Ghost Shrimp Dying

[123justin]

I recently bought a starter tank about a week ago.

It's a 20 gallon tank and I've put in about 20 feeder fish for the week.

Recently, I got a male betta, 4 diamon neon tetras, and 7 ghost shrimp.

All 7 ghost shrimp died within the first 24 hours. At first they seemed ok, eating little bits of food on the ground. As 2 hours passed, I noticed a slight brownish colour to their shells.

Then I awoke this morning to find them all dead.

So far I've only tested for Ammonia which is 1.2

Should my nitrate/nitrite (whatever it is) and ammonia lvls all be at 0?

 

[Bloo]

not good - that's most likely the reason for dying.
Ammonia & NitrItes need to be 0 and NitrAtes is OK for anything up to around 40.

 

[123justin]

Thanx for the reply, yeah, Ill check the nitrite levels soon.

But how come my ghost shrimp died in less than 24 hours and my male betta/diamon neon tetras are still surviving?

Is it because the fish are just stronger in general and can resist the poison?

 

[Bloo]

Bettas are tough little things. Neons far less so and if the conditions do not change quite soon, they will die pretty soon too
I suggest a small water change and testing your nitrites.

 

[afireinside]

r u saying u have a male betta in with all of those things? be prepared for the neons to be eaten.

 

[abstract]

i would suggest a large or FULL water change if your ammonia is 1.2

 

[OohFeeshy]

r u saying u have a male betta in with all of those things? be prepared for the neons to be eaten.

Nope, I'd say more likely the betta to be nipped to death and get extremely stressed from flaring at the tetras.

 

[Tempestuousfury]

to the forum. Introduce yourself in the newbie section.

I agree with the very last comment.

Yes, water change is definitely in order.

How many fish do you have in there? That is too many fish to put in before the tank is cycled, and am I correct in having read that you put in 20 feeder fish in the same tank before that?

 

[123justin]

I cycled my 20 gallon tank with 20 feeder fish for 1 week.

I put in a male betta, 6 neon tetras, and 7 ghost shrimp.

I went to my Big Als store, they did a water test. My nitrites are good but my ammonia is .10 ppm and my ph is almost 8.

The Big Als guy said to do a water change and the ammonia/ph should go down. He also commented that due to the exoskeleton bodies of the ghost shrimp, they have no resistance to high ammonia levels.

And with my male betta, I purposefully got diamond neons because they're extremely small in size. So far the betta and neons totally ignore each other. They swim right beside each other at a slow pace and swim along as if they didn't see each other.

 

[Tempestuousfury]

The betta/tetra relations might soon break down.

That is not a good idea... cycling with a few fish 3-5 is ok, but 20, and feeders at that?

Where are these feeders now? You have to wait around a month for a decent cycle... and you have low ammonia readings because the tank just began the cycling. If you have no nitrites, that means you have a ways to go. If you have 0 for nitrate readings, that proves my point, since a cycled tank shoud have only nitrates...