Mysterious Cherry Shrimp Death

[Theplatymaster]

Today i had a suprise when it turned out one of my cherry shrimp, in my 2.5 gallon shrimp/snail tank (there are many more snails then shrimp) was dead, i found a body.

testing the water came out to:

nitrate:10ppm

Nitrite:0ppm

ammonia:0ppm

GH: 300+

KH: 80-120

PH: 7.6 (raised with CC)

Chlorine:0

so im unsure what killed the shrimp, any help?

[Kurt Brutting]

How old is the tank? Is it new? Your water is perfect for Neo’s. Maybe he or she was just old? 

[Theplatymaster]

@Kurt Bruttingthe shrimp were added a few weeks ago, and a week before that the tank was setup and the mini ramshorn snails hitched some rides on plants.

[The endler guy]

low calcium? what did the body look like? was it mid molt? was it acting odd? 

[Kurt Brutting]

Gotcha, shrimp like established tanks. It just takes time.I would keep an eye on them, but you should be good. 

[Theplatymaster]

On 3/2/2023 at 6:58 PM, The endler guy said:

low calcium? what did the body look like? was it mid molt? was it acting odd? 

im not sure, ive been feeding hikari crab cuisine to feed them calcim, and i wasnt there when it died, it seemed to be acting normal, but i wasnt paying much attention to that tank this morning.

[Ninjoma]

I've been dealing with some mysterious shrimp deaths as well, so I've been trying to figure this out and reading a lot of articles/blogs/forums. I think if they were introduced a couple of weeks ago, it may be related to osmotic shock from acclimation. They are very sensitive, so even with decent acclimation practices, having a few losses within the first month is common from what I've read. 

[The endler guy]

On 3/2/2023 at 7:00 PM, Theplatymaster said:

im not sure, ive been feeding hikari crab cuisine to feed them calcim, and i wasnt there when it died, it seemed to be acting normal, but i wasnt paying much attention to that tank this morning.

could be white ring of death

[Theplatymaster]

On 3/3/2023 at 7:31 AM, The endler guy said:

could be white ring of death

the shrimp body looked perfectly normal

[JettsPapa]

On 3/2/2023 at 5:55 PM, Theplatymaster said:

@Kurt Bruttingthe shrimp were added a few weeks ago, and a week before that the tank was setup and the mini ramshorn snails hitched some rides on plants.

I usually recommend letting a tank run for at least two months before adding shrimp so there is adequate biofilm for them to graze on, but if that was the problem I'd have expected the death to happen sooner, and to be more than one.  If the rest seem okay I wouldn't worry about it too much.

[Theplatymaster]

On 3/3/2023 at 9:36 AM, JettsPapa said:

If the rest seem okay I wouldn't worry about it too much.

the rest of them are molting now, but that probably doesn't have to do with the death.

[jwcarlson]

Occasionally I will have a dead one.  Nothing lives forever.  I do not get too concerned about it.

[Theplatymaster]

On 3/3/2023 at 9:43 AM, jwcarlson said:

Occasionally I will have a dead one.  Nothing lives forever.  I do not get too concerned about it.

im concerned because ive had it for like a month, so chances that it was just old age are low.

[jwcarlson]

On 3/3/2023 at 8:47 AM, Theplatymaster said:

im concerned because ive had it for like a month, so chances that it was just old age are low.

Still wouldn't be too worried, personally!  Could have been old when you got it.  Are their fish with them?  Occasionally my tetras will beat one up and tear it apart. 

[Theplatymaster]

On 3/3/2023 at 9:49 AM, jwcarlson said:

Still wouldn't be too worried, personally!  Could have been old when you got it.  Are their fish with them?  Occasionally my tetras will beat one up and tear it apart. 

nope, and i doubt the

 Mini ramshorn or bladder snails did it. and planaria shouldnt be killing adult shrimp...

[Lennie]

Snails wont kill a shrimp. They will only eat the dead body.

are you sure it was dead? Sometimes mine looks dead when they have a struggle molting but they actually molt after some time. Pretty sure lots of people act quick on them being dead and potentially throw them away earlier than they may die. 

here is what I mean:

I had this happening 5 times. 3 survived, 2 died.

also shrimp needs enough trace elements and calcium/ magnesium to molt. However anything less than require may lead to elastic shell so they cant molt. Anything too hard means they cant break the molt again. So enough is what they actually need, from what I know. 

[Theplatymaster]

On 3/3/2023 at 9:56 AM, Lennie said:

are you sure it was dead? Sometimes mine looks dead when they have a struggle molting but they actually molt after some time. Pretty sure lots of people act quick on them being dead and potentially throw them away earlier than they may die. 

 

no, i was at school when i got an email with the picture, i couldnt observe it further, and it was removed without a stuggle so we assumed it was dead.

[Procrypsis]

Shrimp are delicate - especially when they are added to a new tank.

I cycle my tanks for AT LEAST 4 weeks before adding any shrimp.

That means set the tank up with aqua soil, plants, wood, rocks decorations etc. Use conditioned water of course.

Then either add filter media from an established tank or use the liquid stuff.  Folow the instrucitons and dose every day.

50% Water changes every week.

Start testing at 4 weeks, every other day is fine. Once you get acceptable (and consistent) results for 3 consecutive tests, perform a ~75% water change. Test. If good, add shrimp.

Mine can tolerate low levels of nitrates and ammonia better than adding them to a new tank . I found out from experience that there are no magic shortcuts or potions for cycling when it comes to shrimp.

And I got my best results when I went to RO and remineralized water - you get consistent water quality every time!

Edited March 3, 2023 by Procrypsis

[Lennie]

On 3/3/2023 at 5:59 PM, Theplatymaster said:

no, i was at school when i got an email with the picture, i couldnt observe it further, and it was removed without a stuggle so we assumed it was dead.

Has been times mine took more than an hour which normally is very abnormal as they molt in seconds. So they were struggling a lot for some reason. Rarely happens but still do somehow. Especially in old ones, from my experience.

I would recommend letting it to sit further in the tank for a while next time to see if anything changes. 
 

As long as you have calcium magnesium as well as trace elements they need, meet their water parameters and feed them well from time to time, you can’t do much I bet. I’ve lost 2 juviniles as well in my new tank and there is no reason why they failed molting. It happens
 

[Procrypsis]

Edited March 3, 2023 by Procrypsis

[jwcarlson]

On 3/3/2023 at 8:47 AM, Theplatymaster said:

 

Ugh... Busted mobile and quote problem strikes again.  I didn't even press quote this time! 🤣

I agree with @Lennie, I have fished a few out only to find them still alive.  Roughly half the time they will survive.  Does seem to be molting related.  Not all shrimp molt successfully all the time, this is a natural process we are talking about.

Hopefully it's just a one off and the rest of yours are unaffected. 

[Lennie]

On 3/3/2023 at 6:13 PM, Procrypsis said:

Those 2 ramshorns on the left look like pearls! I love the way they look 🙂