shrimp suicide help!

[Fishfur]

They should be ok, but there is a chance the fish are bothering them, even if not eating them. Might be why they are climbing out.. just a guess.. I have not had dwarf shrimp do this to me, only fan shrimp, who often decide to go find another pond. Carpet surfers, poor things. Making a screen top for their tank.

CO2 is not, so far as I know, any kind of issue with shrimp, unless you add too much in which case fish die too, suffocated. But that's not the issue you have.

I wonder if perhaps the fert levels are a bit high for them ? Do you dose much trace ? Some trace mixes may have a bit too much copper in them, maybe.. just trying to think of things that might have an effect on them. Do you mix ferts into water first, then dose or just dump it in ? Dry or premixed wet ? Perhaps grasping at straws here, but there has to be a reason, for so many shrimp to do this. One or two, yeah, it happens, but not this many.

 

[MMantelli]

I dose pps-pro premixed with distilled water 1ml per day of each and do a 50% water change each week the rest of my paramaters are ammo 0, no2 0, no3 10-15, po4 1.5

 

[Fishfur]

Very good parameters. Should be ok. I've kept Snowballs, the white variant of cherries, in a 30 with many fish, many snails, plants, lots of water changes and probably not quite that good parameters, they bred like rabbits. It is very, very odd.

The fact they hang out on top of the heater is a bit strange too. Normally they hang out on leaves, on the substrate, etc., and rarely congregate unless on a food item. Often seen swimming from spot to spot. Pick at biofilm even on glass, look like they are trying to scratch through the glass.

Can't recall, what's the temp ? Cool is preferred, under 76, I do around 72 mostly. When you feed, do they all come and swarm on it ?

Have any moulted lately ? Seen any shed shells ?

 

[MMantelli]

Ya I regularly se a shell or two here and there. It's not all of them just a handfull of them and the heater is right next to the diffuser the temp is set at 76 f. I think it might have to do with them hanging out above the diffuser I turn it down a little at night and turn it back up a little before the light

 

[Fishfur]

Plenty of people have these guys in planted tanks with CO2 and no issues with the pH changes from day to night if you turn the CO2 off at night. I kind of wonder if they might be getting a bit too much CO2 just because they do hang out there.

Any chance you'd care to put a sponge in the tank ? A sponge filter would be great. I have yet to see a cherry shrimp that did not love to pick at a sponge, maybe you could persuade them to move to another location with one. Just a thought. Running out of ideas and I hate that.

 

[MMantelli]

I had a sponge filter in there but moved it to my Betta tank when I upgraded him to a bigger tank. I am ordering a Fluval sponge prefilter for the intake of my hob this week though.

 

[Fishfur]

Well, maybe they will like the sponge better and quit hanging out on the heater. I have run out of ideas. I wish you the best of luck and hope there are no more losses.

 

[MMantelli]

I haven't seen any since I put glass over the tank. Hopefully they end up liking the prefilter better.

 

[octanejunkie]

Any update on your shrimp situation?

 

[MMantelli]

Not much I haven't had any more suicides since I put glass over the whole top but it may have been too late I only have a few left now.

 

[octanejunkie]

Not much I haven't had any more suicides since I put glass over the whole top but it may have been too late I only have a few left now.

Bummer... any breeding going on?

 

[MMantelli]

There where 2 that were berried but I haven't seen them in like 2 weeks.