# Cherry shrimp in a new tank



## sasa (Apr 15, 2005)

Hi all,

I set up a medium planted tank 6 days ago. A friend of mine gave me 6 cherry shrimps as a gift.

I don't know if the shrimps have enough food to eat (I don't see algae except for a couple of leaves with brown algae).

So far they are doing fine (I think...), their color is still red and they seems to be eating something (I don't know what exactly)

This is my set up:
77 gallon tank
eco-complete + fluorite + gravel substrate
pressurized C02 with powered reactor
PH: 6.8
KH: 5dKG
GH: 9dGH
NO3: it reads 0 with the Red Sea kit (not sure if it's right)
PO4: 1.5
Ammonia: 0
I started the fertilization with Seachem product line.

Do you think that I should give them some extra food? of change something in my set up? 

Thanks for any help.

Sasa


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## Simpte 27 (Jul 16, 2004)

If you are feeding your fish (if you have any in there as you did not list them) they are probably eating. And they will eat algae that you cant see.


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## Piscesgirl (Feb 25, 2004)

If they are alone in the tank, no fish, you may want to sprinkle a bit of spirulina flake food or even use some blanched vegetables to supplement their diet.


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

I would definitely give them a little supplement of something like spirulina flakes since it's altogether possible that they won't be getting enough to eat from just what the plants/tank provides.


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## sasa (Apr 15, 2005)

I don't have any fish yet, I was planning to wait 1-2 month to learn to mantain the planted tank (This is my first one!), but my frien just surprise me with the gift.

I will buy the spirulina tomorrow to help them a little bit. poor guys. 
can I give them some spinach today? I don't have any fish food now.

Sasa


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## Piscesgirl (Feb 25, 2004)

You can give them spinach -- or other vegies. Be careful to rinse well. 

Also, look at the ingredients of whatever flake food product you purchase just to make sure that there is no copper listed in the ingredients.


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## gnatster (Mar 6, 2004)

It's a new tank, it's only 6 shrimp. no need for lots a varied foods at this point to feed only 6 shrimp. Pop over to the lfs and pick up the smallest Hikari Algae Wafer packet they have, If they also have the Crab Cuisine get one of those too. Should be less then 5 bucks. 1 crab cuisine pellet or the approx equivalent of an algae wafer per day is more then sufficient.

Most of all, enjoy.


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

Sasa... Although you don't see any algae for them to eat I'm sure they are finding micro bits not visible to the human eye.

I feed my shrimp about twice a week, no need to feed them everyday. You want them to do there jobs, so keep feedings on the light side. Mine like spinach, zucchini, shrimp pellets and algae wafers.

I buy the bags of spinach you find in the grocery freezer, just make sure there is no additives like salt. Then when feeding time comes I just take a bit out and warm it up in the microwave and throw it into the tank.

The zucchini I cut up in small pieces and blanch it in some boiling water. This process will soften it up and make the pieces sink.

_What type fish do you plan on getting_?... Make sure that you get fish that will not harass or eat your Cherry's.


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## sasa (Apr 15, 2005)

*one shrimp die.*

I've just found a dead shrimp today!. He looked normal to me (pretty red). I checked the parameters and They were ok no ammonia, and the rest of the parameters in the normal ranges for planted tanks.

Can it be the ferts that I'm using for the plants? I'm using the Seachem product list. (Iron, Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium) I follow the label dosing.

There is some hair algae on the plants so I think they have food and I'm adding a little bit of fish flakes (I will put a little of veggies in the following days).

By the way, I'm having a really problem with snails now. They are reproducing like rabbits! I think they came with one of the plants (it looks like I didn't clean them enough) How can I get rid of the snails without getting a Botia macracanthus? There is any other fish that can help me with this problem and leave alone the shrimps?

Thanks for your help.

sasa


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## shalu (Oct 1, 2004)

sasa said:


> He looked normal to me (pretty red).


Even non-red shrimps turn red whey they die.


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

Sorry to hear about your shrimp... Are you sure that it was not a molted shell?The molts can look like the whole shrimp, appearing to be a dead shrimp. 

I use all types of ferts with no ill effects to the shrimp. The only thing to stay away from is copper, however most ferts do not contain enough to harm shrimp.

You can add some iodine to help with the molting process. Adding 1 drop per ten gallons of water once a week after a water change is plenty.

There is fish that will eat snails but would more than likely eat your shrimp also. The best thing to do is to add a lettuce leaf to your tank after lights out, this will attract the snails. Then you can remove the lettuce a few hours later with snails attached. This process may need to be repeated several times.


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## Piscesgirl (Feb 25, 2004)

If the snails are reproducing quickly, then there is too much food in the tank. Perhaps it would be best as the others suggest to limit the feeding at this time. You said your other parameters were normal -- what about NitrIte? 

If only one shrimp has passed away, it is perhaps just a sickly shrimp -- but keep an eye on the others.


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