Popcorn of Death

[KenCotigirl]

Here is a thought. You want to save the shrimp you have and not have any more problems. Put the shrimp in a small bare tank with nothing but say half old water and half new water. Clean the old tank. Add bare essentials. Go minimum. 1/4" new aragonite substrate and a few pieces of coral. If you have any of Mustafas algae add the best half of it say golf ball size and any of Mustafas snails. If you don't have his snails and algae don't use it. The tank needs indirect light or 12 hours a day of artificial light. Give it a month, maybe two. It should be 'cycled'. Add shrimp. The shrimp in the bare tank will be fine. They need nothing and will survive. They do so in the ecosphere. If your shrimp continue to die it may be that they are already in trouble. Most prey animals show no weakness until the end.

This may seem harsh but your tank was never established and all you are doing is chasing symptoms. Too date nothing is working.

Advise us how you will proceed.

Ken

[erica]

Iodine can apparently help prevent bad molts:

iodine should be supplemented. A dosage of 1 drop per 10 gallons per week (1 drop every other week for 5 gallons) is beneficial for preventing bad molts, which are otherwise fatal.

(source)

[Mustafa]

3. What do you mean by "bad for aquarium water quality" with respect to excessive water changes? The only thing I could think of was free floating beneficial bacteria that get to play the role of the baby with respect to the bathwater.

I'm literally laughing out loud because your writing style cracks me up. I'm a bit late to the "party" here..but I'll continue reading to see if your issues have been resolved.

[Mustafa]

Iodine can apparently help prevent bad molts:

iodine should be supplemented. A dosage of 1 drop per 10 gallons per week (1 drop every other week for 5 gallons) is beneficial for preventing bad molts, which are otherwise fatal.

(source)

That's a myth Erica. I'm surprised it's still around. I've been fighting that myth since about 2004. I thought it was dead years ago but someone, somehow must have revived it.

[Mustafa]

Done reading this thread. Ok, sounds like *something* is poisoning your shrimp slowly. It could definitely be ammonia. It doesn't even have to be measurable. That's why I don't use ammonia test kits for Supershrimp tanks. Algae are a better indicator of a "ready for shrimp" tank actually. Unhealthy levels of ammonia seem to inhibit the growth of algae so that when algae start growing in larger numbers you can be pretty sure there isn't any ammonia left. I'd just leave the tank alone at this point. It needs to find a biological balance. And while you're at i...update us. Hope the dying has stopped in the meantime.

[btong]

Well I've been awful at keeping up with this.

My tank is already mostly barren, like a beach in a rain storm, devoid of eye-candy. It's got sand and coral, and what's left of the macroalgae, which has disintegrated, for the most part, into cm-long pieces. They're still green though, so it looks like someone sprinkled fresh cut grass over a black carpet.

Two of the shrimp are left, and they seem happy. They move around a lot and seem to have no physical issues. The last snail became more and more sluggish (is that comparison offensive to snails?), and eventually stopped moving. It still closes up when I poke it, but I haven't seen it actually move locations in over a week. Just flops out and then hangs there sadly (insert E.D. joke).

I haven't changed anything since my last post, I figure if nothing changes then I may add more shrimp in another month or so.

My budget for the project was rescinded right before I purchased an aquarium light, so the tank hasn't had one in some time (I was using one off of a different aquarium, but that one has since been reconstructed). However, I'll probably purchase one soon, I didn't have the personal financial capacity until now to be able to allocate the funds to doing so (I assume the lack of light played a part in the slow and agonized death of the macroalgae, and the lack of formation of biofilm). My office is very well lit, but not aquarium-well-lit well lit. That was a terrible sentence.

Anyhoozle, the current count is two shrimp, 0.02 snails (the % of me that thinks the thing might just be taking a really long nap, and is jealous of him for it), 1 piece of coral, a bunch of sand, and a light dusting of macroalgae.

Thoughts on next steps, besides the obvious "Don't touch anything" and "Get a light, you blithering nitwit"? Like, say, since these two appear to be faring well, how long should I wait before adding more o' the lil seabugs?


How much algae should I be able to see growing on stuff? Given that I've seen precisely none, anywhere, on anything, I'll likely be disappointed by any answer given.

[Varanus]

Well the good news is that a lack of visible algae does not equal a lack of biofilm. Beyond a slight green tint on some of the holey rock (that may or may not be algae) I haven't had any algae develop visibly on any surfaces in my tank (there was a green film on the surface but the snails ate that away long ago) and it hasn't caused any problems. As Mustafa told me, there is a lot more to biofilm than just algae.

[NancyM]

If I were you, I would try more snails before adding more of the little shrimp. I wouldn't enter any of my snails in the Kentucky Derby, but they do seem to be in different places from time to time. I've ever seen them stuck to the glass on rare occasions. Time is your best friend right now.

[btong]

Thanks guys.
NancyM, that's probably a good idea, though I do still have two shrimp that are going strong. The current plan is to wait a month or so more, then proceed with restocking the tank.

Our previous snails, before they all croaked, were quite animated. They would frequently climb the glass.

[Mustafa]

Thanks for the update! If your shrimp continue doing well you might as well add more shrimp after a month or so. Not sure what your problem was but it seems like it's getting better.