Fire shrimp RIP

[boricua1213]

I just got a fire shrimp on Thursday. Today sunday I did a PWC and Sunday night fire shrimp lying died on bottom of tank. I also did ran water tests and everything seemed fine. After PWC I notice fire shrimp acting a little weird. I also added calcium to tank. My wife thinks that the PWC caused his death due to the pouring of the water.

Any ideas on what might have caused his death we really liked it. Other fishes were fine. Oh yeah when we got him he molted that night.

Thanks,

Rick

[Hara]

When you do your water changes, do you make sure the salinity, ph, temp are the same in the bucket and the tank? Do you make sure that the water has "aged" with a pump or powerhead or even an aistone running in it for at least 24 hours first?

[tecwzrd]

Agree the ph/sg was probably off or you didn't let your water mix long enough. What percentage of water did you change out? Also how did you acclimate your shrimp and for how long?

[mike3epanda]

yep i think it got shocked it... and you're bacterias are starting to break him down.

[melosu58]

I`m thinking also that your PWC water was the culprit. Maybe even your acclimation process. I`ve had one of these for years and they are quite hardy.

[boricua1213]

I acclimated the shrimp by sitting the bag in the tank for about 20mins. Then took him out of bag into tank. Should I have done something different?

As for the PWC I just take the water from LFS and dump it in after emptying tank to the % needed.

Rick

[melosu58]

Originally Posted by boricua1213

I acclimated the shrimp by sitting the bag in the tank for about 20mins. Then took him out of bag into tank. Should I have done something different?

That was OK to start with but inverts need more than that. All you did was acclimate him to the temp. He probably experience shock when you added him to the tank and experience different PH, salinity and excessive nutrients all of a sudden. Two things that would have helped would have to been open the bag and added a 1/2 cup of tank water every 20 or 30 mins as this would have allowed him to acclimate to your tank parameters. After doing this for 2 to 3 hrs he would have been good to go in your tank. The other is a drip acclimation that would have dripped tank water into the bag or another container for a couple hrs also. Either one of these would have helped out tremendously. At least you know for next time. Good Luck.

[mike3epanda]

Originally Posted by melosu58

That was OK to start with but inverts need more than that. All you did was acclimate him to the temp. He probably experience shock when you added him to the tank and experience different PH, salinity and excessive nutrients all of a sudden. Two things that would have helped would have to been open the bag and added a 1/2 cup of tank water every 20 or 30 mins as this would have allowed him to acclimate to your tank parameters. After doing this for 2 to 3 hrs he would have been good to go in your tank. The other is a drip acclimation that would have dripped tank water into the bag or another container for a couple hrs also. Either one of these would have helped out tremendously. At least you know for next time. Good Luck.

so how do u acllimate inverts?

[melosu58]

Originally Posted by melosu58

Two things that would have helped would have to been open the bag and added a 1/2 cup of tank water every 20 or 30 mins as this would have allowed him to acclimate to your tank parameters. After doing this for 2 to 3 hrs he would have been good to go in your tank. The other is a drip acclimation that would have dripped tank water into the bag or another container for a couple hrs also. Either one of these would have helped out tremendously. At least you know for next time. Good Luck.

[pinkie]

Yeah I would be very very surprised if the water pouring in were to kill a fish/invert because the ocean is constantly moving much harsher than pouring water in your tank.

I think melosu is right on with the acclimation. Inverts are even more sensitive than fish to acclimate and just acclimating him with temp isn't enough. I personally like the shot of water every 20 min while the bag floats in the aquarium rather than the drip acclimation because the problem I have with the drip acclimation is that it doesn't keep the water temperature the same as the tank. It causes the water they are acclimating in to adjust to the temperature of the room rather than the temperature of the tank. The water from the drip acclimation isn't enough to affect the acclimation water enough.

Both method are tried and true though. Different people have different preferences. At least it was just a shrimp, not a mated pair of an exotic species of fish, though.



Also, if you've used any copper treatments or other ich treatments, these could severely affect the survival rates of inverts. Just something to keep in mind for the future.