Funny behavior : RCS

**Daveyy** · 1st Oct 2013, 11:35

Hello, been keeping shrimp for awhile now, approx 3month.

Suddenly observe all my shrimp hiding near the top(near surface) of the bogwood.

Anyone able to advise?

Changes to the tank are : remove one species of plant. add in a red plant. PS didnt really know the name of it.

and i saw alot of molted shell(finger cross it is not dead shrimp)

any advice is appreciated. Thanks.

**Daveyy** · 1st Oct 2013, 12:06

Okay, i just rmb i added activated carbon.

I read online it say it will raise pH, is it true?

Will it affect the water??

**thebaldingaquarist** · 1st Oct 2013, 12:48

Probably upload a picture of the red plant?

activated carbon and PH, depends on the brand and product for the activated carbon.
The ones i use last time, cheaper china brand reduces KH, does nothing to PH. not sure whether its a correct behavior.

**Daveyy** · 1st Oct 2013, 15:10

Originally Posted by Erctheanda

Probably upload a picture of the red plant?

activated carbon and PH, depends on the brand and product for the activated carbon.
The ones i use last time, cheaper china brand reduces KH, does nothing to PH. not sure whether its a correct behavior.

Hey thanks for reply.

Yeah mine was some cheapo china brand i think.

The plant is rotala or smth like that.

Hmmm. I took out the activated carbon last night alr. Hopefully my shrimp will be swimming around my tank when i get back.

**thebaldingaquarist** · 1st Oct 2013, 19:19

Originally Posted by Daveyy

Hey thanks for reply.

Yeah mine was some cheapo china brand i think.

The plant is rotala or smth like that.

Hmmm. I took out the activated carbon last night alr. Hopefully my shrimp will be swimming around my tank when i get back.

Do update. If it's rotala, should be shrimp safe. Assuming nothing foreign was brought in together. You quarantined the plants and cleaned them before planting?

Other that the plant and carbon, any other change? Like lighting intensity and ferts?

**Urban Aquaria** · 1st Oct 2013, 21:06

It could be due to the substrate being kicked up by the removal and replanting of new plants, as that can sometimes create a brief spike in ammonia because of organics being mixed up in the water column, so the shrimps might probably panic abit because of the sudden change and cluster close to the surface.

The size of the tank affects too... smaller tank volumes tend to be more susceptible to parameter changes during re-scapes, compared to larger tank volumes.