Bacter AE will grow biofilm in your tank, providing a food source for your shrimps to graze on. If you aren’t careful, however, then this product may also end up harming your pet inverts.
To see how you can prevent Bacter AE from killing your shrimps, you can take a look at this guide from Aquarium Blueprints.
Quick Summary
One of the main reasons Bacter AE could be harming your shrimps is due to an overdose. Manty shrimp keepers have found that the official recommended dosage amount is simply way too much for a shrimp tank. The excess powder could deplete the oxygen levels in your tank, causing your pet inverts to die off.
If you believed that you overdosed your tank with Bacter AE, then we recommend doing a water change to remove any of the powder than hasn’t been dissolved yet. You should also increase the aeration in your tank and feed your shrimps less for the next couple of days.
Furthermore, you should also make sure that the Bacter AE powder hasn’t been expired or spoiled previously.
How to avoid overdosing your shrimp tank with Bacter AE
One of the main reasons you could be seeing dead shrimps after using Bacter AE is that you may be adding too much of the product in your tank.
You can find the official recommended dosage instructions for this product with this post.
With that said, many shrimp keepers find that the official dosage amount is way too much. As a result, they tend to reduce the dose quite significantly. To see how much and how often we recommend using Bacter AE, you can check out this comprehensive article.
If you managed to overdosed your tank with Bacter AE, then we recommend doing a water change. When taking water out of the tank, you should try to remove as much of the visible powder as possible.
In addition to a water change, we also recommend increasing the aeration of your tank since the excess bacteria will deplete the oxygen levels. Furthermore, you should feed your shrimps less over the next couple of days so that they will help reduce the excess bacteria population that was added to your tank from the Bacter AE powder.
How to avoid using expired or spoiled Bacter AE in your shrimp tank
Using expired or spoiled Bacter AE could also end up killing your pet shrimps.
Therefore, we recommend checking the container of the product to see if it hasn’t gone past its expiration date.
Furthermore, you should also avoid spoiling your Bacter AE. In order to do so, make sure that you don’t mix water or other substances with the powder in the container as doing so may contaminate Bacter AE. You should also store Bacter AE at room temperature.