2 shrimps died

[piggiessss]

I bought the whole tank set up from Petshrimp.com. I got a 1 gallon glass jar and put my 10 shrimps in it with the macroalgae, substrate, and calcium carbonate rocks. It has been around 5-6 months now. I got goldfish flakes and have been feeding them 3-4 times (once every 1.5 months) I put a small flake in and just leave it there. Big mistake because I realize now I might have overfed and the food led to over nutrient and decaying matter. Today I found 2 dead shrimps. I don't check the tank every day, so I have no idea how many days they died. I removed the shrimps from the tank and it was difficult. One of them even disintegrated as I tried to take it out. Recently I have noticed that the jar has a cloudy or fog on the sides. Is this biofilm? I can only count 5 shrimps right now and they are all pale in color, assuming from my attempt to retrieve the 2 dead shrimps. I hope the other 3 things are just hiding and that they haven't died and decayed already. Should I just leave the jar be and hope the other 8 shrimps make it....

[John]

Hi! If you could upload some pics of your tank, that would be great! Without pics, it is hard to figure out what may have caused the problem.
For now, I recommend that you do a 90%+ water change with brackish water. Also, stop feeding completely until you see the shrimp walk around and pick at things. Your shrimp are probably hiding somewhere/not moving much or swimming around frantically. Both are signs of distress.

[piggiessss]

Hopefully these pics appear. 1 gal jar. Also what is the foggy/cloudy thing on the jar? I ran out of the salt purchased on here so I dont have brackish water on hand to do a water change. What should I look for at Petco to make brackish water? Thank you!

[John]

The “fogginess” on the sides of your tank are diatoms/brown algae, and they are harmless. Shrimp and especially snails eat them.

You can find info about what salt to buy in the Salinity section of the set up instructions. https://www.petshrimp.com/set-up-a-supe ... tructions/

Also, your tank seems to have a treasure chest. Where did you get it? If you did not purchase it from an aquarium store, it may be unsafe for the shrimp.

[piggiessss]

The “fogginess” on the sides of your tank are diatoms/brown algae, and they are harmless. Shrimp and especially snails eat them.

You can find info about what salt to buy in the Salinity section of the set up instructions. https://www.petshrimp.com/set-up-a-supe ... tructions/

Also, your tank seems to have a treasure chest. Where did you get it? If you did not purchase it from an aquarium store, it may be unsafe for the shrimp.

Thank you John! You have been so helpful. I tested the water parameters today and it doesn't look to have ammonia. Everything else looks to be okay? I'll probably still take your advice and do a water change with marine salt when that comes in the mail tomorrow. I also took the treasure chest out, I didn't even realize that could potentially be a cause. I was gifted the chest and didn't question where it was from. I'll take it out to be safe.

Ammonia nitrogen= 0
Nitrate= 0
Nitrite= 0
Free chlorine= 0
Hardness= 425 mg/L
Carbonate and Total Alkalinity= 80 mg/L
pH= 7.8-8.4

[John]

No problem! Doing a water change and getting rid of the chest will most likely solve your problem!
Good luck!