miller44444
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
- Joined
- Mar 11, 2012
- Messages
- 35
Hi, I have a 10-gal planted tank (set up in december, substrate replaced with EcoComplete in February) with a sponge filter, LED lighting, driftwood and live plants. The tank has 3 amano shrimp, ~10-12 yellow shrimp, and several Endlers Livebearers that just had their first crop of babies. Also I have a large mystery snail, nerite snails, malaysian trumpet snails (intentionally added to tank) and pond snails (not intentionally added) that I'm weeding out whenever I can. Plants include val, anubis, java moss, and some floating frogbit and other plants.
I've had problems with the yellow shrimp dying off one-by-one with no clear cause, about once a week I will find one lying on the bottom of the tank, dead of no apparent cause (ammonia and nitrites are always 0.0). And of course, the shrimp that die are usually my brightest yellows and saddled females ready to breed.
Today I came in and saw my only female (large, bright yellow, and with a huge saddle) lying on her side on the bottom, swimmerets flapping madly and her little arms twitching. Within the space of five minutes she was dead on her back. I did another water test and ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates were all ~0.0
I was counting on that shrimp as my only surviving yellow female for breeding up a new generation. Figures.
I'm careful to limit the amount of shrimp food I put in the tank, though since the birth of the Endler babies a week and a half ago, I have been putting more crushed flake food in the tank more. But the water parameters are fine, so I don't get it. Other than one shrimp mysteriously dying every now and then, all the yellow shrimp appear healthy, and the amano shrimp are doing great.
Am I doing something wrong?
All the shrimp have been bought from LFS or online within ~4 months so they shouldn't be dying off of old age.
pH is about 7.5 in the tank, tapwater same.
I've had problems with the yellow shrimp dying off one-by-one with no clear cause, about once a week I will find one lying on the bottom of the tank, dead of no apparent cause (ammonia and nitrites are always 0.0). And of course, the shrimp that die are usually my brightest yellows and saddled females ready to breed.
Today I came in and saw my only female (large, bright yellow, and with a huge saddle) lying on her side on the bottom, swimmerets flapping madly and her little arms twitching. Within the space of five minutes she was dead on her back. I did another water test and ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates were all ~0.0
I was counting on that shrimp as my only surviving yellow female for breeding up a new generation. Figures.
I'm careful to limit the amount of shrimp food I put in the tank, though since the birth of the Endler babies a week and a half ago, I have been putting more crushed flake food in the tank more. But the water parameters are fine, so I don't get it. Other than one shrimp mysteriously dying every now and then, all the yellow shrimp appear healthy, and the amano shrimp are doing great.
Am I doing something wrong?
All the shrimp have been bought from LFS or online within ~4 months so they shouldn't be dying off of old age.
pH is about 7.5 in the tank, tapwater same.