Bye, Shrimp! :(

[a.wagg]

So, I had just bought around 5 ghost shrimp, and within the hour or two they had all died. I didn't catch this till the next morning, and my gourami was poisoned from the overload of ammonia, as will as one neon tetra. I know shrimp are pretty delicate, so maybe I had some ammonia issues, but I've been checking everyday and I've gotten zero ammonia. I don't have a nitrite test kit, but honestly, if I don't have any ammonia problems, having nitrite problems seems unlikely. What do you think the deal is?

 

[HayzH]

So, I had just bought around 5 ghost shrimp, and within the hour or two they had all died. I didn't catch this till the next morning, and my gourami was poisoned from the overload of ammonia, as will as one neon tetra. I know shrimp are pretty delicate, so maybe I had some ammonia issues, but I've been checking everyday and I've gotten zero ammonia. I don't have a nitrite test kit, but honestly, if I don't have any ammonia problems, having nitrite problems seems unlikely. What do you think the deal is?

what kind of test for the ammonia did you use?

 

[This Old Spouse]

If your shrimp all died within the hour, you certainly had some kind of problem, likely ammonia. I'd be interested in your ammonia test as well.

 

[a.wagg]

If your shrimp all died within the hour, you certainly had some kind of problem, likely ammonia. I'd be interested in your ammonia test as well.

Just the standard API test kit. I totally thought it was ammonia too, and must have tested like 3 times that hour, all tests came up with 0ppm. Now I'm having the same problem with my recently purchased fancy guppies (around 3 days ago). They were fine, but when I changed the water, they started getting really lazy, almost sucked up by filter, and getting thrown around by its current. I have well water, which then goes through a RO system and water softener, and I always dechlorinate my water. Do you think this is my problem? That I'm adding dechlorinator to my water when it really doesn't need it, and this is poisoning the fish? Usually I have some fatalities after I change the water.

 

[This Old Spouse]

You usually have some fatalities when you change the water Yikes!

I know that going through a water softener, that adds salt to the water, but it shouldn't kill your fish, especially guppies who can stand a bit of brackish water.

There is something that's doing this to them. Have you tried filling some containers with water, and then just letting it sit for a day or two before putting it in the tank?

I'd send a sample of water to the college or utilities commission, somewhere that can test the water for everything, just to see what all is in it. Seriously, if it's killing your fish like that, what's it doing to you?

 

[a.wagg]

Do you think that it's the dechlorinator added to the water? And I meant that if I have a death, it's usually after I've changed the water... Not like when I change the water I have a death. Get it?

 

[This Old Spouse]

Yeah, I get it. But it takes a while for a fish to die of ammonia poisoning, particularly if it's not a huge amount of ammonia.

No, it's likely not the dechlorinator, which is what, by the way?

 

[a.wagg]

Nutrafin AquaPlus. Also, it's almost always the newer fish that die. The fish I've had in the tank for awhile are totally fine. So basically if the fish get past the first week, they're fine.

 

[This Old Spouse]

How are you introducing the new fish to the tank?

 

[a.wagg]

Opening bag, and pouring into bucket. Then putting small increments of water around every 5 minutes into the tank to equalize the PH until around 1/2 or 2/3 of the 3.5 gallon bucket is filled, and then scooping the fish in a net, and putting into the tank.

 

[This Old Spouse]

How are you matching the temp before you scoop them into the tank? (Sorry if the questions sound moronic but just trying to help you find out what's happening.)

 

[a.wagg]

Oh usually just the added water will equalize the temp. My room is always warm too. I usually float them for like 10-15 minutes before I start the bucket and adding water thing. And thanks for your help I appreciate it.

 

[nanoMama86]

My bet is some sort of carbonate softener system, as not all are salt based. I would try the suggestion of letting it sit out for few days before adding it to your tank. If you get a white crumbly crust at the surface of the bucket or receptacle, you got a carbonate water softening system. And that is really hard for freshwater fish to adapt to. You will not probably ever be able to keep shrimp. You could keep an awesome marine tank, though ! my pawpaw lives in the boonies and that's the kind of softening system he has.

 

[a.wagg]

My bet is some sort of carbonate softener system, as not all are salt based. I would try the suggestion of letting it sit out for few days before adding it to your tank. If you get a white crumbly crust at the surface of the bucket or receptacle, you got a carbonate water softening system. And that is really hard for freshwater fish to adapt to. You will not probably ever be able to keep shrimp. You could keep an awesome marine tank, though ! my pawpaw lives in the boonies and that's the kind of softening system he has.

Hmm... I do get some very mild water stains, but nothing crumbly. And I've had to help add the solution to the water softener, and I'm sure that the pack said "salts", not carbonate. I'll check the softener when I have a chance though, because you easily could be right.

EDIT: Oh and also, we do have one spout that doesn't go through this system on the outside of our house, as well as a creek that runs through the property... worth a try?

 

[Baccus]

Just thinking outside of the box... but you didn't mention if you have live plants in your tank or fake ones, also any bog woods or other timbers. Live plants can help in the water stabilility stakes and timbers etc can really change your aciditity and pH levels. So I was wondering if when you do your water changes rather than an ammonia spike perhaps you are doing to drastic a pH etc change, a huge fluculation in these could kill a fish that was used to totally different water parameters to the ones you have.

It's like when I sell my guppies to people locally I always tell the buyers that the guppies live and breed in the towns local water supply (after the treatment works, not the creeks) with no extra salts added, if people take these same so called soft water guppies and dump them into hard water the guppies of course keel over because they where totally not used to the new water paramaters.

Just an idea and something you might want to consider with your fish.