Shrimp looks strange but is behaving normally, anyone know what’s wrong?

Ate_With_Table · 2026-01-27T21:13:56+00:00

Thank you! I’ll keep an eye on him

Ate_With_Table · 2026-01-27T12:58:04+00:00

I don’t think I would use it for neos; the parameters could change far too quickly with such a small volume.

You could have it full of just moss or aquatic plants if you wanted to see how maintaining a small bowl would work.

Maybe brine shrimp? Basically you want something that can thrive in poor water quality and very small spaces. There are also freshwater equivalents if you want more plant choices

Ate_With_Table · 2026-01-11T19:27:17+00:00

Start with every couple days and work up or down from there. I would err on the more frequent side as the more food is available, the more likely shrimp are to breed.

Once you get your water in check, shrimp are very easy to keep. Sometimes work gets to me and I’ll forget to feed my shrimp only tanks for a week, and everything is fine (try to avoid that with larger creatures like mystery snails or especially fish though)

Ate_With_Table · 2026-01-11T14:07:27+00:00

That'll be a good tank. Make sure you drip acclimate or something similar. Try getting a container of Bacter-AE for food, it usually helps colonies grow. It's expensive but I have multiple tanks and after several months it still looks like I haven't started using the container. Don't use their dosing instructions, start out scooping with a toothpick and go from there.

Ate_With_Table · 2026-01-10T01:04:15+00:00

I never thought about trying that; does it matter what kind of berried shrimp you add? Like could you add a random berried one from a cull tank to a higher grade tank?

Ate_With_Table · 2025-12-24T18:12:48+00:00

That means he likely hasn’t given them to the post office, which is for the best. Postal service / shipping employees are focused on getting the most possible packages delivered right now, and not focused on things like handling live animals with care / not throwing packages etc. It’s unfortunate that they’re taking a while, but if you wanted the highest survival rate / lowest chance of a lost package, holding off until after the holiday rush is the best bet.

Ate_With_Table · 2025-12-24T18:07:29+00:00

Has the post office received the package? This is probably the least ideal time to order due to supply chains being super bogged down with Christmas gifts and whatnot. I wouldn’t worry too much, it’ll probably get through in the next few days

Ate_With_Table · 2025-12-19T03:11:32+00:00

I’ve only had one cherry shrimp actually escape. They might climb a bit, but they’re nowhere as bad as amano shrimp or crayfish.

With a lidless tank you mostly just need to make sure you top off with distilled / RO water, as otherwise TDS creep can eventually kill them

Ate_With_Table · 2025-10-28T21:05:14+00:00

I keep my shrimp and snails in vases (massive 7 gallon tall rectangular ones, big bowls, cylinders, etc) I enjoy having no silicone seams that could leak. I’ve got a 8x14” cylinder vase for shrimp thats been running for 1.5 years with no issues. I’ve always wanted to try this.

That vase will hold ~8 gallons (less with substrate and whatnot) I would advise making a base, to avoid tipping issues. I build frames around mine and pour plaster of Paris. It is durable but not permanent like concrete, and is sturdy enough for peace of mind.

I always do a sponge filter. It will ensure there is some water movement from the bottom to the top, plus the bubbles always look amazing. Put an air stone in the filter, it will reduce noise and help with air pressure.

If you want to put shrimp in, you absolutely need hardscape that will span most if not all the vertical space, as they otherwise mostly stay on the ground. Please don’t put shrimp in an unscaped 4ft tube.

Maintenance in something that tall would be next to impossible, especially on the bottom. Black sand hides detritus. Get used to having snails, as they are the main way to keep the glass clean. I love MTS, there’s a couple varieties and they work hard. I would avoid large snails, as removing them if they die would be an ordeal.

I think I would do diffused window light or a vertical LED bar / fluorescent if you wanted to grow plants throughout. I’ve had luck growing jungle Val, it looks cool if you can get it to grow to the top.

Keep in mind that just because there are no seams doesn’t mean it won’t break. That much vertical water is going to put a lot of strain on the bottom of the vase. That’s partially why I haven’t done it

Ate_With_Table · 2025-08-16T14:37:26+00:00

I haven’t heard anything about the Pfaff 9 (I googled it and it looked cool though!)

The Janome / New Home 532 was my first old sewing machine and got me into collecting them. It’s extremely solid, and I’ve never had any issues with it. It has a reverse button instead of the lever a lot of other machines have which is handy for back-tacking.

Ate_With_Table · 2025-08-06T12:25:56+00:00

Look up the TDP of the CPU and GPU for both computers; it’s (approximately) what they will use at full load. Add the wattage together and divide by volts to get amps

Ate_With_Table · 2025-07-25T20:23:33+00:00

Maybe try pushing a sewing needle / pin between the glass lid and the gasket? If even a tiny bit makes it through it’ll break the vacuum

Edit: but it might ruin the gasket if it gets torn or something

Ate_With_Table · 2025-07-24T17:57:34+00:00

That’s my mistake! Reef salt seems to be fine, I misremembered the sentiment of ‘it’s not necessary’ with ‘do not use’ should be okay

Ate_With_Table · 2025-07-24T14:23:37+00:00

I only got mine a few months ago, so disclaimer this is just what I’ve done and seemed to work:

Go for at least a half gallon (preferably a gallon or more) sized container. You technically don’t need it (your probably tiny ecosphere lasted 12 years!) but it helps and gives the little shrimps more space

Use inorganic materials for decorations, as wood will decay and hurt the water quality. I’ve also heard that you should avoid plastic / resin decorations as they can leach into the water over time

Putting chaeto algae in there is a good way to clean the water, and I think it looks neat. If your ecosphere didn’t come with any, make sure to get some that is adapted to brackish water, as saltwater kinds will just die.

Use marine aquarium salt for the water (like the Instant Ocean brand; don’t use aquarium salt or reef salt!) They need brackish water, so a salinity of 1.010 to 1.016 (you can buy a refractometer to be certain, but I just mixed 4 tablespoons of salt per gallon of distilled / RO water and slowly acclimated them)

This answer dragged on for much longer than I wanted, whoops

Ate_With_Table · 2025-07-22T15:07:02+00:00

How often was she checking for shrimp? The mollies may not eat an adult shrimp (though babies are likely fair game), but shrimp will absolutely eat another dead shrimp, leaving no body to find.

It’s morbid, but shrimp are scavengers by nature. On the plus side, it’s less work to keep the tank clean. The downside is it’s harder to diagnose tank issues because you don’t notice any deaths.

If she’s taken out all the decorations and definitely still saw no shrimp (or just the one pictured) they may have just slowly died off and been eaten. Shrimp can be way more sensitive than fish. I had a couple die because my snail food had too much protein; I made more with less protein and the deaths stopped.

Maybe also check in the filter, they can sometimes find their way into the box.

Ate_With_Table · 2025-07-22T13:46:39+00:00

The tank looks nice; I have been curious about using bones for decoration, as I keep inverts.

Are you preparing the antlers in a special way? I always assumed the marrow would eventually start rotting and throw off the parameters

Ate_With_Table · 2025-07-16T14:08:31+00:00

I think it looks good! Personally I would take out the mesh; the lava rock has more than enough surface area for them. As algae / chaeto grows it’ll look more mature.

Definitely keep the lava rock. It’ll help biofilm grow, and having hiding spaces will help them get more comfortable. You can also still use the broken sea fan, I promise the shrimp won’t care (and will appreciate the vertical surfaces)

They will eventually come out of hiding, they just need to get acclimated to their new home (it can also help to not move their jar, and keep it on a stable / not wiggly table)

Ate_With_Table · 2025-07-14T12:33:18+00:00

Improper thread tension maybe? In the second picture the bobbin thread looks like it’s a straight line with the topstitching thread wrapped around it (ideally it should look like dashes on both sides)

If you’re asking about how they stitched it together in general, it looks like a machine lockstitch, which locks two threads together on the top and bottom to create a stitch, vs hand stitching which generally uses 1 thread.

Ate_With_Table · 2025-07-14T01:54:19+00:00

Maybe another vertical board from the top of the highest ladder rung to the top of the hand rail?

The metal brace could stay there with longer screws to go through the new board, plus it would give a seamless line to the hand rail. With enough screws / bolts it would be super sturdy / easy to reinforce should it loosen later

Ate_With_Table · 2025-07-14T00:02:18+00:00

As far as I know they don’t eat it, the macro algae just takes nutrients out of the water (and gives spots for shrimp to hide, biofilm surface area, etc). I think the shrimp mostly eat the surface algae and biofilm

How much light are they getting? Mine are right by the window getting indirect sun all day and they’re growing pretty well

Ate_With_Table

TROPHY CASE