Dealing with Hidden "Gems"

[mineralNTL]

Background:

• 5.5 gallon nano tank
• Stingray light
• sponge filter
• Fluval Stratum
• anubias/java fern/java moss/swords/crypts/frogbit
• spiderwood + a few rocks
• (~20) x carbon rili shrimp, (2) x amano shrimp, (2) x nerite snails

Problem: Over the better part of a year, my little nano colony of neocaridina shrimp slowly went the way of the dodo. Testing the water for any kind of ammonia/nitrite spikes always yielded zero. Temps never fluctuated beyond 74F - 77F. Lights were on a timer so algae existed but was never excessive. Plant growth was slow but constant. GH/kH were monitored as well and kept stable with the help of Wonder Shells. Water changes were occasional but never more than 10% so as not to shock the system. Point being: I really like shrimp so I made a concerted effort to keep the tank pretty darn stable. 

(Suspected) Culprit: Eventually all but maybe two or three of the carbon rili shrimp had either actively died and were removed or went "missing/melty/through a time portal back to 1985" so I finally decided to change things up and broke down the tank in order to start fresh. Oddly both amano seemed alive and happy. Well, one of the things that I was apparently doing well was growing plants in this tank and so with enough foliage cover - and admittedly a little bit of oversight on my part - it hadn't occurred to me to keep an eye on the two nerite snails. I would always see at least one on the glass so I figured everything was kosher. Fun fact: that was not the case. Guess what I found under the bottom of the spiderwood in a little area with tons of plant cover. A sadly deceased nerite (that smelled utterly like something death would bring on vacation). I have no idea how long that was in there and I'm guessing the decay was, at least in part, taken care of by the plants and even some of the shrimp themselves to a certain extent but I can't quantitatively say by how much.

Issue: All that being said, how are people generally dealing with little hidden gems like this - I would never have normally be able to look in the spot I found the dead nerite without breaking down the tank. A good chunk of the semi-decent aquascaping would have been uprooted and/or who really moves around hardscape "just because"?

I'm open to any and all suggestions - even including, "man...why you so bad?"

[MattyIce]

If it were me, I would assume something is wrong and check TDS, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, PH, and Temp. 

If nothing is wrong with those, then i would verify nothing weird like an air valve turned off to a sponge filter, weird bio film, or something.  if it is none of that, i would assume it is an oddity and monitor the tank more closely for the next few days, if deaths continue, hopefully through monitoring i will know how to treat.

In this case i assume the initial tests would have found the ammonia and I would have tried to deal with it as best as I could.  Not actually know what is causing it, I would have used ammonia neutralizing pads, 25-60% daily water changes, and dosing with something that neutralizes ammonia, like seachem safe or api quick start, after the water change.  Eventually everything would be back to normal and i would probably assume i just lost my cycle for some weird reason.

IMO, the ammonia neutralizing pads are the key to the whole thing, with just water changes and chemicals it can be hard to counter the ammonia of a dead animal but the pads add some breathing room,  put them in your hang on back, cut them in squares and sew the sides together so they slip on intakes, or wedge them between your sponge filter and the side of the tank, that is how i use them, get them near the flow so they are always working.

 

Edited July 26, 2020 by MattyIce

[Daniel]

On 7/25/2020 at 11:10 PM, mineralNTL said:

 Fun fact: that was not the case. Guess what I found under the bottom of the spiderwood in a little area with tons of plant cover. A sadly deceased nerite (that smelled utterly like something death would bring on vacation). I have no idea how long that was in there and I'm guessing the decay was, at least in part, taken care of by the plants and even some of the shrimp themselves to a certain extent but I can't quantitatively say by how much.

Issue: All that being said, how are people generally dealing with little hidden gems like this - I would never have normally be able to look in the spot I found the dead nerite without breaking down the tank. A good chunk of the semi-decent aquascaping would have been uprooted and/or who really moves around hardscape "just because"?

I'm open to any and all suggestions - even including, "man...why you so bad?"

I just went back and re-read this. Sorry about the tank, but man, that was one funny post!

Edited August 7, 2020 by Daniel
and..."man...why you so bad?"