Help! Shrimp Acting Weird - Dying and Krib fry dying

[Seal36]

I put 10 red cherry shrimp into my tank yesterday and since they have gone in the have hardly left the surface of the water. This morning I can only find 8 and their tank mates are 6 6 week old kribensis fry so I know they would not have been attacked.

The water parameters are nitrite and ammonia 0 nitrate 10ppm and a ph of 7.6.
There's no cooper in the water

The remaining 8 are sat up in the corners of the tank not really moving.

Could they be feeling insure in a 40 litre tank, should I add more to make them more comfortable or are they settling in. What's happening why are they acting weird.

Thanks for your help.

 

[nic1]

Shrimp normally do this when the water is off, they are very sensitive to water fluctuations as youve only just moved them this could be the cause.
 
Also they do best in massive groups as they feel less threatened, do you have any little hiding spaces? live plants? co2 injection? do you have an air pump?

 

[Seal36]

Ok I have tested my water again and the results are the same as posted.
I thought 10 would be a good number. How many do you think I should have in a 40 litre shrimp only tank.

I have lots of hiding spaces including 2 coconut shells, 3 rocks, 2 pieces of wood and 15 live plants. I don't use co2 injections but I have started using a fertiliser which is aquarium safe and contains no nitrates, copper or phosphates.

I did not have an air pump but I have added one now. I thought the filter would have been good enough as it has a spray bar that creates a lot of water surface movement.

This is the tank:

 

[betta fish]

Hi, how did you aclimate them into your tank? shrimp are more sensitive to changes in parameters compared to fish, they need to be added really slowly if they were added too fast it may be an issue, the tank is nice they may just need more time to settle down, what temperature do you have them at?

 

[nic1]

Also, they need to be added to an established tank, one thats been running for a while.
Good looking tank by the way, I wouldnt get any more shrimp untill the ones you have are acting normally again and we can figure out the problem first.
It seems like you have enough hiding spaces, and I mentioned the air pump as they may need a bit more oxygen.

 

[Seal36]

To acclimate them i kept them in their bag which was floating in my tank and kept adding small amounts of water to the bag for a hour and a half before releasing them into the tank. The temperature they are at is 25c and this tank has been running for exactly 3 years today and not had any deaths in the tank for 7 months at least.

I added the air pump 30 minutes ago do you know roughly how long it should take before I start noticing differences if it is that the water has not got enough oxygen.

Also ran the tests again and it's still all the same apart from the ph has dropped 0.1 from 7.6 to 7.5 but that should not affect them should it.

Thanks for the complements on the tank hopefully the shrimp will start dealing with what ever is wrong

Thanks again from tom

 

[nic1]

I'd give it at least 24 Hours, But like betta fish said they might just need a bit of time to settle in, hopefully they will...
Im ALways a bit cautious when using ferts with shrimps, but you can monitor this yourself, if after a few days they are still hanging out at the top then I would stop the ferts do a water change and see if its that?

 

[Seal36]

I have stopped using the fertiliser as yesterday was the first time I have used it and done a water change since. So hopefully if they do get back to normal I will add the fertiliser again and see if I have the problems again and if so then I know it's the fertiliser but considering I added the fertiliser 24 hours ago and did a water change 12 hours ago and they are still not acting right I dint think the fertiliser is to blame.

Also what can live with shrimp

Thanks from tom
2 have moved to the front of the tank but still at water level is that a good sign or not?

 

[Baccus]

If you get the cherry shrimp acting normally then you could look at adding other shrimp just not more colour morphs of cherry shrimp, also I wouldnt add crystals since they like cooler temps. Amano shrimp or filter feeding shrimp come to mind.
Nice snails can go with shrimp and since your in the UK you could look at some of the Sulawesi snails which are truly stunning.
As for fish almost all fish are going to see shrimp as an easy snack. Some fish will only eat the shrimplets while other fish even though they have small mouths will tear adult shrimp apart.
Some fish that I have kept with shrimp and not had issues with (well the shrimp still bred up a storm so I didnt notice predation) include Whiptails Bristlenoses, Khuli loaches, corydoras catfish and spotted blue eyes. I have seen guppies, Pacific Blue eyes and Rainbow fish and the like ignore the shrimp that are walking around but as soon as they see the shrimp swim, cant resist having a go at eating it.

 

[Seal36]

Thank you I was thinking of having some panda Corys in with the shrimp. How many pandas and shrimp do you think I could realistically have in the 70 litre tank

 

[Ch4rlie]

Its unusual to see shrimps hanging around at water surface. As others have mentioned, likely to be a water parameter issue or a unknown toxin in water is causing them to do this.
 
10 cherries for a 70 litre tank is perfectly fine, as Baccus has mentioned do not add any more until you have found out what is causing these shrimps to act in this way.
 
A couple of questions though, probably very obvious but it helps to build a picture of what may be happening.
 
What kind of test kits are you using ?
Liquid based kit such as API Master Kit or a paper dip strip type
 
Current tank stocking you have, the kribs, are they showing any signs of distress due to water parameters?
 
Have you added any new plants?
Sometimes plants come with treatments, especially imported ones, to eradicate any bugs and suchlike on the plants, sometimes this can effect inverts in current tank when these plants are present.
 
As for air circulation, a air pump and airstone wont be much help tbh, though certainly should do no harm, as you already mention you have a spraybar and that's causing ripples on the water surface, that's should be adequate.

 

[Seal36]

I have re checked the water parameters and they are still the same as they have been for the 3 years the tank has been set up.. I am using the Api master test kit. The krib fry are acting completely normal and swimming around like nothing is going on.

I did add 9 new plants from Europe yesterday. Also now some of the shrimp are sitting above the water, what should I do?

 

[betta fish]

Did you soak the plants in warm water before adding them to the tank? alot of aquatic plants are treated with copper to kill any snails that may be living on them although this is mainly harmless to fish shrimp are extremely sensitive to it, can you test for copper? maybe it is best to do a water change and add some prime if it binds copper? unsure if it does or not, and perhaps run carbon in your filter.

 

[Seal36]

No I did not wash the plants as I assumed they would be aquarium safe. I cannot test for copper and I already have carbon in my filter. I only did a 50% water change last night after I had added the plants in. I don't think it would be a good idea to do another one would it and I added stress coat to the water too

 

[Ch4rlie]

Sounds like we may have found a possible cause to why the shrimps are not entirely happy.
 
Here is some useful inforamtion that may help -
 
Quoted from - http/www.drsfostersmith.com/pic/article.cfm?aid=659
 
Copper
Copper can be found in all water in trace amounts. A small amount can come from copper pipes in your home. If you have a marine tank, it would be prudent to test tap water before adding inverts as they are extremely sensitive to even low levels. Copper is often used in fish medications (for external parasites) and algaecides, It can be absorbed into porous materials such as gravel and released later. Keep in mind that if an aquarium is ever treated with copper, decorations, gravel or other porous objects should never be used with invertebrates.
 
Removal 
Iron can be removed by mechanical filtration (if the iron is precipitated), carbon, specially equipped water softeners, and ion resins. If you use an RO unit you will not have to worry about iron or copper coming in from your tap water, since the unit will filter it out before it ever hits the aquarium. Some water conditioners can detoxify heavy metals allowing them to precipitate so they can be removed by your filtration. Carbon filters and polyfilters along with good mechanical filtration can be used directly in your aquarium filter to remove copper and iron. Polyfilters indicate what they are removing by changing color (blue=copper, orange=iron, green=ammonia). When exhausted they turn to a dark gray, letting you know just when they need to be changed.
 
Regularly measuring the levels of these heavy metals will ensure that you maintain these minerals and their by-products at a safe level.