Need help with CRS

[ZacNg]

Hi all,

I have been having CRS dying on me once every few days and I can't seem to find the problem. I am having a planted tank with Monte Carlo, Weeping moss, frogbits, some buceps and stem plants. Running on pressurised CO2 at 1 bubble per 5 seconds. Daily dosing of ADA green brighty step 1 and Brighty K 2 pumps each. My tank parameters are as follows:

PH: 6 (lowest my test kit can go)
GH: 5
KH: 1
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0
TDS: 130-150
Temperature: 24 (chiller set to kick in at 25 degrees)

Filter running on Eheim 2026 with ADA Bio Rio, Sera Peat Moss and Seachem Purigen. Also have a Borneowild Mineral Rock and Benibachi Zero Ammo plate. I have CRS molted shell and seen some actual molt but my CRS are still dying. Is there something wrong with my tank?

[eugenecj]

could be your dosage of ADA green brighty. do you dose the recommended dosage? usually recommended to dose half of what is recommended for tank with shrimp.

[ZacNg]

I'm dosing lesser than the recommended dosage.

[eugenecj]

I'm dosing lesser than the recommended dosage.

oh! i missed your co2, co2 is known to kill shrimp. btw, maybe you should get another test kit to test for the PH, like you said lowest it go is only 6, there might be a chance it's lower than 6? how long did you cycle?

[ZacNg]

There is a chance as I am using ADA soil with additional buffers, is there any cheaper alternative for a ph meter? The ones I see are about $70 which is way over budget for me. As for co2, I doubt is the cause as I am dosing way lower than what it is suppose for my plant needs. This tank has already been running for slightly over 2 months and the shrimps were added only after 3 weeks.

[burp]

Zacng. .I feel you same problem here. Test your ph. I relied on the test kit initially which read 6.0 lowest. After realising it was not cycling, I tested again and saw 4.6.

[ZacNg]

Just bought a Sera liquid test kit. Hope it works.

[burp]

I bought my ph pen at petmart Serangoon North for $60 bucks.

[eugenecj]

There is a chance as I am using ADA soil with additional buffers, is there any cheaper alternative for a ph meter? The ones I see are about $70 which is way over budget for me. As for co2, I doubt is the cause as I am dosing way lower than what it is suppose for my plant needs. This tank has already been running for slightly over 2 months and the shrimps were added only after 3 weeks.

Hmmm crs are rather sensitive.. I cycle my tank for 1 month before adding shrimp and also gotten dead shrimp. After 2 whole month then it gotten stable. I'm using ada soil too.

[ZacNg]

Just tested my PH. It shows between 6 - 6.5 (cannot really tell the difference). This should be between the living conditions of the CRS mah....why they still dying....just got another dead body today.

[Urban Aquaria]

Were the shrimps selected directly from the LFS tank? Or already pre-packaged in plastic bags at the LFS? That can affect their stress level and survival rates (especially if they had been sitting in the pre-packed bags for a long time).

How is your acclimatization process for the shrimps? Sometimes if the transition is too quick or the shrimps get too stressed in transit, they become weakened and start dying over the days and weeks after introduction into the tank.

[ZacNg]

Were the shrimps selected directly from the LFS tank? Or already pre-packaged in plastic bags at the LFS? That can affect their stress level and survival rates (especially if they had been sitting in the pre-packed bags for a long time).

How is your acclimatization process for the shrimps? Sometimes if the transition is too quick or the shrimps get too stressed in transit, they become weakened and start dying over the days and weeks after introduction into the tank.

They were bought from breeders and selected from LFS tank. My acclimatization process is to float the bag for about 20mins in my tank water, then I will slowly drip water into the bags for about 2-4hours until the TDS of the packet is close to my tank water. Then I will net them out and let them slowly swim into my tank.

[Urban Aquaria]

They were bought from breeders and selected from LFS tank. My acclimatization process is to float the bag for about 20mins in my tank water, then I will slowly drip water into the bags for about 2-4hours until the TDS of the packet is close to my tank water. Then I will net them out and let them slowly swim into my tank.

Looks like you have the right selection and acclimation process for the shrimps... and your tank water conditions look good, even have chiller too. Overall an ideal environment for them.

If your shrimps are dying one every few days, i guess its something in the water that is not immediately lethal to them but is somehow enough to weaken them slowly. I see that you mention the shrimps were added 3 weeks after the tank startup? Maybe during that time the tank conditions may not have been as stable as it is now, so the effects carry forward to the weeks following, hence the shrimps slowly dying one every few days.

I guess if your tank is currently cycled and stable, just have to maintain it this way and hopefully the die-off rate will decrease and the stronger ones will survive.

[Darick]

Just a thought.

Anyone spray insecticide near the tank? Think along this line might help to shed some light.

[ZacNg]

Just a thought.

Anyone spray insecticide near the tank? Think along this line might help to shed some light.

Nope, the tank is in my room on my table. Doubt there would be any foreign substances accidentally added.