Shrimp dying! Advice needed.

[kiantkh]

Hi all,

I notice that my cherry shrimps had been slowly dying one by one after moulting. This just started 3 days ago and i had been waking up to see 1 dead shrimp every morning.

ph ~ 5.6
temp 25-26

Below is how the shrimp look like when it is trying to moult.




Is my ph too high or too low?

[soonhong]

Ph too low...

[xconnect.]

Your ph too low bro melting their shells you need increase

[Navanod]

Is this a very new tank bro? Such low pH is normally only seen in new tank with newly placed soil.

[Matt]

I think we need to look at other parameters as well. pH 5.6 is very low in my opinion but not to the extend of killing 1 shrimp/day and after mounting. More likely is a GH/KH problem again.

My new tank is with pH 5.5 and I have Cherries in it as commandos and have not removed since 3weeks ago and they are still fine.

[avex30]

How long is your tank
Did you cycle it properly
what type of soil
FTS will be good
your other parameter reading

You post and photo cannot tell anything much..... I've them at ph 6 doesn't breed but doesn't die.

[Navanod]

My fire reds are breeding at pH6

[kiantkh]

I am using new amazonia soil. The set up is at least 3 weeks old.

I have ard 5 crs in the same tank and one got berried recently. Yamatos are fine too. It is just cherries that are having moulting problems although there are quite a number of berried ones too.

[avex30]

I am using new amazonia soil. The set up is at least 3 weeks old.

I have ard 5 crs in the same tank and one got berried recently. Yamatos are fine too. It is just cherries that are having moulting problems although there are quite a number of berried ones too.

Hmm 3 weeks old when did you add in the shrimp?

I won't be surprise there is ammonia or NH3 present in your tank. I don't think 3 weeks cycling for new amazonia is enough unless you have seed from a mature tanks and seed the filteration. If they have molt it is likely due to GH issue but Cherry can adjust but too high...

So i guess have a look at the overall parameter.

[Matt]

Bro, able to provide more parameters here so that the bros here can help better. 3 weeks may not be sufficient to fully cycle the new ADA soil. There may still be traces of Ammonia beneath the soil layer unless you have done otherwise to speed up the cycling process.

Also, in my own opinion, shrimps getting berried doesn't necessarily means the water is perfect or without issues. The shrimp may have just molted and got into the way of a male. And getting berried is just the start of another phase where you have to take more caution of the water parameters to ensure the shrimps become happy Preggies and have a "smooth delivery", not to forget the Shrimplets' survival rate as well.

[Ecalyte]

3 weeks is enough for New Amazonia cycling. The issue is not a complete cycle rather than a crazy amount of NO3. During the cycling process, New Amazonia will leech out a huge amount of ammonia and hence will result in crazy amounts of Nitrate (NO3). One needs to do a huge water change at the end of the cycling process to get rid of the excess NO3. I believe you didnt do this and so your shrimps could be dying from the biproduct of your cycling.

A complete cycle happens when both nitrobacter and somonas are present in the tank. 3 weeks is more than enough for that. From that point its only a matter of colony size which will determine your maximum lifestock capacity. With New Amazonia ammonia will continue to leech beyond 3 weeks but that doesnt mean the cycle is incomplete. Ultimately it just means you need to do regular water changes to get rid of the NO3.

What you can do now is to measure your NO3, and if its high like i suspect then your next move is to do regular water changes. 20% every 3 days for the next 2 weeeks. Do the water change via drip acclimatize method. Dont just dump the water in. Get an airhose and those air valves.. Use that as a way to introduce new water into your tank. Keep it to a slow drip of about 2 drops per second.

IMPORTANT: Make sure that you use de-chloraminated water for the water change. If possible.. Use pure distilled water. Why? Tap water contains trace amounts of NO3. If you use shizhen to de-chloraminate the water, its bi-product is Ammonia which will get turned to NO3. So it's a bit counter productive. I recommend LIFE brand distilled water that you can get at your nearby NTUC.

[kiantkh]

Thanks for all the helpful responses from all the bros/ sis!

I think i should provide more information regarding my setup according to what most have suggested.

Tank: 1.5"x1"x1" + 1.4 linked in series.
Canister Filter: atman df-700 with 1kg biohome, 1 tray mr aqua cr
HOF: gex slim s with mr aqua cr
ph: 5.6
temp: 26-26 degrees c
gh/kh/tds: Unknown as I do not have the test kits. (a bit too hard on the pocket as im still a full time student)

Regarding the cycling of my tank, This is what I did. I had a tank that had been running for at least 5 months and a canister filter, 1 hang on filter that had been running for 5 months. Then about 3 weeks ago, i changed the soil in my tank and reconnected everything to the tank. I did not wash the medias in the canister or anything and I even use water from the old tank to fill the tank.

My tank is populated with 6 crs, ~50 cherries(offsprings of what i bought as fire reds), 2 yamato, and 4 neon tetras.
There are also frogbits, fissidens and java moss.
IMAG0175.jpgIMAG0174.jpgIMAG0173.jpg

Based on the setup that i have, I feel that it might not be cycling issue? However, i might not be right and bros with more experience might want to correct me if i'm wrong.

To add on, the CRS which are more sensitive by nature appear to be okay. So could that be used to rule out the ammonia, nitrate, nitrite issue?

PS: The plants grew quite quickly for the first few weeks after soil change and seem to have slowed down. Frogbits also did not reproduce as quickly compared to before the soil change.

[Navanod]

Without water parameters readings, I can only venture a wild guess. Ecalyte bro may be right in that they may have died from the nitrate or ammonia spike. Your plants probably took care of that by now based on how they've been growing but the damage to the shrimps have already been done.

The spikes may have damaged their gills and caused infection and inability to feed and excrete their own waste ammonia effectively.

[avex30]

Bro you mind trying this add a airstone to it your tank look dense hmm I suspect it is ammonia more than nitrate.

[tranzy]

Let me make a guess based on my experience. I set up my tank in Nov and with New Amazonia. Initially my ph is also very low, similar to yours. A lot of fire reds died and i mistakenly thought the problem was high gh as they died during moult.

Make long story short, in the end the problem was my ph of below 6, so i added 2 handfuls of coral chips to my 2feet tank, did a WC with tap water, monitored my ph, and it went up. Shrimps have been healthy ever since with no deaths.

Please note that you should not add too much coral chips, your tank is smaller so maybe bit by bit till its at your desired level. The ph does not increase instantly and may take several days to see a difference.

[kiantkh]

Update: My friend came over with some test kits today and i measured the gh and kh of my tank.

gh: 4
kh: 2 or 3 ( cant differentiate the colour well enough)

So now i can safely conclude that its not kg and gh problem?

After ruling out the water hardness as a possible cause of death, the remaining suspects are ph and ammonia. I am inclined to believe that ph might be the issue according to what bro tranzy had said earlier. Will monitor a few day and come up with the next course of action.

Thanks to all the helpful bros/sis who had contributed their experiences and possible causes of death.

[dake]

Hi kianth
FIrst you must check about amoniak/ nitrat in your tank. Please ensure that the amount is 0 or reliable for shrimps.
second, ph best for cheerry family is about 6,5-7 i think your pH is to low
third, you said that crs is well in that tank, i think your cherry can be suffered of sickness.

Hope will help.......

[hyun007]

PH is the problem.
It happened in my tank as well.
They just died one by one, no problem with high grade CRS.
Just to raise PH to 6.

[sp1der]

does do more regular small water change helps to stabilize the ph6 range?

[xconnect.]

Kian hi... Where u stay maybe I can lend u my ph and nitrate test kits
Watsapp or text me at 96701405