Dream blue shrimp dying one by one

[xlinker]

I have a fish tank for about a month now with dream blue shrimp. The shrimp I got are homebred. But ever since I got them a week ago they seem to be dying one by one. It does look like they fail to molt. I can’t figure out what might be causing it. What I notice before they die is that, they will become inactive and rarely move. When they do move it would look like they barely could move. I either feed them bacter ae, shrimp king mineral, or protein every other day. The tank is planted with java moss, fern, and wisteria. It has carrbisea natural sand substrate.
I do fertilize my tank once a week with aquarium co op easy green. I was think maybe switching to ro water with salty shrimp gh/kh if that may help?
Thank you

I do have another tank with near same water parameters and my cherry shrimp are thriving in it.

A:0 / nitrite: 0 / nitrate: 5
Tap water-
Ph: 8
Gh: 12
Kh: 8
308 TDS
0ppm copper

 

[Autumnsky]

It seems to me that the parameters are a little high in there

Ph: 8
Gh: 12
Kh: 8
308 TDS

I just copied this from Flip Aquatics
Tank Parameters

Ph: 7.0 to 7.6
Gh: 7 to 15
Kh: 2 to 8
TDS: 180 to 400
Temp: 68 to 72

How is your temp?

I would reduce the tap water "strength"
by using 1/3 to 1/2 RO and tap water. You can try 1/3 RO and see what readings you get.

Then for minerals. What food are you using, any supplements?

 

[Autumnsky]

And if you just wanted to make RO and use a remineralizer you would use the Salty Shrimp GH/KH+ version not the GH+ which would be more for Caridina.
http://www.saltyshrimp.de/english/shrimp_mineral_gh_kh_plus.html

 

[xlinker]

I am keeping my tank at 74f. I am thinking of switching to ro/di water. Should I remineralize my ro/di water to the parameters you shown above or should I remineralize a little higher to avoid any large changes in the water?

 

[Autumnsky]

Ideas...

How is the tap water parameters - closer to the "ideal" parameters?

If so then just start doing some pwc over the next days -
maybe 10% the first day and
then the next day another 10%.
And then another 10% the 3rd day

Then you can check the water and see if you are any closer to the ideal numbers.

If you are close then you can start doing your water changes with the new RO mix.


Another idea is to do a 10% water change and use RO (or distilled) and follow the same process 10% per day, until your tank water would be similar to your new RO mix, then start using the new RO mix.

I think that would be the easier way to gently transition the shrimp over to the new system.

Then see if your shrimps are still dying off.

Reducing the stress on the shrimp buy getting water parameters in line might be enough to let them fight off whatever it might be causing it.

Bacter AE adding too often seemed to me to cause some shrimp death. Maybe try adding a smaller amount and divide that over 2x the amount of time you would use it other wise.

(fake amount) example - 1/8 tsp per dose every other day.
Change to 1/8 tsp divided in half use 1/2 of the dose 2x per week

If you want try just the half dose 1 time per week instead of 2.

Have you used any leaves in the shrimp tank? Sometimes the antibacterial properties could help. Or other foods, like nettles and things which can help build a good immune system.

Probiotics are a newer thing in foods. You can look for some foods which might have it. I recently bought NLS Probiotix small pellets for my fish but maybe will add a few into their diet as well.

I think I read some dwarf shrimp foods which have it but escapes my memory. I was reading all sorts of articles when I was deciding to get the NLS food.

 

[xlinker]

To clarified I should use just 10% ro water with no remineralizer for the first few days until it reach the ideal parameters then start doing normal mix of ro? Then once the ideal parameters are met should i do water changes with ro and mineral to the exact parameters of the shrimp tank or should it be a little lower to account for the minerals already in the shrimp tank?

I use indian almond leaves in my tanks. I am looking to get some shrimpfit from glasgarten.

Thank you!

 

[Autumnsky]

Yes, I think we are thinking the same way.

The idea is to get the water to be as near as possible with gentle changes, to the water you aim to use which I think you mean to be RO remineralized.

To add water back in after evaporation use plain RO.

Side note**
Minerals remain after evaporation so you need just pure RO for the water level to return to normal. It is useful also to have a container at the ready for refilling plain RO daily or every other day as needed as evaporation leave the shrimps water more concentrated /more mineral per ounces if not kept up. Causing unintended swings in the parameters if not attended to.

To make it simple and it's not a really large tank so not a very big deal - I would add the plain RO water to the normal tank water level and then do the water change.

If after a bit of practice and using testing you may be able to fiddle around and know what adjustments are needed to make your own estimates.

If you premix the remineralized water make sure to stir well before using. I think most people just make it as it is needed.

Beta-glucans seem to be regarded as beneficial to the health of shrimp. Maybe if there is food which contains this. I think you can buy this for people in capsules. Perhaps someone has shared their experience and you can glean more information about helping boost shrimp immune systems.

Edit: I just saw the ingredients of ShrimpFit, it has BG and lots of other great stuff!

Also make sure you vacuum/ clean the substrate of leftovers as part of the normal tank maintenance.

 

[Fishlegend]

Btw

The tank might not have enough biofilm / BB to handle the bioload/ appetite of the shrimp