Where shrimp come to die....

[Varanus]

Most of the good bacteria that make a cycled tank cycled is in the substrate and the on the decorations. A 90% water change still sounds extreme, but it may be the only way to get rid of whatever is effecting the shrimp.

[JennyPenny]

Did you say there is a heater in this tank? If the heater is malfunctioning, it could be electrocuting the shrimp. I watched a video a while ago with someone who had a shrimp tank and their heater started to shock the shrimp. Please take the heater out as it should not be necessary.

[TeriAnn]

Hi Ace, Thanks for your response, I love the look of the Nanosphere 9, it's beautiful. Have you noticed any more odd behavior with your shrimp?

[TeriAnn]

Hello Varanus,
Thanks for the help. One main constant has been the use of my home RO. I had 2 gallons of distilled water on hand so I did a 2 gallon water change yesterday. Its hard to say whether or not there is a difference.

[TeriAnn]

Hi JennyPenny,
There is not a heater in this tank. The heater is in my 20 gallon. Thanks for the info, I will keep a watch on it.

[TeriAnn]

I did some reading over the Forum last evening, it seems as though many of you use argonite sand. Do you purchase the live sand or the dry sand? I was told by the fish store, argonite would cause my pH to skyrocket. My pH normally tests 8.6+. The color is hard for me to compare to the test chart, but it is dark purple.

[Mustafa]

If the problem is with the water a 20% water change won't do much if anything. You'd have to do at least 50%. 90% will be just fine because the "maturing" of the tank happens on the surface areas inside, not in the water. Before doing anything else I recommend you do that.

"Shipping stress" shouldn't elevate anything. They aren't really under much stress at all (unlike normal aquarium fish or shrimp). Since they aren't fed they also don't poop much so the water in the bags stays relatively pristine.

[Varanus]

Do you purchase the live sand or the dry sand? I was told by the fish store, argonite would cause my pH to skyrocket. My pH normally tests 8.6+. The color is hard for me to compare to the test chart, but it is dark purple.

The aragonite sand (or limestone, or egg shells) is mostly to provide extra minerals for the shrimp and snails to build their shells. Dry sand is normally recommended as the live sand could potentially introduce contaminants in the form of dead microscopic organisms in the sand (organisms that either die before you open the bag or can't adapt to the brackish water and die from that).

What I've heard is that once the PH gets high (and it sounds like yours is quite high) the aragonite and such won't raise it much more, that at some point it reaches a equilibrium with the water.

[TeriAnn]

Hello Mustafa,
The shrimp appeared a little better after doing the 2 gallon water change. I purchased more water and today I emptied the tank as low as I could scoop, leaving approximately an inch of water, and have been adding distilled water. Currently its about 1/2 full and I am beginning to see a bit of activity. Thanks.

[TeriAnn]

Thanks Varanus for the insight. I'm thinking it may be beneficial to mix in some aragonite once my current problem is resolved.

[Mustafa]

I purchased more water and today I emptied the tank as low as I could scoop, leaving approximately an inch of water, and have been adding distilled water. Currently its about 1/2 full and I am beginning to see a bit of activity. Thanks.

Hi TeriAnn,
I hope that's a typo up there. Don't just add distilled water. You need to add prepared brackish water.

[TeriAnn]

Yes, I have been adding distilled water mixed with Instant Ocean.
There were 3 dead this morning, another 4-5 that are not looking well. We'll see if they pull through. I don't know if there is anything more to do other than wait.

[JennyPenny]

How are the shrimp doing? Any survivors?

[TeriAnn]

This Wednesday the 7th, will make two weeks since I did the 90% water change. Since then I have only found about five dead, and that was early on. They are more and more acting like the shrimp in my other shrimp tanks. There are a handful yet that do not appear healthy, I will begin to remove them thinking they are dead and see their legs twitch. Overall, I have about 25 shrimp remaining from the 100 lot purchase. Oddly to me, the snails really did not appear affected either way. I no longer shuttle jugs of my home RO system back and forth to work,(where the aquariums are) but use only Ice Mountain distilled water. Hmm, makes me wonder what I am drinking....

[TeriAnn]

In my other tanks that are problem free I have decorative white rocks I purchased from my local fish store. I asked for limestone, they sold me a chunk of what they called "shelf rock" it looks like a hunk of coral. It is what they use in their salt water tanks for calcium carbonate. I had to use a sledge hammer to break it into smaller pieces. (I am not really good with a sledge hammer) Recently I found a fish gravel by CaribSea called African Cichlid Mix. It looks like small sea shells, some whole, some broken and bits of coral or stone. I thought It would be pretty to sprinkle this in with the black sand. Thinking the sea shells could replace the "shelf rock" in providing calcium? Right now I am pretty apprehensive about adding anything different. Any thoughts?