Shrimp and Water Changes

Hi all. Is it normal for shrimp to become rather energetic right after a water change? I have noticed that, after every water change, my freshwater shrimp begin doing laps around the tank. I don't seem to be losing any and they are breeding well.

 

Sounds pretty normal.
Might be due to a molt and that a female released some pheromones' in the tank.

Shrimp are very sensitive to changes in water, might just be that you are doing the water change too quickly and that they are swimming around trying to figure out the change, as they are also very curious to new things.

 

They also seem to molt right after a big water change? Does anyone know the science behind why it happens this way?

 

Usually to adapt to new water conditions. I suspect that's why adults fare badly from importing, due to many changes in a short period

 

I might as well ask the question, how often and how big are your water changes? On what size tank as well.

The reason for asking is, one of the big things people get wrong with shrimp tanks is water changes. I would recommend doing a 10% every two weeks if its a planted tank that is stocked normally only with shrimp. Or 20% once a month.
If its a heavy stocking with not a lot of plants, 10% max once a week. Highly recommend dripping the water back in slowly rather than just filling it with a hose.
As mentioned, shrimp are really sensitive to water changes, and if the change is too big and too fast it will cause them to molt. Molting too often causes them to stress and die.


Slow is steady. Steady is fast.

 

I suppose that 'big' might be a bit of a relative term when it comes to water changes. The tank is a filterless nano setup and holds about 6l. It is very heavily planted (with dwarf hairgrass, limnophila sessiliflora, cryptocoryne, and amazon sword) and it has been going for just over 3 months now with great success. I do a 10% water change every 10 days or so.

 

Yup. Thats probably it. 6L is fairly small, so even a 10% can make parameters swing a bit, Thats why people always say bigger tanks are easier. Plants make it better, but would do the water change back as slow as possible to give shrimp time to adapt if needed

 

Thanks for the suggestion; I will slow the addition of fresh water. 6l is indeed small but I thought I would try something particularly challenging. There is also a small school (4 in total) of Ember Tetras in it. So far, no losses so I think I might be on the right(ish) track.

 

get yourself airline and one of those plastic taps that controls the flow of air through it. Then when you do a WC you can set this to drip in slowly overnight from a bucket that you just need to place higher up than the tank so it can gravity feed in. If you want to you can get elbow joints to make it easier but heating the part you want to bend with a lighter until its soft and bends easily also works

 

+1 on this one

My refill / waterchange tub.

4L bucket, 2 holes drilled in the lid, one for the airline and another is just a vent as I close the lid all the way.

One of those metal air valves and thats it.



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I always try to keep in mind with my odd shrimp tank or 2 that I have kept on and off in the fish room that I am working with a very small volume of water. What I have learned over the years is that the smaller the volume of water the more volatile the entire eco system is.

Based on this I have learnt to fiddle the least with the smaller volume tanks. Less water changes and mainly top offs, clean well seasoned filters and some type of filtration that has at least 2 sponges or separate surfaces for BB to colonize on, this way when you eventually have to clean the filter you can do it 50% at a time, then clean the other 50% a couple of days or a week later. That way their should be little to no chance of resseting the cycle and wiping out the tank.

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Today marks the first water change on the tank since I started this thread last week. I did a 10% change and added some Seachem Flourish; let's see what what happens.

 

Useful tool for shrimp keeping: https://www.takealot.com/tds-thermometer-handheld-pen-meter-hold-carry-pouch/PLID46906808

 

Yes it is normal.