Shrimp dying

[Jnad]

Hello!

I have used water conditioner to remove copper, chlorine etc.

I have a air pump with a wooden air stone for water circulation.

It must be something from the soil, i will do some water test again tomorrow.

Jnad

[tunatime]

for them to die so fast some thing is really wrong in that tank. i would do a large wc every few days for a week then try adding 1 or 2 more just to try and flush any thing out. also what is your ph? also try drip acclimating them for a few hours

[Jnad]

Hello!

Waking up in the middle of the nigh, curious i take a flash light and finding the two shrimps i the "bad" tank. One is dead the other one is also laying on his back but he is still moving his legs. I taking a pvc tube and sucking the "alive" shrimp out of the tank, putting him directly into a cup with water from another tank with good water. I felt there was no time to acclimate him to this water.

Now in the morning i find the shrimp in the cup looking mutch better so i dumpt him right in to the tank with the other shrimps

I take some water test of my "bad for shrimps" tank later today and post them.

Jnad

[tunatime]

if they are getting bad so fast and getting better so fast try adding more o2 to the tank, your not running co2 are you? some thing is not right as the only time i have seen shrimp act like that and then get better is form lack of o2. what soil did you use? do you have a lot of bubbles coming out your soil? and what test kits are you using?

[Jnad]

Hello!

I am using air pump and air stone for adding O2 to the tank, i am not running CO2.

I am using Tetra test set. They are somewhat difficult to read sometimes, when i was testing for ammnium i am comparing the color of the test to be close to zero. But this might be enough to kill shrimps.

The label for the soil i used for this tank has this text:
Quality Soil particularly suitable for indoor plants and window boxes. Nutritious and odorless. The earth is long time composted in 3 years, and are hand-pruned several times during this period.[censored]The result is a nutrient-rich soil full of microlife, ideal for your indoor plants and window boxes.[censored]Debio Approved for organic growers. Raw materials: 30% cow manure, 60% peat and 10% sand.

The tank the shrimps are in no is also a low tech tank with soil, but it is a different soil with no added fertilizer. I have only done top of on this tank, never waterchanges, the shrimps still thrive in this tank??

Here are some pictures of the two tanks, the first two pictures is of the tank that kill shrimps:
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/sh...914&highlight=

Jnad

Originally Posted by tunatime

if they are getting bad so fast and getting better so fast try adding more o2 to the tank, your not running co2 are you? some thing is not right as the only time i have seen shrimp act like that and then get better is form lack of o2. what soil did you use? do you have a lot of bubbles coming out your soil? and what test kits are you using?

[Peixes]

I'm looking forward to whether you find a reason for the deaths of your poor shrimpies. I have also just set up a Walstad style tank but used an organic soil that does not have manure. The snails in the tank seem pretty happy but I'll wait a while to add shrimp. Good luck!

[Jnad]

Hello!

I have not had the time to do any more water tests yet, but if i smell the water it has a strong/sharp smell to it. I did try to smell inside the bag the soil was in, but the water is mutch vorse if you put your nose close to the water surface.

I have not done any waterchanges on this tank, maybe i should.

Any suggestions, Does Ammonium smell?

Jnad

[tunatime]

i think its your dirt, let it set for a few more weeks and see if it stops leaching ammnium, whit that much manure its going to release a lot of it for a while, also whats your ph? whit that much peat in it it will lower your ph a lite i would think.

and yes you can smell ammonium

[AquaPipes]

Most likely its something in the soil that's doing it. Either something leeching into the water they don't like (manure contains all sorts of things), or its dropping your PH real low and its too acidic for the shrimp.

Cherry's are real hardy. I recently dumped a bunch of rili cherries into a new 2 gallon tank, less than 24 hours after adding tap water. No filter, no air stone, no cycling, 6 weeks before I changed the water for the first time. Only plants some mini-Xmas moss (which isn't doing too well) and duckweed. All are alive and well.

[!Alex!]

Originally Posted by dougolasjr

Cherry shrimp are one of the hardiest shrimp.

1.What type of cap did you use over the soil?
2.What size bowl do you have them in?
3.What temperature is the water in the bowl?
4. How many shrimp did you buy?
5. When you were acclimating them did they show any signs of distress.

No CRS PS BKK are hard to care shrimp.
The smaller the Shrimp the faster they would alclimate.
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I'll breed anything that is alive.
<----- see that button it says view users tank click it.

[Zenzu]

I assume it has to be one of these. Ammonia,Copper,Chlorine or something else poisonous in the water. If they died that quickly it's not because of poor acclimation techniques it's definitely something poisonous in the water.

There are just too many variables to try and trouble shoot this. For instance...

Where was the tank purchased is it new?
Any medications ever dosed in the tank?
Are your test kits new? Might be giving you false readings...
Where are you getting your water from?
Are there old run down copper pipes supplying your water?
Did you get the dirt from your backyard? Pesticides?

I could go on all day... there is too many things to troubleshoot. What I'd recommend is if you are serious about keeping shrimp do research. Buy a new tank and shrimp substrate/inert gravel and use R/O filtered water remineralized.

[Jnad]

Hello and tanks for comments!

I have done a Ammonium test today and the test is zero Ammonium. I also tested the tap water, also zero.

I also think it must be something in the soil, maybe some chemicals added that is not labeled on the bag.

I will try to do a couple of water changes, if that dont solve the problem i probably empty the tank and change the substrate to Cat Litter.

There is a Cat Litter here in Norway that is only burned clay and ok to use in aquariums, it is red color though. The same type cat litter is also used in the Bonsai hobby as an alternative to Akadama.

Jnad

[Jnad]

Did a 95% water change today.

The water that i changed did not smel good, like strong soil smell. After the water change the smell was gone. So i will keep doing some water changes for a couple of days, and i guess i can use my nose to know when the tank is ready for shrimps

Jnad

[PuddlesAqua]

Originally Posted by !Alex!

No CRS PS BKK are hard to care shrimp.
The smaller the Shrimp the faster they would alclimate.
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I'll breed anything that is alive. I will also breed you!
<----- see that button it says view users tank click it.

hardiest means that they are tough and can handle a wide range of water parameters, not that they are difficult to keep.

[shift]

Oddly enough out of 5 tanks my yellows have been slowly dieing of. I use the same water and dechlorinating in all my danks, so i'm baffled on what could be causing it.