Ecosphere Empathy

[Mustafa]

It's not a disease, it's something in your water. There are no known diseases that these shrimp get. But you did the right thing by changing the water. The shrimp that died after you changed the water were already "damaged" too much from before the water change. Everything should normalize now. Are they doing ok?

[Sasquatch]

I don’t understand how anything could have gotten in my water. I was so careful

The shrimpers that survived the mass extinction seem ok, but then again they are acting normal just like before and then they started dying. Guess I will do nothing and hope for the best. Unless we think another water change would be beneficial to remove even more of whatever got in my tank?

[Mustafa]

No, don't change any more water. If the dying has stopped then your shrimp will be fine. Just leave them alone now.

[Sasquatch]

Photo Update

I don’t think I’ve lost anymore shrimp, but I can’t get a head count they move around too much.

Good news is there is visible green algae, and a snail can be seen snacking on it in the photo! Speaking of snacking, I have only ever fed this tank once. Doubt I’ll be feeding for a while too as it looks like the algae is growing faster than my critters can keep up with!

Hopefully the extra algae gets the females “in the mood” so to speak. I want berries!

[Super Jess]

Looking good! Your shrimp look happy

[Mustafa]

I'm glad to hear things are fine now! Another successful "do nothing" (after a possible water change) remedy!

[Malikta]

Just from one enthusiastic person to another, all the changes from the first environment do not help. I moved mine 3x in the same year, trying to give them a better life & lost 1/2 in the process. Scooping them out & dumping them into a new tank is hard on them. Not feeding them is difficult to resist but when I removed myself from the equation & just topped off the water when needed, I started seeing berried shrimp & then larva. The only time I'll touch the tank is to remove hair algae & even that I'm taking my time on because they are so happy right now.

Wish you the best of luck.

[Sasquatch]

Thanks for the help guys! Here is the tank as of today:

9/16/2018

I have left the tank alone since my last post except for one feeding. I haven’t been able to count the total number of shrimp, but I can usually count between 10 and 15 when I try. No berries yet

I have noticed a couple developments in the tank. First, the orange coral I added to the tank seems to be dropping it’s skin?

Shedding coral

Second, I have noticed several empty snail shells showing up on the surface. They appear to be hollow. Did they die? Was it a natural death? What is the lifespan of these snails?

Dead snails?

Should I be concerned with these developments?

[Mustafa]

I don't think there's anything to be concerned about. The coral and its "skin" have been in that tank for a long time, so they are obviously not harming the shrimp..."skin" attached or not. The snails probably died when you had problems with the tank a few months ago. The shells probably just came to the surface now. They are burrowing shrimp after all and tend to die below ground. The snails can live for many years, but deaths can and do happen sometimes.

[Sasquatch]

Well crap I killed all my snails

In an attempt to remove whatever poisoned my shrimp and snails I replaced their substrate, removed the orange coral, and replaced 90% of the water. Here is the tank now:

New layout

While removing the shrimp to change the tank I was able to count them. I still have 18 or 19 shrimp. I just ordered 10 more snails to replace the ones I lost, and decided on ordering another 10 shrimp too.

The shrimp seem to favor this lava rock after the change for some reason... I also noticed this when I first put them in this tank. I wonder why? A dark rock holds more heat? The pores give algae more places to grow so there’s more food?

Lava rock gathering

[Mustafa]

You don't usually want to change your substrate...ever. It holds a large portion of your beneficial bacteria and other fauna and flora that an established tank usually harbors. If something got into the water that is affecting your shrimp, it's really just in the water and a water change is enough. Now it may take a while before your tank is fully established again. That means it will take longer to get some offspring too. As for the dark rock...the shrimp don't really have a preference for colors it seems. They're sitting on the rock for other reasons...like food.

[Sasquatch]

Darn. Hopefully keeping the lava rocks, coral, and some of the water will give them enough good bacteria even though I replaced the substrate. I added 10 more shrimp and 10 snails to the tank. So far so good:

2.5 gallon tank with about 28 shrimp and 10 snails

[Mustafa]

Good, now just leave them alone!

[Sasquatch]

Tank Photo Update

Several months since the last update here is what the tank looks like now. There is a lot more brown algae visible.

Other than feeding every 6 weeks +/- and opening the lid for a few seconds every other day I have left the tank alone. The tank receives indirect sunlight, and also some light from a nearby lamp.

Still no berried females, and no signs of snail reproduction either I took a photo of a couple females that look the closest to dropping eggs. One even has a white stripe! Maybe a new line of tiger supershrimps?!

Female Shrimp and a Snail

[Mustafa]

How's your tank doing now? If things haven't changed much, then how about trying to stop feeding altogether? If algae are growing in the tank, there's more than enough food for them.