All of my shrimp are gathered at the surface...

[ucantimagine]

I have never seen them do this before. They are all huddled at the surface. Some of the Amanos even have their legs and heads out of the water. Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate are all 0. Temp is 77 as usual. I rescaped the tank lastnight. I'm going to do a water change, but any ideas what this could be about? Could my O2 somehow have dropped? I did take a bunch of plants out of the tank, but I have an eheim 2213 running so that should keep the water plenty aerated, I would think.

[speedie408]

You changed the water chemistry by doing the rescape. Shrimp don't like change in parameters. Gathering at the surface means they dont like the water conditions. Do a 20% WC and see how they respond.

[diwu13]

You probably released some nitrates when you were rescaping. Not enough that when diffused throughout your tank would register, but enough the shrimp reacted. That's my guess at least.'

*edit* Ninja'd by Nick

[GeToChKn]

Is your eheim pointed towards the surface to break the tension though to help aerate it? I would either point your eheim so it's spraying across the surface or get an airstone in there.

In my experience though, I've found when shrimp are lacking O2, they freeze in their spots in the tanks, not gather at the surface like fish do but that's my experience and may not be the norm. You don't run CO2 do you?

[eklikewhoa]

Increase surface agitation and do a partial water change as suggested above.

That's what happens to mine too when I stir it up.

[ucantimagine]

OMG guys that was scary. They were so desperate to get out of that water that when I was draining the tank, I had to keep pushing them down into the water because they were sitting on the driftwood and mat filter out of the water. I changed 4 gallons. (20 gallon tank) They seem much better now, behaving more like usual. I've counted 5 babies so hopefully I caught it in time and won't have any casualties.

I also had 2 very small anubias that are in bad shape. I just read that they release a toxin when they are damaged or dying so I removed them.

[ucantimagine]

Nick, do you think I should do another 20% WC tomorrow, or later tonight? My TDS did spike to 287! I put in plain distilled water to cut it down. I have Amanos and Fire Reds.

[speedie408]

Stirring up the bottom like that almost always kill baby shrimp. Try to limit that type of maintenance in a shrimp tank, especially expensive shrimp . You should plan on never having to disturb the substrate in order to keep parameters as stable/consistent as possible. This is why I only have moss and super slow growing plants with low light.

[ucantimagine]

Thanks everybody for your fast help.

[Loachutus]

I just read that they release a toxin when they are damaged or dying so I removed them.

It's a myth.

[ucantimagine]

Yea I will NEVER do that again. I've been wanting to remove that second chunk of driftwood and I sold all my Dwarf Sag which had lots of long roots. I had no idea it would hurt my kids!

[ucantimagine]

It's a myth? Well I put it in my shrimpless tank to be safe.

[speedie408]

Originally Posted by ucantimagine

Nick, do you think I should do another 20% WC tomorrow, or later tonight? My TDS did spike to 287! I put in plain distilled water to cut it down. I have Amanos and Fire Reds.

I'd hold off on another WC and just monitor your shrimp since you've already done one. Do you use straight tap for all your WC? Or do you mix every time with distilled? As long as you can get similar TDS ranges with the new water before dumping it in, you should be good. I've always used 100% RO (remineralized) so maybe someone with Tap mixing experience can assist. Then again, not all tap are created equal lol. Too many variables involved with tap... unless you live in San Francisco lol. They got mountain run off there and it's perfect for all shrimp.

[Bahugo]

My shrimp always gather at the top when my sponge on my canister inlet is always super clogged. Might be work checking

[ucantimagine]

My tap water has low TDS but high pH so I don't use it. The untreated distilled brought the TDS down the 220 which is closer to where it was, 200. I was a little heavy handed with the Mineral Plus last WC, but it didn't seem to bother them at all. I usually aim for 175. My berried mama is still holding her eggs and all but 1 shrimp is active and grazing. I guess if we get through the night we'll be out of the woods.

Man I think I just got an ulcer. lol