# Amano shrimps left the aquarium.



## Zoidburg (Mar 8, 2016)

Could be the high CO2 concentration... (have heard it's best to keep it at 3 BPS or less)

It could be the ferts

Maybe they weren't acclimated well enough to the water before being introduced into the aquarium?

Or perhaps it's the algae removing product???


You've got a lot going on in your tank and not knowing your water parameters.... well, multiple reasons, really...


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## Opare (Sep 9, 2015)

We can't really guess his CO2 concentration as BPS is different for every bubble counter, and some large tanks are definitely going to go well above 3 BPS. Do you have a drop checker?
I don't reckon it is the additives, ADA uses them in tanks with Amano shrimp, and they do well. I mean the shrimp technically shares the name of the company hahaha. Also, eventhough the additive is an acid, you add such a small amount its effect on a tank's pH would be miniscule if noticeable at all due to all the different buffering species in the water. The argument on whether you need the additives is another thing, but I don't think they will hurt. I also doubt the pH drop from OP adding CO2 is going to be large enough to cause problems unless OP really is adding tonnes in, and/or has no KH.
I think acclimating could be something to go on, but as others have said we need to know water parameters.


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## NickAu (Feb 24, 2017)

Shrimp are notorious escape artists, you really should have a lid on your tank.

I kept finding RCS in my HOB filter and for a long time I couldn't figure out how they got in there.

Anyway 1 day I spotted a shrimp climbing into the HOB. 

My heater is under the filter outlet and so is part of the power cord, It seems the shrimp use the power cord as a highway in and out of the filter. No I'm serious got photos to prove it.


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## MiZuboov (Mar 14, 2017)

Thanks for your reply.
All your experience is important for me.

I've read tons of articles and forums regarding that problem.
Looks like it is common problem for a lot of AMANO shrimp keepers.
one part of aquarists have no issue with them, and everything goes fine. Other part discuss the distance the can cover without water and truly amazed how far from the aquarium they found dead shrimps

I believe that it is something wrong with water. Shrimp of fish jumps because of stress or chemistry.
Lid is not an option. As for me it looks ugly for ADA setup. Look at AMANO gallery non of the tanks covered. And i am sure has tons of AMANO shrimps. And if this is problem of water chemistry lid sounds cruel to me, as it force them to live in the wrong water conditions.


It is obvious, this little algae killing hero is extremely important member of planted tank. And I want to find the reason and i do not want to hurt any new shrimp.


Probably someone know something or can post a link for any advanced article about caridina japonica care tips.


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## NickAu (Feb 24, 2017)

> I believe that it is something wrong with water. Shrimp of fish jumps because of stress or chemistry.


My water is perfect for my shrimp they breed like crazy, The reason they love the filter is because its full of food they love.

Some fish jump because thats the way they get food in the wild its instinctive for them, Eg Bettas are notorious jumpers they are insectivores and thats how they would catch their food normally.

I had to lover the water in my Betta sorority by a good 5 inches to stop the girls jumping out.



> And if this is problem of water chemistry lid sounds cruel to me, as it force them to live in the wrong water conditions.


It is also cruel when they jump out and die on the carpet.



> What could dislike the shrimp, that they all jumped out of the aquarium overnight?


What are your water parameters? You know the important stuff
Ammonia
Nitrite
Nitrate
What temp is the water
Is the tank cycled



> Lid is not an option. As for me it looks ugly for ADA setup. Look at AMANO gallery non of the tanks covered.


A lid is NOT ugly and appart from preventing your live stock jumping out it also helps maintain a stable water temp and helps cut down on evaporation.


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## MiZuboov (Mar 14, 2017)

Cycle is finished.

Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0,1
pH 6,2
kH 1


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## jellopuddinpop (Dec 12, 2016)

MiZuboov said:


> Cycle is finished.
> 
> Ammonia 0
> Nitrite 0
> ...


The KH may be your problem. Take a measurement of your Ph just before lights on and again just before lights off. With a KH that low, you may be experiencing violent ph swings that would cause the shrimp discomfort. I may consider a Gh/ Kh booster in your dosing regiment

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## IntotheWRX (May 13, 2016)

MiZuboov said:


> Hallo!
> 3 (nearly 4) weeks ago I started up ADA Aquarium 90 Cube garden. 3 days ago I thought I can to buy Amano shrimps for algae control. The next day after placing shrimps all of them jumped and it were found on the floor.
> Water parameters I didn't measure.
> I use ADA Amazonia (and the whole set of ADA additives), RO System Spectra Pure, TDS 2.
> ...


They didn't like your water. It happened to me a lot when I first started this hobby. Many fishes and shrimps would jump out. But now that my tank is stable, they don't jump out anymore. But I have a feeling, you're putting too much co2 and fertz.


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## MiZuboov (Mar 14, 2017)

jellopuddinpop said:


> The KH may be your problem. Take a measurement of your Ph just before lights on and again just before lights off. With a KH that low, you may be experiencing violent ph swings that would cause the shrimp discomfort. I may consider a Gh/ Kh booster in your dosing regiment


Before lights on I have drop checker ADA with dark blue color (pH=8,0?), before lights off my drop checker has yellow color (pH=6,2?). I want to have stable parameters of water (without jumps). How can I make parameters of water next: pH=6,4, dKh=2-4, dGh=4 all day long? 



IntotheWRX said:


> But now that my tank is stable, they don't jump out anymore.


What do You doing in your aquarium? What maintaince do you have?


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## Zoidburg (Mar 8, 2016)

Use RO/DI water only with a GH+ remineralizer. (if you have any ferts that add KH, find an alternative)

Lower the CO2 BPS.

Remove anything that could be causing KH to rise in the tank. KH brings the pH up, and CO2 brings the pH down, causing a shift in parameters.



If you want stable, remove CO2 altogether. Even more stable? Don't use a buffering substrate that removes KH from the water. (which would defeat the purpose of your setup...)


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## MiZuboov (Mar 14, 2017)

Zoidburg said:


> Use RO/DI water only with a GH+ remineralizer. (if you have any ferts that add KH, find an alternative)
> 
> Lower the CO2 BPS.
> 
> ...


Hallo!
I have used RO GH+remineralizer and dKh+. I have created next parameters: dKh=2, dGh=3 with remineralizers. I have used ADA Brighty K. It reises dKh (Seemingly). I can not do without him because it is basicly fertz for ADA System. 
Do You speak to remove Co2? Are you seriously? I have used 2x150 MH Lightning))) If I will not to use Co2 my tank it will be covered by algae: thread algae and etc. 
I want to have aquarium like Amano and I have everthing for this without knowledge and experience -)


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## jellopuddinpop (Dec 12, 2016)

Not remove it entirely, just turn it down a bit. You should get a ph pen and test your water just before the co2 comes on, and again just before lights on. You want a ph change of 1. Right now, you are getting a ph change of 1.8, which is very, very high co2.

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## Zoidburg (Mar 8, 2016)

Like I said, lower CO2 and no more KH. 



ADA substrate is *MEANT* to keep the pH stable between 5.8 and 6.8 pH.

Adding KH to the water column causes the pH to rise, as it helps to buffer the pH.

HOWEVER........ because you have a buffering substrate, the substrate consumes the KH in the water column. This causes the pH to lower. It also causes your substrate to lose it's buffering capacity faster.

Add in the amount of CO2 you are using, you are causing even wider pH swings than necessary.



Doing those two little things can help to create a more stable environment.



If you want the environment to be *MORE* stable, you need a low tech tank. And, as I said, that defeats the purpose of your setup.




If you are having a problem with algae, then you can also try raising the lights, have the lights on for less hours during the day (and/or put a "siesta" in the middle of the lights being on) or use less lights. (if you have more than one light on the aquarium)


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## jellopuddinpop (Dec 12, 2016)

Wait, I just noticed you have a 90 cube garden. Is it a 90p or 90h? If it's a 90p, you are waaaaaay overdoing it on your lights. 300w of lighting over 45 gallons is begging for trouble.

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## Opare (Sep 9, 2015)

Your drop checker shouldn't be yellow at the end of the photoperiod. Zoidburg is right, lower your CO2, it should only get to a lime green colour. You are using 4dKH water in your drop checker right?
I keep Amano shrimp in pretty soft water (dKH 1 dGH 3-4ish) and they are completely fine and doing well. I wouldn't bother to try and mess with your prameters, especially because you have a buffering substrate. It will probably just make things worse. Shrimp won't walk out just because the parameters are a bit out, if they don't like it they'll just die in the future due to molting issues. Walking out is more likely a CO2 thing, because it would be literally suffocating the shrimp. 5BPS sounds like a hell of a lot of CO2 no matter what bubble counter you are using.


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## MiZuboov (Mar 14, 2017)

jellopuddinpop said:


> Not remove it entirely, just turn it down a bit. You should get a ph pen and test your water just before the co2 comes on, and again just before lights on. You want a ph change of 1. Right now, you are getting a ph change of 1.8, which is very, very high co2.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk


Yes, you are right.



Zoidburg said:


> because you have a buffering substrate, the substrate consumes the KH in the water column. This causes the pH to lower. It also causes your substrate to lose it's buffering capacity faster.


Do you can to give more information where i can to read about it? Articles or books...



Zoidburg said:


> Adding KH to the water column causes the pH to rise, as it helps to buffer the pH.


What dKh would do you recommend to use in basic water param to me? dKh = 0 or 1 or...? 



Zoidburg said:


> Add in the amount of CO2 you are using, you are causing even wider pH swings than necessary.


How can to understand how much CO2 I need? Using pH-meters only? Is changing pH during the day on 1 enough index for understanding that I can to close solenoid in the day?




Zoidburg said:


> Doing those two little things can help to create a more stable environment.


Thanks! Yours advices are really helpful hints!



jellopuddinpop said:


> Wait, I just noticed you have a 90 cube garden. Is it a 90p or 90h? If it's a 90p, you are waaaaaay overdoing it on your lights. 300w of lighting over 45 gallons is begging for trouble.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk


I have 90p... h=45cm..>



Opare said:


> Your drop checker shouldn't be yellow at the end of the photoperiod. Zoidburg is right, lower your CO2, it should only get to a lime green colour. You are using 4dKH water in your drop checker right?
> I keep Amano shrimp in pretty soft water (dKH 1 dGH 3-4ish) and they are completely fine and doing well. I wouldn't bother to try and mess with your prameters, especially because you have a buffering substrate. It will probably just make things worse. Shrimp won't walk out just because the parameters are a bit out, if they don't like it they'll just die in the future due to molting issues. Walking out is more likely a CO2 thing, because it would be literally suffocating the shrimp. 5BPS sounds like a hell of a lot of CO2 no matter what bubble counter you are using.


I've used pH indicator from ADA. I dont know dKh in it..

What about 5BPS... I understand...I will to inject CO2 less, but I want to have understanding how much CO2 I need to inject...1-2-3-4-5 BPS?


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## jellopuddinpop (Dec 12, 2016)

The bps is an impossible answer to give you. Here is my recommendation, in simple steps...

1.) Take some water out of your tank, and let it sit for 24 hours. Test the ph of this water. Write that number down.
2.) Set your CO2 solenoid to turn on 1 hour before lights on and to turn off 1 hour before lights off.
3.) Right when your lights turn on, check the ph of your tank water. Compare these two numbers.

If the ph in your tank is more than 1 point less than the water you took out a day ago, then you have too many bps. Turn your co2 bps down lower.

If the ph in your tank is less than 1 point lower than the water you took out a day ago, then you don't have a high enough bps. Turn tour co2 up more.

Now, here is where it gets a little bit tricky, and that is because of how well your co2 is dissolving. If you have a ph drop of 1 when your lights come on, but it keeps dropping throughout the day, then you need to turn your co2 down a little and have it turn on a little earlier. Personally, I have my CO2 turn on 2.5 hours before lights on.

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## Zoidburg (Mar 8, 2016)

Try going down to 3 BPS and monitor pH.

Understanding how much CO2 you need highly depends on your aquarium (re: plants and inhabitants), lights, schedule and ferts. It's a balancing act! I don't have a high tech tank for a reason! (well, reasons! but one right now is that it's more hassle than I feel like I can deal with to get it right!)


With buffering substrate, you want 0 dKH.


I don't have an article about how a buffering substrate buffers the water and lowers the KH to keep the water acidic. This is information that was given to me from a company that sells shrimp supplies and keeps some shrimp himself. I'm sure there are people who have a better understanding of how this process works than I do!




Try raising your lights or having your lights on for less hours during the day. If you are using a light that uses 2 or 4 T5 bulbs, then try removing 1 or 2 bulbs so that there is less light. Have CO2 (32 bps) come on 1 hour before lights on, off again 1 hour before lights off. Let us know the pH changes. (or follow the advice of the previous poster)


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## Cmeister (Jul 5, 2009)

Gosh, are these the same shrimp I had with my tacos last night?


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## MiZuboov (Mar 14, 2017)

When I change water (I use RO with TDS=4) my Amano shrimps begin to actively swim in the aquarium, therefore I guess they dont like my pure water, which I use for changing water. 
Now, I want to begin to pre-treatment of water. But I dont know, what paramateres of water I need to make for Amano shrimps, but ... While the water should be very soft anyway, because healthy grow my plants is main the goal for my. What minimal dKh and dGh is normal for it? dKh=3 and dGh=5 is enough? Or I can to reduce these param to dKh=2 and dGh=3? 
What do think about?
Thanks.


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## jellopuddinpop (Dec 12, 2016)

I would shoot for a GH of 4 and a KH of 4

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## Zoidburg (Mar 8, 2016)

I'm not sure of any parameters that amanos *can't* live in, unless it's saltwater. They can handle brackish water up to 17 ppt, but nothing higher.

Although there are dwarf shrimp that can't handle straight RO water, I haven't heard of any issues with amanos... so 3 and 5 should be fine, as well as 2 and 3. I've kept amanos in water that was 3 and 3 without problems, no issues molting, either. Granted, this wasn't over a long period of time, so I don't know if it would cause issues over a long period of time.


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