Here's a quick guide to acclimating inverts and shrimp to a new tank. Mods, could you sticky this? I think it would help solve one of the more common problems with shrimp dying soon after they are put into a person's tank.

Shrimp and inverts are not only sensitive to ammonia and nitrites ("bad" stuff in the water) they are sensitive to CHANGES in water parameters, such as temperature, and pH changes. So if the pet shop had one pH, and your tank has another pH, that could be a problem.

Here's how I acclimate all my fish and inverts:
- Hang pet store bag inside tank. Clip to rim with a binder clip.
- Using a turkey baster, remove 1/2 of the water from the bag and throw away.
- Using turkey baster, add 2 turkey baster fulls of water (about 1/4 cup) from the tank to the bag. Wait 5 minutes. Repeat 2 or 3 more times.

This allows them to get used to the tank temperature AND pH and other water parameters gradually. Since I have done this I have not had any deaths within 30 days of putting shrimp/fish into a tank. (Guppies excepted, I hear guppies are notoriously hard to keep alive because of the bad conditions they are bred and kept in at the commercial breeders.)

My Version:

You should first fill the pet store/breeder's bag with tank water as well. Do this by using a turkey baster or 3/4 cups of water every 5 minutes. Once the bag is ful, then dump out half the water into a bucket, sink, etc. Then fill the bag again by using the turkey baster until full, fish out the animal(s), dispose of all the water in the bag into a bucket or sink. The procedure should tak at least an hour.