Red Cherry shrimp dying - white line (molting?)

[vivienneshrimp]

I have a Fluval Chi 5 gallon/19l aquarium, ammonia and nitrites 0, nitrates around 10, just red cherry shrimp, decorated with marino moss balls and a bamboo shelter with java moss. Since I started keeping red cherries about 2 months ago, they keep on dying one by one. They get a white line in the middle of their body (from left to right, so from one side to the other of their body) and then die. I do water changes every week (about 20%), and have to top up water every day to keep the minimum level for the filter. Water is treated (no stress coat or so) and aged (for just one day). I discovered water in my area is probably soft so I started adding calcium blocks to the aquarium a week ago.

I am an experienced tropical fish keeper but am totally baffled by why my shrimp are randomly dying. I thought it might be a molting problem (hence the calcium). Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!!

 

[Fdsh5]

I'm thinking it was a molting issue also. Sounds like everything else is in order. Try feeding them some vegetable sticks with calcium. I order mine from kensfish.com

 

[Mogurako]

I wouldn't add anything to the water until you test PH, GH, KH and TDS. If the water is indeed to soft I would add cuttlebone not the calcium blocks. The reason being is calcium blocks will dissolve allot faster in the soft water potentially causing to much calcium to be in the water which will make their exoskeleton to tough that they can't molt properly.

 

[aquarium_Guru]

Do you have a pic of your tank just want to see what kind of filtration system it has because that might be the problem because i think i have the same tank and they will fall into the back chambers and than get cut buy the propellars than pumped back to the tank and die

 

[Mogurako]

I have 10 gallons with Hydor #2 sponge filters.

 

[vivienneshrimp]

Thanks for the replies. I'll get a kit to test GH and KH. What values should they be?

I've got a fluval chi aquarium and have covered the filter with tights - got a shrimp in it twice - one died one survived. There's no way for them to get to the impeller so that won't explain the white line.

 

[Mogurako]

Thanks for the replies. I'll get a kit to test GH and KH. What values should they be?

I've got a fluval chi aquarium and have covered the filter with tights - got a shrimp in it twice - one died one survived. There's no way for them to get to the impeller so that won't explain the white line.

I don't remember where the lines for hard water vs softwater lie however it tells you in the package what's soft/hard water. My tanks are all 7.4 PH, 5 KH, 6 GH and 130 TDS this is considered soft water. I add cuttlebone to my shrimp tanks to help with their molts, I've only found one dead shrimp in the past 6-8 months with no jumpers.

 

[Borderlesscott]

Sounds like a failed moult due to a possible lack in vital minerals, try feeding some premium shrimp food like Hikari Shrimp Cuisine - I recommend Genchem Biomax. Your water perimeters are fine for Cherry Shrimp, they can tolerate a lot more.

 

[vivienneshrimp]

Thanks for all the replies. Got a test kit and Calcium was verly low, but is now around 10-12. Also got the Genchem white pellets which contain calcium and minerals. Got some new lovely fire red shrimp, and some are moulting fine but I am still finding a dead one with a white line every few days Feeding them Biomax food and all water parameters are excellent. Still very puzzled (and upset) . . . Anyone has any idea what else could be going on?

 

[Borderlesscott]

This is a really good water conditioner for shrimp, if you can source it locally.
Shirakura Mineral Stone 200g - Mineral Supplements - Shirakura - Shrimp

 

[nedge85]

Have you previously used the chi for anything other than shrimp? Have you tried any other inverts in tank to see how they respond? Cherries are very hardy shrimp and survive most water conditions.

fluval make there own water conditioner and shrimp supplement which is very good, you may try sourcing some out online and giving a try.

Quick thought but what temp is the tank at?

 

[vivienneshrimp]

The chi has only been used for cherry shrimp, but I've got two snails in there as well. Temp is normally around 26C. The shrimp seem happy until they get the white line and die, although I've had some drop their eggs as well.
Any chance of parasites? I would think that would make them all sick and die within a short time of each other?

I ordered the mineral stone today. My water is very soft.

 

[nedge85]

Interesting. If the snails are good then the calcium may not be the problem although the addition of extra won't hurt. If it was that you'd find the snails having issues with there shells also, it also rules out copper. How many are you adding at a time? Are you buying from the same shop each time? As it could be the transition of conditions. How are you adding with regards to water change? Stupid question, but are you using different equipment in you shrimp and tropical tanks? From when you notice the white line what is the etd?

 

[vivienneshrimp]

I did buy the shrimp from different sellers and thought the ones that died within a few days might be struggling with the transition. I have to add some water every day to make up for evaporation. I add a dechlorinator (without any stress coat or other stuff, as I read that might harm the shrimp) and then let the water stand for about a day. I do a 10-20% water change every week.
I sometimes use the same net and siphon as I use for my tropical tank, and the snails came from the tropical tank as well, so in theory there could be cross-contamination. However, all fish in my tropical tank are happy. I could have had parasites that came with the shrimp or moss. I've found a few planaria worms (and taken them out) and I used to see tiny white specks moving around and living on the moss balls. Not sure if they could harm the shrimp.
How much calcium is too high? When I added the calcium tablet it went way above what I could measure, but it's back to 'normal' now.

 

[nedge85]

Don't use Pets at home for shrimp I've found there stock are usually quite old and of low quality.

I'd give up on the calcium tabs and use a piece of cuttlebone as it gives a slow release of calcium rather than large bursts.

The white specs sound like snail eggs specifically pond or trumpet snails but if you haven't found any that's good, wouldn't bother shrimp just a pest to get rid off.

The white line from left to right is the moulting break, have you found any molt? It could be that because of the high calcium they are dying during the molt and even finding it hard to acclimatise after due to under layers being hardend too quick. It's not unrare to lose during moulting but it is at the rate you are.

Topping up I wouldn't worry about, although it is frowned upon by ppl on these forums and over the net, it is not uncommon in nano tanks as I have also had the same issue with my Fluval Edge.

Personally I'd try not adding any calcium at all for now, get some shrimp specific food as well as a variety of treats (bloodworm,daphnia, etc) and run of the mill fish flakes crushed and see how it goes. Don't add after deaths for a while and see the results.

 

[vivienneshrimp]

I've stopped the calcium a while ago and I don't use the Pets at home for stock - I don't like their fish either! I've got good shrimp food (biomax) and supplements now and waiting for the mineral stone to arrive. I'm losing shrimps at a much slower rate now and some are moulting without a problem so I hope I'm about to solve the problem. The shrimp aquarium is my daughter's and I was hoping it would give her much joy, not agony!
Thanks for everyone's replies.

 

[aluka]

How did you acclimate the shrimps? They will die over a week if you didn't acclimate them properly. You have to set up a drip and let the tank water drip into a container with their old water for over 2-3 hours, and then scoop the shrimps into the new tank.

Also, if your gh is lower than 4, then they will definitely have molting issues, which it what it sounds like you have. My water has a gh of zero. So i use a gh booster. so everytime i water change i add conditioner and gh booster.