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Could it be that my pencil fish are eating them??? Or my white clouds?

What kind of shrimp are they?

If they're small ghost shrimp, it is possible that the white clouds could be eating them (or at least harrassing them to death). In my 38 gallon, which is a white cloud and shrimp tank, the male white clouds tend to get a little rambunctious with the ghost shrimp and will actually kill and eat the smallest ones.

As far as the pencilfish go, I unfortunately can't tell you much about that as I've never had the pleasure of having them. Which specific species of pencil fish is it?

Also, it could be some sort of environmental influence. What size is the tank, what's the temp, and what are some of the chemistry parameters?

Joe Potato

hey Joey,

I am not sure what kind of pencil's they are. They aren't listed on this sight. They have a black stripe and red on their back tails...

as far as the tank parameters: 20 gallon long, 88 degrees, planted...

They are Red Cherry Shrimp...

88F seems quite warm. Most sites say they prefer around 75-78F and tolerate up to 82F. I know at least one person has had healthy shrimp that were breeding at 82F die when the temp was slowly moved up to 86F. I keep mine in an unheated tank so it's only about 70-72F. I would first lean towards the temp being your main problem and then suspect the white clouds.

Also white clouds are also cold water fish preferring their tank below 77F. They are quite hardy fish though and mine survived fine until I tried to move them to the tank that is kept above 85F. Pencilfish depending on species do prefer higher temps than the white clouds and shrimp but 88F seems high even for them. I very rarely keep any tanks over 80F because most fish don't prefer the water much warmer than that.

Sham,thank you so much for this insight. I am ashamed to say that I hadn't realized the temperature perameters of my tank were so off...

I will rectefy this problem this weekend...