HELP! Shrimp have all died :-(

[jon]

Hi all,

I'm new to the forum and new to shrimp but I've read a lot of articles and posts on here that have been very useful in setting up my tank.

So basically, my tank (30l, fully cycled) has been set up for a month with 2 RCS, 2 Amano and 5 CRS living perfectly happily with lamp eye's and neon tetra (3 of each). So far all that's been in there has been driftwood with Java Moss.

Water parameters have all been good and ph is around 7.5.

I decided to get 3 more RCS as 2 I had were females and I wanted to see if I could get some breeding. I did this and at the same time I added some plants. Java Fern and some other plants too (got a mixed selection of easy to keep beginners plants) because I like the look of a planted tank and heard shrimp like places to hide. I made sure I washed the plants and soaked them for 2 days before adding them.

The morning after, I've woken up to find virtually all my shrimp dead! The 3 that aren't are on their way out. The fish all seem fine.

PLEASE ADVISE! What have I done wrong?! I'm so frustrated because it was all going so well.

I want to work it out so I can start my colony again without fear of them all perishing again.

I hope you guys have some words of wisdom

Jon

[link81]

water test information if you have it is very helpful,
pH harness, ammonia, nitrates

30L, thats, what about 7 gallons or so. I'm not thinking that the small amount of chlorine left on the plants after you rinsed them would have a big affect on the tank, unless you added a bunch of non treated water at the same time.
Fertilizers? add any?

whats your substrate? any chance you could have released anything into the water when planting the new plants?

how long has the tank itself been going? i know you said the shrimp have been in there about a month.

I'm assuming you have a filter of some type?

[jon]

Thanks for the reply link81,

I tested the water and it came out at pH 7.4, ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 40ppm. I haven't got anything to test the hardness but my water company say the tap water is 'moderately hard, 270mg/l as CaCO3' (if that makes sense?). The only water I added had been treated as I always do to remove chlorine etc, I don't add anything to make it softer. Didn't add any fertilizers either.

I just have a sand substrate and didn't really 'plant' anything in it. It was mainly Java Fern that I added and it was all attached to driftwood and stones. I did put some extra bits of 'weed' looking plants (my plant identification is not great!) into the sand, but didn't disturb it much.

The tank was set up for about a week before the first shrimp went in, by which time it had fully cycled. Yes, the filter I have is a simple Aqua One filter that has been doing a good job so far. Well, my tank is cycled and it's doing a good job with keeping it clean at the moment.

To update the situation, I decided to change the water as there was obviously harmful in there. I'd already removed the plants as soon as I knew there were problems since introducing them. I've cleaned the driftwood, tank and filter and refilled it Sunday. In the meantime I looked up pesticides that some farms use and how to get rid of them. Apparently, just washing and soaking in water isn't enough to get rid of them! I read that to be sure you should soak them in an alkaline solution (pH8.5) for 2 to 48 hours and thoroughly rise after. I did this and replanted them yesterday. So far my fish have been fine, water parameters are all good (pH 7.5, ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 10ppm).

3 of my RCS and 1 Amano actually survived after I put them (half dead) into a separate tank, they came back to life:-D. So a few hours ago I put the Amano back in the main planted tank to see how it gets on. So far, so good! I don't want to risk any more than one going in to start as don't want to loose the rest, they've had a traumatic enough time already!

[link81]

sounds to me like you might have hit the nail on the head with the driftwood and plants.
If i get plants from anyplace other then a LFS that i trust (small mom and pop shop) then i soak them for a couple of days and rinse them between water changes (about 2x daily) i'm on a well so i don't have to worry about chlorine or anything that the city might decide to put in the water.

good to hear that your shrimp are doing better.

[jon]

Thanks, I'm glad the 4 remaining pulled through.

It's been over 24hrs since I added a RCS to the tank, and all seems fine with her and the Amano. It looks like the alkaline water soak of the plants did the trick. Tough lesson learnt there. It would have never occured to me that a regular wash and soak wouldn't have been enough.