Help!! CRS died after molting

[Matt]

Hi all, any idea to prevent CRS from dying after molting? Recently, 2 has died in a span of a week. So far 1x SS & SW has died. Sad...

My water parameters:
Ph: 6.0
N2:0
N3:below 10
KH:4
Gh:not tested yet.
Temp:23.5-24.5

Canister filter: charcoal, biohome plus, ceramic rings.

Water treatment: regular dosing of shizen & BT-9

Food: Mosura Excel, Shirakura Ebi Dama, Azoo Max Breed

Water change: 20% weekly

moderate level of Co2 due to plants.

Appreciate if anyone can advise. Thanks.

[Jovel]

do you have rocks in the tank that raise GH? high gh will cause most of the molting problems. and how long did you use the charcoal media for? I think you have to change it monthly if not it'll release the toxins back into the water once its lifespan is up.

[Jianyuan]

What is the gH of your tank? And what size is your tank?

[newlife]

Molting problem mainly due to high gH...
Get yourself a test kit...

How long you have been using your soil? What soil are you using? Brand new from shop or used soil?
Do you add mineral plus on every water change?
Any display of Rocks???
Your shrimps feeding well???Active???Any sign of color drop???

For what I know Sera brand Active Carbon can be used up to 6 months...and must be remove after that. Not too sure whether the charcoal media works the same as Active Carbon.???

[Matt]

do you have rocks in the tank that raise GH? high gh will cause most of the molting problems. and how long did you use the charcoal media for? I think you have to change it monthly if not it'll release the toxins back into the water once its lifespan is up.

Only have 5 pebble stones tied with Fissidens and bought from GC. And they have more of them in tanks smaller than my 2ft tank. So I presume it's ok. Does that raise GH? charcoal media for 2 weeks plus only. Safe to remove now and replace with other media like biohome plus or bacteria house?

What is the gH of your tank? And what size is your tank?

GH not tested yet. Using 2ft tank. Also, just did a 20% water change with water of ph 7 filtered water after the 2nd death.

Molting problem mainly due to high gH...
Get yourself a test kit...

How long you have been using your soil? What soil are you using? Brand new from shop or used soil?
Do you add mineral plus on every water change?
Any display of Rocks???
Your shrimps feeding well???Active???Any sign of color drop???

For what I know Sera brand Active Carbon can be used up to 6 months...and must be remove after that. Not too sure whether the charcoal media works the same as Active Carbon.???

Will get a test kit today and update on the GH. Majority of the shrimps are eating well and always busy picking on micros all over my tank. However do notice some colour drop which i thought was due to stress, just unsure what caused it. Soil is brand new GEX (red pack) and written " For shrimps and plants" on the packaging.

Thanks all bros for the very prompt replies and since all have mentioned my missing parameter on GH, it could likely be the cause. Daunted in me that the shrimps are active and well as it seems but looks slow and weak just before it molts (referring to SW). and found dead with its exo skeleton just millimeters away.

Anyway, if it's GH prob, how to lower it safely? And if possible, naturally?

[Jianyuan]

Gh can be lowered by WC with distilled water.

[avex30]

Look like your kh is rather high 4?

[Matt]

Look like your kh is rather high 4?

Is it high? Need to bring down? Cos I saw the chart and seems that 4 is adequate for inverts and plants. And how to bring it down? With WC it should come down right?

[Matt]

Gh can be lowered by WC with distilled water.

In that case, I think I'm safer mow. Cos my filtered water is distilled.

[Matt]

Hi guys, my GH is between 8-9. Is it too high? KH currently between 2-3.

[Jovel]

Hi guys, my GH is between 8-9. Is it too high? KH currently between 2-3.

GH is too high, have you been dosing anything or suspect anything that contains minerals like calcium and magnesium in your tank?

[gryphon]

Hi guys, my GH is between 8-9. Is it too high? KH currently between 2-3.

Bring it down to 3-5

[reiner09]

Hi guys, my GH is between 8-9. Is it too high? KH currently between 2-3.

yeah 8-9 gh is too high will cause molting problems..suggest you just use tap water without any dosing any mineral (singapore tap water around 2-5gh)..check for the rocks you use too..

[Matt]

GH is too high, have you been dosing anything or suspect anything that contains minerals like calcium and magnesium in your tank?

yeah 8-9 gh is too high will cause molting problems..suggest you just use tap water without any dosing any mineral (singapore tap water around 2-5gh)..check for the rocks you use too..

Will check on my water reserves for WC when I get back to office tmr. Can't really think of anything that may contain calcium or magnesium. Would GEX (red pack) which states for shrimps and plants be of High GH? Or the piece of metal tied to one of my plants be a cause? Think need to investigate it thoroughly. Anyway, does presence of metals in the tank increase GH?

The pebbles in my tanks are those common black rounded pebbles you see in landscaping decor. Also, how to check for GH in those pebbles?

[reiner09]

Will check on my water reserves for WC when I get back to office tmr. Can't really think of anything that may contain calcium or magnesium. Would GEX (red pack) which states for shrimps and plants be of High GH? Or the piece of metal tied to one of my plants be a cause? Think need to investigate it thoroughly. Anyway, does presence of metals in the tank increase GH?

The pebbles in my tanks are those common black rounded pebbles you see in landscaping decor. Also, how to check for GH in those pebbles?

stainless steel most probably won't leech anything into the tank. However beware of rocks, most rocks arn't suitable for shrimps except for sulawasi. Rocks do leech minerals into the water over days ,months or years ..causing gh and tds to shoot up.. one way to check if your rocks leech minerals,you can use vinegar/any stronger acid you can find and drip it over your rocks and see if it fizzles..if it does it certainly doesn't make the cut to be in a shrimp tank. alternatively you can use the 'waiting' method.. take your stone or whatever out and soak it in distilled water over weeks then check if there are any gh changes in the distilled water using gh test kits (distilled water gh=0, tds=0) if it increases then there's your answer.

[Matt]

Anyway, would regular dosing of Shizen raise the GH?

[reiner09]

Anyway, would regular dosing of Shizen raise the GH?

no. it won't.

[marimo]

try to lower your GH to 5 then find out what is causing the GH to go to 8-9
if you do 20% weekly change, GH should be buffered at tap water range right?
otherwise something else is buffering to 8-9

[Matt]

Just to double confirm, in order to get an accurate reading with API test kits (example GH tests), as long as the colour has changed from light yellow to light green, it's considered as done? Can take that as result? Or to turn leave green?

Cos if that's the case, my GH has come down to 4. And have seen molts (exoskeleton) without dead bodies.

And the pebbles are still in the tank. Will bring down GH if necessary to achieve optimum parameters.

Thanks so much to all the bros and pros who have given me much help. Have read and thought that GH is negligent until now. Thanks!! ;-)

[Matt]

try to lower your GH to 5 then find out what is causing the GH to go to 8-9
if you do 20% weekly change, GH should be buffered at tap water range right?
otherwise something else is buffering to 8-9

My GH buffer shld be 4. As I have tested my water source to be at that level. Based on API test result showing light green after 4 drops.