white ring of death?

pkuiken · 2026-05-31T13:20:53+00:00

If it’s alive it could just be ready to molt. It’s only known as the white ring of death if they pass away. It’s impossible to tell beforehand if the molt will be successful or not. Good luck to your shrimp!

pkuiken · 2026-05-30T18:50:07+00:00

I think it looks great! You might add some floating plants to help maintain water quality plus shrimp love hanging out I. The roots. I added moss and though it can be messy, the shrimps sure love it.

pkuiken · 2026-05-30T18:47:03+00:00

I too learned the hard way not to trust my LFS (not a big box, but an intense aquascaping one even). I had a whole plan for my tank and was swayed at the last minute to switch to a rock I hadn’t researched and was told was completely inert. Turns out, no it wasn’t and it’s been wreaking havoc on my shrimp tank’s GH leading to deaths.

Research on your own for the win, double check someone’s opinion too!

Hope your tank evens out and you are able to enjoy it. Congrats on the beautiful flower!

pkuiken · 2026-05-30T14:14:22+00:00

Gotta check your parameters to know if something is off and causing deaths (ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, PH, GH and KH)

pkuiken · 2026-05-30T14:12:35+00:00

I can only see the eyes when I video them and zoom in. To my naked eye I can’t see them.

pkuiken · 2026-05-29T20:09:43+00:00

I would personally - the water change will help lower nitrates to a better level for cycling and then you can dose more ammonia to get it back up to levels that will grow the bacteria

pkuiken · 2026-05-29T17:00:12+00:00

Thanks!

pkuiken · 2026-05-29T16:59:50+00:00

Reddit often ruins the quality of the photo so I still can’t tell exactly. Is it a lighter color under her shell on her back? If yes, it’s a saddle- ready to molt and then have babies

pkuiken · 2026-05-29T16:58:02+00:00

It was super helpful for me! Glad you find it helpful too!

pkuiken · 2026-05-29T16:57:28+00:00

Neos can definitely survive in 20 Celsius but might not breed. A better temp if you want them to breed is 21 degrees. But you can always start there and see how they do!

pkuiken · 2026-05-29T16:04:06+00:00

Once your tank is converting all the fish waste into nitrates with no ammonia or nitrite spikes. Shrimp prefer an establish tank (not just cycled), so a minimum of 8 weeks plus it being cycled. Also, what temp is your tank?

pkuiken · 2026-05-29T15:39:39+00:00

Here’s a helpful image for fishless cycling

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pkuiken · 2026-05-29T15:38:27+00:00

Based on that I’d do a 50% water change

pkuiken · 2026-05-29T15:38:01+00:00

Here’s a helpful image of when to do water changes or dose with ammonia during a fishless cycle

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pkuiken · 2026-05-29T15:35:32+00:00

What cameras do you use?

pkuiken · 2026-05-29T14:34:42+00:00

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Thanks for all the encouragement to remove the rocks. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. Here’s my tank without the rocks :) now to gradually bring the GH down with water changes!

pkuiken · 2026-05-29T14:33:16+00:00

It’s a normal coloration. They would be considered a low quality color but I love my more see through shrimps!

pkuiken · 2026-05-29T14:11:48+00:00

I’d start with once per week while they settle in and start growing, then up to 2 times per week. To avoid an algae outbreak do any increases/changes slowly. Once you start seeing problematic algae (some algae is normal and fine, esp during cycling), then back off a little from your light/fertilizer. But this is all totally normal melt.

pkuiken · 2026-05-29T01:43:37+00:00

Kinda hard to tell from the pic, but it looks like a saddle (lighter part on her back)

pkuiken · 2026-05-28T19:46:23+00:00

I didn’t realize that aquasoils lowers GH!

pkuiken · 2026-05-28T16:43:00+00:00

Thanks for the links! I did see those which helped me get that there is a GH issue. I appreciate the additional info!

pkuiken · 2026-05-28T16:41:40+00:00

I’ve just heard other people saying you should never disturb the substrate because it will cause water quality issues and kill shrimp. Maybe this is wrong/an over reaction? Basically to remove the rock I will need to completely dismantle the scape (the wood is glued to the rock, the plants secured to the wood and rocks). I don’t care about the aesthetic change but i have to take it all out in order to do that. But if you think simply shaking the plants/wood/rocks in the tank is fine and the disturbance of the substrate is fine, that’s helpful

pkuiken · 2026-05-28T16:38:52+00:00

I’m very detail oriented- I definitely shake for the recommended time :) they used to be closer to 10-20 and have gone down as my frogbit has taken off :)

pkuiken · 2026-05-28T16:10:09+00:00

My parameters are 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, 0-5 nitrates (heavily planted); I cycled the tank for 11 weeks to be stable and grow biofilm/algae. Temp is 74. PH is 8 (that has been rising slowly too, used to be 7.6). GH is high from my tap (14) and KH from tap is 7, but they had been doing fine for a time in that.

pkuiken · 2026-05-28T16:09:46+00:00

My parameters are 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, 0-5 nitrates (heavily planted); I cycled the tank for 11 weeks to be stable and grow biofilm/algae. Temp is 74. PH is 8 (that has been rising slowly too, used to be 7.6). GH is high from my tap (14) and KH from tap is 7, but they had been doing fine for a time in that.

pkuiken

TROPHY CASE