Ghost shrimp died. I am wondering about getting red cherry shrimp.

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Jspigs

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Aug 5, 2009
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My ghost shrimp died due to unknown causes:( details can be found HERE.
I only had him/her for a week:(.

I am looking at red cherry shrimp because I hear they are pretty hardy.

The tank is a 10 gallon planted tank filtered by a Marineland Penguin 150B Bio-wheel power filter with 12 neon tetras, there are also a bunch of bladder snails that I am trying to get rid of.

The tank/filter is cycled.

I am thinking about getting 10 red cherry shrimp (rcs), is this a good amount?

What are the feeding instructions for rcs?

I am currently treating for ich using the salt and heat method, will rcs survive the treatment? I would really like to put them into the tank while the treatment is going on because I think the ich came in on the ghost shrimp and I don't think shrimp can get ich so quarantining won't work but I think that the ich can be carried by the shrimp. My LFS uses shared wet/drys so if ich is in one tank there is a good chance it is in another. So I would like to add the rcs during the treatment as a preventative measure. In another thread msjinkzd said that shrimp would tolerate the salt and heat but I just want to make sure that this applies to rcs. HERE is a link to the thread, the thread also details the treatment method I am using.

Any other info about rcs would be appreciated.
 

blue2fyre

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Oct 7, 2008
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I don't think shrimp can bring in ich. I would wait until the ich is cleared up before adding the cherry shrimp. I don't consider then any hardier than ghost shrimp, but they are more attractive. Shrimp in general are more sensitive to changes than fish, even the hardier ones. Do you have plants in this tank? They will appreciate some place to hide form the fish.
 

enthusiast

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Sep 29, 2009
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If your going to keep shrimp in your tank you have to make sure you cover your filter intake so they shrimps dont get sucked into it. You can do it easily and cheaply by using a piece of pantyhose; another alternative is ofcourse cover your intake with a sponge
 

Jspigs

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I do have plants and also a bunch of java moss that the rcs can hide in.

The reason I thought that shrimp might bring in ich is a week after getting my ghost shrimp my neons started to get the little white spots that are characteristic of ich. The shrimp was the only new addition. The way that I think the shrimp could bring ich in is not so much on the shrimp but more in the water that they came in. I was trying not to hurt the shrimp so after I acclimated the shrimp instead of netting it I gently tipped the bag into the tank and let the shrimp swim out into the tank this method also gets some of the bag water into the tank which is a potential source of ich. If I had netted the shrimp some of the water from the bag would have gotten onto the net and the shrimp allowing ich into the tank. So I guess I could have clarified better but you are probably right about shrimp not carrying ich but the bag water could carry the ich.

But would the salt and heat kill the rcs? Call me paranoid (which I probably am lol) but if it won't kill them I want to add them (after acclimating them using the "float the bag and add a tiny bit of tank water to the bag every once in a while" method) to the tank because I don't want to have all my fish get healthy and then get ich again.
 

enthusiast

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I wouldnt add anything to your tank until after the ich is treated and signs of it are cleared and gone. The water may have introduced the ich in your tank but its not like a disease that once introduced automatically contaminates all your fish. Your fish become susceptible to it during times of stress. The water could have contained ich in your tank before even the addition of the shrimp & your fish just never 'caught' it because their immune systems were strong.

Something has caused stress to your fish, leaving them at risk to contain the ich- which they did. You should check your water quality and pay extreme close attention to it as it may be why they were stressed and their immune systems weren't strong enough to come down with ich. With your water quality being a good idicator of your fish's health, I wouldnt add anything for any reason as a 'protective measure' for possible future ich outbreaks- it could only possibly kill your shrimp.
 

Jspigs

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Aug 5, 2009
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I wouldnt add anything for any reason as a 'protective measure' for possible future ich outbreaks- it could only possibly kill your shrimp.
Sorry if I was unclear, I didn't add anything to prevent ich. I added salt and upped the heat to treat ich because I saw that some of my neon tetras have ich.

The preventative measure is adding the shrimp now so that if there is any ich it will be killed by the salt. So the preventative is the time of introduction, not an ich fighting additive.
 

pbmax

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Aug 18, 2009
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I have to agree with enthusiast and blue2fyre. You shouldn't ever add any more stock to a tank with known health issues. I'd wait until the tank is healthy again and avoid getting any more stock from that fish store. It's probably a good idea to root-cause the stress issue that's causing the fish to contract ich to begin with.
 

pbmax

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I also net my shrimp into the tank after drip-acclimating them separately. I don't think I've lost any shrimp by doing this.
 

Jspigs

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Aug 5, 2009
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I can't think of what could have caused my fish to be stressed. I did skip a water change one week but I did a water change that was almost 50% the next week. If it was a levels problem it would have been a nitrate problem because my tank was fishless cycled using the ammonia method where you add ammonia to the tank (with no fish in the tank of course) prior to adding fish. Even if there were high nitrates there would not be high nitrates now because I did a large water change (a little less than 50%)a few days ago prior to starting the ich treatment.

I can't test my levels tonight because I have to go to sleep soon but I will try to get them tomorrow, all my tests are done using API liquid test kits.

Unfortunately using another fish store is not an option because the one I go to is the only fish store I know of that is within a reasonable driving distance that has a wide variety and has the red cherry shrimp. I also don't feel comfortable buying them online and then having them shipped to me. I know they get shipped to get to the store but it just seems different.

Now that I think about it I did introduce a marimo ball a few weeks ago from another store (closer but not as wide a selection or as good conditions)and I had previously noticed ich in that store (I did not remember the ich when I got the marimo ball) so there is the chance that it came from there and I only just noticed the ich until now (there is only 1-2 spots of ich on a couple neons).

But the question I am asking is whether or not red cherry shrimp would be killed by the salt and heat (the temperature is 86 degrees Fahrenheit to combat the ich but I could lower the temp to 84 degrees Fahrenheit if that would make it easier on the red cherry shrimp).
 
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