Ring of Death? But GH is fine?

Today I spotted what looks like the ring of death on one of my cherry shrimp, but when I tested the waters GH (I heard that the GH tends to be what caused the Ring of death to appear) and it appeared around low 120 ppm, this just doesn't make sense. I am going to try to a water change and go from there, any help or ideas about what is going on would be greatly appreciated!

 

Whats the KH? TDS? Was the tank cycled?

 

Whats the KH? TDS? Was the tank cycled?

The tank was cycled, KH was 40, what is TDS?

 

Whats the KH? TDS? Was the tank cycled?

I bout a tester, the Tds is 76

 

It's the total amount of stuff in your water which includes GH, KH, organics and others

Your TDS seems a bit low for cherries, whats your tap water GH and KH? Do you have any lime based rocks or substrate that you can add to the tank?

Are you using active substrate like fluval stratum?

 

Is the shrimp dead?
TDS = total dissolve solids, yes that’s stuff in the water,LOL

I personally have seen the white ring on the first day of a shrimp about to moult (ring of death) many times. I don’t think what I see is as big of a deal as the words would have us believe?

 

It's the total amount of stuff in your water which includes GH, KH, organics and others

Your TDS seems a bit low for cherries, whats your tap water GH and KH? Do you have any lime based rocks or substrate that you can add to the tank?

Are you using active substrate like fluval stratum?

Tap water is GH: 30, Kh: 0, nope I just have regular aquarium gravel.

Is the shrimp dead?
TDS = total dissolve solids, yes that’s stuff in the water,LOL

I personally have seen the white ring on the first day of a shrimp about to moult (ring of death) many times. I don’t think what I see is as big of a deal as the words would have us believe?

No, LOL, before a few days ago, I didn't know that stuff was a thing! That is good to hear, I did notice the back half of a shrimp molt yesterday, it appeared to have molted the back half of it's ring.

 

. . . I did notice the back half of a shrimp molt yesterday, it appeared to have molted the back half of it's ring.

Unless you found the shrimp dead, it's probably molted the front half at the same time, and either you just haven't found it, or it's already been eaten.

 

Tap water is GH: 30, Kh: 0, nope I just have regular aquarium gravel.

No, LOL, before a few days ago, I didn't know that stuff was a thing! That is good to hear, I did notice the back half of a shrimp molt yesterday, it appeared to have molted the back half of it's ring.

Your water is very soft...not surprised if they have molting problems. Any coral or lime based decor can help, for example cichlid rocks/sand, aragonite etc

 

Unless you found the shrimp dead, it's probably molted the front half at the same time, and either you just haven't found it, or it's already been eaten.

So it should be fine? Now that has molted?

Your water is very soft...not surprised if they have molting problems. Any coral or lime based decor can help, for example cichlid rocks/sand, aragonite etc

Which one do you personally prefer?

 

A GH of 30 is extremely low .
I also think you should be adding a powder or coral , just for the health of all your fish. I believe you can’t keep guppies in your current water ( livebearers ) ?

Even though my town has low GH water ( about 60 ppm ) it’s very hard to find a reliable source of powdered minerals in my town. Given you will be adding minerals to every batch of new water you will need to be able to find a constant supply.

I have no hands on using coral .
A number of rocks are sold in the hard scape section of aquarium shops. “Texus holy rock “ is a common name used down under .

Sorry i have limited experience using powders and rocks. My only recommendation is to slowly increase the mineral content of your water by slowly adding more and more with each water change.

Establishing the number of teaspoons per 5 gallons of water needed to raise the GH is easy enough but I would not add the full dose straight away?

The 60 ppm in my towns water is enough for the members in my local club not to worry about adding more unless keeping live bearers or African Ciclids

 

A GH of 30 is extremely low .
I also think you should be adding a powder or coral , just for the health of all your fish. I believe you can’t keep guppies in your current water ( livebearers ) ?

Even though my town has low GH water ( about 60 ppm ) it’s very hard to find a reliable source of powdered minerals in my town. Given you will be adding minerals to every batch of new water you will need to be able to find a constant supply.

I have no hands on using coral .
A number of rocks are sold in the hard scape section of aquarium shops. “Texus holy rock “ is a common name used down under .

Sorry i have limited experience using powders and rocks. My only recommendation is to slowly increase the mineral content of your water by slowly adding more and more with each water change.

Establishing the number of teaspoons per 5 gallons of water needed to raise the GH is easy enough but I would not add the full dose straight away?

The 60 ppm in my towns water is enough for the members in my local club not to worry about adding more unless keeping live bearers or African Ciclids

What would it be doing to my guppies? Just curious, also, I could add coral? If I add coral, would it be a constant source, or would I have to change it out?

 

I have not used coral but believe it last almost indefinitely?

When I try keeping guppies there is something missing from my water. One of the minerals is not available in enough quantities to sustain them long term . They slowly die out .

I did a quick search on google for a simple answer but. I did not find a simple answer with my search. Changes are there is a page or two on fishlore about this very subject?

If you have been keeping successfully guppies long term in your water it may have the mineral that mine is missing?

It may be a good idea to test your GH again before infesting in a ton of powder or rock / coral?

 

I have not used coral but believe it last almost indefinitely?

When I try keeping guppies there is something missing from my water. One of the minerals is not available in enough quantities to sustain them long term . They slowly die out .

I did a quick search on google for a simple answer but found many sites admin would rather I did not link to . I did not find a simple answer with my search. Changes are there is a page or two on fishlore about this very subject?

If you have been keeping successfully guppies long term in your water it may have the mineral that mine is missing?

It may be a good idea to test your GH again before infesting in a ton of powder or rock / coral?

Maybe, but my tests have been pretty solid and not changing over the time I have had this tank, did you notice anything in particular when your guppies died? I might go the way of Crushed coral if necessary.

 

So it should be fine? Now that has molted?

Which one do you personally prefer?

Theyre all similar, the more surface area the faster it dissolves so sand will leach faster than a rock.

I have a giant coral skeleton in one of my tanks, the shrimps are doing great in there but my tap water is already hard so the leaching is minimal

I've used cichlid rocks, sea shells, snails shells etc as well, they all help a bit in giving you harder water

I would just go to a gardening/home hardware store and see what they have. Usually much cheaper than the pet store

 

The words I am looking for are used to describe removing oxygen from the water. With the key words being osmotic regulation I think?

 

Theyre all similar, the more surface area the faster it dissolves so sand will leach faster than a rock.

I have a giant coral skeleton in one of my tanks, the shrimps are doing great in there but my tap water is already hard so the leaching is minimal

I've used cichlid rocks, sea shells, snails shells etc as well, they all help a bit in giving you harder water

I would just go to a gardening/home hardware store and see what they have. Usually much cheaper than the pet store

Alright! Wouldn't you be worried about what might be in the stuff you put in your tank if it is from a hardware store? I read online that putting shells in your water can result in algae, do you know if this is true?

The words I am looking for are used to describe removing oxygen from the water. With the key words being osmotic regulation I think?

Okay, one more question, did they physically look weird when they died?

 

My understanding is a fish struggling to regulate oxygen from the water has a rapidly moving mouth?

I have not seen a live bearer die in soft water .

 

Alright! Wouldn't you be worried about what might be in the stuff you put in your tank if it is from a hardware store? I read online that putting shells in your water can result in algae, do you know if this is true?

Okay, one more question, did they physically look weird when they died?

Here they usually have natural rocks that you can use in gardens and ponds, so theyre perfectly safe for aquariums. Havent heard of shells causing algae though

 

My understanding is a fish struggling to regulate oxygen from the water has a rapidly moving mouth?

I have not seen a live bearer die in soft water .

Oh, I haven't seen any strange deaths like that in my tank.

Here they usually have natural rocks that you can use in gardens and ponds, so theyre perfectly safe for aquariums. Havent heard of shells causing algae though

I will definitely look, thanks!