A fully cycled tank
Ammonia and nitrite at zero, stable for at least 3β4 weeks. Shrimp are far more nitrite-sensitive than fish; a freshly set-up tank is the most common cause of losses that start after the first week.
Acclimate them right,
and they thrive from day one.
Our live-arrival guarantee ends the moment you open the bag. From there, whether the colony makes it comes down to the next few hours. This is the whole process, with nothing left out.
Read this before opening the boxSet aside 2β3 hours
Film first, acclimate second
Don't open the bag and then remember the camera. The moment the box arrives, record one unbroken clip of the seal being cut and the bag still full of water β that is the evidence a claim is accepted on, and it has to reach us inside the window stated on the guarantee page. Film it, then start.
Read the live-arrival termsBefore the box arrives
All three need to be done before delivery day. After the shrimp are in your hands is too late.
No copper anywhere
Check every medication, fertiliser and food you have used. Copper at fish-treatment strength is lethal to shrimp, and it stays bound in the substrate rather than clearing on its own.
Parameters measured and written down
Test your tank's TDS, GH, KH, pH and temperature the day before. You need those numbers to compare against the bag, and to judge how long to drip.
Six steps, in this order
Two to three hours in total. Most of it is waiting β and the waiting is the part that decides the outcome.
- 15 min
Open the box in a dark room
Lights off, and no torch pointed into the bag. The shrimp have spent a day or more in darkness; a sudden bright light stresses them at their weakest moment.
- 220β30 min
Float the sealed bag
Leave the bag closed and float it on the tank surface. The temperature difference evens out gradually instead of as a shock. Don't skip this even if the room feels cool.
- 390β120 min
Drip at 1β2 drops per second
Pour the shrimp and their bag water into a clean container, then siphon tank water across with airline tubing. A knot in the line holds it at 1β2 drops per second. Faster is osmotic shock β the kind of damage you don't see happening. For Caridina take the slower end: water at GH 3β4 has no buffer, so the blend has to be gentle.
- 4By eye
Wait until the volume is 3β4Γ the original
Keep dripping until the container holds three to four times the water you started with. If it fills before then, tip half out and carry on β don't stop early.
- 55 min
Net them across, discard the water
Move each shrimp with a net. Never pour the container into the tank: that water carries the ammonia that built up over the whole journey.
- 624 hours
Lights off, leave them alone
Keep the tank light off for the rest of the day. No feeding, no water change, no standing at the glass. They will hide for a day or two β that is normal, not a bad sign.
Water parameters to aim for
Common reference ranges for the two species groups we sell. Hitting the middle of the range matters far less than holding it still β shrimp tolerate slightly-off parameters, but not moving ones.
| Species group | TDS (ppm) | GH | KH | pH | Temp (Β°C) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Caridina (Taiwan Bee, cold-water) | 100β130 | 3β4 | 0β1 | 5.8β6.5 | 21β24 |
| Neocaridina | 150β250 | 6β8 | 2β4 | 6.8β7.5 | 20β25 |
Note the Caridina GH: 3β4 is where it should sit, don't push it higher. Water that low in GH with almost no KH has nothing to buffer with, so every step of blending has to be gentle β drip slower and longer than you would for Neocaridina, and never tip a cup of tank water straight in.
These are general hobby reference ranges, not the readings for the batch you received. The batch's actual parameters ship with the order; if you need them before ordering, message the farm β the bigger the gap from your tank, the longer the drip has to run.
The first 72 hours
New arrivals are at their most fragile here, and most of the damage comes from doing too much rather than too little.
Do
- Keep the light off or very dim for the first day or two.
- Watch from a distance and count how many you can see each day.
- Check TDS and temperature once a day.
- Have moss, catappa leaves or wood in there for cover and grazing.
Don't
- Don't feed for the first 24β48 hours β they don't need it, and leftovers foul the water.
- Don't do a water change in the first week unless a reading genuinely calls for one.
- Don't add more shrimp or any fish for two weeks.
- Don't move wood, rock or the filter β leave the tank undisturbed.
Mistakes that kill days later
Shrimp rarely die on the spot. Most losses at day 3β7 trace back to one of these.
Pouring bag water into the tank
Transport water accumulates ammonia and its pH has dropped. Pouring it in hands both problems to the shrimp that were fine.
Dripping too fast
Compressing a two-hour drip into twenty minutes causes osmotic shock. They look normal for days, then die at the next moult.
Skipping the temperature equalisation
A 3β4 Β°C gap is enough to do harm. With Caridina the damage shows up late β usually at the following moult.
Adding them to an uncycled tank
A tank set up less than a month ago almost certainly still has nitrite. This is the number one cause of scattered losses in week two.
Feeding too soon and too much
Uneaten food triggers a bacterial bloom and pushes ammonia up exactly when the shrimp are weakest. In week one, less is always better.
Unsure about any of it?
Messaging us before you acclimate beats messaging us after they've died.