shrimp genoxide

[Xianghao]

i just trimmed my hair grass and other stem plants yesterday night, and shortly after my shrimps started going belly up, as if they were poisoned or something. The next morning had to take out all the dead shrimps in my tank. Luckily the shrimps i had in my tank were my cherries and malayans and not my crs.

The thing is, i know I have read stuff about shrimps dying when people do a major trimming on their plants, but then I have done this so many times, and I am wondering why only this time round did this occur. Any experts or experienced hobbyist care to shed some light on this issue?

[reagan022]

erm. maybe you want to name the plants you trim.

this reminds me of pri and sec school science, plants with toxic sap.

[seanskye]

did u uproot any plants? I used to have mass CRS deaths whenever I disturbed the soil in my tank...

[Xianghao]

i have hairgrass, HM, and some other species i'm not sure what name refer to pic for reference.. i did not do any major uprooting of plants, and i have done so before with no harm done to the shrimps.. but i have no idea this time round why it was so lethal.. kinda sad for my shrimps man.

[feide]

sorry to hear about your loss..
I heard that trimming may cause plant sap to leak into the water which could be lethal...

You seem to have some moss in your setup.
Happened to me once. I have a moss tied to wood, it seems to be growing well on the surface but the bottom part is actually dying.
You might like to check on this...

[Numbskull]

when u trim the plants sap will leak into the water and poison the shrimps. Another thing to take note is that the scissors must be stainless steel and thoroughly clean before entering the water.

[Reth]

I think it could also be caused by certain chemicals that are on your hands. Maybe you washed your hands with soap but didn't rinse off properly? Or perhaps you were handling objects that have harmful metals like copper? Maybe keys or something.

I doubt your shrimps died due to plant sap, since you've trimmed your plants before and all was well.

[Xianghao]

hmm all these are all possibilities.. i guess i must be extra careful next time. Now my tank has been a week without shrimps and can tell the difference already. algae growing out of control...

[beetroot]

I also doubt it is due to the plant trimming. I guess sometimes it's really hard to pinpoint the reason.

Had this experience too. My hardiest cherries... had them for almost a year and they were breeding like mad. There were like 40 of them. Then suddenly everyday they started dying, now I'm only left with 7 of them. Not sure how the water got contaminated? Was also wondering if they got the milk disease, as I saw one which turned colour.

Heard from another keeper, he had this experience too... once they start dying, it could be a wipe-out. Do water changes, as in my case, after they started dying, I saw a lot of thread worms in the water when I look really closely.

[Spid]

I would say its just part and parcel for shrimp keeping. I believe most of those shrimps keepers out there would have experienced what your have encountered.

By the way, Xianghao, one thing to ask, have you done anything major like doses or water change before and after you trim the plants?

[Spid]

I also doubt it is due to the plant trimming. I guess sometimes it's really hard to pinpoint the reason.

Had this experience too. My hardiest cherries... had them for almost a year and they were breeding like mad. There were like 40 of them. Then suddenly everyday they started dying, now I'm only left with 7 of them. Not sure how the water got contaminated? Was also wondering if they got the milk disease, as I saw one which turned colour.

Heard from another keeper, he had this experience too... once they start dying, it could be a wipe-out. Do water changes, as in my case, after they started dying, I saw a lot of thread worms in the water when I look really closely.

If water contaminated, most of your shrimps will be wiped out. Chances of shrimps dying one by one is due to diseases. Even with water changes you will not see any major improvements. Only way you can improve the situation is by medication. Err for that part, it takes a bit of research, time and the heart to accept more deaths...

[Xianghao]

hmm if i recall i dose like 1 cap full of seachem excel and seachem flourish after trimming. but thats like my normal regime and only that one time did it have such an effect on the shrimps..

[Xianghao]

anyway on a seperate tank i keep crs. anybody got a remedy against pregnant crs dying? i just lost 3 or 4 of them the past few days i don't know why, but very heartwrenching man. Could it be due to their immune system weak when they are pregnant or something?

[Spid]

I used to dose all these flourish and excel for my plants but found it not very successful for shrimps, as a precaution I have since stop using those products.
It seems excel is at fault after all.

Regarding deaths of the pregnant mummies, I guess it still remains a myth after all. I would suggest do check your parameters from time to time. Gh, tds, are some indicators for molting issue. Too high of those figures you see that your shrimps will be having a hard time molting. Having a hard time molting means irregular and incomplete molts. Worse still will result in deaths. Ammonia is another important figure.

[Xianghao]

I used to dose all these flourish and excel for my plants but found it not very successful for shrimps, as a precaution I have since stop using those products.
It seems excel is at fault after all.

Regarding deaths of the pregnant mummies, I guess it still remains a myth after all. I would suggest do check your parameters from time to time. Gh, tds, are some indicators for molting issue. Too high of those figures you see that your shrimps will be having a hard time molting. Having a hard time molting means irregular and incomplete molts. Worse still will result in deaths. Ammonia is another important figure.

thanks for the advice.. by the way whats tds?