Red Cherry Shrimp - deaths

[leayrstar]

i was wondering if anyone had any advice on RCS. i recently moved about 50 RCS from a 50 litre to there own 14 litre tank. all was fine,(about 2 weeks) until one day i did a quick water change (tap water in bucket, added recommended dose of prime, and about an hour later did a 30% PWC) the next day i had at least a dozen dead shrimp. i freaked out. googled relentlessly to figure out what had gone wrong, figured it was because i hadnt waited long enough for the prime to work. 4 weeks later, alot less shrimp (maybe 10) i am still having shrimp deaths. have been doing PWC every 4 days, water perimeters are ammonia <0.25ppm, PH 7.6, nitrate and nitrite 0. the tank i have is an all in one type with ****** filter system (i have added 2 sponge filters to compensate) heater is set to 23, lots of java moss, and a broad leaf plant. I feed every 3 days, sinking algae wafer. Although shrimp deaths have been limited, they are still occuring, at least every 2 days i wake up to find another dead shrimp. im not sure what im doing wrong. is the tank just to small and they need other fish to survive?? please help.......

 

[Oceangirl]

did you cycle the tank? Did you check the ph? You might also be feeding a little too much. You shouldn't have any ammonia in a cycled tank. there might have been a ph flux from the new water you added to the old water in the tank.

 

[armymp327]

i was wondering if anyone had any advice on RCS. i recently moved about 50 RCS from a 50 litre to there own 14 litre tank. all was fine,(about 2 weeks) until one day i did a quick water change (tap water in bucket, added recommended dose of prime, and about an hour later did a 30% PWC) the next day i had at least a dozen dead shrimp. i freaked out. googled relentlessly to figure out what had gone wrong, figured it was because i hadnt waited long enough for the prime to work. 4 weeks later, alot less shrimp (maybe 10) i am still having shrimp deaths. have been doing PWC every 4 days, water perimeters are ammonia <0.25ppm, PH 7.6, nitrate and nitrite 0. the tank i have is an all in one type with ****** filter system (i have added 2 sponge filters to compensate) heater is set to 23, lots of java moss, and a broad leaf plant. I feed every 3 days, sinking algae wafer. Although shrimp deaths have been limited, they are still occuring, at least every 2 days i wake up to find another dead shrimp. im not sure what im doing wrong. is the tank just to small and they need other fish to survive?? please help.......

do you have chloramines in your water? that would explain the low ammonia because of you using Prime. it is normal and nothing to worry about unless it rises to above .25 or the tank its self is not cycled. You can google Ammonia false positives using prime if you want.

do you dose any micro ferts? they contain copper more often then not. Try to get a hold of a copper test kit and see if you have any in your water.