Petshrimp.com Discussion Forum

We have a 46-gallon community tank with many many guppies (including fry) several tetras, and some cories and a pleco. It is a well-planted tank. In addition, we have had some Yamato shrimp, some bumblebee (red & white) shrimp, and a very large number of cherry red shrimp.

Over the past couple of months, the population of the bumblebee shrimp (we had about 10) and especially cherry red shrimp (we had dozens) has been decreasing rapidly. We also seem to have some very interesting colored shrimp (for example, brown or blackish) that may be a result of mixed breeding. Anyway, it is the cherry reds that have been dying lately. In fact, I have seen a few dead ones over the last couple of days.

I did a water check for No3+No4, No2, and PH. Nothing seemed to be a problem or out of the norm for the tank.

I don't feed the shrimp often. At most, once or twice a week I'll drop a couple of little shrimp pellets in the tank. The hot summer temperatures here (I'm in Tokyo) are always a concern. However, with a good fan running 24/7, I am able to keep the temperature at around 27 celcius at the highest.

Any suggestions or advice?

If you use ferts for the plants, stop doing that, and do some heavy water changes a couple of times a week.

The odd colored shrimp are likely from the bumble bee shrimp. The cherries and Amanos don't interbreed with any of them.

What are your water parameters? Good to you may not be good for the shrimp. They can tolerate things for a while, but eventually it gets to them and they start to die.