Lost my RCS colony

[ATLoh2]

It looks like my shrimp tank crashed, and my RCS colony is just about gone. As I noted in a reply to a post on the general discussion forum, I suspect something changed with the water chemistry coming out of the tap. The tank was stable for over a year and the colony was just starting to grow. I saw my first shrimplets recently and all seemed fine until the crash. Nothing new in the routine. Testing only seemed to indicate a somewhat high nitrate reading (about 30 ppm) and a pH (6.0) that was lower than expected. I'll need to test the water out of the tap to see how it compares. In any case I'll probably have to start all over. Any recommendations (substrate, deco, etc.)? I'll probably carryover the rocks and plants (mostly crypts). I'm not sure if I want to bring the MTS, which seemed to survive whatever happened.

 

[Atxpunx]

I lost my rcs colony too a few months back. My nitrates were very high also, I believe rcs prefer a softer water ( someone correct me if I'm wrong ). The other day I read an article about mass producing red cherry shrimp in Asia and it seems they tear down the tanks after about a year and start new. I don't know if this helps. Also I know fluctuations in smaller tank effect shrimps health, with larger tanks there is a more stable water chemistry and thus giving your shrimp a better chance.

 

[HN1]

RCS do tend to crash for no apparent reason from time to time. If you had them for a year and just started seeing shrimplets, something is off. Once happy, they breed like rabbits. I've found the only way to avoid a crash is to periodically add new shrimp (different bloodline) to increase the genetic diversity. And always remember, the number one reason for shrimp tank die offs is overfeeding.

 

[shrimpbako]

There is always a reason for crashing.
Most important elements to a good Shrimp tank are

Substrate
Gh
Ph
And tds

A properly cycled tank shouldn't have no2 or no3

My tanks after 2 months of no water changes are still perfect and colony is boomin too.

 

[shrimpbako]

For red cherry shrimps ph
Of 6 results in lower baby survival and slower growth rates.

Plus you said you ph was lower then Expected which means you had a ph crash which is due to kh all gone in your tank eaten up by bacteria that feeds on kh.

 

[HN1]

There is always a reason for crashing.
Most important elements to a good Shrimp tank are

Substrate
Gh
Ph
And tds

A properly cycled tank shouldn't have no2 or no3

My tanks after 2 months of no water changes are still perfect and colony is boomin too.

For red cherry shrimps ph
Of 6 results in lower baby survival and slower growth rates.

Plus you said you ph was lower then Expected which means you had a ph crash which is due to kh all gone in your tank eaten up by bacteria that feeds on kh.

Several things here. You are absolutely right that gh & kh which are "components" of pH are very important. The substrate itself doesn't matter unless you are using it as your means of buffering the above. A properly cycled tank will show NO3. Ammonia & NO2 should be zero. Not doing water changes long term will lead to trouble. We have several colonies (RCS, Tiger, BPS, Malawa) that are 6 months to 2 years old and productive. The tanks are bare bottomed with aragonite rock pieces and they get a water change every 7-14 days. I'm not aware of a bacteria that feeds on carbonates, though there may be one or many, but they definitely don't "feed on kh".

 

[jetajockey]

Bio-acidification | The Skeptical Aquarist This is a great article on that subject, have a look, it explains it much better than I can.

 

[shrimpbako]

Substrate is a huge matter to Shrimps.

Example: I had no real success with fluval shrimp stratnum with my crystal red shrimps
But once I switched to akadama, the babies all survive now.

And bacteria not exactly eating "kh" but the calcium carbonates in the water that helps buffer ph.

Thanks to Jetajockey the term is bioacidificaton and it can cause
Phs to drop rapidly killing your tank.
This also affects a lot of goldfish and koi tanks I've seen due to lack of maintainence.

 

[HN1]

I have had RCS continually for nearly six years and have experienced one crash when I was at about the 6-8 month point. SS isn't important for them if the tank is set up to run without it. The only things in our shrimp tanks are aragonite rubble, java moss, and a sponge filter. Each tank including the tiger shrimp produce 20 - 50 sellable shrimp each month. Is my method the only way? Of course not, but neither is your's.

 

[jetajockey]

One important factor when it comes to gh/kh related issues is water changes. A weekly substantial water change routine negates issues related to bioacidification, as well as many other things.

So when the water is being replaced frequently, buffers are far less important.

 

[shrimpbako]

I have had RCS continually for nearly six years and have experienced one crash when I was at about the 6-8 month point. SS isn't important for them if the tank is set up to run without it. The only things in our shrimp tanks are aragonite rubble, java moss, and a sponge filter. Each tank including the tiger shrimp produce 20 - 50 sellable shrimp each month. Is my method the only way? Of course not, but neither is your's.

Substrate is important for 2 reasons, aesthetic as Jetajockey uses it for and helping amateurs maintain negotiable water parameters for their Shrimps.

But what's funny is that your tiger breeding is like mine. Bare bottom with barely anything in it. And just 2 small pieces of wood.

 

[ATLoh2]

Thanks for the responses. I haven't tested for KH or GH but the local water is considered hard. I need to retest the water, including water directly from the tap. I had been doing 25% water changes weekly, but this recent crash happened only days after a change. The bioacidification and the over feeding are likely culprits at this point. How much and how often do you typically feed your shrimp? I was feeding mine daily, roughly 6 pellets of TopFin crab/lobster bites (although I just discovered that there's copper in the ingredients. I also got some Hikari pellets made for dwarf shrimp, but that too contains copper (which they claim is necessary for blood regeneration). Any I'm going to start all over and I'll probably put some substrate under the gravel this time. And maybe some of those rocks you guys mentioned.

 

[Coursair]

Thanks for the responses. I haven't tested for KH or GH but the local water is considered hard. I need to retest the water, including water directly from the tap. I had been doing 25% water changes weekly, but this recent crash happened only days after a change. The bioacidification and the over feeding are likely culprits at this point. How much and how often do you typically feed your shrimp? I was feeding mine daily, roughly 6 pellets of TopFin crab/lobster bites (although I just discovered that there's copper in the ingredients. I also got some Hikari pellets made for dwarf shrimp, but that too contains copper (which they claim is necessary for blood regeneration). Any I'm going to start all over and I'll probably put some substrate under the gravel this time. And maybe some of those rocks you guys mentioned.

You should also vary their diet. They need more greens. I rotate several foods and offer veggies, Spinach and Romaine also.

Mine started breeding within 2 months. I always try to keep the Nitrates below 20ppm.

My colony has been up and running for 1.5 years without any crashes.

My tanks are heavily planted so my Shrimp get a lot biofilm to eat also.