How common are shrimp deaths?

Hello,

I'm new to keeping shrimp and bought 6 RCS about 4 weeks ago. I have a 22gal tank planted with sword, java fern, and java moss (the plants are getting established but doing well). No other inhabitants besides the shrimp and one little snail that hitchhiked on a plant and eluded my efforts to remove him. I've tested my water which is ammonia- 0, nitrites-0, nitrates- 0. My water is naturally hard and the pH is around 8-8.2. Temp is 76f. I have been dosing with Flourish.

So basically my question is- how common are shrimp deaths? One of the 6 has completely disappeared, so no clue there as to what happened. I found another one dead in the tank about 3 weeks in- it looked like it had a crack on the shell- upon researching it seems like it is a molting issue (I have seen molts in the tank so it appears that molting is happening). The other 4 shrimp are alive and active, although one's shell has a long white patch from it's head to it's tail (the best I can describe it, is that it look dry).

Any thoughts weighing in on the matter are greatly appreciated!

 

Another good test to do for a shrimp tank is GH and KH... also posting pics of the shrimp with the white will help the shrimp pros with what’s going on.

 

Thanks, going to work on getting a pic today! I am not familiar with GH and KH but I am assuming I can grab a kit from the store?

 

It’s just testing your hardness. Shrimp need harder water and some calcium to grow their shells better

 

Your PH may be too high. Indian almond leaves will help a bit, also there is a fluval substrate that you may benefit from that lowers the pH of the water.

Be careful as to what medications or ph adjusters etc in the tank as copper is lethal and will kill off all your shrimp.

Sometimes some of the shrimp in the batch you take home just don't make it, when I first got mine it seemed like they were dropping like flies but I still have a few from then and its been a good 7 months

Also avoid putting in too many pellets or whatever you're feeding them .

 

1. What and how often are you feeding them?
2. Was the tank well established with biofilm before you added the shrimp?

 

The white line in question will be the racing strip, have a look at one of mine and compare. The dead ones probably died because they didn't acclimatise right, although flourish is shrimp safe I'd still be cautious on how much you use, any type of chemicals in large quantities can be bad. The one that's disappeared may have been eaten by the sword

 

Your PH may be too high. Indian almond leaves will help a bit, also there is a fluval substrate that you may benefit from that lowers the pH of the water.

Be careful as to what medications or ph adjusters etc in the tank as copper is lethal and will kill off all your shrimp.

Sometimes some of the shrimp in the batch you take home just don't make it, when I first got mine it seemed like they were dropping like flies but I still have a few from then and its been a good 7 months

Also avoid putting in too many pellets or whatever you're feeding them .

I will check out the leaves you recommended. I have read about ph adjusters not being great. I've been feeding a little less than the recommended amount on the food I have (Aquatic Arts sinking pellets). It says 1-2 every day but I've been feeding every other day.

1. What and how often are you feeding them?
2. Was the tank well established with biofilm before you added the shrimp?

1. I've been feeding Aquatic Arts sinking pellets every other day (2ish pellets, they are relatively small). It says the food can be used for fish, shrimp, or crabs.

2. I'm a little confused about fishless cycling. So I set up the tank, put the plants in there, and lets it run for like 3-4 weeks before adding any shrimp. The results from the test kit currently are 0-0-0 and the shrimp I found dead was found a few days ago. When I got the shrimp, I did drip acclimation before putting them in the new tank.

The white line in question will be the racing strip, have a look at one of mine and compare. The dead ones probably died because they didn't acclimatise right, although flourish is shrimp safe I'd still be cautious on how much you use, any type of chemicals in large quantities can be bad. The one that's disappeared may have been eaten by the sword

Thank you! Naturally I have been unable to locate my striped shrimp to get a pic. But it does look similar to the photo you posted! I use Flourish 1x or 2x a week, measured out for 20gal.

 

2. I'm a little confused about fishless cycling. So I set up the tank, put the plants in there, and lets it run for like 3-4 weeks before adding any shrimp. The results from the test kit currently are 0-0-0 and the shrimp I found dead was found a few days ago. When I got the shrimp, I did drip acclimation before putting them in the new tank.

Cycling is the process that starts with organic matter converting to ammonia. A bacteria colony will develop that converts the ammonia to nitrites, and then another bacteria converts the nitrites to nitrates. Nitrates are removed by live plants or water changes. Ammonia and nitrites are toxic to aquatic wildlife. Nitrates are too, but they can withstand much higher levels of nitrates.

I've never dealt with a shrimp only aquarium, so maybe the shrimp bioload is so small that the bacteria can develop fast enough to keep up so the levels never get to be a problem. Hopefully someone more experienced can verify that or correct me.

 

JettsPapa it's a little bit more complicated with shrimp in the early days, we never recommend or advise putting shrimp into a tank under 3months old, I say 2months at a push for red cherries only, this is so you can get the biofilm buildup and stability to sustain shrimp,

 

I'm right at the 2 month mark for the age of the tank, so this could be the source of my problem of everything else is checking out. The levels are stable so I guess I will just keep a close eye while some time passes. Ordered the gh kh test kit to see if there's anything there

Cycling is the process that starts with organic matter converting to ammonia. A bacteria colony will develop that converts the ammonia to nitrites, and then another bacteria converts the nitrites to nitrates. Nitrates are removed by live plants or water changes. Ammonia and nitrites are toxic to aquatic wildlife. Nitrates are too, but they can withstand much higher levels of nitrates.

I've never dealt with a shrimp only aquarium, so maybe the shrimp bioload is so small that the bacteria can develop fast enough to keep up so the levels never get to be a problem. Hopefully someone more experienced can verify that or correct me.

Thank you! I've cycled a fish tank before but never shrimp only. Hopefully my 4 survivors continue to do so

 

If your on the 2month mark and they've moulted the ones alive stand a very good chance just keep your water changes to 15% and no more I would also reduce your flourish to once a week for a few months

 

If your on the 2month mark and they've moulted the ones alive stand a very good chance just keep your water changes to 15% and no more I would also reduce your flourish to once a week for a few months

Excellent! Will do!

The white line in question will be the racing strip, have a look at one of mine and compare. The dead ones probably died because they didn't acclimatise right, although flourish is shrimp safe I'd still be cautious on how much you use, any type of chemicals in large quantities can be bad. The one that's disappeared may have been eaten by the sword

Finally caught him.

Another good test to do for a shrimp tank is GH and KH... also posting pics of the shrimp with the white will help the shrimp pros with what’s going on.

Finally caught him.

 

Yes racing strips some get them some don't and as the get older it starts to break up,

 

1. What and how often are you feeding them?
2. Was the tank well established with biofilm before you added the shrimp?

I was feeding them hikarI shrimp cuisine . One pellet per shrimp once a day. Which may have been too often? Also the tank was planted and I had an Indian almond leaf in there they allways are picking at them chowing down.

My tank was brand spanking new when I put them in it ran for maybe a few days prior with an old used filter media laying in it.

Months later, I have them all now in my 55 gallon community with guppies I do not feed them anymore they are growing and thriving off of the plants and excess fish food whatever else they find. I use Bug bites color enhancing food for the guppies.


The white stripe is normal some have it or develop it or not white but a lighter color than the body red body light red stripe etc . A bunch of mine have it . It's completely normal. Also when you add in new shrimp they lose their color cause of stress so they may have had it when you got I but didn't notice until it was no longer stressed

I will check out the leaves you recommended. I have read about ph adjusters not being great. I've been feeding a little less than the recommended amount on the food I have (Aquatic Arts sinking pellets). It says 1-2 every day but I've been feeding every other day.

Just be careful and make sure if you do add any ph adjusters that they are safe for invertebrates. I do not use it in my tanks.

 

Another good test to do for a shrimp tank is GH and KH... also posting pics of the shrimp with the white will help the shrimp pros with what’s going on.

Hello, I got my GH KH test kit today! I'm a little confused by the conversion chart but this is what I came up with-

KH took 9 drops, converts to 161.1 ppm
GH took 14 drops, converts to 250.6 ppm

 

Hello, I got my GH KH test kit today! I'm a little confused by the conversion chart but this is what I came up with-

KH took 9 drops, converts to 161.1 ppm
GH took 14 drops, converts to 250.6 ppm

Divide ppm by 17.9 to find both dKH and dGH.

Your KH 9 and GH is 14


Here's a more in depth explanation

Beginners guide to aquarium water hardness (GH)
Beginners guide to aquarium carbonate hardness (KH)