I’ve killed my colony

[Aussie_Bristle]

Hi all

So I am going to start from the start. Judge me all you want because I know I was so stupid for doing this.
I had a heap of java moss and wanted a tree like twig to mould it too for the shrimp tank but didn’t want to pay the ridiculous amounts that LFS want for them so I went to my local freshwater creek and looked around for abit of driftwood tree like branch. I brought it home bleached it for 2 days and then soaked it in normal water for a day and then sun dried it, boiled it for over an hour sun-dried it and thought okay that should do it. So I attached the moss and put it in the shrimp tank. A couple days later my shrimp were starting to slowly die and I couldn’t figure it out as my parameters were perfect and then it hit me the stick. So I got it out did a 80% wc and gravel vac and thinks we’re slowly looking up ( this is how I lost my original shrimp). Then a week later I found heaps of worms, told detritus worms on here and then someone told me they’re tape worms (Researching again they seem to be detritus) and I panicked so I did another wc yesterday and used my main tank water for the refill and turkey busted as I saw worms. Today I did another 80% wc and a good vacuum but I used normal tap water and prime to refill the tank and I watch all my new shrimp have a fit and die right in front of me (I cried as I netted them out). I am at a lost now and ready to throw this tank in. My parameters have been so whacked since all this and everyday I have found died shrimp. I have been priming the crap out of the tank daily too. If I didn’t be so damn cheap and just paid the money for an over priced piece of driftwood branch none of this would have happened!! I am so disappointed in myself as I’m always so on point with everything

 

[JuiceBox52]

I'm sorry. Dont feel bad, we have all done things like that

 

[corylover5]

I'm really sorry that happened but like @JuiceBox52 said, don't beat yourself up about it. I did something similar once where I found some wood, cut and sanded it down, dried and boiled it, and put it in my tank. I'm guessing it leaked toxins in my tank and killed the majority of my ghost shrimp before I figured it out. Again, I'm so sorry that happened.

 

[JuiceBox52]

And I poisoned all my fish when changing the substrate

 

[Naughts]

We've all been there.
My daughter left a lollipop wrapper in her bin and got an ant infestation. I sprayed all around the room with ant killer THEN thought about the fish! Luckily an emergency water change worked.

My cherry shrimp tank has the little worms too and I'm suspicious it stops them growing the colony. I think the worms came with a fish store plant that also introduced hydra!
We're all trying our best.

 

[Aussie_Bristle]

Just been a poo of a day tbh. I got more shrimp and had to take them as I already organised it all a week ago. I went and picked them up and got home and half were died I have just added the others in and just let them run their cause. If they make it great if not I don’t know. I’m just going to leave the tank go and see what happens I suppose

 

[Lajos_Detari]

Yes, don't feel too bad.
We all made mistakes before.

Long time ago, I heard of a story where some boy scouts used some tree branches to do some cooking.
And then some of them were poisoned by the tree branches and 1-2 of them died.
It was horrible as some trees have poison especially those with sticky milk.

And the driftwood is not cheap. I bought one for US$20 recently.

Here are some info of poisonous trees.

This Tree Is So Toxic, You Can't Stand Under It When It Rains

In 1999, radiologist Nicola Strickland went on a holiday to the Caribbean island of Tobago, a tropical paradise complete with idyllic, deserted beaches.

www.sciencealert.com

.

10 Drastically Dangerous Trees of Death

The tree of life may be a popular concept in folklore, mythology, and religious stories around the world. Yet in the world of biology, there exists a variety of veritable 'trees of death' poised to cause great harm to any human that comes into contact with them. While not quite the man-eating...

www.toptenz.net

The Poisonous Trees to Avoid While Hiking

Most plant species are harmless and even beneficial to humans. However, a few species in the Vancouver area are poisonous and should be avoided.

mrtreeservices.com

But I guess you can search from the internets for trees that are safe for aquarium.
You can do some research and ask local people who are familiar with the trees as it's not easy to recognize the trees.

 

[CassCats]

If you boiled and bleached it, the branch didnt cause the worms. If that helps at all.
I use collected driftwood all the time from my local rivers. I keep ghost and bamboo shrimp no issues with these.

However, the type of wood could have been toxic, had pesticides, or the excessive water changes in well-meant worry could have been detrimental as shrimp are delicate to heavier water changes and swinging parameters. You may never know.

That said, this wasn't your fault. It was an accident and you tried hard to do what most people do if they think they contaminated their tank. Im sorry for your loss and i hope the remaining ones bounce back for you.

 

[Barry Tetra]

I'm sorry, everyone made mistake, my mistake are more than yours, one time I put 15 swordtails with 1 crayfish, they were all died in a morning I saw them with only skulls.

 

[Aussie_Bristle]

Thanks all. Appreciate all the kindness but Im just so disheartened with it all. I’m more kicking myself because I know how sensitive these little guys are and yet I still continued to try and make it better knowing I had a good chance of harming the little guys. I am just going to leave the tank now and just prime it daily to try and give these new little guys a chance (there are 2 berried ladies too). Nitrites and nitrates are high but ammonia is 0 and ph is 7.4. I’m hoping it will settle in the next 48 hrs. A good note, I think I got rid of the worms! It doesn’t make it better but I haven’t seen one since the vacuum I did today’s

 

[Colin_T]

In future if you plan on disinfecting wood for an aquarium, don't bleach or boil it. A piece of driftwood from a river is not going to have much on it with the exception of algae, maybe some small insect larvae, crustaceans and possibly mud. If the area had been sprayed with herbicide it could have some residue.

The best way to treat driftwood from a river is to hose it off and put it in a container of salt water for a few days. Then hose it off again and soak in fresh water for a week. Rinse the wood and change the water each day for that week and then you're good to go.

Wood can absorb bleach and if you use normal household bleach, it has a surfactant (soap) in it that will be drawn into the wood and leeched out slowly afterwards.

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Detritus worms live in most aquariums and normally hang out in the substrate. The only time they come out is when the water quality goes bad or something poisons the water. Then the worms leave the substrate and move to a cleaner area.

The easiest way to deal with detritus worms is with regular water changes and gravel cleaning the substrate. This is also the best thing to do if there is a problem in the tank, big daily water changes and gravel cleaning the substrate every day for a week or two.

Shrimp are fine with big water changes as long as the new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine, and has a similar temperature and water chemistry (pH, GH & KH) to the tank.

 

[Aussie_Bristle]

In future if you plan on disinfecting wood for an aquarium, don't bleach or boil it. A piece of driftwood from a river is not going to have much on it with the exception of algae, maybe some small insect larvae, crustaceans and possibly mud. If the area had been sprayed with herbicide it could have some residue.

The best way to treat driftwood from a river is to hose it off and put it in a container of salt water for a few days. Then hose it off again and soak in fresh water for a week. Rinse the wood and change the water each day for that week and then you're good to go.

Wood can absorb bleach and if you use normal household bleach, it has a surfactant (soap) in it that will be drawn into the wood and leeched out slowly afterwards.

---------------------
Detritus worms live in most aquariums and normally hang out in the substrate. The only time they come out is when the water quality goes bad or something poisons the water. Then the worms leave the substrate and move to a cleaner area.

The easiest way to deal with detritus worms is with regular water changes and gravel cleaning the substrate. This is also the best thing to do if there is a problem in the tank, big daily water changes and gravel cleaning the substrate every day for a week or two.

Shrimp are fine with big water changes as long as the new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine, and has a similar temperature and water chemistry (pH, GH & KH) to the tank.

Thanks Colin. I usually refill with my main tank wateras I wc weekly and the waters are pretty much the same temp and parameters. But I used primed tap water this time and made it roughly around the same temp but obviously it was to much for them. I will definitely remember that for next time if I ever decide to collect driftwood from a local creek but I won’t be doing it in a hurry anytime soon. Obviously because of what has been happening this is why I have seen the detritus out and about so frequently.

 

[Aussie_Bristle]

Morning guys

So I have woken up too... no died shrimp! The little guys are swimming around scavenging normally. I have also seen the tiny babies out and about too. My parameters are getting back to normal A: 0 N02: 0 N03: 5 I have just added some more prime. There is hope!!!

 

[seangee]

Sorry for your traumatic experience. Several months ago I was conviced I had wiped out my entire colony (actually it is correctly called a troupe - but i also prefer colony ). Two 90% water changes and I was going to give it a month before buying some more. Within that month i discovered a few shrimplets that survived and now my colony is back to its previous level - if not bigger.

If they are not still dying you should be ok. toxins tend to get them really quickly.

 

[JuiceBox52]

Sorry for your traumatic experience. Several months ago I was conviced I had wiped out my entire colony (actually it is correctly called a troupe - but i also prefer colony ). Two 90% water changes and I was going to give it a month before buying some more. Within that month i discovered a few shrimplets that survived and now my colony is back to its previous level - if not bigger.

If they are not still dying you should be ok. toxins tend to get them really quickly.

I didnt know that it was called a troupe. Interesting