Garnelenfischer
Acclimating shrimp with the drip method
Two to three hours of patience determine whether the animals survive the first week.
Acclimatisation is the most dangerous moment in the life of a purchased shrimp. Not the journey, but the change into new water. If you move them too quickly, you will lose animals that survived the transport without any problems.
Why drip at all? Shrimp regulate their salt and mineral balance through their gills. If conductivity changes suddenly, that balance is disrupted (osmotic shock). The animals often die hours later. Temperature can be equalised in minutes; adjusting conductivity takes hours.
What you need
- A clean bucket or large bowl, never cleaned with detergent
- An air hose, about 1 meters
- A clothespin or roller regulator
- A landing net or a cup
- Two to three hours time
Step by step
- Film the unpacking, then open it. Film the unpacking in one piece, from the sealed package to the unopened bag. If animals arrive dead, this recording is the best evidence for a complaint, see Shrimp arrived dead. If a video doesn't work, a time-stamped photo will do.
- Empty the bag into the bucket. All transport water including animals and moss goes into the bucket. The bag should just be covered, tilt the bucket slightly if necessary.
- Dim the light. No direct light on the bucket. The animals come out of a dark box and are stressed.
- Attach hose. One end in the aquarium, the other in the bucket. Suction at the end of the aquarium until water runs, then clamp with the clamp until approximately one to two drops per second fall.
- Wait until the volume has quadrupled. 200 ml of transport water becomes around 800 ml. This takes two to three hours, depending on the dripping speed. Don't accelerate anything in between.
- Move animals, not water. Catch the shrimp with the net or a cup and place them in the tank. The transport water goes away, not into the aquarium: it contains excretions from the journey.
- Give peace. Lights off for the rest of the day, do not feed on the first day. The animals hide for a few hours. That's normal.
The most common mistakes
| Mistake | Consequence |
|---|---|
| Allow the bag to float for only 20 minutes and then tip it out | Osmotic shock, losses after 6 to 48 hours |
| Add transport water to the tank | Stress on the tank, possible introduction of germs |
| Dripping too quickly (water jet instead of dripping) | same effect as not dripping at all |
| Feed on the first day | Food remains lying around and pollutes the water |
| The tank had only been in operation for two weeks | Nitrite peak, deadly for shrimp |
What is normal in the first few days
The animals are pale, hide, sit quietly in the moss. After one to three days they come out and start grazing. The colour becomes more intense over two to four weeks because the animals adapt to the substrate and can eat in peace. A first moult in the first few days is normal; the empty shell remains in the tank and is eaten.
If several animals are lost after three days, it is almost always due to the tank, not the shrimp. Miss Nitrite, GH and KH and get in touch; Help is free.
Sources and last update
All specialist sources accessed on 11 September 2026. The target areas in this text are the fisherman's husbandry recommendations from his private husbandry, not study results. Where a source says something different than what is recommended here, it is expressly stated.
Why the transport water doesn't belong in the tank. Carbon dioxide collects in the closed bag and depresses the pH value. Ammonium largely remains in its non-toxic form. If the bag is opened, the carbon dioxide escapes, the pH increases, and a growing proportion turns into toxic ammonia. The Kubitza source mentioned below shows how steeply this proportion increases with the pH. Therefore, work quickly and dispose of the transport water.
- Thabet, R., Ayadi, H., Koken, M., Leignel, V. (2017): Homeostatic responses of crustaceans to salinity changes. Hydrobiologia 799, 1 to 20. Describes gills and antennal glands as the central organs of salt and mineral regulation in crustaceans and the sodium-potassium ATPase as the pump that must respond to rapid ion changes. doi.org
- Kubitza, F. (2026): Water quality impacts on health and performance of fish and shrimp, Part 3: The nitrogenous compounds ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. Global Seafood Alliance, 6 July 2026. The toxic proportion of ammonia in total ammonium rises sharply with the pH value: at 28 °C, according to this source, it is 0.71 percent at pH 7.0, 6.6 percent at pH 8.0 and 41.7 percent at pH 9.0. globalseafood.org
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (2025): Cherry Shrimp (Neocaridina davidi) Ecological Risk Screening Summary. March 2025, revised April 2025, web version dated 13 June 2025. Citing Prati and others (2024), it reports 14 to 30 °C, pH 6 to 8.2 and total hardness of 0 to 27 for captive breeding. This is a measured tolerance range, not a care recommendation, and is wider than ours. fws.gov
- The procedure in the event of transport damage, to which step 1 refers, is in the guide Shrimp arrived dead and in the Terms and conditions, number 6.
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