Petshrimp.com Discussion Forum

Hi everyone,
Here is the scene,
I recently( about a week ago) got three variants of shrimps, Blue tigers, CRS (SSS, Mosura) and Bumblee bee. The 3 tanks for these were set up in a hurry, a day before their arrival. I added used ADA Africana from an establised tank, about a 1 inch layer and about half a inch of new Amazonia. The water is RO water. When the shrimps arrived i acclimatised them for about 20-25 mins (they travelled about 10 hrs before reaching me) and then added them to their tanks. For the first 2-3 days everything was good then i started loosing bumblee bee shrimps, one by one. Today i lost 3 Blue Tigers. The CRS are doing fine except for the fact that their color appears faded. I added Seachem Prime to remove ammonia, etc.. if any from the tank.
One interesting thing i noticed today was that one of the bumblee bee shrimp was slowly turning orange (how shrimps appear when they die) and about an hr or so later it was dead. Could it be that the shrimps are dying because they are unable to molt( i did see some exoskeletons in all 3 tanks though) due to the water being too soft or did i not give the tank enough time to cycle before adding the shrimps.

Any tips/help on how to save them will really be appreciated.

Thanks and Regards

Sorry to hear about your shrimp losses. Unfortunately you are learning the hard way about not properly maturing/cycling your tanks. Proper cycling can easily take 1-3 months. 24 hours is unacceptable. Do not rush the cycling process. Next to over feeding improper cycling causes most shrimp deaths.
Ken