Lost 4 shrimp?

[mrzap]

I bought 20 shrimp from the lfs yesterday and this morning I've lost 4 of them.

My PH is at about 7.2ish. Ammonia is slightly less than 1.0 according to the test strips. Water hardness 300.

I dosed the tank with Pimafix and Melafix about 4 days ago and due to daily water changes I have probably refreshed about 10 gallons of water without redosing.

Any idea why my shrimp suddenly died? Could they have just been bad shrimp from the lfs?

 

[Friendly]

What kind of shrimps are they? It could have been the meds that you used that killed off the shrimp. When I used some meds in one my tanks that has Caridina japonica shrimps, they didn't seem to like it very much. I think Shrimps are really sensitive to chemicals/meds. I sometimes lose a few shrimps when I buy them in bulk from the lfs.

 

[Devilishturtles]

Are there any fish in there picking at them? How long had the fish store had the shrimp before you bought them? Do you add salt to the tank?

Inverts can be sensitive to meds, but I always though melafix and pimafix were safe for them.

HTH

 

[mrzap]

Ghost shrimp. No salt added. Only a beta fish in the tank and she doesn't bother them.

 

[Devilishturtles]

Only a beta fish in the tank and she doesn't bother them.

Are you sure?

Betta fish can be agressive little things, especially to ghost shrimp. But, if you do have a very peaceful betta fish, I'd bet that it was just a bad lil batch of shrimp.

You also say you have some ammonia in your tank? That could be it too. Inverts are more sensitive to it than fish are.

 

[mrzap]

Ya I'm positive she is not picking them off. I lost another ghost shrimp tonight =\

I just changed out 6 gallons with distilled water. I am going to take a sample in to the lfp tomorrow.

 

[mrzap]

I am using eco-complete gravel. That wouldn't have anything toxic to the shrimp would it? Copper etc?

 

[Devilishturtles]

No. It's safe. I'd take a water sample in to get tested definitley.

What does the dead body look like? Are you sure it's not just a molt?

Sorry you are having poor luck.

 

[mrzap]

Woke up today to find my remaining shrimp dead

My algae eaters and betta fish seem to be ok so I have no idea what happened. Can they test for things like copper in the water?

 

[Tiffi]

If you have a copper test kit, you could test your tab water and tank water. Copper is one of the main resons why shrimp die.

I would also look if the meds you used contain any copper. If it's none of that they got killed by the amount of ammonia, maybe chlorine/chloramines, or you just had a bad batch.

BTW what is your tank temperature? Shrimp get protein clotting in too hight temperatures, but then again it would have probably affected all of them right away or at the same time.

 

[mrzap]

Thanks for the ideas Tiffi. I doubt its ammonia. I just tested it and it is .5ppm. My alkalinity is reading 0. Water hardness 300. Nitrates and Nitrites are so low they are not indicating.

I'll take it to the lfp and ask to see if they can test for copper.

 

[mrzap]

LFP tested copper. None found. However, it looks like I read my PH wrong. I had a 6.6 instead of 7.2 like I had thought. They think the different PH may have shocked them.

 

[Devilishturtles]

I doubt its ammonia. I just tested it and it is .5ppm

Which believe it or not is quite high. It begins to affect fish at this stage, and especially inverts, whom are much more sensitive too it. I would guess that it wasn't the pH that killed your shrimp, but likely a combination of high ammonia and possibly weak shrimp.

Get your ammonia down to 0, and try again with a few ghost shrimp.

Sorry

 

[mrzap]

Turns out quite a few were hiding. I have 11 left.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Is your tank cycled? With an ammonia reading, and nitrites and nitrates virtually 0, sounds like it's not cycled, which is bad for inverts.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Another thing, you said you use distilled water? Could be another thing causing the ph to swing temporarily. It's better to use tap water with some dechlor, and have a stable ph rather than a moving ph.

How big is your tank?

 

[Devilishturtles]

Turns out quite a few were hiding. I have 11 left.

Lol. Sneaky lil things, aren't they? Glad to hear that they weren't dead.

 

[mrzap]

Lonewolfblue, I think you are right. My ammonia keeps spiking too much even with daily water changes.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Also, don't use straight distilled water. Mix about 50/50 if the tap has too high ph. If you use straight distilled all the time for water changes, you will start losing buffering capacity.