Amano Shrimp dying. Newb need help

**akababy** · 14th May 2010, 18:10

btw eviltrain, i today buy 2 honey bee colour snails and put inside the tank but when i drop it in like half an hour ago it is still there, the snail never come out and move. Is it dead? Its still moving in the plastic bag when i bought it.... Damn

**jiajuen900** · 15th May 2010, 00:46

It could be possible that there is some copper residue in your tank from chemicals, equipment, etc. (very toxic to invertabrates)

Also note that alot of chemicals besides anything with copper is toxic to invertabrates. So there may be remains of something you might have used or put in your tank in the past.

Others would be stress (which is the reason why alot of new live stock die)
Nitrate too high for the shrimp.

Ph should not be a proplem as most live stock should be able to adapt to any ph of a reasonable range

**eviltrain** · 15th May 2010, 01:15

honey bee colour? erm.. nerite horn snail?

**akababy** · 15th May 2010, 09:17

Originally Posted by jiajuen900

It could be possible that there is some copper residue in your tank from chemicals, equipment, etc. (very toxic to invertabrates)

Also note that alot of chemicals besides anything with copper is toxic to invertabrates. So there may be remains of something you might have used or put in your tank in the past.

Others would be stress (which is the reason why alot of new live stock die)
Nitrate too high for the shrimp.

Ph should not be a proplem as most live stock should be able to adapt to any ph of a reasonable range

Hm ok Does frequent water change help reduce Nitrate?

Anyway to test out copper? and what are the way to reduce it?

**akababy** · 15th May 2010, 09:18

Originally Posted by eviltrain

honey bee colour? erm.. nerite horn snail?

yah yah the snail... today morning i check its still at the same position holed up in its shell... how long b4 i see them move?

**jiajuen900** · 15th May 2010, 19:39

it may be dead.
Yes nitrates are removed with water changes.

Copper? i dont know how to test. One way is to put cheap invertabrates and see if they can last more than a week. e.g. 30% malayan shrimp or grass shrimp.

Removal of chemicals, nitrates, etc. Done by water changes to dilute it

**akababy** · 16th May 2010, 01:35

hm... strange the snail die when its still moving in the bag... will monitor a few more days see how is it..

Alright looks like i need to do water changes at least every 2 days.

**Kiatster** · 16th May 2010, 04:16

I acclimatised my horned nerites for 1hour before letting them into the water, nothing happened, except all the algae gone in 3 days.

**yilimi** · 16th May 2010, 10:38

Originally Posted by akababy

ok after trying the 5in1 test strip these are the parameter

NO3: 30
NO2: very very slight, close to pure white colour or 0
GH: the chart shows > 4
KH: around 3-6
PH: 6.4 the lowest value the paper can test

the ph could be possibly lower than 6.4 because the test strip has no indication on ph < 6.4. it might suggest you have very soft water. to improve ph you could add a bag of coral chips but it take some time to create the ph buffer you desire.

**akababy** · 16th May 2010, 13:01

i tested my tap water also indicate ph 6.4 or lower.. seems like the water here is more soft.

Will improving PH have any adverse effect on my fish? I have 3 tetra, 3 rummy nose, 5 harlequin and 1 oto.

Kiaster: Ah.. i didnt know snail also need to do aclimatise... i just plug it off the bag and throw it in like what the LFS uncle do.. Maybe it went into shock?

I look at the snail from underside the flesh still looks healthy, i never try poking it. See these few days how.

**eviltrain** · 16th May 2010, 13:15

i never aclimatise my snail. haha. they just happy to feed the algae build up in my over flow pipe.

**felix_fx2** · 16th May 2010, 14:34

whatever i have bagged up from LFS trips are dumped in the water while i bath

.
Any special things to highlight? like base fert used or filter material ?

Alan: that a great idea for calcium, i always thought using dead corals is best.

P.S: I have some amano in hotter waters then you have.

**eviltrain** · 16th May 2010, 16:31

felix_fx2, i saw this on other website. usually i will pinch a little and sprinkle at the rainbar part.

**akababy** · 17th May 2010, 18:40

Guys i think i got screwed up by the JBL 5in1 test kit i bought.

I tested with the test kit the PH value always seems to be at the lowest and i thought my tank PH got problem so went to bought some PH up powder and after adding it doesnt seems to have any difference with the testing. Still shows 6.4 colour.

Now feeling abit paranoid i went to buy a API PH test solution and immediately after testing it shows me i am at the high range of the API chart liao which is 7.8!!!

I immediately a partial water change and now hoping none of my fish up lorry.

Now i am begining to wonder is this JBL 5 in 1 test kit any reliable for the rest of the parameter... gosh.. i feel damn sick and cheated now. Seems like i am right to be skeptical over commercial test kit!

Any ideas guys?

**jiajuen900** · 17th May 2010, 18:59

actually i dont think ph level is important rather mantaining a constant ph level is more important. Flaura and Fauna can adapt to any ph within a reasonable ph range. Fluctuations in ph are more harmful compared to a very low ph or very high ph.

Everybodies water is different so i would not reccomend someone try to achieve a certain ph level but keep it constan instead.

I feel a ph of around 6.4 should be fine. The ph in all my tanks is so low that test kit cannot measure (One of the tanks is a cherry shrimp breeding tank), but then again my test kit could not be accurate. Preferably Ph in planted tanks will be acidic as co2 injection causes the ph to drop. Also most fertilisers would dissolve in acidic ph levels.

Note: water change does not mean ph will drop. The ph of water in singapore is different in different areas. The ph of your tap water may already be 6.4 or 7.8, therefore water change no use.