Last Cherry Shrimp Died Today

[KCB]

So my last cherry shrimp died today. I've had them a month and one by one they dropped off showing the same symptom; a white band across their backs.

My water stats are fine. I tested again today and my results were: Am 0, Nitrite 0, NitrAte 30ppm.

The temperature isn't too high, it's 24oC. My GH is high enough at 16+. I was feeding them Hikari shrimp food. I don't think they were at the end of their lifespans as they were only about 2cm long.

What happened to these guys and should I get more? (But from a different LFS this time).

I've been reading up on failed molting and the white band leads me to believe that this might be what's wrong, but my tank conditions seem fine for them to be able to molt (in fact I've seen 2 shell casings lying about so they have been successful).

I really liked these little guys, they kept my tank and plants so clean so I would love to get some more but obviously not if they will keep dying on me.

 

[techen]

Could be the source your buying the shrimp from.

 

[Baccus]

Sorry to hear that they died

.
If it is a failed moult the only thing I can think of is how acidic your water is from timbers etc.
If you can find out how acidic or even alkaline your tank water is and get it more nutral if that was the problem, then I would try some more cherry shrimp.
16+GH might a tad high for them but they generally will adapt to most condtions. Ideal pH range is 7.2 but I have seen various online sites say any where from 6.0-8.0 pH will work for them. personally I would aim for some where in the middle of those ranges around the 7 mark.
I just had my own diasater in my special breeding program for shrimp, lost almost the lot so I know how you feel losing your many legged friends.

 

[KCB]

Sorry to hear that they died

.
If it is a failed moult the only thing I can think of is how acidic your water is from timbers etc.
If you can find out how acidic or even alkaline your tank water is and get it more nutral if that was the problem, then I would try some more cherry shrimp.
16+GH might a tad high for them but they generally will adapt to most condtions. Ideal pH range is 7.2 but I have seen various online sites say any where from 6.0-8.0 pH will work for them. personally I would aim for some where in the middle of those ranges around the 7 mark.
I just had my own diasater in my special breeding program for shrimp, lost almost the lot so I know how you feel losing your many legged friends.

Thank you Baccus, it is really sad, I became quite attached to them and they were so quirky

.

I thought the GH was ok because I heard that high GH helps with molting (something to do with minerals?). I guess it's too high then, is there something I can add to permanently lower it? The water in my area is quite hard anyway so I would need to add something to the tank or filter.

And my pH is a little too high as well it seems as it's 8.0, I just assumed because these guys were one of the hardiest shrimp that they would adapt

.

I might try again with them another time, just in case it was a bad batch as they all came from the same place.

 

[Baccus]

I know most of the dedicated shrimp substrates talk about offering buffering for pH but I am not sure if this is also for GH. I haven't used any of the various shrimp substrates myself ( they are only relatively new in Australia any way), so I can't really comment on them.
Otherways that you can adjust your PH would be to do a normal water and RO water mix everytime you water change. Or you could use collected rain water mixed with your local/ usual water supply.
Another couple of options would be to add some bog wood, or drift wood to the tank, the shrimp will enjoy climbing all over it too, but the main thing is the wood will release tannins and these will soften the water. You could also add peat to the tank. Some people put peat under the substrate, while other people put peat into the filter system, while others make peat balls and just place them in the tank.
This link might help you decide which way to go in altering your pH
http/www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/content.php?sid=5310