Change in shrimp behavior in new tank

[tuajia]

Hey guys, a novice hobbyist here, wondering if any experienced folks have any insight into this strange issue i have.

Since I'm just starting out, i got some cheapo ghost shrimp (feeder shrimp you can find at any LFS) for my first tank. It's a simple 10 gallon which i cycled completely for 2 months before i put them in.

Shrimps seems to be doing fine, but now I decided to upgrade to a bigger 20 gallon tank and started by putting 1 shrimp every few days to monitor their reaction to the new tank. The strange thing is that the shrimps in the new tank don't behave the same way. The same shrimp that was eating pellets readily 1 day before will now refuse pellets. also, some of them are turning white. I suspected something wrong with the water and tested it, the parameters are as follows

Water parameters:
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrates: 70ppm!!
pH: 7.6
Filter: Eden 501 Canister (established from 1st tank)
Heavily planted

The second tank has also been cycled properly beforehand (only 15 nitrates ppm, everything else 0) but only yesterday did i discover the high nitrates and slightly harder water. Otherwise the other parameters are the same as the first tank (they eat readily and behave actively in the 1st tank). So not sure what's going on...

a) why are nitrates so high? I read up that a lot of livestock can cause this, but there's only 8 shrimp inside at the moment
b) is high nitrates and slightly harder water changing their behavior? They don't want pellets after i put them in, but still alive so far after 2 weeks... Are they eating something else? No they're not eating each other, i count them everyday

Hope some experienced hobbyist can shed some light on my problem! Thanks!

[globalcookie]

What shrimps are you keeping? Not all shrimps suit pH7.6. The white shell thingy, is it because they can't mold due to other factors including high gH, TDS, (which you didn't share)etc? You mentioned high hardness reading. Check what is causing it.

Let e other more knowledgable hobbyist advise on the Nitrates since I'm not so in e knowhow. Is there something rotting away?

Not eating pellets isn't anything alarming. An empty tank with plants, that can produce a lot of micro organism, which is food to shrimps. So it is little wonder they don't respond to pellets.

[FryDaddy]

Do you used pure ammonia to cycle the tank? High nitrates might be from ammonia, the byproducts if you never do WC when the tank is fully cycled. But you mentioned that the tank is heavily planted. This shouldn't leave you with the high ammonia, unless the plants are rotting.

I will not too worry if the transferred shrimps are not accepting the pallet. They are new to the environment and need some time to settle down. I usually don't feed for a week when I purchase or transfer new shrimps. Also, since the new tank is heavily planted. There are plenty of food for them.

What I will do now is WC, bring down the nitrates, and monitor their behavior.

Thanks for your virgin thread and welcome to AF!

[tuajia]

Thanks for the advice guys, appreciate it

Globalcookie: i actually don't have a testkit to test for gH etc, i just have an API Master Kit, and it only has pH test. They're feeder Ghost Shrimps and i did some research beforehand, seems that they're not supposed to be fussy about hardness but i could be wrong.

FryDaddy; I cycled the new tank by transferring my canister filter from the old tank to the new one, threw in the plants and let it auto-pilot without WC for 4 weeks before i tested water.

About the plants, I think you're right, I have some unidentified long grass inside that's not doing well. Leaves are brown although roots seem fine. Think i better throw them away. The rest are Nanas, Java fern, Elodeas and Hydrillas which are usually hardy and seem to be alright.

Also, last night i tried feeding them some bits of raw prawns. For some reason they loved it..... they rather eat their own kind than pellets?!