FishProfiles.com Message Forums

Wasn't sure to put this in Hospital thread or here, so feel free to move accordingly.....

Anyway, the background: I've had cherry, amano, and one flower shrimp or "wood shrimp" in my 20 long for about a month and a half. Other tank inhabitants include a juli corydora ( just one..as I try to get more from the lfs but the ones they get in look sickly), and numerous mystery snails ( Pomacea bridgesi ). The tank has a glass hood and very,very little space from which to escape around the aquaclear 150 filter. I found a cherry shrimp IN the filter and immediately put a sponge prefilter on it..but all other shrimp were accounted for..

Here's the problem: I noticed that little by little the amano and cherry shrimp were becoming harder to find. There are plants in the tank but it's not overgrown. I would see evidence of molting, but no shrimp to go with it. I figured they were just hiding after molting in a self-preservation type deal. Over the course of two weeks, I could not find a single cherry shrimp, and could only fine one of the amano, although I'd started out with 4 amano and 6 cherry shrimp. The wood shrimp was hard to miss, so he was still ok. " Ok, so they all found some way to escape maybe?" Looked all around the tank, on the stand, floor, etc...nothing. I come home from work yesterday and see that the wood shrimp has molted ( again...hard to miss the molting of a 3.5 inch shrimp) but then I see the mystery snails eating the actual shrimp as well...and it is dead.. I see a freshly molted amano shrimp also, belly up dead. No ammonia, no nitrite, 5 to 10 ppm nitrate, use aqua plus water conditioner for neutralizing heavy metals, neutral ph, feed the tank fresh veggies, shrimp pellets, veggie "biscuits" made from chopped snow peas,zuchinni,yellow squash,oyster shell calcium (Repti-Cal),and spirulina algae powder, and algae wafers. I have no kids and wife is scared of messing with my fish tanks.

So- shrimp dying directly after molting, tank-wide. Other inhabitants perfectly fine. What am I doing wrong or what can it be?

Shrimp need calcium and magnesium to harden their shells. I wonder if your levels are very low. Have you measured the hardness of your water?If it's low, you can add a vitamin and mineral supplement to the water and that should take care of it. I would add some iodine also. Kent makes a couple of them. I use one drop per 5gal. They also need that to help them with the molting process.

Kim

You are adding Repti Cal for your calcium, so they should have calcium, but apparently they are not surviving the molting. I would say that as Kim suggests, add a little iodide (reef iodide). I'm curious about that Repti Cal -- what else is in it? I would suggest you look at the ingredients of everything you have and make sure no copper is going in the tank. Also, even though you are adding calcium, do you know the Gh and Kh of your tank?

kh is 3 degrees, GH is 80 ppm if the test is right. ReptiCal is calcium carbonate and vitamin D3.. no startch, sugar, soy, preservatives, artificial coloring or flavoring, or fragrance. It's made from ground oyster shell..the vitamin d3 is for normal absorption of the calcium according to the makers. No copper is being added in any form and I'm using a dechlorinator that removes chlorine,chloramine,neutralizes heavy metals, etc.

Is it possible the snails are attacking the shrimp immediately after the molt? Shrimp are certainly more vunerable at that time. Do they have hiding places to molt? Perhaps that would help. Also, have you dosed with iodine? I've heard a few drops are beneficial to shrimp.

Is this tank planted? A kh of 3 is still pretty low -- especially if you are periodically adding calcium carbonate....I'm somewhat curious about that.

This tank is planted....the calcium carbonate is ingested by the snails and shrimp more than it is treating the water. The tank is planted and there are numerous caves and other hiding places. All the inhabitants were well fed, and even so I can't imagine one of the snails "attacking" a live shrimp even out of desperation. Of the dead shrimp I DID see, it was an amano, and just laying on it's back in the middle of the tank on a plant leaf.. nothing was bothering it.

I got some seachems marine iodine and am running crushed coral in the filters of the tanks I will be having more shrimp going in. This time there will be no other tank inhabitants, as I wouldn't mind breeding the lil guys. Added a small amount of magnesium sulfate also ( epsom salt). Hopefully I'll have some better luck.