Why Are My New Crystal Reds Dying Off?

[eschaton]

My LFS finally got some Crystal Red Shrimp in last week. They were expensive ($9 each) but I figured it was worth it since I'd make the money back in shrimplets. I picked up six of them for my 5.5 gallon planted nano. I fished out an equal number of Cherry Shrimp and transfered to my main tank, and the CRS seemed to take to the tank right away.

This morning, I noticed a dead one in the front. Quickly fished it out, and thought I'd get a replacement next weekend. Then I got home and noticed another two had died in the back of the tank. And the three left seem healthy, but they're a bit slow. Water quality is perfect (zero ammonia/nitrites/nitrates) and PH is around 6.4, which is the normal range for CRS.

Honestly, I'm kinda stumped. Either they were an unusually frail shipment which just came in, or something in the tank is killing them. But it's a tank with perfect readings that has kept cherries for many months with nary an issue. The tank mates (Boraras maculatus, Scarlet Badis, and African Dwarf Frogs) didn't bother the cherries, and the CRS died intact, so it's not predation.

Anyway, I'm willing to buy another couple because I still want a breeding colony. But it's a lot of money to spend on shrimp with a dodgy chance of survival. Any thoughts would be much appreciated.

 

[n3ont3tra]

Are you sure they didn't just shed, and you're finding the exoskeleton?

 

[~T~]

Did you add any plants recently?Or feed foods that contain copper sulphate?

 

[iSnail]

Did you acclimatise them slowly? They are very sensitive little critters.

 

[eschaton]

1. I'm sure they aren't sheds. And I only count the three survivors.

2. No copper sulphate in the only two things I ever feed the tank (Tetramin for the Boraras and Bloodworms)

3. You may be onto something with the acclimation. For freshwater, I usually let the bag rest in the water for a half an hour to an hour so temperatures equalize, but I don't do a "drip" method generally, and nothing of mine has ever died soon after introduction before (with the exception of one Black Kuhli). I feel foolish for not doing a drip with them, but at least it gives me a real reason to try again with a much slower acclimation.

 

[eschaton]

...and I realized this morning I was wrong on #2.

After finding the first one dead, I figured maybe they weren't getting much to eat in there (though the cherries were just fine scavenging). I decided to add an algae wafer...which has copper sulphate in it.

Of course, I regularly put wafers into my other tank, and the Amano in there haven't paid no mind, but the CRS hyper-sensitivity could be playing the role here.

 

[Bloo]

I've had a couple of batches of Crystal shrimp and all of them slowly died off one after the other over a period of weeks.

So I've given up on them

hope you have better luck with yours

 

[Darkehorse]

...and I realized this morning I was wrong on #2.

After finding the first one dead, I figured maybe they weren't getting much to eat in there (though the cherries were just fine scavenging). I decided to add an algae wafer...which has copper sulphate in it.

Wow that's insane. I'm going to check my algae wafers when I get home. Why would they add that?

-Darke

 

[dizzied]

I started another thread a few days ago regarding copper sulfate in food, and I don't think anyone had a clear answer on whether or not it actually affects inverts.

It was in my shrimp pellets, which was a staple for my tank. After about half a year, my snails died off, but the shrimp were unaffected.

I think the reason for your losses was acclimation. Too much of a PH difference perhaps?

 

[Invader Xan]

I started another thread a few days ago regarding copper sulfate in food, and I don't think anyone had a clear answer on whether or not it actually affects inverts.

It was in my shrimp pellets, which was a staple for my tank. After about half a year, my snails died off, but the shrimp were unaffected.

I think the reason for your losses was acclimation. Too much of a PH difference perhaps?

It's funny... I've not had any shrimp deaths because of it (touch wood), but from what I've read around, heavy metals like copper are lethal to shrimp and other inverts (logically snails would be more sensitive because they have no exoskeletons). Personally, I made a point of buying a dechlorinator that removed copper. Thus far, it's worked fine... though it seems things like CRS are a lot more sensitive than amanos.

But some people have said that their shrimp have had no problem with copper in the water. pH sounds like something that might trigger an effect. Maybe a high pH might help prevent harmful effects. Either way, copper is poisonous to invertebrates. At a high enough dose, it's poisonous to us humans too. Given the choice, I'd avoid it.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[eschaton]

Watch your water temperature too. Make sure it doesn't get higher than 30 degrees. Prolonged exposure to warm water will slowly kill them

Tank temperature is always set at 79 degrees...which is below 30 celsius since 30 is 86.

 

[Liam]

79 is 26.11 which is a little warm for them. I keep mine at 22C they do very well at that temp. Under 25C is best for them. Though that wouldn’t cause the death, but long term its not good for them, its not unusual to loose one or two when they move into new tanks. KH of 3 or 4, ph between 6.5 and 7. Lots of green veg, spinach and nettles seem to be the favourites in my tanks. If they aren’t jumping on the food very soon after its introduced they aren’t too hungry, if there is food left over after half an hour I take it out. Good luck with them they are great little critters once established.

 

[iSnail]

Perhaps it may have been the stressful transition from one place to another, then to another (ie. from shrimp farm in the far east, assumming that's where they originate, to your country, to your LFS, then to your tank). Water parameters might have changed a lot over the whole journey. Next time you might want to ask your LFS how long they have had them in their tank. The longer the better. Not easy I know since they sell out fast