New Shrimp in take 24 hours 4 are dead

[Tanikaz]

Hello Everyone,
I am have been trying to establish a shrimp tank for quite some time and I have made some errors along the way. My tank is a biorb tank, the filter is not being used. All the plants are biorb plastic plants, rinsed thoroughly months ago. I do have the biorb stackable rock ornament for the aquarium. I used Brackish Salt in the beginning for the brackish water by seachem. A even drip acclimated the shrimp so they would not go into shock but something has got to be wrong with the water. Petco brand substrate rinsed and has been in there for months now. I justed added PetShrimp calcium carbonate pebbles to control the PH levels which is about 6.7 typically. I've tested the water with strips zero nitrate, zero nitrites. The tank has cycled for months since the last batch of shrimp died. I do have one moss in there. That I will take out tomorrow since I read Mustafa's article about live plants. Something must be wrong with the water because my last batch of shrimp all but 2 died as well but I thought that was because they got stuck in the filter that I have now since removed. Now 4 out of my 30 new shrimp I introduced on Saturday are dead. I took Mustafa advice and did 80-90% water change, distilled water, as an emergency plan just now in an attempt to save the rest of the shrimp, for now I hope that works. I did not test the ammonia prior to changing the water. At this point I can take all the help I can get because I love this hobby but I a have spent a hefty penny on trying to stabilize a tank and keep this little guys alive and happy. I'm deflated because I am constantly killing shrimp!

So please anyone can you tell me what to do now that I did the emergency water plan, what do I need to watch for?, how long should I wait to test the water? Should I get an ammonia kit? Thank you very much! Exhausted in California! LOL!

[Varanus]

Is it possible someone used cleaning chemicals or other such toxins in the vicinity? Things like that anywhere near a supershrimp tank can cause rapid die offs, especially in small tanks, as particles from cleaning sprays can drift through the air and end up in the water.

It is possible that the moss you had in there caused some toxic build up of decaying matter, and those test strips are notorious for not being nearly as accurate as the (admittedly more expensive) liquid test kits. If so then changing the water should have fixed things but I would take out the moss sooner rather than later or its just going to keep decaying.

Also you really shouldn't need to worry about ph. If you have a calcium source and mix the marine tank salt with distilled water then the water should be fine. These guys are quite adaptable and don't need drip acclimation either.

How are the remaining shrimp behaving? Have they gained some color? Are they settling down and scrubbing for food? Its possible (though highly unlikely) that you were just really unlucky and those four died from some other form of stress they experienced before they arrived in the tank.

[Mustafa]

I know what your problem is....you said you used Seachem "Brackish Salt." Is this what you used?

https://www.seachem.com/brackish-salt.php

These shrimp need reef salt..."brackish salt" is just another type of "aquarium salt". It will kill the rest of your shrimp if you don't get some reef salt soon. You can get it in the pet store or from here...but I recommend the pet store at this point as you need to do another giant water change ASAP. Leave only about half an inch or so water in the tank and replace the rest. Did you read the set up instructions before setting up the tank? If not, please do so now to make sure that you haven't missed anything else. I stress the point there that these shrimp need reef salt and all other salts will kill them either quickly or slowly over time.

[Mustafa]

Quote from the link above:

"The salt is also well suited for routine aquarium freshwater use. It does not impact pH or provide buffering."

This is one of the many problems with this salt....no ph buffering. That's why you have your pH at 6.7 or lower possibly. But even with buffering it would have killed the shrimp sooner or later.

[Tanikaz]

Oh no! Wrong kind of salt. Will Petco or Petsmart have it? I will go today and take care of this straight away. I read the set up instructions and I have no idea how I messed up on the reef salt. Yes you did stress the point about the difference and I believed when I put in brackish salt that came up as one on amazon. Thank you for helping me try and save my little buddies. I will get this done ASAP.

[Tanikaz]

Hi Varanus,
I will take the moss out of there today. At that point there will be no more live plants in the tank. Which is fine by me as long as the buddies are doing well. Changing all the water out is a little tricky sense you have to replace quick and the tank is now at work in my office.

The little guys are swimming around pretty actively now but per Mustafa I need to to get on the reef salt problem as soon as possible. So I will be at the store in the next few hours dealing with almost 100% water change. I can't thank this forum enough for all the help. I've needed a lot along the way! Thank you!

[Mustafa]

Yes, any pet store with a fish section will have reef salt. Get the smallest package you can and just use half of what the instructions say to use to make up your brackish water in the bucket. Good luck!

[Mustafa]

So I will be at the store in the next few hours dealing with almost 100% water change. I can't thank this forum enough for all the help. I've needed a lot along the way! Thank you!

It's ok to leave enough for the shrimp to still be comfortably swimming...maybe half an inch? As long as you make a good effort to change most of the water (95%+) the tank should be fine.

[Tanikaz]

I'll make sure to leave just enough for them to swim around a bit. Hoping no more die. I will be grabbing out the moss today as well so there will be no more live plants in the tank. How many shrimp should actually be in a 5 gallon tank? How many days will it take for the little guys to start to feel comfortable after this 95% water change today? Thank you again for the help!

[Tanikaz]

Update! Day one after the emergency 95% water change yesterday, the little buddies are doing well. I don't see anymore dead and most of the shrimp are red and very active! I can't thank Mustafa and everyone else that commented to help me figure this out. I can't wait to order more shrimp for my tank at home, but I need to also do a complete water change there for the same reason. Thank you all!

[jhatfld]

Hello everyone. I have kept opae ula for over 10 yrs now. I got my original shrimp from Fukubonsai in Hawaii. My shrimp do well & breed in the minibreeder tank from there. It’s about a quart of brackish water (50 % artificial sea water) with no filtration. I never have cleaned it but I do add distilled water every week or 2 and feed them once a week (spirulina powder that David Fukomoto provided with the original shipment). They are very hardy but I killed my first batch by putting a little, rubber tipped thermometer in the tank, so they are easy to kill sometimes. David said it might have changed the pH. I changed the water and ordered more and they have done well and bred ever since (sans thermometer). I also set up 2 betta tanks with black river pebbles and under gravel filter. One tank did well and bred; the numbers in the other tank kept dropping. Eventually I took apart the tank that was not doing well and found that 2 of the pebbles had metal inclusions. After removing those, that tank has done well. I’ve even given some away to a coworker for a larger, unfiltered tank he made, and they are doing well there. David bred the shrimp himself so it’s good they were captive bred. My minibreeder at my office is subject to extreme temperatures sometimes (it’s an old building) and so I got a little max-min thermometer for the outside of the tank. Temps got the lowest a couple of times the power went out in winter (here in Maryland). Lowest temp. was 49, another time it got down to 55, and the shrimp showed no signs of being damaged by it. Temps. also go up into the low 90s sometimes (air conditioning is off on weekends in summer) and also doesn’t hurt them. Tanks at home are at room temp. (70-72 all yr). David also told me his original shrimp came from Pohoiki pond at Isaac Hale Beach Park. (The pond is pictured on the back of his pamphlet). Locals call it the little hot pond because it’s nice to sit in the warm water sometimes. There are always lots of opae ula in there and I enjoyed watching them while I enjoyed this natural hot tub (heated by volcanic activity deep underground). I measured the temp in the water there once, and it averaged 96, so they don’t mind the heat. Sadly, Isaac Hale Beach Park is currently being covered with lava from Kilauea Volcano. The little hot pond is not covered yet, but the lava is so close that I imagine the little hot pond is boiling by now and will be completely covered with lava soon. The new lava will provide lots of new habitat once it stops flowing and cools, so that will be good for the survivors along the coast. I enjoyed many soaks in the little hot pond with the opae ula and it makes me feel good that I’ve saved some of them in captivity here in Maryland. They are very enjoyable to watch and very hardy, unless you put a rubber tipped thermometer or rocks with metal inclusions in the tank. Aloha! Jeff

[ssdarling]

I am so glad to have seen this post. I have not yet received my shrimp due to shipping temperatures being too high, but I had the tank set up with the same Brackish salt. I have ordered reef salt and completely emptied the aquarium to refill it with fresh distilled water. Thank you for having the message boards.

[crittersni]

I lost a bunch of my shrimp with my first attempt at expanding my little jar (bought at a craft fair). I had used dollar store aquarium decorations. They were poor quality, and the plastic leached into the water (made it cloudy; it was bad).

Started over the right way, and I now have baby shrimp of several sizes, including recent larvae floaters. I have several saddled shrimp and am awaiting my next cycle of berried mama shrimp.

Follow Mustafa's guidelines, and once it's set up, you will be enjoying them!! Good luck.

[Mustafa]

Update! Day one after the emergency 95% water change yesterday, the little buddies are doing well. I don't see anymore dead and most of the shrimp are red and very active! I can't thank Mustafa and everyone else that commented to help me figure this out. I can't wait to order more shrimp for my tank at home, but I need to also do a complete water change there for the same reason. Thank you all!

I'm glad things worked out in the end! I have updated the setup instructions on this website to specifically say that "brackish salt" isn't ok too:

https://www.petshrimp.com/set-up-a-supe ... tructions/