Cherry Shrimp Death

[KCB]

I turned the tank lights on this morning and noticed a dead shrimp by the plants . I check them twice a day and they were perfectly fine yesterday so I'm not sure why he/she died so suddenly. I changed 10 litres of the water yesterday, replacing it with dechlorinated and temperature matched water, could this have shocked it?


Tank size: 46 litres
pH: 8.0
ammonia: 0
nitrite: 0
nitrate: 40
kH: 15
gH: 16+
tank temp: 24oC
Symptoms: None
Volume and Frequency of water changes: 10 litres every Sunday.
Chemical Additives or Media in your tank: Neutro T plant fert, stress coat.
Tank inhabitants: 5 black phantoms, 4 endlers and 3 cherry shrimp.
Recent additions to your tank (living or decoration): 4 Endler guppies last Thursday (they were previously in QT for 2 and a half weeks).
Exposure to chemicals: None other than those listed above.
Digital photo (include if possible):

 

[PrairieSunflower]

Could it possibly be an old shrimp?

I was losing mine regularly for awhile and finally attributed it to the shrimp food I was feeding them. Haven't lost any since changing and giving them flakes instead.

 

[KCB]

I've only had them a month, is it possible they were sold to me as old? I wouldn't have thought an LFS would keep hold of them for that long

.

Maybe it's because I don't feed them? I feed the fish of course and just thought the shrimp would have the leftovers and algae. I've overfed them by accident a couple of times now so they should have had something available. I think I'll buy them some special food just in case, can anyone recommend me a brand?

I've managed to find the remaining 3 shrimp (little buggers! If they don't want to be found, they won't!) and they all look ok so fingers crossed it was just a one-off incident.

 

[Baccus]

Its not so much at shops hang onto shrimp for a long time, cherry shrimp actually have a relatively short life span, which is shortened again if kept at higher temps.

Food wise tropical flakes are generally fine for the shrimp along with catfish wafers. Hikari also have out a dedicated shrimp food now which my shrimp seem to like. Another treat for the shrimp is old dead leaves like Indian Almond (the leaf will need to be in the water for a few days but the shrimp will scavange off it) or fresh blanched Mulberry leaves.

 

[KCB]

Its not so much at shops hang onto shrimp for a long time, cherry shrimp actually have a relatively short life span, which is shortened again if kept at higher temps.

Food wise tropical flakes are generally fine for the shrimp along with catfish wafers. Hikari also have out a dedicated shrimp food now which my shrimp seem to like. Another treat for the shrimp is old dead leaves like Indian Almond (the leaf will need to be in the water for a few days but the shrimp will scavange off it) or fresh blanched Mulberry leaves.

I've only had the little guys a month though, no where near the end of their life span (I think? I've read they live up to 2 years). And my tanks temp. is at 24oC, is that too high for them? I'll give the Hikari a try I think, hopefully my greedy BPT's won't eat them

.

 

[Baccus]

24 should be right smack bang in the middle of what cherry shrimp will like, although you could (other tank inhabitants willing) drop the temp down to 23 or 22. They can go higher or lower but higher and lower temps affects growth rates and reproduction rates. A lot like guppies really in summer I will have guppy population explosions with the fry growing quickly but in winter the fry drops do decrease.

When you got the shrimp where they nice and large (females approx 3-4cm)? If so then they where fully mature and could have already been close to the end of their lives before you got them. Usually cherry shrimp can live for any where from 1.5- 2 years.

Cherry shrimp really are opatunistic feeders and will happily chow down on anything you care to give your other fish, but the Hikari shrimp cousine does seem to make them sit up and take notice. If you want to give your cherry shrimp a real treat also pop in some defrosted blood worms they love them

. If you find any specialist shrimp sites (mainly dedicated to crystal red and crystal black and all their colour morphs) you will find plenty of dedicated shrimp foods. But for now my shrimp seem happy with the shrimp foods I am easily able to get locally along with the other fish foods on offer in my tanks.

 

[PrairieSunflower]

Hikaris Cuisine is what I was giving mine once per week (had flakes the rest of the time) and I had a shrimp die after EVERY time I feed the Hikari. I read the ingredients and it contains copper which is supposed to be poison to shrimp... then looked it up and found nothing but confusing information about whether there are good or bad coppers.

 

[KCB]

24 should be right smack bang in the middle of what cherry shrimp will like, although you could (other tank inhabitants willing) drop the temp down to 23 or 22. They can go higher or lower but higher and lower temps affects growth rates and reproduction rates.

Yeh it's bang in the middle for my other fish too so I think I'll keep it there. And to be honest I'm not sure how big they were when I bought them but I think they're about 3cm now so they could be fully mature like you said. Looks like it was old age then, phew!

Hikaris Cuisine is what I was giving mine once per week (had flakes the rest of the time) and I had a shrimp die after EVERY time I feed the Hikari. I read the ingredients and it contains copper which is supposed to be poison to shrimp... then looked it up and found nothing but confusing information about whether there are good or bad coppers.

I had also read that Hikari contains copper and did a little digging, here is what I found: http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/412669-interesting-info-on-copper-in-shrimp-diets/. So it's actually beneficial to have a tiny amount of copper in it . Not sure why yours died though .

Thanks for your help gals, really put my mind at ease .

 

[KCB]

I'm gunna have to bump this topic again as I have another shrimp either heading the same way or is already dead, I can't tell .

The shrimp has the same white line across its back like the other one, it looks as if there is a break in its shell. It's very still but upright (the other one was lying on its side so was presumed dead). Is it moulting? I thought they stayed hidden whilst this was taking place but this one is out in the open.

Here's a pic if it helps:

What is going on with my little guys? I was going to buy some more but have decided against it after these deaths.

 

[KCB]

Bump.

 

[tribalbrit]

could be that they are struggling to shed their skin. I think there are products available to aid this but not sure as not had the problem myself

 

[Baccus]

It looks like it is in the process of shedding, they generally hide once ready to literally pop out of the old shell and the new shell is still soft. But before that when the split appears you will see them roaming about the tank.
I am pretty sure Hikari cousine pellets for shrimp boasts about having vitamins and minerals that will aid with shedding, but at the same time I would think almost any shrimp/ crayfish food would have the same or similar componants.

 

[KCB]

Yeh I've heard they can suffocate if they are unable to shed their skin, but I've seen a couple of sheddings over the past couple if weeks so not sure if that's the problem? I've been feeding the Hikari to counteract this too

It hasn't moved all day, how long should I leave it before assuming the worst?

 

[KCB]

Decided it was definitely dead so was removed this morning. I guess shrimp are just not for me.

 

[KCB]

And as if I need another sign telling me not to keep RCS, I think ANOTHER of my little guys is on the way out or has died. It has the same white 'crack' like in the picture above but is sitting on top of my pre-filter so it's hard to tell whether it's alive or not. It was perfectly fine this morning