Red Cherry Shrimp found dead

[itit_uk]

I have a tank with algae growing well and fish that do not bother the shrimp it is a very peaceful setup.
I bought some adult shrimp from the same dealer who has just started stocking them, they are very experienced with fish. When i first got some I found out of the 6 bought 2 dead within the first week then the others seemed fine. I looked on ebay for some and bought 30 from a breeder of juvenile age varying sizes. I then went back to the original dealer to get some older ones and bought another 3 adults and I have to admit this time there were shrimp in the tank that looked dead or not so well and I went against better judgement.
I have never seen any fish eating the shrimp they walk and swim freely around the tank with seemingly no fear, they are eating all the time algae and live moving around in the moss, just in case I recently added 3 tubes that they could hide in totally from the fish if they wanted.
I found one shrimp whole but dead against the water skimmer (it has a tight over it to be safe), it was totally intact slightly moving but looked as though it was paralysed and its shell was milky in between the red spots it had. I found 2 near each other today from this second batch i believe exactly the same, totally whole frozen dead with this milky white coloured flesh in between the red.
All the Juvenile and I accept that the most tiny may have been eaten seem fine, they are acting like they should active eating with no fear of the fish and shedding and growing. the problem I have had seems only with the adult ones, plus as yet no pregnant females from what I can see which puzzles me although i have now seen some have developed saddles.
I have a Seneye sensor showing no ammonia PH levels are very good since my last 2 water changes and have dropped to 7.6 to 7.8 at the most. the tank is planted and they are growing well.
Any ideas thanks.

[KenCotigirl]

To make you feel better adults do not deal with the stress of moving as well as juveniles. Many times the adults you buy are already dying so you may not have done anything wrong. Just be aware fish and shrimp do not mix. Shrimp are fish food. Even if adults survive babies at 4 mm are nice mouthfuls.

Ken

[Mustafa]

As Ken said, the adults are most likely already very stressed and weak coming from the dealer. Those are imported shrimp that go through a lot of stress and tend to die at the drop of a hat. And, as you already recognized, dead shrimp in a dealer tank is a big warning sign. Just have patience and wait for the little shrimp to grow. Depending on what fish you have you may never see any offspring, though. If you have tiny surface dwelling fish like wild-type guppies or endlers, then you may see a few offspring here and there if you have enough hiding space in the form of mosses or, my personal favorite, Suesswassertang (or what some people here call "Subwassertang"). So, what kind of fish do you have. Any pictures of your tank?

[itit_uk]

Hello I have a juwel vis 180, and have 6 ottos, 6 cardinal tetras, 6 copper herlquin rasoboras, 3 platies and 3 guppies and now some baby livebearers I believe platies.

[KenCotigirl]

Nice looking tank. Thank you for the picture. Very open tank. Not the best for a mix of shrimp and fish.

Ken

[Mustafa]

Thanks for the picture! For shrimp babies to survive in there I would probably cover at least 1/3 of the tank bottom with that kind of moss that's on your driftwood. Won't look as nice and orderly as your tank is now, but then you can possibly have a shrimp colony in there.

[itit_uk]

Thanks for the reply, I agree the young shrimp have a bit of hiding in the moss not had any berried yet but seen a few females with saddles. I have added some tubes you can't see at the back of the driftwood, the shrimp seem comfortable and brave to the level of stupidity. To give the fish a bit of variation I put some broken up algae wafers in as well and the shrimp are actually trying to wrestle the pieces from the fish despite some protest pecks and i don't mean bites to get them to move out the way. I saw a female tonight repeatedly try and pinch a piece of wafer from the guppies and platies combined. The shrimp are happy swimming about and i have seen quite small ones totally ignored.

I am hoping that any baby shrimp can live in the moss until they grow big enough or in the tubes, although unexpected to myself the ottos seem to have taken a liking to tube living so they may have to share.

Just to add the very bright green plant in the centre was bought as a carpeting plant but despite splitting it so it was free with the roots its not carpeting much at all although all my plants are growing and doing very well especially the amazon on the left, the shrimp also love the lily pad pink looking one on the centre right as well. I went to a better dealer for shrimp I feel and bought more adults no problems as yet and they are very red body and legs so hope when breeding starts they will add into the genes to make very red babies.

[Mustafa]

Luckily the otos don't have any appetite for shrimp..not even baby shrimp, so they can share in peace.