bumblebee shrimp

[Pigheaddd]

has anybody had experience with this species? they r too sensitive to water condition. i rarely keep them over 2 weeks. they usually die in one week even the same day i buy them back. tough species to work with! <img border="0" src="smileys/smiley5.gif" border="0">

[RTRJR]

What were the water conditions? For me in well-planted (okay, overgrown) tanks with pH 7.5-7.8, KH 7, they were simple and prolific - in fact they infested my canister filters and became a pest.

[Pigheaddd]

my pH is around 7.4 in my small tank. i think the problem is it is a nano tank. smaller tank's water condition always has big difference when u change ur water. i change 1/3 twice a week. some stronger species like amano, vampire, wood, cherry red, rainbow, and rednose all can handle those water changes, but only bumblebee cannot. they r too sensitive to water condition. <edited><editID>Pigheaddd</editID><editDate>38036.8961805556</editDate></edited>

[RTRJR]

The more frequently your change your water, the smaller the difference should be between the tank and the new water.

The only thing I can think of is the presence of chlorine or chloramine and the agents used to neutralize them. There are questions about the effect of some conditioners on crustaceans in general. I nornmally have chlorine-only in my source water, and off-gas it by aging with heat and aeration/circulation, so generally do not have to use "conditioner".

[Pigheaddd]

ive never used any kind of water conditioner. <img border="0" src="smileys/smiley19.gif" border="0">

[Ghazanfar Ghori]

I just got some from AC. Let's see how they do!
I was talking to a friend of mine from TX - and
he mentioned that his friend has had good luck
with them in pH 7.6-7.8. Robert mentioned he had
alkaline pH too. Maybe that's what it is?
I just setup them up with a little tank with
Onyx sand substrate. I'll add in a little baking
powder tomorrow - see if that will keep them
going longer.

[RTRJR]

Yup, pH from the tap, aged, can be about 7.8. It runs 7.5 to 7.8 seasonally but largely from the mix of wells - this is all deep well material, not surface. The GH is pretty steady at 9, and the KH about 7 (degrees, not ppm) with some variance from the mix of wells in use at the moment. One of the wells here on the ridge, backup use only, is harder (different aquifer). Additionally, my substrate (long term used aquarium gravel, mostly Estes "Nutmeg" with or without combination w/Estes "Bits of Walnut" or "Walnut". These are all inert gravels) is adulterated with masses of crushed snails shells from the many FW puffers that have been housed, so buffering with carbonates is not trivial. Even without water changes, it would take a massive bioload to drop my KH/pH.

The infestation with bumblebees was noted first in the Eheims loaded with Ehfimech only, biofiltration only, in the system housing a very large puffer and also using multiple veggie filters with the small shrimp. That setup no longer exists, or we could do near-commercial shrimp production.

[Ghazanfar Ghori]

So far so good. I had an initial die off - lost
3 of 8 but the five remianing are looking pretty good
so far. pH 7.3 and I added a little MgS04 and baking
soda to raise the hardness. Didn't test it to see
where it's at though.

[RTRJR]

Ghazanfar - a bit off the wall, but it works for snails - have you considered a broken piece of cuttlebone (as in for caged birds)? Rubber-band an inch or so square piece to a rock (soft side up please) as a mineral feeding station. Worked a charm for me with land snails, might help the bumblebees.

You are leaving the mulm undisturbed, right?   <img border="0" src="smileys/smiley17.gif" border="0"> <edited><editID>RTRJR</editID><editDate>38050.4521759259</editDate></edited>

[Ghazanfar Ghori]

Mulm..lots of it. I'll try the cuttlebone. I'm also
thinking about getting some Seachem Equilibrium
to get my hardness up a little. So far so good -
they're still alive!