Katerose91

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Can any plant be poisonous to shrimp?
I bought 3 new plants from an aquarium yesterday - they were in a tank with snails and shrimp already so there isn't a copper issue, but my shrimp this evening seems to have taken a turn for the worse. Here are my plants
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In some countries like the UK, imported plants are treated with a pesticide that can kill shrimp, snails and fish if it gets into an aquarium. If you have new plants, wash them well under tap water and then put them in a bucket of water. Change the water in the bucket every day for a couple of weeks before adding the plants to the tank.

If you have the plants in a tank and the shrimp, snails or fish are acting unusual, do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for 2 weeks.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

Add some carbon to the filter and replace it after a week. Keep carbon in the filter for a couple of weeks.
 
Thank you.
Does all of this apply to plants bought from an aquarium shop that had the plants already in a big tank of water?
 
I agree with @Colin_T. It was probably a pesticide they put on the plant, before they sold it to you.
 
Yes it does. If the plants were grown in the EU they shouldn't have been treated; the law only applies to plants grown outside the EU.
Because I have shrimps and snails I usually buy on-line and look for sellers who guarantee the plants are shrimp safe.
 
Thank you.
Does all of this apply to plants bought from an aquarium shop that had the plants already in a big tank of water?
If those plants have indeed been treated with pesticides they will never be safe for shrimp - despite what the sellers say. If you suspect them rempve them immediately if you have any surviving shrimp. I only ever buy plants that are guaranteed shrimp safe from online specialists like proshrimp. Even then I prefer plants grown from tissue culture (or in-vitro). Costs a bit more but IMO worth it for the peace of mind.
 
I guess it is too late for my fella then, I found this so it looks like he has been convulsing from poisoning. I am heartbroken. Turns out we had 2 plants from the tank in which there were snails and shrimp and 1 plant from the plants only section so it must be this one that is the culprit. We rinsed and treated as we always do with new plants but I guess this time it wasn't enough. So I can never have shrimp in my tank now this plant is in there? I fear it is too late to save the tank water climate as the plant has been in for 48hrs.
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Thank you @Retired Viking I am so upset that basically this is my fault! I'll never forgive myself. Considering whether to do a partial water change now for the sake of my fish at least
 
Do not blame yourself, you were trying to make your tank a good place for your fish and shrimp. You did not know about the pesticides. I have ghost shrimp in a planted 30 gallon tank with plenty of plants. Shrimp are very sensitive to water conditions so I bought ghost shrimp because they were cheap and this is my 1st time having shrimp. I lost a couple after being told that the fish I had at the time would leave them alone.
 
I would remove the plant to be safe and do a large water change and vacuum the gravel just to be safe.
 
And run some carbon. If there's nowhere in your filter for it, you can buy a very cheap internal filter and use carbon granules in a mesh bag. I keep an old internal in my cupboard just for this.
 
Thank you so much everyone. Shrimp - RIP. Plant sorted, water change and carbon done. Seemingly I didn't wash the plant out well enough...I have just spotted a tiny little snail who has moved in! Happy to keep him but slightly anxious in case it causes an infestation. What would you guys do? :)
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I have 2 types of 'pest' snail in my tanks, 3 if you include Malaysian trumpet snails, and I do nothing. Snails are not a bad thing in a tank, only if they threaten to take over. I don't over feed the fish and I clean the debris off the sand at every water change so they are not taking over.
 
I agree with @essjay, I had an infestation of pond snails and by watching how much I feed my fish I now have it under control. I have several nerites snails as a clean up crew and as long as there is just a few of the pond snails I leave them alone since they help with the cleaning.
 

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