My last (and favorite, and prettiest :( ) ghost shrimp seems to have accidentally commited suicide today. She has just disappeared! My other two died but I found bodies (well the first one that died I imagine my rosy reds ate, because I only found half the body). I imagine she climbed out and dried up somewhere. :unsure:

I took apart my Whisper 20 filter to check if she had gotten sucked up but didn't find her. While putting it back together the #@!* red rubber band that forms a seal between the motor and impeller broke, rendering the filter useless (it leaked and drained the water). So, I had to return it and get a new filter (I probably ruined my cycle but had no choice; I kept the sponge from my old filter though and put it in the new one so maybe some bio-bugs survived). I got a penguin 150 which is good, but seems to be making a lot of water movement for my 10 gallon tank. It ruins my idea of getting a betta for that tank, but will rosy reds be alright with heavy current? I even removed one of my pond snails and put him in an unfiltered plant jar with the other pond snails because the current seemed to be almost making him separate from his shell (he's 100% uninjured but it *looked* dangerous). That Bio-Wheel seems to be spinning way better than an old model I had a few years back did.

Ralph, sorry that you lost your favorite Shrimp :'( I hope you can get everything fixed so you can give a new shrimp a good home! Robyn or somebody will be on later or tomorrow to answer your questions :)

Thank you. I never thought I'd actually be able to be attatched to a shrimp, but this one was the only ghost shrimp I'd ever been able to keep successfully; they seem like delicate creatures and I may get a hardier shrimp after my tank re-cycles (I'll try taping down any holes in the cover with duct tape too). Rosy reds and snails seem to be able to handle cycling better than most animals so I'm not too worried about them, but I got a little stick-on ammonia meter and I'll start testing for nitrites too.

I'm sorry about your shrimp and filter. If you kept the biological filter, then you shouldn't have to re-cycle. Rosy reds like current. They can live in streams and ponds. As long as there are some quite spots in the tank, and the fish aren't buffetted all around, they should be fine. I'm surprised a filter with that flow would harm your snail. You can attenuate the outflow by partially blocking it like with a piece of driftwood or aquarium ornament. Also, as the filter gets dirty, it will slow down.

I hope things improve!

Thanks Robyn. I may put the snail back in. I noticed a little ammonia last night and added 2ml of Prime and that seems to have brought it back down to the safe/undetectable range.

I think those Marina "Goldfish" starter kits would be ideal if I get ghost shrimp again; the covers have no holes (except a few air vents), and you can get a little incandescent light that would probably be decent for growing java fern and hornwort, which seem to tolerate low or non-full-spectrum lighting (the only thing that eventually destroys my hornwort is my crayfish who lives in another 10-gallon, and eats it to the point where it disappears after a month). They're expensive for such small tanks though. I don't know how someone could think a goldfish would do well in a 2.5 or a 5-gallon tank For mine I wouldn't even think about anything smaller than a 20; he's not real big or extremely active but does like his room.

Just a thought Ralph but a few well placed taller plants can to a real good job of breaking up a current and/or creating calm spots in a tank.

There are many that will grow in low to medium light. Something like Cryptocoryne balansae or Anubias Lanceolata would fit the bill. They are tall, and will grow (albeit slowly) in low to medium light.

Derrick

I may try that. I'll probably get artificial plants though since they're cheaper (I'm very short on funds these days; no jobs where I live except day work) since I believe the P*TSM*RT here has plants that have brought in disease (granted I should have disiinfected them when I bought 'em but I didn't know at the time); my goldfish never had ick till I tried adding live plants to his tank.

Now I just grow hornwort in a jar and in my crayfish tank, and 1 java fern in the minnow tank, since I've had it for months and months and I imagine any parasites would be dead by now. It's been washed in tap water too. The java fern I may try to cut in half and clone but I'm not sure if I want to risk it dying.

Artificial plants would work just as well. Try the craft section of your local dollar store. Can find all kinds of stuff there, some may look good some may not.

Derrick