Tank Colapse

[Innisfree]

Not sure what happened. Tank was thriving for going a year. Even had three berried shrimp with lots of babies. Then seemingly over night they all started dying off. I removed the bodies and did an 80% water change. Now only about 5 or 6 shrimp and all the snails remain. Not sure what my next move is. I'm either going to move the survivors to the tank I setup for my girlfriend's son which seems to be doing fine or I will make a go at getting this tank back to where it was. Should i be worried about some type of contamination?

[Varanus]

From experience watching this forum, one thing that can cause this sort of tank collapse is the use of toxic household cleaners or paint in the room the shrimp are in. The fumes get into the air, are absorbed by the water (but not diluted much thanks to how small the tanks usually are) and in turn are absorbed by the shrimp, killing them.

Has the room the shrimp are in been exposed to anything potentially toxic like that? The shrimp are very tough against a lot of things that would kill other animals, but they are very vulnerable to toxins like those found in various cleaning products.

[SuperProofer]

Agree with Varanus. This happened to me recently and the only thing I can even think happened was fumes from house construction got in the water. I did a 50% water change and corked and saran wrapped the lids (I even taped them down) and will leave them that way until construction is done.

I'm just angry because it didn't have to happen. If my homebuilder had been competent we never would have been living in a house still needing work. And I'll never know if one of the casualties was my little eco-sphere survivor that I've had for over 8 years - who I built this tank for. It was senseless. And I'm so mad I could scream.

[Innisfree]

Hmm...I can't really think of anything that could have caused it. Nothing has changed in the environment in the six months we have been in this house. It's just strange that the tank was doing so well right before the collapse. I can now confirm that their are 8 survivors so hopefully the tank can recover from this.

[mike.d]

What's your substrate? Is it a deep layer of sand?

See this topic:
https://www.petshrimp.com/discussions/v ... =16&t=6125

To go along with Veranus, others have mentioned tank crashes from people using spray furniture polish near the shrimp.
https://www.petshrimp.com/discussions/v ... dge#p43708

[Innisfree]

Interesting....I had not heard that about the sand. Could be something there. I didn’t think of it earlier but we do run the carpet cleaner from time to time due to my cat. I’d there a way I can minimize the risk to the shrimp when we do this? The tank didn’t exactly come with a lid and I haven’t been able to find one that fits it.

[Varanus]

A lid would certainly help reduce the risk of contaminants (and reduce how often you need to add water). Perhaps you could buy a flat piece of acrylic from a hardware store and have it cut to the right size if necessary? It'd make a decent improvised lid. I presume it wouldn't sit flat enough to prevent enough oxygen exchange, but if you're concerned you could just position the lid to leave a sliver of the tank surface open to the open air.

[mike.d]

Interesting....I had not heard that about the sand. Could be something there. I didn’t think of it earlier but we do run the carpet cleaner from time to time due to my cat. I’d there a way I can minimize the risk to the shrimp when we do this? The tank didn’t exactly come with a lid and I haven’t been able to find one that fits it.

I did the hardware store acrylic trick on my tank. I have a standard 10 gallon. I used a ruler and a utility knife to score it and break it. Obviously, this method is more optimal if you have a rectangular tank. Not sure how it would work for a circular lid, maybe do an octagon shape...

If you just want to protect the shrimp while you're cleaning, I'd put some plastic wrap over the tank for a few days to a week. The lack of oxygen for a few days (or a month or two) won't hurt them and you'll be sure there are no contaminants in the air.

[Vorteil]

Hey Innisfree

How many shrimp did you loose?

[Innisfree]

Probably about 20 or so. Not to mention the babies that he only just recently hatched. Still have about 8 in the tank

[Mustafa]

How is your tank doing now?