shrimps keep dying

[da_xiong]

hi all,

Have a 1 feet gex glassterior tank running on dolphin H80 HOF filter with ANS planta soil with flame moss, marimo moss ball and some bacopa from my other tank.

The tank is cycled for 1 month plus going 2 months already with water parameters as follows:

Ammonia - 0ppm
Nitrite - 0ppm
Nitrate - about 30ppm ( a bit high, going to get frogbits)
PH - 6.8
GH - 3
KH - 1

tank is sprinkled with mosura old sea mud and No planaria due to planaria growing which is from the LFS which I have gotten the shrimp from as I saw planaria in their shrimp tank.

I just gotten my shrimps in a span of a week,

Last Tue, gotten a bag of 10 fire reds, out of which almost all died,

Last Fri, gotten another bag of 10 fire red due to almost no shrimp left, and this time round the deaths are lesser,

Last Sat, gotten another bag of 10 fire red as tank is getting empty, now tank is left with about 14 shrimps.

I using drip acclimatisation for introduction of my shrimps into the tank with about 3 drips per second for almost more than 12 hours.

Most of the died shrimps seem to have molting problems, like when they die or about to die, they have a white band or crack on their necks and when they swim (when still alive) they look like they are paralysed or something, like swimming upside down or like just swimming with their hind legs only.

Question here is,

1) Why are my shrimps still dying?

2) Anyone can confirm with me if it is molting problem?

3) What can I do to correct the situation? I read that Mosura Gravidas is good for molting issues, but I need to confirm if it is really molting problem first.

4) Is this normal? afterall is less than a week since the introduction of my shrimps.

Anyone got frogbits to spare?

[Adrain]

Maybe it's the source of where you got your shrimps from?


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[da_xiong]

Maybe it's the source of where you got your shrimps from?


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Not too sure either, I got my shrimps from 2 different places with the last 2 batches from the same shop... the first batch of death could be due to me not acclimatising them properly as for the rest I am not too sure also, now my shrimps left with 12 just got 2 died...again before death swimming very weirdly... like floating around and not really swimming...

[wongce]

bro, did they cramp at 1 single place? or swim normally?

[da_xiong]

bro, did they cramp at 1 single place? or swim normally?

when in my tank not really cramp but they don't really move about just stay at an area of the tank (same area) only a few shrimps swim about or move about but not much also, when inside the bag just bought home from shop they seem to cramped together as in like stacking on each other...

[wongce]

hmm,
any weird smell (tank water)...
anyone spray perfume,insecticide nearby the tank?
temperature of water? any huge fluctuation?
did you overdose the NO-Planaria?
any copper/rust contamination?

crack on their shell shows they wanted to molt... but died molting right... hmm but seldom hear all die so quickly and molting at the same time....

[da_xiong]

hmm,
any weird smell (tank water)...
anyone spray perfume,insecticide nearby the tank?
temperature of water? any huge fluctuation?
did you overdose the NO-Planaria?
any copper/rust contamination?

crack on their shell shows they wanted to molt... but died molting right... hmm but seldom hear all die so quickly and molting at the same time....

weird smell, no not really, only the typical fishy smell, as for perfume and insecticide, no, but I do have a air purifier in my room. those round tub where the water is spin inside and produce a nice smell kind...

temperature of water I on air con at night been observing the temperature fluctuations, which is about 25 to 26 degree at night to about max 28 in the day... I just added a fan which will auto on during noon to afternoon period so it should maintain at about 25 to 27 now...

as for No planaria, I added about 75% of recommended dosage for my tank size...

copper and rust contamination I am not too sure about it,

currently only have got api freshwater test kit set and api gd and kh test kit, getting tds meter soon... could the nitrate be the cause?? how high can nitrate get before affecting my shrimps? I know it must be as low as possible...

[wongce]

Hmm very hard to diagnose...haha all seems ok... can upload few pictures of your tank? Especially front view...

Nitrate ...don't think will cause molting problem..

[da_xiong]

Hmm very hard to diagnose...haha all seems ok... can upload few pictures of your tank? Especially front view...

Nitrate ...don't think will cause molting problem..

I try to haha been busy this few days due to exams.. anyway I am not too sure if it is molting problem or not also.. but as described, the shrimps before dying will swim like as thought half of the body is dead is like seeing a dead shrimp floating around, some will not even swim but will have the white band on their neck like the shell cracked there or something... from what I found on the net it seems it is molting problem... but that is based on the net only so I can't confirm if it is really molting problem...

[da_xiong]

Hmm very hard to diagnose...haha all seems ok... can upload few pictures of your tank? Especially front view...

Nitrate ...don't think will cause molting problem..

anyway Just now dropped by Y618, so bought a pack of mosura gravidas, trying out to see if it helps on the molting if it is really molting problem..

[Urban Aquaria]

weird smell, no not really, only the typical fishy smell, as for perfume and insecticide, no, but I do have a air purifier in my room. those round tub where the water is spin inside and produce a nice smell kind...

The aroma chemicals in the air purifier with spinning water might be contributing to the cause of the shrimp deaths... i have seen labels on scented candles and aromatherapy bottles with warning disclaimers like "harmful to aquatic organisms, may cause long term health issues".

Most likely the aroma chemicals drift around the room and infuse into the tank water, which then turn toxic for the weaker shrimps that are more sensitive. Probably similar effect to pesticide being sprayed in the room.

If you think about it, your tank with filter circulating water around in it is pretty much like another version of the air purifier with spinning water, any chemicals in the air will eventually get mixed in it too.

[gigisakura]

OK I kinda got the same shrimp keep dying problem ... I dunno if soil is the problem. As just recently I see lots small white wringly like worms like tt. One my green shrimps just like same as his shrimps so I also dunno what the cost...

My pH level is 6.6-6.8. Currently on cherry shrimps and green shrimps.. I haven't test for any ammonia cause at tt time I could only effort pH kit. I suck out all the white stuff thou still have some left my tank is only have ana soil, 2 moss ball and one hiding house.

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[da_xiong]

The aroma chemicals in the air purifier with spinning water might be contributing to the cause of the shrimp deaths... i have seen labels on scented candles and aromatherapy bottles with warning disclaimers like "harmful to aquatic organisms, may cause long term health issues".

Most likely the aroma chemicals drift around the room and infuse into the tank water, which then turn toxic for the weaker shrimps that are more sensitive. Probably similar effect to pesticide being sprayed in the room.

If you think about it, your tank with filter circulating water around in it is pretty much like another version of the air purifier with spinning water, any chemicals in the air will eventually get mixed in it too.

Hmmm perhaps maybe.. I just read the infomation on my bottle scent used to add into the purifier it stated is some plant extract and natural oil etc, does it affect? Never state if it is harmful or not to aquatic creatures...

[Urban Aquaria]

Hmmm perhaps maybe.. I just read the infomation on my bottle scent used to add into the purifier it stated is some plant extract and natural oil etc, does it affect? Never state if it is harmful or not to aquatic creatures...

Yeah, thats the thing about bottle labels... most 3rd party brands tend to omit those warnings, so we never know for sure.

I guess it's no harm to just temporarily stop using the air purifier and open the windows to air the room for a while to dissipate any residual chemicals in the air, then do a series of water changes and monitor for a week, see if your tank's shrimp situation improves.

[gigisakura]

Okay Ive been ignore...

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[wongce]

Hi da xiong, UA may be right about the perfume stuff. One of my friend's shrimp died by mass due to perfume of her wife.... haha apparently his wife spray perfume nearby his tank.... so better don't take risk

[magpie]

Did you placed a lot of rocks inside ? Test your tank GH that may be the cause of the molting problem of your shrimp.

[thebaldingaquarist]

Okay Ive been ignore...

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Hahaha, don't feel like that.. sometimes we scroll too fast. Happens to all of us.

For your shrimps, having worms in the substrate often means over feeding.. And overfeeding could also mean ammonia spikes.. Which could be your cause.

[da_xiong]

Yeah, thats the thing about bottle labels... most 3rd party brands tend to omit those warnings, so we never know for sure.

I guess it's no harm to just temporarily stop using the air purifier and open the windows to air the room for a while to dissipate any residual chemicals in the air, then do a series of water changes and monitor for a week, see if your tank's shrimp situation improves.

I see.. ok shall try out and see if it is really the purifier that affects, if so, must think of alternatives...

Hi da xiong, UA may be right about the perfume stuff. One of my friend's shrimp died by mass due to perfume of her wife.... haha apparently his wife spray perfume nearby his tank.... so better don't take risk

haha... hope mine is not due to that reasons... but is it normal for newly introduced shrimps to die frequently?? because my other tank in the living room with red cherry also had this problem initially, but now stablised and the surviving ones seem to be doing good.. yesterday just did a headcount, got about 5 to 6 shrimplets! haha

Did you placed a lot of rocks inside ? Test your tank GH that may be the cause of the molting problem of your shrimp.

nope, no rocks inside, as stated, GH is 3... Don't think GH is the problem...

Hahaha, don't feel like that.. sometimes we scroll too fast. Happens to all of us.

For your shrimps, having worms in the substrate often means over feeding.. And overfeeding could also mean ammonia spikes.. Which could be your cause.

haha... the white worms is it planaria? I got mine from LFS tank while catching shrimps I think as my tank is just about 1 week with shrimps before that is fishless cycle with no food...

[sthh]

Cherry shrimps are very tolerant, so if they are dying, there must be something wrong with the water or soil.
I have kept cherry shrimps in ph 4 to ph 8, ph is never much of an issue for cherry shrimps.

1. Isolate the cause.
Take out all the unnecessary item in your shrimp tank to isolate the cause. Leave only the substrate if possible.

2. Is your tank cycled?
Since you have another tank, i recommend you do the following.
Take out all your fauna first.
Drain all water from your shrimp tank.
Take the medium from the mature tank, and squeeze the dirty mulm all over the substrate. This will coat the substrate with good bacteria.
Also use some of the medium to put into the filter of your shrimp tank.
Hopefully, you can seed your shrimp tank rapidly with good bacteria.
I usually use inert substrate such as gravel for my shrimp tanks. Your current substrate may not be shrimp friendly, you may need to do a lot of water change to dilute those chemicals in them.

3. Water change
Do your water change 30% daily for a week, see if there are any casualty.

4. Usually planaria are quite harmless, but they can kill shrimps. I will not be too worried about them yet.

I started a thread long ago on how to setup a cherry shrimp tank in 1 day, you can reference it and see if it is useful.
http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum...ank?highlight=

Here's another thread i started on shrimp propagation in a 3ft tank, where my 10 shrimps reproduced to the thousands.
http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum...nce?highlight=