KimAnnKitz
Aquarium Advice Regular
I am very new to shrimp and new to planted tanks. I have a Fluval Spec V with a betta 3 purple zebra snails and as of yesterday 10 cherry shrimp. I had recently ordered 3 Anubias Nana "Petite" and they arrived today. I soaked them in some salt water to kill any possible snail pests (I read on some forum that this is a good idea) and then rinsed them and sat them in some dechlorinated water for a few hours until I had time to plant. As soon as I put the first on in the tank, I noticed the shrimp going to the top of the tank. I first thought that they were just trying to get away from me, but then I watched the first one die while I was adding the second "Petite". I decided to do a water test as I thought maybe I had caused an ammonia spike by messing around in the sand (I have a plant substrate in the tank topped with about 1/2" of white sand). The ammonia was about .25 ppm and I didn't think that was killing the shrimp (by now two had died and the rest were acting weird at the top of the tank). I decided to check the Nitrites and they were through the roof! I quickly did a big water change and only lost one more shrimp and brought the nitrites to 0 ppm. What could have caused this? I honestly read a post today and same exact thing happened to someone else when they added new plants. How often should I check my nitrites now? Should I do partial water changes every day? This is my second batch of cherry shrimp and I really don't want to lose all of them. I honestly don't know what happened to my first 10, they just disappeared day by day, saw a few dead and know at least 3 got sucked into the lower intake on the Fluval. The tank has been up and running Since Feb. 11 and I didn't add a fish until the next week. I also didn't test the water at that time because I am still learning and my API water test kit hadn't arrived. Should I wait until the tank matures some more before I try more shrimp? The first batch of cherry's was very small so I ordered "Adult" shrimp this time. Then I read that you should go for the younger ones over the older because they can more easily adapt. I am so confused about the shrimp and about the nitrite spike. I hate to kill any more of those poor little guys. They are so fun to watch! Please help if you can! Oh, I know someone will fuss at me because I didn't do a fishless cycle. I am fairly new to aquariums having bought my first Nano tank for a betta I "rescued" from Walmart last August. It's been a learn as you go thing with the my other two nano tanks...this all started because I wanted another betta and decided they needed live plants! Who knew???? 3 bettas and now 4 tanks. One is "cycling" with plants and a snail.... 
