[lamyfung]

Today is the 4th day I've got the cherries into my new tank and I just found a couple of dead shimps My tank is cycled for over a month with household ammonia. test results Ammonia 0 Nitrite 0 nitrate 10ppm pH6.5. Is it normal to have shimp deaths when introduced to new tank or is something wrong ? the rest of the shrimps look healthy to me but this is my first time having shrimps so I can't be 100% sure. Tank is a 10G planted and shrimp only with some baby snails

 

[MadgicBug]

Depending where you got your shrimps from as it could be PH shock. Cherries are pretty tough.

 

[AvianAquatics]

Might not necessarily be a pH shock but I think it's probably stress. Once I got 10 Crystal Reds from the pet shop with them lots dying in the tanks and 7 died within the first month and total death of 8 by the second month. Then when I shipped some CRS from Vancouver and left them in the central mailbox overnight in -5-10C weather and all 10 died within 2 month again. So maybe you put them under stress when bringing them in? Like leaving in the car too long or not properly accumulated before introducing?

 

[Rastapus]

Any buffers in there? With our poor buffering conditions in our tap water, shrimps are doomed.

 

[bowman00]

Would recommend trying to raise PH

 

[Rastapus]

Hardness, hardness, hardness, hardness.

 

[jobber]

Check Gh level

 

[lamyfung]

I don't have a Gh or Kh test kit .. maybe I should get one. Do shrimps really need hard water? A lot of web sites suggest that they like soft and low pH water that's why i didn't bother.. maybe I should look into that

 

[Rastapus]

lamyfung,
There is a big difference between soft water and rain water which is what we have in the lower mainland. Check out my sticky in our sub forum for more details on this. This goes for keeping fish as well.

 

[MadgicBug]

For Cherries its better to go with harder water and a ph of 7 to 7.5. They are not like CRS, Tigers, etc that does better in softer water. Takes the guessing out.

 

[neven]

crushed coral is the easiest way to acheive the hardness, a few table spoons in a mesh bag in your filter should give enough for them to be fine

 

[VinnyD]

whenever i introduce new livestock into my tank, i drip acclimatize them(dunno if there is that sticky anymore..but used to have it posted by mysticalnet)...basically:

1) put the new critters into a decent size container to be able to hold the contents of the bag(where the critter was held from the supplier) plus about the same amount of water from your tank. example..if u think theres like 400ml of water in the bag...put the content of the bag in a container that can hold like at least 1L or more. (so...approx 400ml of bag content plus about 400ml of tank water adds up to 1L or bigger sized container(make sure its clean))

2) use an air-line hose(the ones u use to connect airpump to air stone...the clear ones usually)..plus a airline valve(to regulate the amount of flow of air/water)...start a "vacuum" and draw the water thru the tubing into the container with the bag contents(water, live stock...plant)...adjust the drip to about 1 drop per second. it helps to use like a small clamp to hold the tube onto the tank...and one to hold the rim of container. if u like u can throw a bit of food into the container to 'calm the critter down"

3) wait till the amount of tank water introduced into the container is about the same amount of water from bag content. test the ph and water parameters if u want for both tank and container. remove tube.

4)put the container into the tank to equalize the temp between the tank and container(well if the temps are really different)...turn of the light for a few hours

5) slowly tip the container stuff into the tank(i usually let the livestock swim out on their own...) and that should be about it(well other than not dumping all the stuff on the bottom of the container into the tank..usually food wastes..sediments..and poop)

alternatively i have heard people who just add a few drops of water from tank into the container every few minutes until the water reaches the same level.

some livestocks tend to be more hardy/forgiving...but some are very sensitive to changing water conditions.

invest on test kits and water conditioners(example Seachem Prime..)

 

[troutonafly]

hi ive had cherrys for only about 3 months.they are in a 33g with lots of plants,i have gravel and about 10 lbs of crushed coral.i never test for anything.do water changes once a month with aged tap water.ive not lost any and have tons of breeding and babies.i think sometimes all this testing and adding stuff is the problem.or maybe im just lucky so far....

 

[Rastapus]

hi ive had cherrys for only about 3 months.they are in a 33g with lots of plants,i have gravel and about 10 lbs of crushed coral.i never test for anything.do water changes once a month with aged tap water.ive not lost any and have tons of breeding and babies.i think sometimes all this testing and adding stuff is the problem.or maybe im just lucky so far....

Troutonafly,
Could be luck or you are adding a product that is raising mineral content without you knowing. Not testing your aquarium water is never a good thing, unexpected problems will arise a lot more often in an aquarium that is never monitored. Without appropriate minerals in the aquarium shrimp will not develop properly, that is biology, we cant beat that.
Cherry shrimp breed prolifically in both our locations, considerably more since using appropriate buffers for over a year now. Water testing is the only way to truly know if you are providing the best water quality you can for your fish. Running an aquarium blind and succeeding is luck for sure, only performing a monthly water change in itself will cause undesirable levels to increase for sure.
The vast majority of clients bringing in water samples with problems rarely have good water quality, unfortunately this situation is the leading cause in driving people out of this great hobby IMO.
Also, very soft water encourages many fish etc. to breed, this is not necessarily a sign of good health, just an action stimulated by the water condition. As great as breeding all the time sounds, it can be very hard on fish that would not normally.

 

[VinnyD]

hi ive had cherrys for only about 3 months.they are in a 33g with lots of plants,i have gravel and about 10 lbs of crushed coral.i never test for anything.do water changes once a month with aged tap water.ive not lost any and have tons of breeding and babies.i think sometimes all this testing and adding stuff is the problem.or maybe im just lucky so far....

yah maybe you lucked out and all...but i think it also has to do with the size of the tanks...urs is like 33g..the OP's is 10g i think...the extra capacity of your tank affects the "stability" of the water temp and so on compared to the 10g. but yah..check on ur water conditions once in a while to make sure its ok for the stuff in your tank.

 

[lamyfung]

They all seems to be dead during molting.. most of them have their head carapace flaped upward. I've done a water change and put some powdered calcium carbonate into the tank. hopefully they will do ok.. I don't think I have many of them left ..

 

[VinnyD]

yah hope it work out for u and the shrimps..dun worry...cherries are pretty hardy...as long as a decent water conditions are kept

 

[plantedinvertz]

They all seems to be dead during molting.. most of them have their head carapace flaped upward. I've done a water change and put some powdered calcium carbonate into the tank. hopefully they will do ok.. I don't think I have many of them left ..

Is you rpoblem like this: CRS shell problem, virus, bacterium or change bad skin problem?

 

[clintgv]

Maybe it could because it's to hot? My friend had like 15-20 and his water has nothing wrong with it. He came home with his window closed and his room was hot as heck. Maybe that can be one of the reasons?

 

[lamyfung]

I think the tank is almost wiped out now The temp is at 23-25 I check all the time. I'm so terrible !!!
Plantedinvertz yes it's a bit similar to the problem in that link. but mine seem a lot worse it seems their head almost come off. But I haven't seen it happen just the dead shrimps