I love having shrimp in my 5 gallon planted. The problem is that I can't keep them alive! I have a Fluval Spec V, with a male betta and some snails. My betta doesn't mind the shrimp, he won't even touch the freshly molted or dead ones.
I have tried keeping ghost shrimp twice before, several months ago. Each time I got 4-5 shrimp and they all died within 2 weeks.
I wanted to try shrimp again, so I went to the LFS to pick up some RCS. I thought I would try a different kind of shrimp. All they had was one RCS, and several other shrimp that appear to be a RCS/Amano Hybrid (they are pink). So I got the one Red Cherry, and they threw in 4 of the other pink guys for free.
That was last Friday, so far I've lost one of the Pinkies, the others seem okay for now. I just want to know if perhaps I'm going something wrong to contribute to their early demise. Again I am positive that my betta has nothing to do with it. Tank tests read 0ppm ammonia, 0ppm nitrates. Temp about 77F. I feed them broken up bottom feeder tabs every other day. Other tank inhabitants include an assassin snail, and a few remaining MTS. Now, I have just handled a MTS overpopulation problem, so there is a good amount of snail poop on the substrate, but I decided that it would be more harmful to remove it than leave it. I don't know if its the best for shrimp to be walking around in, but the pinkies actually seem to like digging in it. The RCS likes to hang out on stem plants. Any tips on keeping these guys healthy and happy?
I have tried keeping ghost shrimp twice before, several months ago. Each time I got 4-5 shrimp and they all died within 2 weeks.
I wanted to try shrimp again, so I went to the LFS to pick up some RCS. I thought I would try a different kind of shrimp. All they had was one RCS, and several other shrimp that appear to be a RCS/Amano Hybrid (they are pink). So I got the one Red Cherry, and they threw in 4 of the other pink guys for free.
That was last Friday, so far I've lost one of the Pinkies, the others seem okay for now. I just want to know if perhaps I'm going something wrong to contribute to their early demise. Again I am positive that my betta has nothing to do with it. Tank tests read 0ppm ammonia, 0ppm nitrates. Temp about 77F. I feed them broken up bottom feeder tabs every other day. Other tank inhabitants include an assassin snail, and a few remaining MTS. Now, I have just handled a MTS overpopulation problem, so there is a good amount of snail poop on the substrate, but I decided that it would be more harmful to remove it than leave it. I don't know if its the best for shrimp to be walking around in, but the pinkies actually seem to like digging in it. The RCS likes to hang out on stem plants. Any tips on keeping these guys healthy and happy?