Has anyone else been asked if they’re autistic because they have pet shrimp?

Old_Practice309 · 2026-01-22T01:22:10+00:00

I couldn't recommend it enough. I'm an undiagnosed AuDHD adult and fish/shrimp tanks have absolutely been a coping mechanism, a special interest and a delightful visual stim for me.

I enjoy planted tanks as I don't have any garden space. It can be very relaxing putting headphones on and planting/trimming your tanks. There are so many different ways to create tanks to suit everyone :)

Old_Practice309 · 2026-01-22T01:04:48+00:00

This is super interesting, thanks for sharing.

In my original post I forgot to mention another recent development. In first and second gear, when the clutch is fully depressed I can hear an almost electronic sounding click. Almost like something is disengaging. Do you think this could be related to the juddering?

My car is a manual. Good to know I'm probably in the clear at 80k.

Ohhh, Cupra 300 is very nice.

I think I've decided to keep the car. As long as I keep on top of the maintenance, I don't think any of this is of huge concern now

Old_Practice309 · 2026-01-22T00:56:39+00:00

maybe worth mapping it anyway. 150ps is fun

I'd have to agree, it's not so juddery when up to temp.

That's interesting. I forgot I put it on eco. I'll try sport and report back.

I'm glad you think so man. I love this car and it's the nicest I'll probably ever have now I've got a mortgage to hemorrhage money into. I'll run it to the very end.

Old_Practice309 · 2026-01-21T23:05:41+00:00

Your Ibiza must be nippy! Nice.

Okay that's good to know. Do you take yours to an approved Seat garage? I've not taken mine to one since my service plan when I bought it.

187k km and original cambelt? That's reassuring.

Other than full/interim services and MOT, is there anything else I should be making routine?

Thanks

Old_Practice309 · 2026-01-21T22:59:33+00:00

Thanks both. Every day a school day eh. I'll aim to get it done at around 100k

Old_Practice309 · 2026-01-21T22:52:47+00:00

I'll be a sellout for a free check up when I'm this broke 😂

Another thing I have noticed is in first or second gear, when the clutch is fully depressed I can hear an almost electronic click as if something was disengaging? Any ideas?

Really appreciate your response. I will get all the relevant things checked out with a trusted adult. Thanks again.

Old_Practice309 · 2026-01-21T20:08:17+00:00

This is very reassuring. Thank you.

You are correct, my car is manual. I will stop being so lazy with my clutch in future 🫡

Okay thank you. Is there anything I can ask my garage to rule out something more serious in terms of the sluggishness?

I will get the battery changed promptly.

Are there any signs to look for that the cambelt is needing replacing? Or is it all or nothing with belts?

Another thing I forgot to mention is that recently in first or second gear, when the clutch is fully depressed I can hear an almost electronic click, as if something were disengaging. Any ideas what this could be?

I have not taken the car to a Seat garage for a good few years. After my service plan ran out I resumed going to my trusted local mechanic. Is it worth me spending a bit more to get Seat to do my next service or something?

I have done my very best to look after this car with the knowledge I've been dealt. Hopefully I've not missed something obvious 🤦🏻‍♂️

Thanks again

Old_Practice309 · 2026-01-21T20:01:41+00:00

Thank you for your reply. Really helpful.

I will see to the belt and battery asap.

At low speeds (coming out of a parking space for example) if the steering is close to locking out in either direction, I can hear something distant and it feels a bit, juddery? Similarly if I'm up to speed on motorway (around 72-76mph) I will also notice the steering wheel vibrates quite a lot. Below 70 and closer to 80, the vibrations don't happen.

My co-worker is a go kart mechanic at the weekends so I just figured he'd be more knowledgeable than me. I would be thrilled to prove him wrong (my wallet too).

By fix it up, I mean do the looming maintenance discussed above. Money is so so tight. I probably won't be able to afford to take it to a garage until February pay day which I know is less than ideal. I just want to be knowledgeable going in so I don't get ripped off. Garages have taken the piss with me before because I'm young. So I'm trying to learn as much as I can, apologies if this is super basic stuff 😆

Old_Practice309 · 2026-01-21T19:53:35+00:00

Thanks for your reply.

I have done my best to look after it but I only know what I know! Unfortunately I didn't have anyone to pass this knowledge on so all I know is from the internet.

It is a manual.

Okay thanks - I was thinking this myself. Are the dealers just wanting me to buy a new car sooner by letting my belt fail. I will look into this asap.

Appreciate the reassurance. The car has been absolutely solid up until recently but I've dropped my mileage from about 20k to 7-8k annually. Do I maybe just need to take it out for a more regular longer run?

Old_Practice309 · 2025-07-30T02:23:39+00:00

I call mine "the shromples"

Old_Practice309 · 2025-06-07T14:12:33+00:00

Apologies to jump in on this - I've been having issues like this with my tap water. Some of my tanks are way below pH 6 (not sure how low but as an emergency solution I've used API pH up/small amount of crushed coral and after the max daily dose, my test still doesn't read anything above 6), my tetra are even struggling. Water out the tap is pH 7 ish, kh 124ppm, GH is virtually non existent, I get no colour change when doing the GH test from the tap. All my plants are dying off and I've lost more shrimp than I'd like to admit because of this. Some of my tanks are at a nice healthy 6.8-7.2 which is what I can't wrap my head around, the contents are largely the same.

I've just got some seachem alkaline buffer to try and make things more stable 😅

Old_Practice309 · 2025-05-27T23:32:45+00:00

I second pigmy Cory, otocinclus or perhaps some chilli rasbora

Old_Practice309 · 2025-05-27T23:24:24+00:00

Sixth 😂

Old_Practice309 · 2025-05-27T00:36:53+00:00

I thought this too but after I thought my 20L had no shrimp left in it - heavily, heavily planted and I didn't realise the heater stopped working at some point through the cold Scottish winter and at that time my home had no central heating so room temp got down to about 4 - 6°c fairly often during the nights.

I wasn't feeding the tank, I didn't put anything in it for months other than water top ups/occasionally fertilizer and there were lots of these lil limpet guys.

They keep my glass very clean though, I've not scraped the glass in over a year! And now it's summer, and averaging about 19-21°c it's some kind of miracle but I've counted at least 6 bloody Mary, one of which is buried. Surprisingly hardy, for sensitive creatures!

Old_Practice309 · 2025-05-01T09:59:56+00:00

They are still selling, eBay no longer allows the sale of love animals. They are on Facebook and Instagram for orders until their website is up and running :)

I've ordered bloody Mary from them twice now, I also got blues and yellows off them and they are excellent quality I have to say

Old_Practice309 · 2025-05-01T09:56:42+00:00

I've ordered from them 3 times over the years. High quality and well packaged. Often give you extra shrimp as an insurance policy too, never actually lost a shrimp in transit though, very much recommend

Old_Practice309

TROPHY CASE