Shrimp keep dying...

[serena00]

So confused. I have a 10g planted tank with my pride and joy betta Dexter, 4 Pygmy rasboras and around 8 red cherry shrimp. No matter what I do they keep dying. I just don't get it.

Tank has
Temp 76
Ph 7.4
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 20

So what's the issue?


36g semi-aggressive
20g community
10g betta, nano fish, shrimp
3g betta

 

[Kazin]

It's very frustrating to lose shrimp, so I hope I can offer some useful advice.

How do they act or look like when they are dying or dead? I think your nitrate level is on the border between tolerated and toxic to shrimp. They can be nitrate sensitive. You said your tank is planted so I wonder why nitrate is high.

Have you measured the TDS, KH or GH of your water? I am currently finding out that moving to a place with harder tap water is problematic for my RCS.

It's also possible that your betta is terrorizing your RCS, causing them to die from stress. Does he chase them? If you even see him sort of angle himself behind the RCS to attack the tail, he's scaring the RCS.

Lastly, I've learned the hard way exactly how important it is to **slowly** acclimate your RCS to your tank. If you just dump them in, they won't die right away, but they sort of drop off one-by-one over a week. Then, no matter how perfect your tank is, it may be too late for them.

 

[serena00]

I'm positive it's not my Betta. He doesn't ever notice them or look at them. He's even with fish that are smaller than the shrimp and hangout by him constantly. He's laid back.

My kh is extremely low. Like 30 ppm and gh 80ppm.

What is tds?


36g semi-aggressive
20g community
10g betta, nano fish, shrimp
3g betta

 

[serena00]

Also before they die, no signs of dying. Or at least I don't see the signs. Yesterday morning everybody looked fine. I came home from work and one of my biggest females died.


36g semi-aggressive
20g community
10g betta, nano fish, shrimp
3g betta

 

[ImACoolguy]

It's very frustrating to lose shrimp, so I hope I can offer some useful advice.

How do they act or look like when they are dying or dead? I think your nitrate level is on the border between tolerated and toxic to shrimp. They can be nitrate sensitive. You said your tank is planted so I wonder why nitrate is high.

Have you measured the TDS, KH or GH of your water? I am currently finding out that moving to a place with harder tap water is problematic for my RCS.

It's also possible that your betta is terrorizing your RCS, causing them to die from stress. Does he chase them? If you even see him sort of angle himself behind the RCS to attack the tail, he's scaring the RCS.

Lastly, I've learned the hard way exactly how important it is to **slowly** acclimate your RCS to your tank. If you just dump them in, they won't die right away, but they sort of drop off one-by-one over a week. Then, no matter how perfect your tank is, it may be too late for them.

Not all plants absorb a considerable Amount of nitrate. Hornwort is a great plant that will though. I would agree on checking GH/KH as they can have an impact on shrimp.


Caleb

Sent via TARDIS

 

[serena00]

Caleb I posted it


36g semi-aggressive
20g community
10g betta, nano fish, shrimp
3g betta

 

[Kazin]

TDS = total dissolved solids. I think nitrates are a bit high and may be culprit (from the information available). Even if RCS can survive in 20 ppm nitrate, they are probably weakened and can die off in the future. Could you add some plants that could absorb nitrate better?

How often do you feed them? Do you give a calcium supplement?

 

[serena00]

TDS = total dissolved solids. I think nitrates are a bit high and may be culprit (from the information available). Even if RCS can survive in 20 ppm nitrate, they are probably weakened and can die off in the future. Could you add some plants that could absorb nitrate better?

How often do you feed them? Do you give a calcium supplement?

I feed every other day. And I do not use calcium. I am new to shrimp. What do I get?


36g semi-aggressive
20g community
10g betta, nano fish, shrimp
3g betta

 

[Kazin]

You seem to have soft water, so maybe a piece of cuttlebone would do the job to give calcium and other necessary trace minerals. I break off a piece from those really inexpensive cuttlebones they sell in the bird section of the pet store, let it float until it finally sinks to the bottom. It's a bit ugly, so I then hide behind something.

With a very small colony of RCS I would feed extremely sparingly. They may not be able to finish all the food that is given, especially if they get the leftovers from other fish food. But since it's a planted tank, they will naturally graze on the biofilm and won't starve. If you're starting out with shrimp, the less they're fed the better. Maybe consider one very small pellet for all 8 (or less) of them every three days until they stop dying off.

Does your tap water have nitrate at 20 ppm? I wonder why it's so high. I would think getting some plants to absorb nitrate is the most important way to keep your RCS alive because everything else you're telling us seems to be ok. And be sure, especially for shrimp, to keep things consistent. Good luck, heaven knows I'm not an expert. Just been keeping them for a little over a year and have had to learn a lot the hard way.