Methinks I stressed my shrimp...

[Martin]

So I'm looking for some advice (if any) to help with shrimp stress.  I got my shipment of new plants to place in the tank.  Since it was in need of a water change anyway, I estimate I did about a 50% change to make planting easier.  It wasn't long before my shrimpies went catatonic.  They were literally just sitting there... almost all 120+ of them.  Water parameters are at baseline without any anomalies.  A few of them have started to snap out of it and are resuming behavior, but its pretty slow.  While many are still just sitting there now, many have at least resumed their "grazing motions"/constant shoveling of material into their mouths.  Is there anything I can do to help the situation or am I just gonna have to wait it out?  Thanks all.

[Guppysnail]

I have seen this happen before. I always assumed there was something (mineral etc) that was different in my tap or the tank itself used more of xyz thing than normal. Mine have always gone back to normal.

Sorry that’s not very helpful but hopefully a bit reassuring. 

[Martin]

No worries, it is reassuring for sure.  I'm not terribly worried about anything unusual regarding the water quality as the odds of that are pretty darn low.  I figured it was going to be a waiting game.  Good to know that is the likely path.

[Scapexghost]

The best this to do about stress is nothing

[JettsPapa]

Was the temperature of the new water significantly different from the tank water?

[nabokovfan87]

I do 40-50% water changes on my shrimp tank. I haven't had any major issues. If that isn't the norm, yes it can cause stress. Especially if you add the water back and it's intense in terms of pushing them around the tank. That can break their backs. Whatever the "norm" is for your tank is what I recommend you to follow to reduce stress. Feed them shrimp foods with calcium to help them perk up and recover any damage. 

It's not a major deal if you change water, the issue as mentioned above is what was the temp, what was different, how was it added, and what is the norm that the tank is used to?

Shrimp actually come from rivers/streams and they enjoy oxygenated/fresh water. That's just something to keep in mind. I push a lot of air in my tank and I do push a lot of water during maintenance. I use buckets and pour it in. I use a styrofoam sheet to diffuse flow. The norm is 30%, dripped back in.

[Martin]

Typically, the temp out of the tap is only 2-3 degrees different, if even that.  I don't suspect the temp to the the stressor, but my norm in terms of water changes for these guys is usually 20-25% PWC.  I usually use a colander-like cup to change my water so there's practically zero turbulence for the shrimp during the process.  I assume it may have been the volume combined with me messing with their scape as I planted new plants and moved some large pieces around.  At this time, most of the shrimp have returned to their routines, though I've lost an estimated 8-10 shrimp between yesterday and today. =/

I'm not really sure if this holds any significance, but I did notice one of the dead shrimp had a "white ring of death" that I understand to be typically secondary to molting issues.  It was the only one but that made me think back to the last time I recall seeing a molt and it has been a while.  I was rather puzzled by that as our area typically is known for hard water, so I always assumed molting wouldn't issues wouldn't present a problem.  I placed a small Wonder Shell into the tank so hopefully that will help with both any molting issues and also help to reduce some of the stress.  I suspect I'm going to lose a few more before this is all said and done.

[nabokovfan87]

On 4/19/2023 at 9:58 PM, Martin said:

I'm not really sure if this holds any significance, but I did notice one of the dead shrimp had a "white ring of death" that I understand to be typically secondary to molting issues.  It was the only one but that made me think back to the last time I recall seeing a molt and it has been a while.

Can you check GH and KH? For the next couple of feedings I would focus on feeding shrimp based food (for shrimp) with added calcium.

On 4/19/2023 at 9:58 PM, Martin said:

I placed a small Wonder Shell into the tank so hopefully that will help with both any molting issues and also help to reduce some of the stress. 

Do you see them grazing on it at all?

Based on what you're saying, it may be the result of a contaminate of some kind. Especially that many shrimp over a very short time period (talking a few hours).

Edited April 20, 2023 by nabokovfan87

[Martin]

Thanks nabokov,

The GH is 120ppm, KH is 240ppm, which is standard for my water out here.  pH is roughly 7.5, again standard.  Most of the shrimp appear to have resumed their regular activity, including grazing behaviors.  I'm just not entirely clear as to why some are just dropping.  Of course, I cannot differentiate if the ones that are dropping are ones that previously resumed "normal behavior".  As far as feeding is concerned, I usually use ACO fish fry food.  It says calcium is included, though admittedly, I don't know exactly how much shrimp should be getting.  They've been eating it for quite some time, so I figured we were good with that.  I stuck with the ACO fry food since it is practically dust-like and you can disperse it evenly throughout the tank with very little thinking this would make it easier for the shrimp find it.  If you have any suggestions, I'm all ears.  I'm really hoping its not a contaminant as I'm afraid doing serial water changes, etc. would stress them further.

[JettsPapa]

On 4/20/2023 at 7:40 AM, Martin said:

Thanks nabokov,

The GH is 120ppm, KH is 240ppm, which is standard for my water out here.  pH is roughly 7.5, again standard.  Most of the shrimp appear to have resumed their regular activity, including grazing behaviors.  I'm just not entirely clear as to why some are just dropping.  Of course, I cannot differentiate if the ones that are dropping are ones that previously resumed "normal behavior".  As far as feeding is concerned, I usually use ACO fish fry food.  It says calcium is included, though admittedly, I don't know exactly how much shrimp should be getting.  They've been eating it for quite some time, so I figured we were good with that.  I stuck with the ACO fry food since it is practically dust-like and you can disperse it evenly throughout the tank with very little thinking this would make it easier for the shrimp find it.  If you have any suggestions, I'm all ears.  I'm really hoping its not a contaminant as I'm afraid doing serial water changes, etc. would stress them further.

With those numbers I would recommend removing the Wonder Shell you mentioned above.  Shrimp can also have molting issues if the gh and kh are too high (the shells will be too hard and strong).

[Martin]

Thanks Jetts,

I've removed the shell.  Though I am wondering in the back of my mind, with a colony of 100+ shrimp, why am I seeing so few molts?  Eh, I'm probably straying from my own topic.  I'll investigate that later I suppose.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 4/20/2023 at 8:57 AM, Martin said:

Thanks Jetts,

I've removed the shell.  Though I am wondering in the back of my mind, with a colony of 100+ shrimp, why am I seeing so few molts?  Eh, I'm probably straying from my own topic.  I'll investigate that later I suppose.

If shrimps get too much animal (fish) protein, it could cause molting problems.  Repashy soilent green is good; if fed just straight as a powder it will coat things for them to pick at.  When I make it as a recipe, I add calcium carbonate to it (mostly for my snails, but I feed it to the shrimp too).  Critter has a shell = critter needs calcium. Hikari shrimp cuisine is good too.  Most shrimp foods say on the label they help w/ molting.

 

On 4/20/2023 at 2:52 AM, nabokovfan87 said:

I would focus on feeding shrimp based food (for shrimp) with added calcium

This ☝️

Edited April 20, 2023 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[JettsPapa]

On 4/20/2023 at 7:57 AM, Martin said:

Thanks Jetts,

I've removed the shell.  Though I am wondering in the back of my mind, with a colony of 100+ shrimp, why am I seeing so few molts?  Eh, I'm probably straying from my own topic.  I'll investigate that later I suppose.

There are two possibilities (at least).  First, they often molt in a secluded place, like in or behind plants.  Second, shrimp eat molts to restore minerals (which is why they shouldn't be removed when you do find them), so even if they do molt out where you'd see it, it may be gone before you see it.

Edited April 20, 2023 by JettsPapa

[Martin]

Thanks @Chick-In-Of-TheSea,

How often do you feed them the Repashy?  It doesn't seem like a daily kind of feeding.  Also, how do you fortify the food with calcium carbonate?  Is there a mix?

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

If there are babies I will put some Repashy powder in about twice a week.  I use Bacter AE once a week.  For Repashy cubes, I just look to see if they are active and swimming around.  If they are, I will put that in or a different shrimp food.  If they are all sitting around, they aren't hungry.  In my signature line, Snello1 is how I fortify the Repashy with calcium carbonate (free from crayfish empire, you just pay shipping). @Martin

On 4/20/2023 at 9:23 AM, JettsPapa said:

shrimp eat molts

True ☝️  

Edited April 21, 2023 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[Martin]

Welp, I'm really at a loss at this point.  Every time I check the tank, I see another few that keeled over.  I really don't get it and I'm trying to retrace everything I've done.  I put in new plants from ACO and I put in a new Manzanita branch that was soaked for days and boiled.  For good measure, I followed up my testing with a master kit rather than test strips.  The only anomaly I found was the pH being about 8.2, which is a hair above the baseline.  I put in some pH neutralizer to get it down a hair, but I there's really nothing I can think of that would have bumped it up like that.  If it's not that and, given the speed of how this all happened, I really don't think it is anything infectious.  A contaminant is possible, but from where?  I'm really wondering if I need to consider pulling the shrimp out into my other tanks, but that in and of itself carries risk.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 4/20/2023 at 2:27 PM, Martin said:

Welp, I'm really at a loss at this point.  Every time I check the tank, I see another few that keeled over.  I really don't get it and I'm trying to retrace everything I've done.  I put in new plants from ACO and I put in a new Manzanita branch that was soaked for days and boiled.  For good measure, I followed up my testing with a master kit rather than test strips.  The only anomaly I found was the pH being about 8.2, which is a hair above the baseline.  I put in some pH neutralizer to get it down a hair, but I there's really nothing I can think of that would have bumped it up like that.  If it's not that and, given the speed of how this all happened, I really don't think it is anything infectious.  A contaminant is possible, but from where?  I'm really wondering if I need to consider pulling the shrimp out into my other tanks, but that in and of itself carries risk.

Are you dripping water back in during water changes? Doing small water changes?

I had losses when pouring water in from a bucket but once I went to a drip system the losses stopped.

Edited April 20, 2023 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[Martin]

Usually yes, small water changes of about 20-25%.  In this particular case, no.  I did about a 50% to make planting the new plants a little easier.  In such a case, I would understand losses from the initial shock, I just don't get why they are continuing to drop 2-3 days later.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 4/21/2023 at 9:14 AM, Martin said:

Usually yes, small water changes of about 20-25%.  In this particular case, no.  I did about a 50% to make planting the new plants a little easier.  In such a case, I would understand losses from the initial shock, I just don't get why they are continuing to drop 2-3 days later.

Non-drip water changes can trigger premature molts, and then they get stuck in the molt.  Not sure if that applies to your situation or not.

[Martin]

Just came home from work and seeing a very strange sight... My RCS tank is a 20 gallon long, but a HUGE number of my shrimp are gathered around 2 marimo balls.  What in the world...

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

Clearly they were having an organized meeting that they didn't inform you of. 😁