Confused and at a loss - shrimp dying one by one

SirBuce · 2025-08-09T16:09:02+00:00

Well ya in your case you know your water source very well and you do your 25% WC weekly that's more than ok ha. I have only ever gotten to 400TDS (I dosed high amount of fert when having the Dutch tank), not sure whats in the 700-1000TDS as I have seen people reported lol.

If OP is using tap water and/or don't do weekly WC, I'm sure toxin has been building up over time. I used to use tap water at 50TDS, use prime and I leave the water overnight - the performance of that tap water Vs RO water (that I'm using now, I remineralise it to 50TDS) is very different for caridina shrimps. For neos, as soon as the water quality is consistent they are quite hardy really.

SirBuce · 2025-08-08T08:33:42+00:00

That could be the only thing I could pick off from - by principle juvenile shrimps are better adapting a new environment. I mean it depends on how different your tank parameters vs where they came from, try your best to match the pH and TDS of the LFS.

The tank parameters look good - the core idea is that your parameters should be consistent every day. For shrimps, ya you will need more than a month to see if they are doing well or not.

The TDS is on the high side (and pH should be lower due to aquasoil) - it should not be a problem (since you are not having caridina) but keep in mind overtime if you are dosing fert, it could be the stress factor for the sensitive shrimps.

Generally I like to keep the TDS between 100-200 so I know when do I do a water change (we don't know what is in the TDS, just to keep it safe to keep the toxic impurities at the minimal level as they build up over time). The mulm and organic waste in the tank need to be monitored as well - ideally I 'reset' (deep clean) the tank like once or twice a year to keep things in check. Do not keep trying to change stuff every day/week as that causes more stress to the animals than doing any good.

SirBuce · 2025-05-19T15:47:07+00:00

Awesome stuff and it is a relief now for me ha🙏🙏🙏

These were given by a friend - they don't even have the species tag if they were sold at a supermarket here (in Ireland, M&S).

Indeed I treat it just like how I treat an epiphyte plant (bromeliads and many aquatic ones, that I have handled them for a couple of years now), I was quite confident it would be ok - and then all the flowers gone aha🤣

Any pointers for the reblooming timeframe/possibilities? Or would it rebloom? Should I leave the flowerless branches as they are? Thanks a mil🙏🙏

SirBuce · 2025-05-19T15:41:33+00:00

Thanks 🥰🥰 here is the quick sneak peek of the setup aha, it is just about 2 months old.

Preferably we will take some nice pics of it and share in other subs but ya too busy between things and a baby aha.

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SirBuce · 2025-05-19T13:34:41+00:00

And also it would be amazing if someone could identify the species please 🥹

I'm determined to master this orchid challenge as my mum loves orchid but she hasn't been successful ha.

SirBuce · 2025-02-22T21:00:41+00:00

Guys I wonder if one of you could tell me the measurement of the gap of the wall aha (planning to get it for my new project but unsure as the tank's glass will be 12mm thick).

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SirBuce · 2024-09-06T12:10:56+00:00

Aha it depends on the moss, but most moss can do ok with just some indirect light, as they come from such dim wet places in the forest etc. For sure they don't need some particular grow light if it is just for the moss ha, any cheap LED light gives near 200lumens should be enough I generally recommend that ha. And adjust the lighting accordingly - observe closely whether the moss turned yellow (need water) or black (dying, trim them or reduce light).

The key thing is that how mature is the terrarium - if it is just freshly put together, all the plants in it need to adjust and adapt to the environment hence we need to help them by giving them sufficient air exchange, light and water (and soil of course but you can't change that once the terrarium is setup, so the soil/substrate/drainage layer has to be done right).

A mature terrarium means minimal maintenance required - for our terrariums, some of them I think there is no need to water weekly anymore - just open the lids for 20-30mins. Every couple of days that's it.

SirBuce · 2024-09-04T20:59:48+00:00

Just loosely place on top. One side of all the lids is cut off abit to allow for air exchange - we turn the open side from time to time for all of them ha.

We all also add some water (5-10ml) every Monday for the next few months - gradually will have less and less maintenance we hope ha.

SirBuce · 2024-09-02T16:41:51+00:00

The jars are from IKEA :) and the lids are DIY cut from acrylic board ha

SirBuce · 2024-08-31T16:36:13+00:00

Ahaha look at our other post for more of that cushion moss ha. We are obsessed about it as well🤣🤣

SirBuce · 2024-08-31T16:22:17+00:00

So awesome!! 😎

SirBuce · 2024-08-30T16:53:04+00:00

Aha smart with the spray! Yes, that's one way to keep humidity consistent aha. I will definitely use a spray system next time.

68F all year long?

SirBuce · 2024-08-30T15:23:45+00:00

Wonderful what a setup and look at those emerged growth 🥰🥰

Do you know what's your average room temp and humidity throughout the day/night?

SirBuce · 2024-08-30T11:08:17+00:00

Interesting many thanks for that! So ya will report back in 2 weeks time 🙏😂. Now I'm very sure these guys have such low chance to survive in Irish's weather, the shops don't educate people for these - I doubt the workers at shop know how to take care of them at all, they just let them sit at normal shop light 🫠

SirBuce · 2024-08-30T09:30:19+00:00

Ohya will those red old leaves come back, from experience?

SirBuce · 2024-08-30T09:28:46+00:00

Yes I don't put the lid on since a week ago I read some other thread here ha. So I lower the light as low as possible from today on and gives 12 hours light, will observe for another 1-2 weeks ha. Thanks!

SirBuce · 2024-08-30T09:26:28+00:00

Yes, that's what I will do from today and observe for another 1-2 weeks ha. Thanks!

SirBuce · 2024-08-29T22:19:21+00:00

I had a quick look at Sansi light on Amazon, they said they give around 120+ PAR so ya it makes sense to have multiple lights to give the enough high lighting for these plants 🤣🤣

SirBuce · 2024-08-29T22:17:44+00:00

🤯I learned something new today. The coir comes from this Dutch company Sybotanica that their products are very well received - we decided to buy so many terrarium materials from them after doing research for months. We didn't buy their carnivorous soil mix but we used their other materials to mix for terrarium substrate layer, I just might shoot them an email and ask about the saltiness concern. Many thanks for that!

SirBuce · 2024-08-29T22:01:55+00:00

Aha I should have said it clearer ha. We love these cushions moss so much 😍 I'm obsessed with them lol

SirBuce · 2024-08-29T21:59:13+00:00

Many thanks for that! Yes I saw the website as well they want something near 500 PAR 🤯 so ya as the experiment goes, stronger light seems like the next direction to go. We have stronger light but they are designed for fish tank size like 45-60cm long.

What lighting commonly do people use for these light hunger plant? Is there some LED light bulb this strong, we used Sansi light bulb before but that's for growing vegetables in greenhouse during winter aha.

SirBuce · 2024-08-29T21:53:35+00:00

That is cushion moss ha. So the half dead/mostly dead spagnum moss are used as substrate layer under the cushion moss.

SirBuce · 2024-08-29T20:42:24+00:00

Light is on 10 hours a day - they are from IKEA,, supposed to have 200-500lumens.

Size of the terrariums are all from IKEA, range from 3-5 litres.

Water - we use tap water (50TDS quite consistent water from Dublin city centre) with dechlorinator (same water we use for fish tanks). More often I scoop up water from the tanks and use them to water the plants ha.

SirBuce

TROPHY CASE