Ragnarok12 Posted June 22, 2021 Share Posted June 22, 2021 (edited) Hey everyone. I have a 12 gallon long and have a colony of orange cherry shrimp that have been thriving for about three months. I started with 10 shrimp and worked my way up to about 60, but I have been slowly but surely seeing a die-off this past week. I've had about one loss per day, though today I have had 3 that I can see. I estimate I have about 25 left, and I'm worried of losing the colony if I can't solve the problem. I have seen no new babies for about 2-3 weeks, and all die-off is in adults. Waters parameters (according to API liquid test kit) are: pH = 7.0-7.5 Temp = 77F Nitrates = 30 ppm Nitrites = 0 ppm Ammonia = 0 ppm gH = 5 degrees of hardness kH = 4 degrees of hardness The death conditions I'm seeing lead me to believe it is a molting issue, but I didn't think my water classified as overly soft or hard. I feed a rotation of krill flakes, algae wafers, and Hikari shrimp bites, and the tank is very well seasoned. The only other inhabitants are 1 Amano shrimp, 3 Oto cats, and 8 juvenile emerald dwarf rasboras I added literally 3 days ago. No CO2 injection, heavily planted tank with floating plant coverage on the surface. Running a sponge filter and an Aquaclear 20 HOB. Dosing all of the EZ line of products. 30% water change once a week on average. Here are some photos: Full tank Shrimp at feeding time Live shrimp that looks ready to molt (white ring of death???) Dead shrimp (with tell-tale boomerang shape) I'm considering goi ng to PetCo and getting some wondershells to toss in there. Nothing has changed in my tank in a while, and I'm honestly not sure what to try. Any help you have would be very much appreciated. Edited June 22, 2021 by Ragnarok1200 Uploaded photos Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colu Posted June 22, 2021 Share Posted June 22, 2021 On 6/22/2021 at 9:02 PM, Ragnarok1200 said: Hey everyone. I have a 12 gallon long and have a colony of orange cherry shrimp that have been thriving for about three months. I started with 10 shrimp and worked my way up to about 60, but I have been slowly but surely seeing a die-off this past week. I've had about one loss per day, though today I have had 3 that I can see. I estimate I have about 25 left, and I'm worried of losing the colony if I can't solve the problem. I have seen no new babies for about 2-3 weeks, and all die-off is in adults. Waters parameters (according to API liquid test kit) are: pH = 7.0-7.5 Temp = 77F Nitrates = 30 ppm Nitrites = 0 ppm Ammonia = 0 ppm gH = 5 degrees of hardness kH = 4 degrees of hardness The death conditions I'm seeing lead me to believe it is a molting issue, but I didn't think my water classified as overly soft or hard. I feed a rotation of krill flakes, algae wafers, and Hikari shrimp bites, and the tank is very well seasoned. The only other inhabitants are 1 Amano shrimp, 3 Oto cats, and 8 juvenile emerald dwarf rasboras I added literally 3 days ago. No CO2 injection, heavily planted tank with floating plant coverage on the surface. Running a sponge filter and an Aquaclear 20 HOB. Dosing all of the EZ line of products. 30% water change once a week on average. Here are some photos: Full tank Shrimp at feeding time Live shrimp that looks ready to molt (white ring of death???) Dead shrimp (with tell-tale boomerang shape) I'm considering goi ng to PetCo and getting some wondershells to toss in there. Nothing has changed in my tank in a while, and I'm honestly not sure what to try. Any help you have would be very much appreciated. It could be a mineral defiance I would definitely add wondershell I would also feed hikari shrimp cuisine as it contains extra calcium Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ragnarok12 Posted June 30, 2021 Author Share Posted June 30, 2021 So as an update, I added crushed wondershell a week ago and got an overnight jump in my GH from 4-5 to approximately 14. I haven't done a water change yet but I intend to do so today. I'm still seeing shrimp die-off at about the same right, and I have to be down to under 15 shrimp total now. Anyone have any advice before my colony gets completed wiped out? I'm honestly not sure what else to try. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griznatch Posted June 30, 2021 Share Posted June 30, 2021 If you only have shrimp in there try dropping your temp down to 74. Check and see if you have planaria in there also. Looks like you might have detrius worms but those are harmless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ragnarok12 Posted June 30, 2021 Author Share Posted June 30, 2021 Okay I'm staring extremely closely at my aquarium and it looks like I have a decently sized hydra infestation going on, but no planaria that I see. Would hydra be causing the death of adult shrimp? It could explain why I haven't seen babies in weeks, but then so too could the soft water and lack of molting. Should I just do a hydrogen peroxide treatment and see if that helps? Any other advice? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guppysnail Posted July 1, 2021 Share Posted July 1, 2021 Even adult hydra will not kill an adult shrimp directly. If it is a decent amount of hydra and every time your shrimp rests it gets stung it will stress your shrimp. Stress then kills shrimp. Hope that helps. To make your hydra dormant refrain from any food that contains yeast especially if it is fine or powdery also refrain from brine shrimp. Hydra thrive on yeast and gluthionine (spelling?) in these. Vac substrate where if and how much you can to remove loose food. You will not rid yourself of hydra but they will create cysts and go dormant...bacter ae shrimp fit baby shrimp food like this are an all you can eat buffet for hydra. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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