Cleaner Shrimp Died This Morning - Dont Understand Why

[guppy_man]

Hi guys, I haven't been on this forum for afew years, and have ventured into saltwater in the meantime. My 15gallon tank has been running for over a year now with only minor issues, like nitrates. But now I have all that under control within the past 3 weeks my nitrates have dropped to pretty much 0, nitrite is 0 and ammonia is 0. I thought if was all sorted, water chemistry wise, but this morning woke up to my dead cleaner shrimp that ive had from the start, and cofused as to why.

Salinity is .024 - .025 and temp is 24.5C.

The only change to the tank that I have made is adding phosphate balls to my external filter, as i had a slight algae ussue.
I cleaned them before use too.
I also have a protein skimmer thats rated for a 90 gallon. I have 3, a handful of snails, hermits and a sand sifting star.

Im confused, any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

[techen]

The only thing I can think of is, Did you have it in the tank during the cycle? It would reduce its lifespan a lot.

 

[Brilly91]

Shrimp are rather hardy little creatures so its odd youd lose one due to water chemistry or anything.
 
You done all the usual tests?
 
Daft question but are you sure it isnt a shed? Plenty of people make that mistake lol
 
And has it shed recently? as they tend to have a soft skeleton after shedding so can be easily injured etc
 
Only other thing that i can think it may have been is a parasite, seen a few people lose theres the same way lately.

 

[Donya]

Cleaner-family shrimp don't tend to be extremely long-lived, particularly when they are already large at the time of purchase since the individuals are already well into their lifespan then. If you had it the whole year and it didn't grow much or at all, there may not have been anything unusual about the death.
 

Shrimp are rather hardy little creatures so its odd youd lose one due to water chemistry or anything.

 
They are often canaries for some types of tank problems. They are frequently the first to go when tanks crash or when any kind of contaminant is involved. However, if no other animals are acting strangely in this case then I would suspect an old shrimp before an environmental issue.

 

[guppy_man]

All test results were positive, no drastic changes in temperature, hermits had nothing to do with it as there were no signs, and im sure it wasn't in shed as it shed only a week ago.

I bought it at a good size so my conclusion is that it just died its natural age

Looks like ill have to get another, can't have a tank without a shrimp, loved watching my little guy

Thanks guys

 

[Crablegs]

Agreed a year is good for a cleaner . Sounds like natural causes if no other shrimps are showing symptoms