Missing or Dead shrimp?

[Opopanax]

Okay, I feel silly posting about this.

I recently decided to redo my shrimp tank (since I lost all my shrimp in a move a year ago). So I picked up 15 from a great site

It's been close to two weeks since they've been in the tank. Outside of when I introduced them to the tank - I haven't seen much from them. Every now and then I"ll find one picking at stuff from the sponge on the intake of my canister filter - or in a small mass of Java Moss.

The last few days I can't seem to find any of them - but no bodies either. Since they're small I figured a body could be easy to miss. But I have hard time believe in 4 days I couldn't see at least 1 out of the 15.

So I started thinking that maybe they're dying and the bodies just aren't being stacked up.

Tank levels have been fine over the last few weeks and this is a well established cycled tank with live plants.

Ammonia, Nitrate, and Nitrate have all been tested near 0 over several weeks (I test at least once a week typically twice)- except today Ammonia was near 0.25.
The PH is fairly high at 8.4 - but my PH has always been high even in tanks that have had a thriving shrimp colony.

I do 20 - 25% water changes every week - with treated cold tap water (No R/O for me yet). The water treatment has always worked for me in the past even in past shrimp tanks.

So am I getting overly worried? Are they probably still there and just hiding? Am I missing something I should be testing?

[Neonshrimp]

So am I getting overly worried? Are they probably still there and just hiding? Am I missing something I should be testing?

When you put food in the tank make sure it sink to the front where you can see it. If the shrimp are there they should come out to eat

What do you use to treat your water?

[guntank0079]

I am just wondering what kind of sponge you use for the canister filter intake to reduce the stronger water flow...the current seems to upset the shrimp tank...unless you have a large size tank...

Besides what Neonshrimp suggested, lowering the light input can help also...

[badflash]

How new is this tank, and what else is in it?

[Opopanax]

I am just wondering what kind of sponge you use for the canister filter intake to reduce the stronger water flow...the current seems to upset the shrimp tank...unless you have a large size tank...

It's an actual sponge I picked up the LFS just for this purpose. The holes are simply not large enough to let a shrimp go through. I do not use it regulate the water flow. I have a valve that does that for me. Before I even put the shrimp in I tested the water flow. The jets spray on the walls so much of the energy is dispersed. I also have some plants along the that wall that disrupts and slows the water down. The flow looks pretty much the same as it did when I had the whisper filter in. There is a slight current of water going into the sponge to the cannister filter, but it's barely enough to suck in waste material - let alone a shrimp. Before the disappearance, I've seen them grazing on the sponge then easily swimming away to nearby plants.

When you put food in the tank make sure it sink to the front where you can see it. If the shrimp are there they should come out to eat Wink

What do you use to treat your water?

I'm using very very little flake food for the shrimp. This tank is well aged and has plenty of stuff for the shrimp to graze on. There's even a nice chunk of string algae in the tank.

Since Seachem Prime just cannot be found in stores around here (For some odd reason), I'm using AquaSafe by Tetra Aqua. IT handles both Chloramines and chlorine and I've been using it in my fish tanks for years. Including my old shrimp tank that had a thriving population until moved. (Died in transit )

How new is this tank, and what else is in it?

Tank is over 4 years old. It actually was my former shrimp tank. It was running with about 5 Endlers before the shrimp was coming. The tank itself has had water in it for over a year. It's well cycled. Other than the endlers, there are some Malaysian Snails (Those conical ones that go all through the substrate). It has sand substrate (same stuff that was in there the last time I used it as a shrimp tank). It also has 1 piece of drift wood (been in there over a year and was soaked to get out as much of the tannins as possible first). It also has 1 fake aquarium castle that's been there since the original shrimp tank. A small patch of Java moss, some string algae, a few strands of Anacharis and one other plant that I can't remember the name off the top of my head.

[Baby_Girl]

hi Opopanax

If your tap water conditioner doesn't say it also neutralizes ammonia, and your tap water contains chloramine, the cleaving of the chloramines will result in free toxic ammonia. Even if you did use Prime or Amquel, I think it's best to treat chloramine-treated water at least 10 minutes before adding it to shrimp tanks. That situation still releases ammonia, if only for a second before the neutralizer changes it into ammonium. But even that is enough to kill shrimp, if I remember correctly. [I only have chlorine, so don't have to worry about that]

[Opopanax]

Babygirl,

that's a good point. Thankfully I'm force to "age" the water a good 30 minutes before pouring it in the tank. The cold water here is so cold that it causes too big of a temperture drop if I don't let it warm closer to room temperature. Hopefully, it's enough.

I should mention that I finally saw one of the 15 shrimp! It was grazing along in the java moss - but the piece isn't that big so I should be able to see more than just one out of 15.

[guntank0079]

I usually sit the tap water 24 hours before I add in water conditioner, and I still wait for another 20 minutes before I add that to the tanks.

[Mustafa]

Stop feeding. If the plants are not actively growing (including the string algae) start taking them out *slowly*. Take out a portion of the plants ever few days. Plants that don't grow actively seem to release back nutrients into the water that can adversely affect shrimp (but not fish!). Some string algae can also "melt away" and pollute the water (in addition to causing a possible, invisible bacterial bloom) even if you can't measure anything with the most common hobby kits. With some patience (can take weeks), the tank will find its equilibrium and the shrimp will do fine. Do *not* lower the light level....ever. Healthy shrimp in a healthy tank are not scared of strong light and will graze all day long right under the lights. The fact that you don't see the shrimp means that they are not feeling well. Yes, some (or many) may have died, but that's the learning curve....unfortunately. Just make sure that you go over the articles a few more times. There are some details out there that you may have missed in the past. Good luck!

[badflash]

AquaSafe has a slime coat additive that may be harmful to shrimp. Others have reported shrimp deaths associated with its use. Check with your water company to find out if they add chloramines or just chlorine. Then mail-order a proper water conditioner. With just chlorine you can use Tap-Water Conditioner, but with Chloramines use NOTHING but Prime or AMQUEL+.

With Chloramines a 10 minute reaction time is required. Failure to observe this actually resulted in some human deaths during dialysis. I read an interesting medical paper on the subject following losing half my stock to chloramines when the town switched over without notice.

[Baby_Girl]

Failure to observe this actually resulted in some human deaths during dialysis.

You mean the chloramines/ammonia in tap water can actually kill people, if they get directly into the bloodstream?? Ai-yai-yai.

[badflash]

Yes. I they were using an R/O unit to make lab grade water without a charcoal pre-filter and the chloramines went right through. The paper says that the 1/2 life for chemical removal is around 4 minutes, so every 4 minutes after adding the chemical to neutralize chloramines the concentration will drop by half.

[Baby_Girl]

wow, that's just scary how it can affect humans. Of course, we all know they can kill our aquatic critters, but if I were to have certain medical procedures with chloramine-treated water I might die.

[badflash]

If you were to get a chloramine drip in your IV it wouldn't be good...