Dying RCS???

[Maxw47]

So about a month and a half ago I went out and bought 10 Red Cherry Shrimp. Ever since, I had one die either every week or every other week. I can't figure it out, my parameters are fine, no spikes of any sort, my stocking is fine, it just baffles me. But the 3 that are in a refugium thing on the outside of the tank with a few fry (shares the same water) are doing fine and not one has died there. A few weeks ago, I did see a cory chase a shrimp on the glass. Do you guys think that the fish in the tank are bullying them too much? It can't be something with the water (at least I am pretty confident in that). What could it be??? And if it does turn out that RCS can't be in my tank because of agression, any other algae eaters that could keep the algae off the plants? No otos b/c IMO, they are too big for 10 gallons. Thanks!

[Tetra1990]

I don't know what is going on with your rcs, sorry. But you might look into getting a mystery snail, or some ramshorn snails for your algae problem.

[Coursair]

What fish are in your tank ??
What exactly are your parameters ?
Over 20ppm of Nitrates can kill Shrimp easily.

If you are getting a lot of Algae, something may be out of balance. How long are your lights on ?
Perhaps reduce amount you feed.
Don't overdo the flake food, phosphates feed Algae. Keep up PWCs.
Consider getting a TDS meter, cheap on EBay.

What are you feeding you Shrimp and Corys ?

[Coursair]

Oh and exactly what lighting are you using.
For now I'd reduce your photoperiod to 6 hours daily till you get a handle on it.

Fix the reason for the Algae and then you won't need to add something just for Algae.

I have 2 Otos in my 10g.
My best Algae eater is a Nerite Snail.

[Maxw47]

Well there really isn't an algae 'problem'. It is more so that I like to keep my plants really clean because I trade them in to the LFS. The last time I checked my params was about 2 weeks ago. Somehow I lost my color chart for the test kit, so do you think if I printed off the one online the colors would still be the same? When I did check last, ammonia-0, nitrites-0, nitrates-just above ten. As for stocking, 3 panda cories (a pretty small variety),3 platies, and a few fry in the external refugium. The refugium also adds about 1-2 gallons. My ph is high too, 8.0, could that be much of a problem? Same with the gh/kh.

[Coursair]

Originally Posted by Maxw47

Well there really isn't an algae 'problem'. It is more so that I like to keep my plants really clean because I trade them in to the LFS. The last time I checked my params was about 2 weeks ago. Somehow I lost my color chart for the test kit, so do you think if I printed off the one online the colors would still be the same? When I did check last, ammonia-0, nitrites-0, nitrates-just above ten. As for stocking, 3 panda cories (a pretty small variety),3 platies, and a few fry in the external refugium. The refugium also adds about 1-2 gallons. My ph is high too, 8.0, could that be much of a problem? Same with the gh/kh.

Pandas are pretty peaceful.
Many common Livebearers have high bioloads for their size. ( poop machines ).

Make sure you are doing large PWCs weekly.
A 10g is small for Platies , consider a bigger tank or a different species perhaps ?

If your water quality dropped, that can kill shrimp.
Your Platies are big enough to pick on them also.
Make sure you offer sinking food for Shrimp at least a couple times a week. Corys should have food daily of course.

It sounds like you are taking care of stuff. Do your Shrimp have Moss or caves to hide in when they molt ?

[Maxw47]

I was thinking about switching to guppies, but I just love platies. I do 30-40% wc's weekly. There are plenty of place for the shrimp to hide. I have tons of plants, clumps of java moss, a moss ball with a hole that they often hide in, etc. I just can't figure it out.

[MABJ]

Originally Posted by Maxw47

I was thinking about switching to guppies, but I just love platies. I do 30-40% wc's weekly. There are plenty of place for the shrimp to hide. I have tons of plants, clumps of java moss, a moss ball with a hole that they often hide in, etc. I just can't figure it out.

What is the calcium, TDS and GH reading on your tank? This is the last important factor I can think of.

Once a week one dying sounds like a molt problem to me

[jetajockey]

I've kept RCS in community settings with different livebearers (still do in some instances) and each situation is different. With guppies, for the most part, they don't mess with the RCS after they get to a certain size. I have seen platys pick apart adult RCS though, once they realized that they can be food. I have not tried keeping rcs and platys together since that experience.

Feeding smaller amounts more often seems to help quell some of this behavior, but there's always water quality to think about when you go that route.

[Maxw47]

I have seen them molt successfully (pretty cool to watch) and almost every one that was dead was colored up & no signs of molted exoskeleton. I am starting to think it is the platies. I saw one this morning take a small nip at one.

[MABJ]

Then it probably is them. I don't keep RCS with big fish. They don't act the same.