Shrimp Always Die!

[Crossfire]

Last night, another one of my cherry shrimp died, in my Fluval Chi. This is going on in my 20 gallon too. I will buy cherry shrimp from my LFS, and they will last for about a month. The shortest they've lived was a week. I don't know why they keep dying! It can't be from copper, because my amanos in the 20 gallon are still alive, and have been for a long time.
Other fish aren't eating them, because I will find them whole, lying on their sides dead. Are they not getting enough to eat? Or does my LFS just have really bad stock? What is going on? Stats are perfect in both tanks, and I have been sprinkling Hikari Shrimp Cuisine in the Fluval Chi almost everyday since I've had shrimp.

Any help?

 

[crazyforcordoras]

Could be that their lives are just short and they are old when you buy them. You cant. E sure its not copper until you test. Amanos can handle tiny traces of copper, cherries cant. Copper kits only cost about 10$ and its good to have one anyway.

 

[Crossfire]

I forgot to mention how I also dose liquid C02 and fertilizers in both tanks.


But if copper is the issue, then why doesn't my LFS have a problem? They're shrimp tanks always have a good amount of healthy active shrimp, and their coral reef tanks are outstanding as well...


If it turns out to be copper, how to remove it

 

[crazyforcordoras]

Check to make sure your ferts are organic and natural. The water in your tank is different than the LFSs. If you needto remove copper, try Poly Filter. I used and surprisingly got a good amount of copper out of my reef.

 

[Crossfire]

Check to make sure your ferts are organic and natural. The water in your tank is different than the LFSs. If you needto remove copper, try Poly Filter. I used and surprisingly got a good amount of copper out of my reef.

I use Seachem Flourish...
And my LFS is like 5 minutes from my house, so we probably use the same water source (straight from the Potomac River)
But I will check the poly filter. But I have almond leaves and blackwater, will the filter pad suck out the good things they put in?

 

[Crossfire]

Here, I found this on the Drs.Foster and Smith website

NOTE: Poly Filter will not soften water or remove trace minerals

 

[willowstwin]

do you have any resin/plastic ornaments in the tank? I bought a "resin" tree planted with something on top. I put it in the tank, and within hours the the shrimp were literally hurling themselves out of the tank. All dead apart from 9 cherries. Disposed of the evil planted tree and did a 100% change. The remaning ones are fine now (thank god) and I've just rescaped their tank.

So, just a thought from personal experience

 

[scobie140]

I'd guess the ferts, could be a chemical in them. Could you try them in a tank without ferts to rule it out?

 

[PrairieSunflower]

Salt can be a factor (if you use any), it kills them but slowly.

 

[Crossfire]

I don't use salt, I don't have any ornaments (all natural) except one PVC pipe, but its harmless.
And I don't know if Seachem Flourish is safe.

 

[stu40]

Plenty of planted tank people keep shrimp & dose Flourish
I'd be more worried about the carbon.It's fine with shrimp until you OD.
how much do you use?

 

[Crossfire]

Plenty of planted tank people keep shrimp & dose Flourish
I'd be more worried about the carbon.It's fine with shrimp until you OD.
how much do you use?

I use 2ml a day or every other day with the 20 gallon, until I upgrade to gas DIY C02.
With the Fluval it's a little harder to measure, but I dose .5-1ml daily or every other day, with no plans of using gas C02.

 

[Crossfire]

In hindsight, I have been adding a little more than extra liquid carbon to both tanks, to get my plants growing.
I think this might have been the trigger in the Chi, but it still doesn't explain the ongoing cherry deaths in the 20 gallon. I will buy a copper test kit, but I'm 99.9% sure that its the OD of liquid carbon.