Shrimp Died Overnight

[BlueSarcasm]

I just got two japanese algae eating shrimp yesterday, and I found one dead in one of my decorations and the other is nowhere to be found. I don't think the fish in my tank couldve eaten an entire shrimp overnight though. I have 2 balloon mollies, female beta, and a black molly. Could these guys have eaten my shrimp? If so, how did the other one die?

 

[Essjay]

In another thread you mentioned buying fish yesterday as well as the shrimps. If the tank was not cycled before you bought them all, ammonia will be building up in the water and shrimps are sensitive to ammonia (as are fish). This would be enough to kill the shrimps.
I explained in the other thread what you need to do to keep the fish alive but I forgot to give you a link. I know this is for fishless cycling but the first part explains what cycling is. http://www.fishforums.net/threads/cycling-your-new-fresh-water-tank-read-this-first.421488/ Because you have fish you can't add ammonia now so you need to keep ammonia and nitrite very low by doing water changes.



Can you tell us, how big is the tank?

 

[Colin_T]

As stated above by Essjay, if the tank is newly set up, and does not have an established biological filter then ammonia from fish food and waste probably killed the shrimp.

If you can check the water quality for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate & pH and post the results here it will give us more information to go on. If you don't have test kits, take a glass full of tank water and another glass of tap water to the local pet shop and ask them to test the water for you. Write the results down and post them here.
If the pet shop says the water is fine, ask for numbers. You should get results like ammonia 0.5, nitrite 0.25, nitrate 25.0, pH 7.2, or something like that.

If the tank is newly set up and does not have an established biological filter, then do not get any more shrimp or fish until the filter has established/ cycled. This will take about 1 month. In the mean time, monitor the ammonia & nitrite levels and do a 75% water change and complete gravel clean if you get any ammonia or nitrite readings. And only feed the fish once every couple of days and do a 75% water change & gravel clean about 4 hours after feeding.

If you don't have a gravel cleaner, get a basic model from the pet shop the next time you go there. A basic model gravel cleaner (like the one in the following link) will let you clean the gunk out of the gravel without removing the gravel from the tank. It will also remove some of the water from the tank.
https://www.about-goldfish.com/aquarium-cleaning.html

Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.

Make sure you use "Fish Only" buckets for the fish and never use buckets that have been used for cleaning.

 

[BlueSarcasm]

Ive had the tank for a few years, and my stepsister (6 y/o) never fed her fish while she had the tank so i ended up taking the tank back. I think its a 10 gallon tank, but the filter has been running for awhile and ive cleaned evberything before i added my fish. I'll see about getting the water tested when I have time to.

 

[Essjay]

If the tank is 10 gallons, I'm afraid that is far too small for mollies, even the deformed balloon variety. Mollies need a tank at least 36 inches long. But a 10 gallon is perfect for a female betta on her own.
Mollies also need very hard water while bettas need soft water so they are not compatible.

The best thing for the fish would be to return the mollies to the shop. Bettas, even females, do not make good tank mates for other fish so keeping this tank with just the betta would be the best option. Even shrimps are not a good idea as most bettas will hunt and eat them.

 

[BlueSarcasm]

If the tank is 10 gallons, I'm afraid that is far too small for mollies, even the deformed balloon variety. Mollies need a tank at least 36 inches long. But a 10 gallon is perfect for a female betta on her own.
Mollies also need very hard water while bettas need soft water so they are not compatible.

The best thing for the fish would be to return the mollies to the shop. Bettas, even females, do not make good tank mates for other fish so keeping this tank with just the betta would be the best option. Even shrimps are not a good idea as most bettas will hunt and eat them.

I just ordered a new tank and I think Im going to keep the betta in there by herself, and the tank is 20 gallons maybe more, i just forgot because the tank is about 3 years old

Also, the woman at the store told me mollies would be fine in almost any environment, and even suggested i got them (im not saying youre wrong im pointing out that i was given false information)

 

[NickAu]

Also, the woman at the store told me mollies would be fine in almost any environment

She straight up lied to you or hasn't got a clue about fish keeping. Mollies need hard water so hard you could just about walk on it.

 

[BlueSarcasm]

What im concerned the most about, is that there still has not been any sign of the second shrimp, no body parts, and no shrimp. He was about an inch long so I really don't think my fish could have completely eaten him.

 

[Essjay]

Shrimps are great escape artists, particularly if they are not happy in the tank. Are there any holes, even very tiny ones, that the shrimp could have climbed through? If there are, check the floor around the tank, and even at a distance as shrimps can walk a long way. If you have any pets, they could have eaten a shrimp that escaped.

 

[BlueSarcasm]

I found him a few feet from the tank when moving my fish to a new tank