Beginner to Shrimps keeping

[foxunlimited]

Hey all, I'm new to this hobby and this is getting addictive.

Started off with just 2 yellow shrimps, followed by 2 blue pearls (which both died - dunno the reason ). Currently in my tank there is an Oto, 4 Red Cherry and 10 Crystal Red. I will take a picture of them and post it up later.

Honestly I have not been following up with water parameters and cycling - it's just dumping Gex red soil and water, and some basic declorine stuff.. and let the water sit for 3 days. This must be the case for my dying shrimps.

The only equipment in my tank now is a small LED light on auto timer 10-11hours daily and Small sponge filter. Temperature is reading at 25-27. Is this temperature good enough for CRS? I heard from others that cooling is needed.

Anyway, would like to learn more about water quality control, stuff like NO2, NO3 and measurements from you guys. Do you have any recommended test kits? (Price and location pls) Or any other recommended equipments I should get.

Also want to learn more about feeding frequency, how to spot signs of distress so as to salvage my shrimps from dying.

Ok, too much words. I will post up pictures tonight.
Cheers!

My RCS and CRS on a "Moss Tree"

[AlexHcp]

Hi bro, firstly, you might want to consider cycling your tank ? We shrimp keeper can't emphasize on how important this is. Shrimps are way more sensitive comparing to fishes - always provide the best environment for your pet ehh.

Cycling - what it does is it helps to build up beneficial bacteria which will breaks down the waste into less harmful nitrates and nitrites ( please read up on cycling and nitrogen cycle). When the waste is being broken down, the plants will then be able to absorb the nitrates and nitrites. The death of your shrimps might be because that there aren't enough beneficial bacteria without proper cycling and hence causes high amount of nitrate and nitrite.

Bro nitrates, nitrites and ammonia should be kept to minimum so as to ensure the survival of your shrimps. All these can only be achieve through proper cycling, or unless you already have cycled bio media in your filter.

As for test kit wise, I would recommend to use those specific test kit which require you to take the water and put into the test tube and drip the solution to see the color changes ( maybe like the tetra test kit) - try not to get those paper kind, as they will test till you are crossed eye and you still can't make out the exact ppm of nitrate etc - moreover test strips are known to be less accurate.

As for anti chlorine, do check what brand you are using as not all are suitable for shrimps. There alot more things to learn other than just the temperature for CRS - what do you mean by good for them ? Thing like GH, kH and PH also plays an important role to shrimp keeping.

My best advice is to start reading up more on the shrimps you would like to keep, cycling and then try to ask question from there. It's pretty hard to explain everything to you from nothing.


I am no expert, just some random guy offering my 2 cents.

[foxunlimited]

thanks bro. i might go grab some test kits to measure the current condition of my tank.
Any specific brand to recommend?

So I should get Ammonia, Nitrate and Nitrite test kits eh? Got it.

[Neondagger]

just google what you want to know. And you will get it. there are many threads that answer you question and will come out if you google it. without doubt.

[foxunlimited]

yup, researched alot. But I think it's better to have the answers in Singapore context - closer to home thus better accuracy. =D

[AlexHcp]

Haha bro neondagger gave the best sweet and short reply... I used my iPhone type till finger pain Liao... Hahaha yup you should go goggle... And depending on how in dept you want to go, you can even get KH , GH and PH is a must ehh...

[Neondagger]

search within aquaquotrient then. All this question have been answered many times before in many threads. But we would be glad to help you. Just name what you want to know and People in this forum would be glad to give you an answer.

[gid]

Im setting up a new shrimp tank too.

Is it absolutely important to get test kits? I'd assume that it will be fine as long as we give it enought time.

Im setting up a new 1.5 feet shrimp tank, and intend to cycle the tank for 2mths, with some 'seed' water and plants from my old tank, and use 1 tetra as my starter fish. I will just let nature take its course for 2 months. is it ok?

[Jianyuan]

If you've been reading close enough to the threads regarding this topic of shrimp keeping, many of us have advise in purchasing a set of test kit for the correct monitor of your water parameters.
How would you be sure of your parameters if you dont use any test kits.
One good example is the gH, its one of the common reason why shrimps die, low gH, shell unable to form after molting, high gH, shell too thick for shrimps to molt.

[Neondagger]

Test kit prevent o shot moment

In the process of learning. painful but fun!

[foxunlimited]

pH - 7.6
Nitrite NO2 - 0.25ppm
Nitrate NO3 - 60ppm

Ok.. looks like I'm in deep red on this.

Should I do an immediate water change using distilled water? I bought Polar Distilled Water just in case..

My CRS looks happy, but the results says they are close to doomsday!

[AlexHcp]

Lol... Bro firstly, your ph is too high! No3 also abit high... Got to ask some kind bro for advice...

[foxunlimited]

I just tested my direct tap water... pH 7.4!! wahlao.. stupid newater.
Anyways, tested the Polar Distilled water too - pH 6.9

Should I do a distilled water change?

[Neondagger]

I wonder what soil u using. Ph so high

In the process of learning. painful but fun!

[foxunlimited]

Gex Red leh.. the uncle tell me this one for shrimps one

[Neondagger]

Search around there are many ways to lowers your PH. But need the pros to help you find out what is causing the ph to be so high. I am clueless. whats that metal bowl for? could it be the one? just guessing.
I feed my shrimp every 2-3days. they will not starve if got moss in your tank. no need to feed so much. extra food leftover can cause ammonia too.

[foxunlimited]

yea i noticed im overfeeding.. shall not.
the metal bowl is for tossing the food there, if not it will get buried by the sand and start to rot below..
I'll take out the bowl and test for ph tomorrow - see if it affects

[reiner09]

looks like your tank isn't done cycling yet as nitrite is still present.. What media do you have in you HOF? Gex red ph should be maintained around 6.0 .. 7.6 ph is weird...And your feeding plate, did you check what material is it made of? aluminium? Stainless steel? don't forget that Low grade stainless steel can rust too..unless it is grade 316 SS which contains molybdenum then it will be more or less safer to use. When it does rust, i can only say good luck to your shrimps.

[foxunlimited]

its a stainless steel which i purchased last sunday.. probably 48hours in the tank? i just took it out.
And bro what do you meant by HOF?

[reiner09]

HOF= hang on filter. The filter you are using.. what do you have inside