[zacstout1993]

Hello,

I'm having a crazy event happening in my Red Cherry Shrimp tank,
I have recently added multiple plants and been continuing with water changes.
Unfortunately do not have a test kit at the moment so cannot give water parameters.
I have ordered one.
Water is at 24°C.
Tank is 220 Litres and just houses Cherry Shrimp.
I've never had any issues at all but I came home yesterday and my shrimp are all collected in the corners of the tank.
Piling on top of each other.
They are not eating and not moving much!
I did a 10 percent water change today and took around 50 dead shrimp out.
I'm worried I'm going to loose the whole colony.
Can anyone advise what could be happening.
I'll attach photos but any advice would he great.
I am waiting on test kit to arrive.

Thanks
Zac

 

[zacstout1993]

Since noticing this I have added the air stone and stopped feeding the shrimp as they don't seem to be touching any of the food.

 

[Uncle_R]

Where did you get your plants from? Maybe they brought copper into your tank.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[zacstout1993]

Thanks for the suggestions. I bought them from a company who advertised them as shrimp safe,
And they came not attached to anything..
Came loosely bunched.
I will ask the question to the seller though. Thanks.

 

[Zoidburg]

1.) Remove the heater

2.) Start doing daily water changes of at least 20-30 percent at a time


How long ago were the plants added?

Any chance that ANYTHING was sprayed around your home? Pesticide spray? Floor or carpet cleaner? Oven cleaner? Any chance that anything has been put in the microwave or oven that shouldn't have been in there?



Been there done that a couple of times.... it's not fun. I hope you are able to save some of the colony.

 

[germanblueramlover]

Would it help to run activated carbon or polyfilter too? Might pull out some of any possible contaminant in between water changes.

 

[zacstout1993]

Thanks for the advice and I will take the heater out and start with a 30 per cent water change today.

And in regards to the filter any idea which one I should buy for this?
I've got a external filter running at the moment.

Do you think I should remove all the plants and wash them and put them back in?

And any ideas why the shrimp are all huddled together?

 

[germanblueramlover]

Either activated carbon or polyfilter could be added to your current filter; I haven't used polyfilter but it's supposed to absorb lots of different toxic things (and changes colour based on what it took in, apparently). It's marketed towards saltwater but works fine for freshwater too. Note that this is a specific product (I've seen people get it mixed up with "polyfill" before!)

The way they're huddled, it makes me wonder if they were clustered around the silicone because it's easier to climb and they're trying to get to the surface/leave the water? Completely a guess on my part though.

I hope your shrimp pull through

 

[Deanna]

Just to make sure that we haven't overlooked some of the basics:

- Are you ensuring that there is no chlorine/chloramine being added from your water source?
- Do you have a total ammonia and nitrite reading?
- Do you have good gas exchange from decent surface rippling (an aerator may not be enough)?

 

[j_iffy]

Is this a new colony or have you had it for awhile?
Also, how long has this tank been set up?

 

[Blue Ridge Reef]

Strongly suspect poisoning. Put any carbon you have in the tank now. Before even reading the rest of this post. If you don't have any carbon, drive to your closest fish supply store/Walmart whatever is open and I would buy the biggest container of high grade activated carbon you can and put it in stockings inside the tank, in the filter, anywhere you can fit it especially where there is flow. If you don't have filer bags, lady's stockings work great, just pour some in the toe and tie a knot, tie another know, pour more carbon in, repeat. Water changes *should* help as long as the toxin to the shrimp isn't originating in the source water. Agree to keep tank cool, air running, as much gas exchange at the surface as possible. My experiences in losing multiple shrimp is that they tend to keep dying, but all you can do is try to remove what is killing them. Fingers crossed for you.

 

[Spiritus-Ichthus]

Many of the foreign plant farms in Asia, and some of the local here in the U.S. treat their plants with pesticides, and some of the fertilizer they use for the stone wool in potted plants can contain copper. Unless you rinsed your new plants and removed all the stone wool from the roots (I use a fork and tweezers to get the last bit of it) you probably introduced some of that into your tank. Shrimp are very sensitive when it comes to copper and pesticides. Keep doing 50% water changes, and don't forget to add Prime, or whatever dechlorinator you use.

Bump: Another thought, make sure to remove any dead shrimp promptly because if they consume any of them they will also ingest what killed the first to die. If you can stay on top of this and keep doing the 50% water changes you might be able to avert further disaster and revert the the trend.

 

[mfgann]

I'd also read somewhere that they use something with copper in it to keep plants snail free in many of the big box stores.