Instant death of invertebrates (shrimp)

[TheMacInnis]

Hey, everyone-

I have a new 10g tank that I set up, and it was cycled (no nitrite, no ammonia). I planted it, and everything is growing nicely (including brown algae), so I stocked it yesterday with some chili rasboras, a siamese algae eater (he has plenty to chow on), and a collection of cherry shrimp and amano shrimp to clean up.

The shrimp didn't last a day: this afternoon when the light came on, they were all dead and opaque on the bottom (so, dead for a while).

The fish all seem fine.

What should I check for in my water chemistry that would be killing the shrimp, but not the fish? To my knowledge, I have not used any copper-based products, and I'm primarily dosing only potassium for the plants.

Advice?? Scared to introduce any new shrimp before I figure it out.

 

[TheMacInnis]

I just skimmed this: Petshrimp.com -- All about shrimp

Unless there's sudden copper in my water (San Francisco), I don't think it's heavy metals.

However... I did add a half teaspoon of Alkaline Buffer to the water yesterday when I realized the pH had dropped to 6.0; I failed to ensure it was already well buffered, and that brought it promptly to 7.0. Could that pH change have wiped out eight shrimp, all at once? Seems a stretch to me...

 

[Fresh2o]

How were they acclimated? I usually do a drip acclimation for about an hour or so. This includes shrimp from the LFS and those mailed to me. They can be sensitive to new water conditions.
Would not hurt to check ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. And check out info on drip acclimation. I do this for fish as well (which also go into a quarantine tank for a couple of weeks).


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[TheMacInnis]

Hmm. I did a temperature acclimation (sealed bag-in-water for 30 minutes), but I did not do the water-mix acclimation.

I was surprised and happy to see that, actually, a number of the cherry shrimp are alive, they were hiding. I have removed the other dead shrimp. Perhaps it was indeed shock for the weaker specimens? I can't find anything wrong with the chemistry.

I'll have shrimp omelets for breakfast, I guess.

 

[TheMacInnis]

Hi folks,

I'm bumping this thread up. I'm sad. All the shrimp ultimately died, so I decided to check all parameters, and try again. This time, I ordered 10 ghost shrimp and 6 cherry shrimp from LiveAquaria.com, which shipped overnight.

When they arrived, most were alive (some were dead). Perhaps they were all goners by the time I got them into the tank (about 24 hours after they shipped).

This time, I did do roughly four hours of acclimation: temperature, then slow water mixing, until I then netted each surviving specimen into the tank. They swam down immediately started doing their thing in the grass.

This morning, 12 hours later, most were dead.

This afternoon, 24 hours later, all are dead except one, who is busy floating around and eating, wondering where his buddies all went.

I just tested the tank for copper and it came out zero.

Am I just unlucky? What else should I check for? All fish (rasboras and algae eater) and a single snail are happy, healthy and smiling.

pH is 6.8
GH and KH, I just realized, are very low (1 dH).
Ammonia/nitrite are zero. Nitrate is low.

 

[Fresh2o]

That's a rapid die off for all of those shrimp. I had a 66% death rate from the LFS purchased RCS but that was over a few months, not a day. Mine died while molting.
I'm stumped.


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[nerdelish]

I'm still a newbie but I had an issue with mysterious death awhile back and it turned out to be improper water conditioner dosing. My water had chloramines and I wasn't adding enough conditioner to neutralize it all. Maybe check out whether you have chloramines? It's a shot in the dark but it might be worth looking into.

 

[ImACoolguy]

I've had the same experience with ghost shrimp, all dead in a couple days. Fully established tanks. I think it's weak genetics.


Caleb

 

[TheMacInnis]

Could the near-zero KH be enough to kill them that quickly? It's the only parameter I can find that's off.

 

[Mebbid]

Hey, everyone-

I have a new 10g tank that I set up, and it was cycled (no nitrite, no ammonia). I planted it, and everything is growing nicely (including brown algae), so I stocked it yesterday with some chili rasboras, a siamese algae eater (he has plenty to chow on), and a collection of cherry shrimp and amano shrimp to clean up.

Just so you know, siamese algae eaters get enormous. Far too large for a 10g.

I just skimmed this: Petshrimp.com -- All about shrimp

Unless there's sudden copper in my water (San Francisco), I don't think it's heavy metals.

However... I did add a half teaspoon of Alkaline Buffer to the water yesterday when I realized the pH had dropped to 6.0; I failed to ensure it was already well buffered, and that brought it promptly to 7.0. Could that pH change have wiped out eight shrimp, all at once? Seems a stretch to me...

The pH change could have. They require fairly stable parameters. It also depends on how well the water was mixed. It would be beneficial to do a 12 hour drip acclimation. In short, the slower the better when it comes to acclimating shrimp. They have terrible survival rates when introduced to a new aquarium. Your best bet would be to search from local sources.

 

[TheMacInnis]

Thanks, Mebbid.

The Siamese will be graduated to my 55g once he gets there. It might not be long; he's feasting on shrimp carcass.

I think you're right re: sourcing locally. In the past, I have not had this problem, so I am thinking (1) get shrimp that are alive and well in San Francisco's water already (2) do a slow drip acclimation. And then, perhaps, third time's a charm...

I will report back here if I learn anything interesting because.. well... I'm compulsive.