're running an actual business and need to derive a minimum income for it to function, whereas hobbyists are not under the same economic pressure. They're not bad people and I'm actually rooting for them long term since that just means more access to different shrimp varieties for everyone. In the end, it's entirely your call. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NotKelly Posted September 15, 2017 Report Share Posted September 15, 2017 1 minute ago, aotf said: To be fair with Aquatic Arts, I don't think they ever lied or claimed to breed their own shrimp. The owner (David) even posted a long response letter to a couple forums in response to complaints that the shrimp were carrying parasites, explaining their situation and the efforts they were taking with their sources to mitigate the issues with their shrimp. Their customer service is also really good, so in the event that you do have an issue with them, they'll do their best to resolve it. Personally, (having bought from them before without knowing the difference between imported and non-imported) I find their prices too high for imports when you can buy locally bred shrimp from other hobbyists for cheaper. This isn't a dig on AA: they're running an actual business and need to derive a minimum income for it to function, whereas hobbyists are not under the same economic pressure. They're not bad people and I'm actually rooting for them long term since that just means more access to different shrimp varieties for everyone. In the end, it's entirely your call. Yeah, I've always had "Special requests" in my orders and they've been super helpful. Shipping out sooner for free, adding extra moss balls for free, giving me a $10 coupon for shipping delays, etc... I love how they run their business. I'm kinda bummed because I wish their shrimp were homebred. I guess I just assume when people never strictly say import that they're home bred. I guess you can't have it all Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NotKelly Posted September 27, 2017 Report Share Posted September 27, 2017 On 9/15/2017 at 2:09 PM, NotKelly said: Yeah, I've always had "Special requests" in my orders and they've been super helpful. Shipping out sooner for free, adding extra moss balls for free, giving me a $10 coupon for shipping delays, etc... I love how they run their business. I'm kinda bummed because I wish their shrimp were homebred. I guess I just assume when people never strictly say import that they're home bred. I guess you can't have it all Update every shrimp but one I just got in my order from aquatic arts has scutariella! Yay! Never ordering from them again and I feel stupid for defending them for as long as I have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aotf Posted September 27, 2017 Report Share Posted September 27, 2017 55 minutes ago, NotKelly said: Update every shrimp but one I just got in my order from aquatic arts has scutariella! Yay! Never ordering from them again and I feel stupid for defending them for as long as I have. I also got scutariella from them. Luckily, it's a relatively benign parasite that won't kill your shrimp overnight. Looks like salt dips are in the cards for you, hope you don't have too many shrimp to dip... it takes a while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NotKelly Posted September 28, 2017 Report Share Posted September 28, 2017 1 hour ago, aotf said: I also got scutariella from them. Luckily, it's a relatively benign parasite that won't kill your shrimp overnight. Looks like salt dips are in the cards for you, hope you don't have too many shrimp to dip... it takes a while. Yeah I only got 10 so it didn't take too long to scoop them all up. All the visible parasites are gone now I'll have to keep an eye out for molts to remove Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psitta Posted September 28, 2017 Author Report Share Posted September 28, 2017 I haven't noticed scutariella, and I dont think i have a problem with Aquatic Arts, they've been awful nice to me. I have done a small water change, making sure to add a teeny bit extra Seachem Prime conditioner and have had no problems since. I'm even seeing some baby shrimps and the ladies have been molting, everyone's eating, fingers crossed I'm good for a while. If I can make a trip to my LFS (nearly an hour away) for RO water regularly I suppose I can. Thanks for the advice, and your opinions on AA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NotKelly Posted September 28, 2017 Report Share Posted September 28, 2017 1 hour ago, psitta said: I haven't noticed scutariella, and I dont think i have a problem with Aquatic Arts, they've been awful nice to me. I have done a small water change, making sure to add a teeny bit extra Seachem Prime conditioner and have had no problems since. I'm even seeing some baby shrimps and the ladies have been molting, everyone's eating, fingers crossed I'm good for a while. If I can make a trip to my LFS (nearly an hour away) for RO water regularly I suppose I can. Thanks for the advice, and your opinions on AA. I'm glad! Sorry to hijack your post. Also grocery stores usually have water machines out front that sell r/o or distilled water for 25 cents a gallon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aotf Posted September 28, 2017 Report Share Posted September 28, 2017 14 hours ago, psitta said: I haven't noticed scutariella, and I dont think i have a problem with Aquatic Arts, they've been awful nice to me. I have done a small water change, making sure to add a teeny bit extra Seachem Prime conditioner and have had no problems since. I'm even seeing some baby shrimps and the ladies have been molting, everyone's eating, fingers crossed I'm good for a while. If I can make a trip to my LFS (nearly an hour away) for RO water regularly I suppose I can. Thanks for the advice, and your opinions on AA. Baby shrimp are a good sign. They'll take a while to mature but in the event that the adults slowly start to drop off (which is pretty common when moving shrimp from one set of parameters to another), the shrimplets that have grown up in your tank should be much more resilient. Congrats! You're on your way to a thriving shrimp tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greenteam Posted September 28, 2017 Report Share Posted September 28, 2017 On 9/14/2017 at 7:40 PM, NotKelly said: Weekly 20% water change is a little overkill. That's recommended for most types of fishkeeping, but shrimp have a very low bioload and do not need that big of a water change that often. I do a 10% once a month in my shrimp tanks, although I have a lot of plants that soak up the nitrates so that helps a lot. Do you drip the new water into your tank? Shrimp like constant, stable water. Also would buy a gh/kh test kit. Definitely isn't a problem with aquatic arts, they're the only people I've ever bought shrimp from. I've never had a bad experience with them. I do weekly WC's of 20% on all my tanks for the past 5 years with the best results. I tested monthly & bi-weekly WC's for several years and still found the highest survival rate of baby shrimp from weekly WC's. I do it with everything from low grade CRS to high grade Fishbone Galaxies. The Golden Calceo's in the pictures I've had for 2 months and the females produced 2 batches and berried with the 3rd in a row. My parameters stay rock solid & have high baby survival rates. Shrimp Life and Shrimporama 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jitters Posted September 28, 2017 Report Share Posted September 28, 2017 So what is it then? 20% water changes or not? Looks like we got a draw! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greenteam Posted September 28, 2017 Report Share Posted September 28, 2017 8 minutes ago, Jitters said: So what is it then? 20% water changes or not? Looks like we got a draw! People can chose what works best for them. My results are just based on several years of trying all the different options & from verifying my results with some of the large breeders overseas. I mention it so people see what works for them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jitters Posted September 28, 2017 Report Share Posted September 28, 2017 3 minutes ago, Greenteam said: People can chose what works best for them. My results are just based on several years of trying all the different options & from verifying my results with some of the large breeders overseas. I mention it so people see what works for them. I usually do about that in my tanks too. I rently just switched to RO water so I’m in the process of switching it out. So they may get two WC a week. Love the pictures by the way. Once I get food with the neos I’m going to try my luck with those guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shrimp Life Posted September 29, 2017 Report Share Posted September 29, 2017 17 hours ago, Greenteam said: I do weekly WC's of 20% on all my tanks for the past 5 years with the best results. I tested monthly & bi-weekly WC's for several years and still found the highest survival rate of baby shrimp from weekly WC's. I do it with everything from low grade CRS to high grade Fishbone Galaxies. The Golden Calceo's in the pictures I've had for 2 months and the females produced 2 batches and berried with the 3rd in a row. My parameters stay rock solid & have high baby survival rates. Wow NICE TANKS!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chappy6107 Posted October 2, 2017 Report Share Posted October 2, 2017 On 9/28/2017 at 4:31 PM, Jitters said: So what is it then? 20% water changes or not? Looks like we got a draw! there is no draw. it is what works best for your tanks. This is not a competition. I suggested 10% because that is what works for me. the OP has shrimp dropping dead, and needs help. So I provided what I do. If what you do is different and works for you then that is terrific. However his/her shrimp are from AA and imported most likely, which means they have gone through enough parameter changes to this point. The shrimp need a bit of stability at this point Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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