All my Japonica Amano Shrimp going to heaven. Why? :-(

[Bern C]

I had 5 Amano in my little guppy tank with aragonite substrate + sea salt. PH 8.8, gh/kh 10 no2 no3 near 0. I trying to make brackish water but when i managed to get a hydrometer, it's actually slightly below brackish. It's a junk tank invaded by seed shrimps at the bottom + no filter but plants like fissiden, vallisneria, hornwort. None died in there for months.
Then I migrated them to my 10g tank, ph6, gh6-7, kh2, no3 20ppm. The 1st few weeks, I still able to see my 5 Amano. 1 month later, I usually see 2-3 Amano. The other 2 probably dead and got eaten by other amano/cherries. I realize aquasoil will have higher no3 compare to gravel+potting soil(walstad method). My walstad tank no3 level never reach 20ppm, the test strip always white. But my aquasoil tank no3 always at 20ppm.

XD I am new to this hobby. I was thinking if the low ph is affecting the Amano.

[Filet-O-Fish]

Sad day. Today I checked my tank and found out that all my 20 Amano shrimps are gone (dead). Not even one left.

[Filet-O-Fish]

I visited the LFS where I bought the shrimps. He had more new stocks.

I noticed he had them in tanks which had large leaves in it rotting away. I think it's for the shrimps to eat the bio film on the leaves. Am I right?
The water was yellow / orangy in colour due to the tannins.

Can anyone tell me if the water in the tank is acidic or alkaline. Was this the cause of my 20 amano shrimps to die.
Thanks.

[Urban Aquaria]

Those are ketapang leaves, commonly put into tanks at LFS to replicate leaf litter environments.

The leaves release tannins which tint the water and lower pH (has an acidifying effect), the fishes and shrimps feed on the rich bio-film and micro-fauna that live on the rotting leaf matter. Those leaves are also said to have anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties, so they have some beneficial effects too.

Amano shrimps are generally hardy and adaptable to a wide range of parameters (which is one of the reasons why they are so popular), so pH usually isn't really an issue for them.

[Filet-O-Fish]

Those are ketapang leaves, commonly put into tanks at LFS to replicate leaf litter environments.

The leaves release tannins which tint the water and lower pH (has an acidifying effect), the fishes and shrimps feed on the rich bio-film and micro-fauna that live on the rotting leaf matter. Those leaves are also said to have anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties, so they have some beneficial effects too.

Amano shrimps are generally hardy and adaptable to a wide range of parameters (which is one of the reasons why they are so popular), so pH usually isn't really an issue for them.

Hi UA,
Well that rules out the sudden deaths in my tank. These were in NA Thomson. But I did notice that 1/3 of the shrimps had the same pinkish body while the rest looked normal grey. When I visited Fishy Biz or AquaticAvenue or SeaView, all the shrimps had only grey bodies.
But NA's shrimps are the cheapest when compared with other LFS.