Peppermint Shrimp Died :(

[Claudia Jean]

I'm new to saltwater fish only (live rock). In the past two months, I lost an emerald crab, green chromis and now my peppermint shrimp died. My water tests normal salinity at 1.021...what am I doing wrong? Not overpopulated..in the 30 gallon tank I also have several hermit crabs, a cleaner shrimp, and six one inch fish.

Thanks for any advice you may have. Claudia

 

[dragonfisher33]

do you have the parameters for the tank? pH, amonia, nitrate, nitrite? alk and mag can come later but not important for the moment. did you cycle the tank properly? what are the 6 1inch fish you're referring to? with that many deaths, it would be logical to think that maybe your tank is still cycling. a picture of your tank would be nice to start

 

[Datreeferman]

Did you add any supplements to your tank recently? If so what types? What type of lighting do you have?

 

[Claudia Jean]

I'm new to saltwater fish only (live rock). In the past two months, I lost an emerald crab, green chromis and now my peppermint shrimp died. My water tests normal salinity at 1.021...what am I doing wrong? Not overpopulated..in the 30 gallon tank I also have several hermit crabs, a cleaner shrimp, and six one inch fish.

Thanks for any advice you may have. Claudia

I started my tank in February. I had water checked at LFS two weeks ago..all fine. Today, all fine except slightly high phosphate and nitrate level was a little high. During the past two weeks I had added a strawberry dottyback..others in tank include a green chromis, a clownfish, a pajama cardinal, the dotty, and two damsels. LFS tells me water is not bad enough to kill fish or inverts. They advise I am feeding too much. I feed frozen in the morning and some flakes at night.

 

[Claudia Jean]

Did you add any supplements to your tank recently? If so what types? What type of lighting do you have?

I supplement a drop of iodine for the cleaner shrimp once a week.

Lighting is what came with the aquarium kit.

 

[Ingy]

Nitrates being high can be harder on inverts. You salinity is low as well, which inverts don't like. I'd raise it to 1.025.

 

[Datreeferman]

You might also need stronger lighting

 

[Ingy]

Lighting won't hurt the shrimp. Are you sure the pepermint and emerals are dead, and it wasn't just their molts?
BTW, you might be overstocked for that tank as the fish grow. That is a heavy bioload, especially with 2 damsels (are they evil Yellow Tail Damsels).
Again, although the high nitrate and low salinity might not be enough to kill the inverts, together they might be.
On the other hand, my 2 YT Damsels killed my first pep shrimp I suspect. They were given away for free to some other unsuspecting sucker.

 

[Claudia Jean]

Yes, they were dead, not molting. Several days before the pep died, she was hanging around the heater.

My damsels are the yellow tail and a black bar. Black bar is harmless, yellow tail can get bossy, but I didn't notice her attacking peppy.

I am doing water changes for nitrate level, only feeding once per day (rather than my usual twice), and will raise salinity.

Thanks all for the advice.

 

[woody390]

how long has the tank been running? do you have power heads adjitating the water? did you use tap water when setting the tank up and what is the temp in the tank? also how long are the creatures surviving in the tank? and would also say tank sounds a little overstocked depending on filtration so what filtration do you have? sory for all the questions but may help give better idea to what is happening in your tank. also have you found the creatures dead as would have though hermits and cleaners would have started eating anything that was dead in the tank

 

[Claudia Jean]

Peppermint Shrimp

I have had my tank since February. I have a circulation pump. My filter is a Marineland Penguin filter that came with the aquarium kit. Water is from LFS, pure. Water temp is set at 82 degrees. My chromis lived from March to September. Cleaner shrimp seems fine. I have lost the one chromis and the pepermint shrimp (lived about a month), the emerald crab and a starfish lived several days. I have found their bodies in the tank. They were being munched on. Tank now contains two damsels, one cardinal, one clown, one chromis and one dotty..all are small, about 3/4 to an inch. Also have a cleaner shrimp and several hermit crabs.

 

[Tkey3425]

Check for any drastic swings. Like tank temp from day to night, salinity from evaporation, ph swings, any large swings will cause stress on fish and even more on inverts. What kind of starfish was it and did you make sure your peppermints got enough food. Sometimes there isn't enough there to scavenge and keep them alive. They are quite shy normally so they aren't aggressive feeders.

 

[Ingy]

repost?

 

[woody390]

I'd maybe get yourself a test kit so you can check what your actual parameters are

 

[dragonfisher33]

this is not a big deal, but the temperature is a tad high. somewhere from 72-79 is good, rather than 82

 

[Claudia Jean]

My peppermint was quite an agressive eater, however, I'm starting to think a newer aquarium should wait for at least a year to add inverts? I worry my starfish did starve. But then, my nitrates keep going up and I'm afraid to feed too much! How do you hit the "happy medium" of fish and inverts all getting enough to eat without raising your nitrate level? The starfish was a red thorny.

 

[dragonfisher33]

My peppermint was quite an agressive eater, however, I'm starting to think a newer aquarium should wait for at least a year to add inverts? I worry my starfish did starve. But then, my nitrates keep going up and I'm afraid to feed too much! How do you hit the "happy medium" of fish and inverts all getting enough to eat without raising your nitrate level? The starfish was a red thorny.

depending on the species of inverts you're referring to, you may or may not have to wait for a year. starfish and anemone for example, do require a pristine condition and lots of micro and macro fauna in the tank to stay alive. you can however direct feed the starfish and anemone with clams or market shrimps. you can have your whole tank going on a fast for 2days to start off and some water change. i think your problem with the inverts dying one by one is some other cause that you're not aware or have no control over of.

 

[dragonfisher33]

for starfish, place a piece of clam or shrimp underneath it to keep it nourished. some of the starfish will take pellets as well if you place the pellets accordingly.