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Cherry shrimp dying in community tank?

Started by matttimms49, September 18, 2017, 04:13:17 PM

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matttimms49

Hey guys, bit of a puzzle here. The cherry shrimp I had in my 40 gallon have died. I had 5 in there and this was after the tank had cycled and there was plenty of algae to get. I got them from critter jungle and trust their quality. Also had a water test the same day and it seemed alright.

My thoughts may be that either the tank wasn't fully cycled, although my fish have all survived.

I was having a problem calibrating the heater in my tank and the temperature was at 80 for a day or two. Maybe that's too high?

Anybody got any opinions in what could have caused them to die?

Cheers

Gilbotron

Did they all die at once or did they die off over time?

Are you using Excel?  I've wiped out shrimp populations overdosing Excel. Twice.
Copper is also bad for inverts.  Any new additions to the tank that might contain copper?  Alot of meds have copper in them.  Also check your plant ferts.

I've also read that shrimp can handle a dramatic drop in temperature (e.g. from cool rains), but they cannot tolerate a dramatic rise in temperature.  Maybe a water change but new water too warm? 

Just some thoughts...

matttimms49

I think they dropped off one by one I haven't found any bodies so I guess the army of pygmy corys I have eat them. I just haven't notice any in the tank for a good few days now. Normally u spot at least one right ? specially after the planting session that I did after the garage sale.

I dose some ferts, all Seachem I have messaged them to see if they are shrimp safe but I thought they all were. Only just done my first water change and that was after they had all gone missing. Plus parameters have all been stable for weeks.

I do use excel, not all the time but maybe I should cut back on the dosage? I will wait to see what Seachem say also.

Gilbotron

Pretty sure Seachem ferts are ok.  Seems to be a bit of an online debate about Excel though especially when you overdose it like we all do.

Oh - they're just missing?  They could be molting (in which case they will hide for a few days although all of them molting simultaneously would be wierd).  Also, they could have escaped - shrimp (especially Amano's) are notorious for making a break for it. 

lucius

I use Seachem ferts and use to use Metricide in my 75 gallon and no issues with my cherry shrimps.

Shawn84

A bunch a fishes.....
A bunch a tanks...........

matttimms49

Acclimatized them by letting bags float in water to temp acclimate. Then added small parts of tank wanted over a space of time. Normal kinda stuff

matttimms49

Any thoughts on the high temperature? I think it may have been the excel, or maybe that the filter was still ramping up to being established. I would love to get more shrimp :)

wolfiewill

Often it's not one single issue. There may have been some ammonia or nitrite still in the tank, the rise in temperature and the Exel together may have caused this. But I agree with Gilbotron in that they may have fled. If they don't have good hiding places to molt they will jump out and search for a better spot. Look around the tank for dehydrated bodies. The can travel 20 or 30 feet away from the tank or may be under some furniture or carpet somewhere.
"Don't tell fish stories where the people know you; but particularly, don't tell them where they know the fish." Mark Twain

matttimms49

The tank does have glass lids. It there is a cut out for the HOB. I will look for shrimp escapees but the cat may have hooverd them up. I think it could be a combination of what you said. To early into the tank set up, for them to survive. I will get my water tested again and if it's safe to do so will try a larger group so they feel safer too.

Kalemh

What is the kh and gh of your tank i have found that when its too low my shrimp would just die because they were unable to molt. And in that case they could have gotten cleaned up by fish .

matttimms49

Not sure on the levels but when I bought the shrimp I had a water test done at critter jungle and I trust that they would have told me if it was safe or not. I will get it retested though to find out!

What should they be for neocardinal??

Kalemh

I would say at least 3 kh and 6 gh the more the better mine was at 2 kh and 4 gh when i was having the losses and im not 100% sure if it was that or planaria because i fixed both problems at the same time.

sippingtowel

Hi depending on your shrimp size check your HOB, especially underneath it. Not sure how but for my tank I saw a decent size shrimp at the bottom of my aquaclear still alive.

If you haven't yet make sure the intake is shrimp proof.
29 gallon using chihiros a-series, beginner/newbie attempting to do aquascaping/planted aquarium with fish and shrimp. Stocked with some pearlweed, riccia, crypt, ghost shrimp, b.mollies and neons.

matttimms49

I have an aquaclear 70 so i will check that this evening. Not sure on the best way to proof the intake though. I bought the general fluval intake sponge foam (i have this on my Aquaclear 20 but its a little small for the intake on the 70. shall i just cut it a little to make it fit? Or does any one have a good that fits the 70 perfectly?

Gilbotron

You can use the stainless steel grill covers that go over the intake (Critter Jungle carries them).  Old stockings and an elastic band/zip tie also serves in a pinch!

Good point - I'm always finding shrimp in my filters, although its usually just the babies that get in (and subsequently grow up in there).

matttimms49

yes i ve seen the stainless steel grills at critter jungle, they are super nice just think they may be a little small for the aquaclear 70, its a big fat tube.

might take a closer look at them next time im in though.

lucius

If you get one of the smaller sponges for one of the smaller AC filters, you can just cut an opening and slide the sponge onto the intake of the AC70 tube.

matttimms49

I will try that technique, thanks Lucius.

I got a water test last night and got these results for GH and KH:

KH changed on 4th drip

GH changed on 6th drip

So does that give me reading of KH 4 and GH 6? How are those measurements for Neocardinal shrimp?

Gilbotron

Roughly.  Should be plenty of hardness for Neo's.