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Cherry shrimp death caused by gluttany?

1K views 8 replies 5 participants last post by  LS6 Tommy 
#1 ·
I came home from vacation Friday. All my shrimp were still alive, so I fed them a couple of Hikari crab/lobster sticks, the same stuff I've been using since I set up the 10 gal shrimper. The shrimp descended on the food like they hadn't eaten in a month. 2 hrs later 2 of them are dead, just sitting where they died as if they were asleep, not partially molted or showing any stress. Their internals are the same color as the food sticks. H2O parameters are good. Anyone ever heard of these guys eating themselves to death? Seems unlikely to me. :icon_ques


Tommy
 
#4 ·
How big is tank, in gallons?
When did you get the tank?
Is the tank cycled?
How many shrimp are in the tank?
How many fish are in the tank?
What is the result from your ammonia test?

Sounds like you fed them too much food and the uneaten food rotted and produced ammonia, which killed some shrimp. One stick of food for 10 RCS is plenty for 3-4 days.
 
#5 ·
No overfeeding, all the food was gone in under a half hour & the deaths were within an hour of the feeding. Even if (3) 3/16" x 1/16". Crab/Lobser Bites sticks were enough to "overfeed" 10 cherries in a 10 gallon tank, the water wouldn't go off until the food sticks decomposed.

The tank is well cycled, the only occupants are (10) 3/4"-1" adult Cherries, (4) month old 3/16" juvie Cherries & bunch of really small snails. The Hso parameters are all OK.

I didn't think they would eat that much either, but it's the only thing I can come up with. It may be just a coincidence, too, but it just seems weird that the first time they get any food in a week other than what they graze on & two of them die in under an hour. :icon_ques

Tommy
 
#7 ·
Naw, I doubt it. I never do anything in or around my tanks with chemicals or the possibility of contaminated hands. Even so, if your hands were visibly "clean" I would think the amount of contact transfer you'd get between your dry hands & dry food would probably be negligable.


Tommy
 
#8 ·
Try a different food see if you get different results. Most fish foods have copper sulfate in them, but it is safe for inverts. I have been feeding it to my RCS for 2+ years.

OTOH, maybe that batch of Lobster bites got contaminated with 10x the copper sulfate it should have. Or maybe it was made in China or with Chinese ingredients. You know how that goes. They have QC trouble over there.

So my thought is, your current can of food is contaminated somehow. Try a different brand of food.
 
#9 ·
I stopped using the Hikari Lobster & Crab bites immediately. BTW, there's no copper or copper sulfate in it, so who knows.

Tommy
 
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