EXPERIENCE would be appreciated

[Shrimptopian]

Hey so im new here and ive got a couple 'issues', and im new to the posting to a forum thing, i read them usually but ive never posted so sorry in advance if this is poorly written/done.
Anyway ive got a 20 gal planted tank, with the occupants being 20+ ghost shrimp, from petco though so cant say 100% that theyre ghosties, 5 neon tetras origionally 6 but one died roughly 3 weeks ago due to unknown reasons, a female betta that ive had for over a year but cant say how much over, and a zebra Nerite snail as well as an adult pink ramshorn snail and 3 adolescence ramshorns and whatever babies the ramshorn has produced since i last removed a handful. My parameters, which were marked 4+ hours after i did some routine trimming/cleaning and a 15-25% water change, were Ammonia: 0, Nitrate: 0, Nitrite: 0, PH roughly 7.6, KH about 80 GH 60.. The hardness is high bc my tap water is VERY hard and i couldnt get distilled water for my change this time so i blame that for my hardness being so high rn.. So my 'issue' i say bc I dont know if it is or not yet, is that a couple of my ghosties ive noticed have like dark id say black coloring where theyre legs connect under the caraspace, almost straight lines running across from on leg to the other. After looking online for ages ive yet to find anything that sounds similar to what im seeing. As well after my tank work around 10am today ive had a lot of activity going, which from what this last month has shown, is odd.. For instance usually at any given time i can count roughly 18 ghosts around my tank with say 4, give or take 1, swimming around and against the glass and in the current and what have you, and my tetras are somewhat scattered, but today after my tank doings ive got 10-12 give or take a couple swimming against the glass and around and and just being very active and my tetras are schooling for the most part, or at least theyre alot closer in proximity to eachother than what ive seen usually. So im not sure if this is good bad or ugly im just hoping someone here may have some experience or at least a good guess as to what may be going on. Ill be looking back at this soon so hopefully one of you guys finds this soon i dont want my whole community to die out. Edit: this tank setup is about 2 months old with tetras and ghosties added after cycling and adding live plants so about a month after initial setup, my betta (Susan) was in the tank from day 2 of the tank being setup. Tetras were added first with 8 ghosties, after no ghosts died or became ill or any other scenarios due to the new tank, I added 16 more. Ive had one ghost die by something in/with the tank about 4 days ago, any other deaths have been contributed to the movement/stress of purchasing them, with that ive only had 4 ghosts die and 1 tetra die (that I know of/was able to find) since getting them.

 

[FreshyFresh]

Welcome! My head kind of hurts from your post..

Your question is about the ghost shrimp activity? What you describe sounds normal to me. Normally a betta would gobble shrimp up, but if the shrimp get a chance to grow, then they won't fit in the betta's mouth. You're probably aware these shrimp will only breed in brackish water.

In terms of your water parameters, if you never see any nitrates, either the test kit is bad or not being performed properly (common for the nitrAte test) or the tank isn't cycled. Hardness, pH, etc.. should match what is coming out of your tap if you want to keep things "simple".

 

[Shrimptopian]

Perhaps it is normal, and Im just now getting everything aquainted to make them happy. Still havent had (or found) any dead shrimp, besides the one, so good signs maybe? Or my betta has taken to eating the dead.. Shes just recently got a taste for baby snails so who knows..
As for the not breeding without brackish water, maybe my API Master kit is defective or I'm using it totally wrong? My ph has been a steady or near too 7.5, isnt brackish closer to 6? Or do I have it backwards? With that, at my near 7.5 ph, i discovered I have a berried female, only other one I've had was purchased berried with hopes, didnt end well... So theyve got to be breeding otherwise lol her existanse wouldnt be possible.. As well ive noticed what i believe is a few, or one seen many times, saddled females.. If they are breeding this could explain the erratic behaviour i havent seen before, web says the males go crazy when a female has eggs ready to fert.. Which this is honestly the longest ive had shrimp survive before, going on a month now..
Edit: I forgot to mention when I take parameters I do the 5 mins wait after adding chems as directions say. As well is this mating behaviour? He liks jumps on her and flaos his swimmers alot then back off.. And does it or did it i should say like 5 times?

 

[the loach]

These are "ghost" shrimp for sure (certainly if they were cheap at Petco) and like Freshy said they need brackish water to successfully breed.
You are confusing pH (alkalinity) with salinity and brackish. Water with a pH less as 7 is acidic, over 7 is alkaline. When you don't add salt (and by all means don't, this will be bad for your plants and neons) your tank water is 100% freshwater.
When you want to breed shrimp look for cherry shrimp, or any other Caradina or Neocaridina species, they come in many different colors.
"ghost/glass" shrimp are feeder shrimp really that are sold in to the hobby.

 

[Shrimptopian]

Well thats a shame, ive already put some salt in about 2 weeks ago give or take a day or 2.. Not very much as i didnt know how itd go but nothing seems to be off, it was only like 2 tps if that for my 20 gal.. I had read another forum that said something about some salt is good but too much will kill everything.. As well maybe that could be why ive got a berried female? The water is brackish enough with the salt that is in it?
Yes these were 49c thats why I got them, my plan is to start a colony of Blue Dream or maybe Blue Velvet Neocardinias, but these ghost shrimp for now are more of a tester so to say, im wanting to make sure i can maintain shrimp and at some point test breeding before i get an expensive shrimp species.. Not that ya know 6 or 8$ is expensive but compared to the 49c it is. And an update today like an hour ago i had a shrimp that was white flick his feet and die, im unsire if thats a molting issue or some other cause, still to be determined.

 

[the loach]

Sorry but what you want is not possible; either have a f/w tank and have the shrimp larvae die, or have a brackish tank and have the plants and neons die, there is no in between. If you wanted to breed shrimp you made the wrong decision spending $10+ on 20+ ghost shrimp, if you bought a pair of the "expensive" f/w shrimp or a bunch of cherry shrimp you would already have small shrimps by now. You can not compare ghost shrimp with cherry shrimp, they are totally different... in fact the just the neons would be enough to prove you can maintain an aquarium.

2 teaspoons of salt is ±11 grams, that is (luckily) next to nothing it neither helps neons or shrimps. Just keep changing water 20 to 25% weekly to get it out, don't add any new. For comparison... depending on the ghost shrimp species it would require something like 500 to 800 grams of salt to get it in the right brackish water range. But when you're a beginner I don't recommend attempting to breed ghost shrimp, they are not technically an aquarium shrimp but a feeder shrimp, it isn't that easy. The real f/w shrimp are more expensive cause you only buy those once, they are easy to breed even in a planted tank with small fish.

 

[Shrimptopian]

Less of maintaining an aquarium I have issues with but the shrimp themselves, ive never had any more than a week due to them dying, bc ive never actually looked into what shrimp need to thrive until now, just kinda bought and put em in the tank without considering their parameters..
As for the breeding, im not actively trying to breed them, I had planned too furthur down the road (if they survived), but right now I'm just trying to make sure I can keep them and everything else in my tank alive at the same time. The breeding is all on their own, though it seems theyre just going to die anyway.

Breeding ghosts would require a seperate tank for the larvae stage, gotcha.
So are you saying ghosts are harder to breed than cherry shrimp, and cherry shrimp dont need brackish water?

I had planned to use my 5 gal as a breeding tank for shrimp but if the ghosts are the ones that need it and RCS will breed fine in f/w, I'm not going to need a breeding tank bc the ghosts arent worth breeding, right?

 

[the loach]

Breeding ghosts would require a seperate tank for the larvae stage, gotcha.
So are you saying ghosts are harder to breed than cherry shrimp, and cherry shrimp dont need brackish water?

Yes.

I had planned to use my 5 gal as a breeding tank for shrimp but if the ghosts are the ones that need it and RCS will breed fine in f/w, I'm not going to need a breeding tank bc the ghosts arent worth breeding, right?

You don't need a separate breeding tank for red cherry shrimp (and other Caridina/Neocaridina species) just a planted tank will do.

It's a hobby if you are determined to breed ghost shrimp you can do so regardless of the value but they are harder to breed, they need specific conditions, the parents eat the young... it's not a good start. There are transparent wild cherry shrimp as well if you want that look.
Also: "ghost/glass" shrimp is just a generic term for feeder shrimp. If you want to keep/breed them you need to know the scientific name so you know what you're dealing with, what conditions to provide. Your shrimp might not even be fine in freshwater right now and could be having issues because of that. It is very hard to determine which species they are, all of that is irrelevant to the sellers, they are feeder shrimp, if they die early they hope folks get back and buy another dozen in 2 months. It's not something I recommend to aquarists, then get an Amano shrimp, they don't breed either in f/w, but are big, eat algae, and will live for a couple of years.

 

[Shrimptopian]

Ohhh okai, I thought it was opposite that. Cherry require a breeder tank and ghosts don't.. If I wouldve known that lol than all thats needed is stable parameters for the shrimp I want (blue dream neocardina)..
And no the ghost shrimp are just too keep them alive, Im not concerned about getting them to breed, ive just had trouble in the past keeping any shrimp alive.
Well I guess i have another tank for... Something
Thank for the help mate, I know where to go for info now ?

 

[Shrimptopian]

Hey the loach, i have a ghostie that I believe to be preparing to molt because his eye position has changed. I've been looking online and once again can't find anything about it, but is the eye movement normal? My other ghosts didn't do it so I'm not sure if its molting or some sort of issue. His eyes (he/she idk) but his eyes went from being somewhat pointed out to the sides to being straight forward unlike any of the rest. Any info you have or could find would be super helpful even if just to inform.. first pic is guy in question second is one that idk is fine? Just notice the eye placement and you'll see my concern.....
hope to hear from you soon, thanks beforehand