[AquaMark91]

First of hi everyone :icon_bigg. So about 3-4 months ago i had a 5.5gal cherry shrimp tank had about 26+ then at some point they started dying one by one every day to every other day. pH was around 7.4-7.6 ammo,nitrite,nitrate was around 0,0,0-5. Thought it was the last part so did water changes but they still kept dying. At some point i had 5 shrimp and 3-4 shrimp fry left. After a month of no deaths i figure w/e it was resolved itself so decided to get a new batch. Now i have/had around 16-21+ the 3 frys but after about a week i had 2-3 dead again so looks like w/e it is isn't resolve or its back. Im pretty sure this question/topic has been talked over alot but please what em i doing wrong? :help:

current tank is at : 5.5 gal tank , have 1 java moss, 1 java fern with 6 leaves, heater, and hob filter with a sponge tied to the bottom to prevent any shrimp from getting sucked up. also have a box net for fish fry in the mid to reduce the water current of the Hob
ph 7.8
gh 4 drops 3-6 (50-100ppm)
kh 4 drops 3-6 (50-100ppm)
ammonia 0
nitrite 0
ammonia 0-5
temp is around 75-76 degrees, i have a laser thermometer and from the heater side and 1/3 of the tank it says its 76 degrees and 2/3 of the tank is around 75 incase that helps
also every week or every other week i feed em "hikari sinking wafers"

 

[brandon429]

Start with the ammonia 0-5 param, that could be lethal to them

Rare for an established tank to show ammonia

We need tank pics and to know if this is an API test kit used for the ammonia reading

 

[rcs0926]

Start with the ammonia 0-5 param, that could be lethal to them

Rare for an established tank to show ammonia

We need tank pics and to know if this is an API test kit used for the ammonia reading

I'm pretty sure the OP is saying his nitrates are in the 0-5 range. I think he just accidentally typed ammonia instead of nitrate.

 

[AquaMark91]

Start with the ammonia 0-5 param, that could be lethal to them

Rare for an established tank to show ammonia

We need tank pics and to know if this is an API test kit used for the ammonia reading

o yes that was a typo the last 0-5 is actually nitrate, and as for testing items they all are API kits. Also if this help the tank also have .5 inch gravel and light is a Finnex Fugeray-R Ultra Slim Aquarium LED Light Fixture.

 

[Julianzh]

do you see any cloudy bodis? like milky cloudy or near white transparent? if there are shrimps with that cloudy color, it might be bacterial infection.

 

[stanjam]

5 inch gravel? Planted or no? I am wondering if you are getting gas pockets emerging and killing shrimp. Do you have any snails to keep the soil aerated? MTS and/or assassin snails will help with that.

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[thelub]

Have you had the tank since it was new or did you get it used? Has it EVER had copper dosed in it for sickness? Coppersafe can leech into silicone joints and leech out and copper is bad for inverts. I had a problem similar to yours and I'm pretty sure it was due to copper in the silicone.

But now my cherry population is slowly dying off again even after the tank has been completely rebuilt from the ground up. I'll be interested to hear what kind of advice other folks give. My parameters are perfect and I still can't seem to keep shrimp for more than a few months.

 

[AquaMark91]

5 inch gravel? Planted or no? I am wondering if you are getting gas pockets emerging and killing shrimp. Do you have any snails to keep the soil aerated? MTS and/or assassin snails will help with that.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk

I have .5 or half an inch of gravel not 5 inch :icon_bigg i have 2 plants in there like i stated before which are a moss ball and a java fern or actually 3. I have one piece of rotella. The java fern was from my 29gal tank it use to have algea/black beard or w/e its called on it and i was guessing thats what killed most of my first batch. But now that java fern is pretty clean maybe even no trace of algea left so i dont think thats whats killing them. Also i dont have any soil just gravel. For snails, no assassins or mts some micro snail tho(my 29g have mts and assasin snails playing cat and mouse ;P) and cocepods now and then.

 

[stanjam]

Okay. That blows my theory of of the water lol. I need a new font. Can't see periods with this one.

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[AquaMark91]

do you see any cloudy bodis? like milky cloudy or near white transparent? if there are shrimps with that cloudy color, it might be bacterial infection.

Just check today and one is dead.

Its hard to see but its red shrimp and under side is a milky color. If it is an infection how do i fix/cure it so no further deaths?

 

[AquaMark91]

Have you had the tank since it was new or did you get it used? Has it EVER had copper dosed in it for sickness? Coppersafe can leech into silicone joints and leech out and copper is bad for inverts. I had a problem similar to yours and I'm pretty sure it was due to copper in the silicone.

But now my cherry population is slowly dying off again even after the tank has been completely rebuilt from the ground up. I'll be interested to hear what kind of advice other folks give. My parameters are perfect and I still can't seem to keep shrimp for more than a few months.

I got the tank from petco a long time ago, unless they sell preused item then i wouldnt know, but my guess is it was new. As for copper doses i dont think i ever used any fish medicine so i dont think thats the case either. The javafern that had algea might had a slight trace of copper from flourish excel but that was a long time ago and the tank that i use flourish excel have a bambo shrimp, 6-10 ghost shrimp, 7-9 ammano shrimp. So far other then one ghost shrimp dying and one ammano shrimp getting stuck in a filter and dying i think thats not the problem.

 

[MSG]

If you're that concerned with copper, buy a test kit. API makes one & they're usually under $10. Recommend you do test during daylight though.

Test chart may be slightly tough to see at night.

 

[thelub]

Probably not copper then. If the bodies are cloudy I've heard it can be an infection but not sure how to go about treating it. Hopefully some of the more knowledgeable members can chime in.

 

[Julianzh]

It's hard to know on that photo if it bacterial infection or not. But I used maracyn2 to cure my infected tank few weeks ago.

 

[AquaMark91]

It's hard to know on that photo if it bacterial infection or not. But I used maracyn2 to cure my infected tank few weeks ago.

Thanks, ordered maracyn 2 online. Now just hoping its not expired and will post back the result if it kills or save em . :biggrin:

 

[AquaMark91]

Another 2 died today but didn't see any milky color on any of the bodies could it be something else? :icon_redf

 

[AquaMark91]

Its day 6 of using Marcyn 2 or w/e the name of the antibiotic. There are around 4-5 survivors left. So far no more deaths, but then again it could also be that b/c its back down to 4-5 shrimp left. So whatever it is that stop at 5 shrimp last time its working its magic again. I feel bad for losing shrimps but worst for not knowing what was the main cause.
Current water par.
pH 7.8
ammo 0
nitri. 0
nitra. 0
gH 5 drops 89.5 ppm
kh 6 drops 107.4 ppm
also added some corals or argonite
Only thing worth of note of late is one of the Shrimp have a very long excrement so wondering if that has anything to do with the argonite

 

[Asu1776]

I'm having random die offs of shrimps too and lethargic activity. Been dosing paraguard to help but not sure if it is working. Also hard to see the milkiness since they are deep red too. Keep us posted on how maracyn 2 works!