Shrimp are different from fish and we therefore recommend they be treated differently. They are small and sensitive and necessary precautions should be taken to ensure that stress is reduced when introducing them to a new tank setting. Any invertebrates introduced to a new tank setting are always stressed out due to changing environmental parameters. These environmental parameters include water chemistry, whether the tank is heavily planted or not, size of tank, lighting, filtration system and the existence of other potential tank mates. The idea behind acclimation is to ensure that stress is reduced when introducing new species to a tank. Whether stress is reduced by 5% or 95%, the important thing is stress is reduced and not increased for this will result in the death of the new species instantly or within a few days or hours.

 

If shrimp are stressed before and after being introduced to a new tank, the following MIGHT happen;

• Their colors are not as intensive or bright
• They are not very active and their movements are rather restrained
• Chances of getting an infection are increased

In order to reduce stress especially when purchasing them from any store, ensure that there are plants inside the bag for this gives them something to cling on to (Instead of using plants, others use orange mashes). Shrimp are more likely to be stressed after a purchase and lack of plants inside the bag will increase the stress levels. Imagine purchasing some shrimp and then moving around with them whilst the water inside is shaking from side to side with nothing to cling on to. When you get home, you will notice that their color is a little bit off. To avoid this, some plants are necessary and they go a long way into helping the shrimp adjust better. If you purchase the shrimp with no plants inside that is still fine, just ensure that when you get home you take the necessary acclimation steps:

 

Acclimation Steps

 

1. When you get home put the new shrimp and the water into an empty container like a bucket. If there were no plants in the bag, make a cutting and leave it in the container with the shrimp for 20 – 30 minutes. The reason for this is to allow the water in the bucket to adjust to your room temperature slowly and gradually.
2. After the room temperature acclimatization take the water from the tank where the shrimp are going to be housed and pour some of it into the container/bucket where the shrimp are in. One should NOT instantly pour all the water into the container. The goal of slowly pouring water into the container with the shrimp is to ensure that they adjust slowly to the water of the tank where they will be introduced to.
3. This should be done after every 10-15 minute intervals for possibly an hour.
4. Once this process has been achieved, grab a net and remove the shrimp from the bucket but do not take the water as well. What one needs to do is to place the shrimp into their new home. The reason for not pouring the old water into the new tank together with the shrimp is because it might contain some bacteria or other diseases.
5. After acclimation has been done and the shrimp have been put into their new home, leave the lighting on for the night. The reason for leaving the light on for the night has more to do with the shrimp adjusting to their new surroundings. In some cases when shrimp are introduced to a new tank, the first 24 hours are crucial. Some shrimp seem fine after acclimation, but when you switch off the lights for the night and turn them on the next day, you might find dead pinkish looking shrimp.

 

There is no one defined method on how to acclimate shrimp. Some people purchase their shrimp and once home immediately submerge the plastic bag to allow the water inside the bag to adjust with that in the tank. We did not recommend this as part of the acclimation because in our experience we once lost the whole shipment when we used this approach.

-Others, simply take out the shrimp and immediately put them in the tank. According to some of Shrimp Diaries’ clients, this approach worked for them but we would not recommend it to anyone.

 

Trickling water method

In terms of how to slowly apply water to the bucket with the shrimp, our approach is the trickling water method. This is how it works: You simply put the shrimp you purchased inside a bucket with the water included and then use a tube or any device that allows you to slowly drain water from the tank where the shrimp will be housed into the bucket. The water being transferred should slowly trickle into the bucket and this trickling allows the shrimp to slowly adjust to the water from the tank without stressing them as much. One draw-back to this approach is that it takes a long time.