[Calmia22]

I started with 30 good sized cherry shrimp 4 months ago. Now I am down to about 10 of the original adults. Everyone mults fine, and seems to eat fine. All of my water parameters are correct. I didn't start seeing baby shrimp until 1 1/2 months ago. Now I have around 90 juvenile shrimp in the tank. Should I worry that my adults continue to drop off?

 

[AquaPipes]

Cherry shrimp only live around 18 months. If they were adults when you got them, it may just be they are dying of old age.

It would still be worthwhile to run some water tests and make sure all the parameters are fine.

 

[mordalphus]

Check your GH, kh and pH. Adults have a much harder time molting than young shrimp. So when I hear about babies being fine, and only adults dying, I usually think a hardness issue.

Also sometines babies are dying too, but you don't notice because there are so many and their bodies get eaten quickly.

Best to do a full battery of tests.

 

[sayurasem]

Check your GH, kh and pH. Adults have a much harder time molting than young shrimp. So when I hear about babies being fine, and only adults dying, I usually think a hardness issue.

Also sometines babies are dying too, but you don't notice because there are so many and their bodies get eaten quickly.

Best to do a full battery of tests.

In this case, is it because water too hard or too soft?

In my case my GH was 6 and samething happened as OP. Or maybe just old age... I had 10 adult CRS and produced about 50 juvies now but the adult passed away.

 

[mordalphus]

Too hard or too soft.

If you bought full sized adults, there's no way to know how old they are.
But babies and juveniles are more tolerant of hardness/softness because they are molting very often and don't have a chance for the water hardness to affect the shell before its shed.

 

[mordalphus]

Also, I should mention that sometimes adult shrimp have a hard time acclimating to new water, but babies born in the new water will already be accustomed to it. So the babies will be fine, even though the adults die off because they're not used to it. It happens when the breeders water is much different than the buyers water.

 

[Calmia22]

Ph is at 7.4. I don't have a gh/kh test as I haven't needed it until now. The adults were living in a 75 gallon when I bought the tank from a guy. The guy didn't even know they were in there. There were about 100 of them and I was only able to save 30. Before the fry they were molting quite often.

The fry I have are many different sizes, and I think there are at least 20 of each dramatic size difference.

 

[acitydweller]

Ph is at 7.4. I don't have a gh/kh test as I haven't needed it until now. The adults were living in a 75 gallon when I bought the tank from a guy. The guy didn't even know they were in there. There were about 100 of them and I was only able to save 30. Before the fry they were molting quite often.

The fry I have are many different sizes, and I think there are at least 20 of each dramatic size difference.

Sounds like the colony is dwindling faster than it can breed.

A pretty well known fact that the gh kh testers are compulsory for all dwarf shrimp keepers. these are crucial parameters to monitor and maintain along with ph. Just because the previous owner was ignorant doesn't give anyone else a pass.

Shrimp also shouldn't be molting often as it actually puts their lives as risk. Either the water conditions are unstable or they are feeding on the wrong foods. Consider feeding the enzymes which the shrimp feed on as an option. It would also serve to stabilize the tank a bit.

Better get the house in order soon before more die. Good luck.

 

[Soothing Shrimp]

...Better get the house in order soon before more die. Good luck.

This person is writing for advice. Sounds to me like he is asking for some help.

 

[mordalphus]

You live in Oregon, and the northwest is notorious for having extremely soft water (although there are a few exceptions). My educated guess is a low GH/KH problem, but that means diddly until you know what your hardness is.