Cherry Shrimp Mass Die Off

[dipsydoodlenoodle]

Wanted to ressurect my thread b/c it's definitely the water that is causing them to die.
I've done 2 water changes and every time, a lot of the shrimp die off.
I don't know what to do. I guess whatever is in the water isn't being detoxified by the dechlorinator, so any advice would be great.

Could you not contact your water board and ask if they've changed anything in the water? (have you tested your tapwater?)

 

[Amunet]

Just wanted to update. I think I've figured out what was going on.
I think the dechlorinator I was using wasn't doing its job.
I should've realized this before.
I use 2 different ones. A more concentrated kind for my big tank, and then another for the smaller tanks.
Nothing was ever wrong with the 125gallon tank whenever I did water changes.
But in the shrimp tank and the 29gal... every time I did a water change, the shrimp would die and fish would die in the other tank.
Now in my other tank, I didn't think much of it b/c the fish that were dying were sickly platy.

So yeah, bought a different brand of dechlorinator and did a water change and everything seems to be ok so far. Only have a handful of shrimp left so not sure, but the snails didn't freak out after the water change so that's a good sign.

If everything still appears to be ok the next couple of water changes, then I think I'll buy some more shrimp. I miss having a ton of them in the tank.

 

[Shred]

Amunet do us a favour and name and shame which one didn't work and which one did! I'm just about to buy a big batch of water conditioner....

 

[JoshuaA]

I've had 2 cherries in a tank for about 3 weeks now and done a crapton of water changes using seachem prime, had no problem with anything in the tank. Though I didn't expect them to grow so fast, they have literally more than doubled in size in 3 weeks. Beautiful little things...

I would be interesting to see what this brand of water conditioner is, perhaps there is something inconspicuous on the ingredients list.

Furthemore and a little off topic but still following the trend, has anyone had any problem with any plant ferts specifically Seachem Flourish? I'm adding it to my tank but I do notice it contains Chlorine (CL2) and Copper, one which gas off fast correct? and the other is at like 0.001% and I had 1ml for every 40l in the tank so I don't think it's going to be an issue, especially if the plants absorb it but has anyone had any issues with it?

 

[Amunet]

The one that doesn't work is the Petsmart brand. I've used it ALL the time before with no problems, so not sure what's wrong with this bottle.
It's Top Fin tap water dechlorinator

One that we replaced it with is Nutrafin Aquaplus tap water conditioner


Def think it's the top fin stuff not working or something in it or whatever. Snails are acting normal, and the few shrimp left are acting normal. No new dead shrimp after the water change.

 

[JoshuaA]

One that we replaced it with is Nutrafin Aquaplus tap water conditioner

Haha, I had problems with that water conditioner, it breaks down chlorine to chloramine but unfortunately the chloramine goes into ammonia which this conditioner doesn't neutralise. I was finding after doing massive water changes during a fish in cycle I could have an ammonia reading of up to 0.5 within hours afterwards.

 

[ZoddyZod]

One that we replaced it with is Nutrafin Aquaplus tap water conditioner

Haha, I had problems with that water conditioner, it breaks down chlorine to chloramine but unfortunately the chloramine goes into ammonia which this conditioner doesn't neutralise. I was finding after doing massive water changes during a fish in cycle I could have an ammonia reading of up to 0.5 within hours afterwards.

now that is very interesting, I used this conditioner when I was first cycling my tank (fish-in).....it took MONTHS to finally cycle. Wonder if it was this product giving me false readings!

 

[Shred]

One that we replaced it with is Nutrafin Aquaplus tap water conditioner

Haha, I had problems with that water conditioner, it breaks down chlorine to chloramine but unfortunately the chloramine goes into ammonia which this conditioner doesn't neutralise. I was finding after doing massive water changes during a fish in cycle I could have an ammonia reading of up to 0.5 within hours afterwards.

Hmm that's no good, have you found one which breaks down chlorine and heavy metals without giving ammonia reading?

 

[JoshuaA]

One that we replaced it with is Nutrafin Aquaplus tap water conditioner

Haha, I had problems with that water conditioner, it breaks down chlorine to chloramine but unfortunately the chloramine goes into ammonia which this conditioner doesn't neutralise. I was finding after doing massive water changes during a fish in cycle I could have an ammonia reading of up to 0.5 within hours afterwards.

Hmm that's no good, have you found one which breaks down chlorine and heavy metals without giving ammonia reading?

I believe all products that claim they will break the chloramine down into Ammonia, they do. However some products neutralise the Ammonia into Ammonium, like Seachem Prime and API. Some products like nutrafin aqua plus break the chloramines down but stop at that. I did a test on a bucket of water and there was readable amounts of ammonia after dosing it. Suggesting there is a high chloramine content in our water supply.

now that is very interesting, I used this conditioner when I was first cycling my tank (fish-in).....it took MONTHS to finally cycle. Wonder if it was this product giving me false readings!

Exactly the same, just we couldn't get it to cycle after a month we hadn't seen any Nitrite our fish ended up dying (was bad advise from a LFS). Swapped to Prime and started a fish-less within 10 days I think it was we were reducing 5ppm down in nearly 12 hours.

The good thing is it only happens after a water change and if your biofilter can pick it up pretty fast you'll be good.

 

[Amunet]

Our filter should be filled to the brim with beneficial bacteria from all of the snail poop. The tank is nothing but the handful of shrimp left and a TON of trumpet snails (started off with about 5 from the 29gal tank).
Helps that I can't really do deep down cleanings b/c it's a planted tank, and I have to have a mesh over the siphon so I don't suck up any shrimp. It still picks up poop but probably not all of it and plant debris.

Anywho, if I start seeing any problems, I'll pick up a different brand next time.