[paronaram]

Hello All,

I have a question about my whisker shrimp that I recently got in my 5 gallon aquarium (I setup a small tank, as experiment, if everything goes well, definitely will switch to something bigger). In the local pet store, they told me shrimps are absolutely harmless, but this particular shrimp is very aggressive. I have 2 of them, the small one looks exactly like on the pictures, when someone describes a whisker shrimp, but second one (picture in gallery) looks more like “crayfish” with big claws. During a day time I don’t see him attacking a lot, but overnight (picture in gallery) 2 neon’s get’s smaller and smaller their tails. May be shrimp is hungry? Also before I start this post I measured the water conditions and here’s what I got:
pH – 5 closer to 6 (I know it’s low, I use to have 7.5. That is my second question, how can I bring it up?)
Ammonia – 0
Temp - 76 F

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Aram

 

[djrichie]

You might want to try doing a regular weekly scheduled 20% water change before adding chems to the tank.... the smaller thr tank the more important this is to do. As far as the fin nipping its a small tank, adding more hiding places for the fish, a live plant would help with the WQ as will.

 

[paronaram]

Thanks for reply DJRICHIE,

I just did change about 25% of water. I used tap water with water conditioner.
My concern was maybe due to low pH level, shrimp start having abnormal behavior?

Also, can you please recommend any pet store, who has big selection of live plants, and willing to accept order online. All local stores have nothing to offer, or if they do, plant's are not kept properly. Also I think some decoration/shelter will be good (not plastic).

What does "WQ" means in your reply? sorry

Thanks,
Aram

PS This morning I end unaccounted on one neon

 

[BigBrownTank]

water quality.

 

[djrichie]

Buying plants online it is important to look at shipping... Overnight charges will inflate the price to 50.00 + dollars easily. I look for local supplier that can and will ship USPS that cost about 10.00 dollars but you at the mercy of the post office. Rule of thumb I use is 3 days in the dark for plants max. Not saying that I have not gotten plants in 4 days this way that lived but DOA melting is at higher risk. Also, watch the time of year is hot days will kill the plants. Most of your online plant store ship in a styrofoam box, but if you buy off ebay, or even aquabid.com... they my arrive in a letter bubble pack.

That being said it safest to pay the over night or 2nd day air if they allow you. Places I buy plants online

Floridadriftwood.com - Diwight is a good guy and will ship USPS but only if it gget to you in 3 days... I had a friend order from atlanta Ga everythign was great. I order from him all the time but he just up the road and gets here in one day, would be quicker for me to drive but he dosn't do walk-ins, call him and ask if there something you want he doesn't show everything on his site... tell him Richard from Miami sent you... everyone I know got hooked up with plants

aquariumplants.com great bunch of guys but only ship over night great selection and great service......

petsolution.com hasd plant limited low light selection but never a problem
Fosterandsmith.com offer plants......


That is the wattage of you light... I can give you a generall Ideal of what light level plant you will need to select from

there are more out there and a few I've tried.... if I don't put them on there its because we had a problem with them. I will not say who they are in an open forum... but those 4 sites you will find what you want, I'm pretty sure.

 

[paronaram]

Thanks Richard!

I ordered from Floridadriftwood some Crystal Vallisnaria, will see how it goes.
I wish I could of done this earlier, because I have no more Neon left
All got eaten by shrimp.
Also what will be the best way to create a shelter (for shrimp) and bring the pH level up same time?
I was reading (LPS recommended as well) that limestone will bring the pH level up, so I do have it (it was there from the the beginning, during a tank cycling), but it does not bring pH much up. I was looking for some other options...
How about some driftwood? How does it effects on water quality.

Thank You,
Aram