Losing shrimp! Help a kid out here 😩

[Slaphppy7]

Learn something new everyday. I'll be picking up a bottle of water conditioner with haste

Get the Prime or the API, nothing else, the others aren't as good, and don't let the shop people try to sell you anything else

I'd do it ASAP, and get a WC done soon...1/3 or so for now

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

Besides managing chlorine and chloramine, a good water conditioner will also manage any metals within the water. As I'm sure you know, copper is extremely toxic to shrimp and other invertebrates and if your water supply has this...

I'll also concur with previous that that's a lot of chemicals you're currently adding to the tank.
Shrimp like very steady water conditions to thrive, so, assuming you've got the best hardness and pH for them, your water content should remain static. Every time you add something extra, you'll be changing things and causing them stress.
Shrimp can survive for a while in poor (for them) water, but the stress will eventually take its toll.
Shrimp also like an established tank, with a healthy abundance of biofilm for them to graze on. I wonder if your tank has any, with all that chemical interference.

 

[Alexander1702]

Get the Prime or the API, nothing else, the others aren't as good, and don't let the shop people try to sell you anything else

I'd do it ASAP, and get a WC done soon...1/3 or so for now

Many thanks, I appreciate the brand recommendations especially. So many options out here these days

I'm currently stuck at work but with any hope I'll be out before the stores close and I can pick something up.

 

[Alexander1702]

Besides managing chlorine and chloramine, a good water conditioner will also manage any metals within the water. As I'm sure you know, copper is extremely toxic to shrimp and other invertebrates and if your water supply has this...

I'll also concur with previous that that's a lot of chemicals you're currently adding to the tank.
Shrimp like very steady water conditions to thrive, so, assuming you've got the best hardness and pH for them, your water content should remain static. Every time you add something extra, you'll be changing things and causing them stress.
Shrimp can survive for a while in poor (for them) water, but the stress will eventually take its toll.
Shrimp also like an established tank, with a healthy abundance of biofilm for them to graze on. I wonder if your tank has any, with all that chemical interference.

My water naturally hovers around a 7.4, which is pretty alright. My water is incredibly poor in minerals though. Am I still ok using the GH powder, or should I just omit that as well?

 

[Slaphppy7]

Many thanks, I appreciate the brand recommendations especially. So many options out here these days

I'm currently stuck at work but with any hope I'll be out before the stores close and I can pick something up.

More than welcome.

 

[Slaphppy7]

My water naturally hovers around a 7.4, which is pretty alright. My water is incredibly poor in minerals though. Am I still ok using the GH powder, or should I just omit that as well?

Omit everything beside water conditioner + fresh water

 

[Alexander1702]

Omit everything beside water conditioner + fresh water

I will certainly do that. Many thanks for the instructions and insight on the matter it's invaluable to somebody just trying to make his way. Especially making such simple mistakes as these lol.

 

[Slaphppy7]

I will certainly do that. Many thanks for the instructions and insight on the matter it's invaluable to somebody just trying to make his way. Especially making such simple mistakes as these lol.

We were all beginners at one point, don't fret over it

 

[Colin_T]

It is municipal indeed. I realize this isn't exactly a water tight source of information, but my uncle has kept fish since he was around my age and I heard from him that if your water is just left open for 12-24 hours before you treat/use it, it helps with chlorine, something about evaporation. I don't know how true this is, but I've been doing it for a while and it hasn't done me wrong so far, but I'll certainly pick up a bottle of conditioner somewhere.

Chlorine will come out of water by itself but it can take time depending on the level of chlorine in the water. The safe recommended level of chlorine for human consumption is 2ppm, but sometimes water companies get over excited and add more. My water company in Perth regularly has the chlorine levels up around 7+ppm and this is hazardous to anything that ingests it.

Your water company (check their website or phone them) should be able to tell you if you have chlorine or chloramine in your water supply. If you have chlorine in your water supply, and a number of places in the US still use chlorine, you should either use a dechlorinator or put the tap water into a clean bucket and vigorously aerate it for at least 24 hours before use. This makes sure you get the chlorine out of the water. If you don't aerate the water, it can take long for the chlorine to come out. And if the water company has added a heap of chlorine (above the safe recommended limit) it can take longer to get it all out.

Chloramine is a mixture of chlorine and ammonia. It binds together and continues killing stuff for longer than chlorine. Water companies use it in areas where it is hot or the water has to travel long distances. Some companies use it because they think it is safer than chlorine. However, chloramine has chlorine and ammonia in so it's not really safer. Chloramine can remain active for months and does not come out of the water with aeration or letting the water stand for a few days. The only way to get rid of it is to use a dechlorinator that will break the chlorine ammonia bond, and neutralise the chlorine. The ammonia will be left in the water and this can be read as ammonia with a normal ammonia test kit. If the chloramine has not been treated with a dechlorinator, you probably won't see any ammonia readings on a test kit unless the water company has overdosed the ammonia, which actually happens quite a lot.

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Learn something new everyday. I'll be picking up a bottle of water conditioner with haste

When you use a dechlorinator, you should fill a clean bucket with tap water and add the required amount of dechlorinator for the amount of water in the bucket.
eg: the bucket holds 20 litres (5 gallons) of water so you treat it for 20 litres of water.
After you have added the dechlorinator, aerate the mixture for at least 5 (preferably 30) minutes to allow the dechlorinator to come into contact with all of the chlorine/ chloramine molecules in the water.

Aerating the water also allows the dissolved gasses in the water to get back to normal levels. Some of the gasses can be forced out of the water when it is under pressure in the pipes.

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My water naturally hovers around a 7.4, which is pretty alright. My water is incredibly poor in minerals though. Am I still ok using the GH powder, or should I just omit that as well?

I would use the GH powder & dechlorinator but drop everything else. You don't want the GH fluctuating with the water changes.

The reason you want to remove everything else is to make sure there hasn't been a build up of anything in the water. You are adding plant fertiliser and unless it is all used up between treatments, you can quickly get high levels of fertiliser in the water that can affect fish or shrimp. If you use plant fertilisers in the aquarium, you should do a big (75%) water change before adding any more fertiliser. The big water change helps to dilute any left over nutrients and reduces the chance of you overdosing the tank.

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If the water changes and lack of additives fixes the problem and you don't lose any more shrimp, then start adding a bit of plant fertiliser and see how they go.

 

[Alexander1702]

When you use a dechlorinator, you should fill a clean bucket with tap water and add the required amount of dechlorinator for the amount of water in the bucket.
eg: the bucket holds 20 litres (5 gallons) of water so you treat it for 20 litres of water.
After you have added the dechlorinator, aerate the mixture for at least 5 (preferably 30) minutes to allow the dechlorinator to come into contact with all of the chlorine/ chloramine molecules in the water.

I couldn't have made it to a place in time tonight, but I'm making a trip first thing in the morning. Not a very big city and all, I don't think we'd have any anywhere in town but I'll be getting some in the morning.
More shrimp falling Ill as I write however. Erratic, swimming upside down. I don't have any safe water to do a change with, all my backup water is already treated with fertilizers and the like, so I'm not sure it'd be much use. I have some without any but it's not treated for chlorine or chloramines so I'm not sure that's any better.
I fear total collapse. I suppose worst case scenario it's a hands on lesson. Hopefully somebody pulls through till morning but I'll keep an eye on em.

 

[Colin_T]

Have you got any rock salt?
If yes, add 1 heaped tablespoon of salt for every 20 litres (5 gallons) of water. Keep salt in there for a week and see what happens.

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

Have you got any rock salt?
If yes, add 1 heaped tablespoon of salt for every 20 litres (5 gallons) of water. Keep salt in there for a week and see what happens.

Or find some Aquarium Salt. (It's the same as rock salt...probably).
Just do not use table salt, which has additives.

 

[Colin_T]

Or find some Aquarium Salt. (It's the same as rock salt...probably).

Yes rock salt is aquarium salt, you can also use swimming pool salt, which is rock salt too.

 

[Spyro]

My water naturally hovers around a 7.4, which is pretty alright. My water is incredibly poor in minerals though. Am I still ok using the GH powder, or should I just omit that as well?

Yeah, you can use GH powder. But drop all the stabilizers. Plant fertilizers should be ok (make sure they don't have copper and iron) but use sparingly.

From what you said: You probably have buildup of copper from tap water.
Use dechlorinator, leave water with declorinator sit for an hour or two before adding to the tank. 5-10 minutes is ok to dechlorinate but takes longer to neutralize copper and metals in the water.
When adding water: add slowly and if possible over 10-20 min period. Never change more then 20% of water for shrimp. They really don't like that especially in small tank and if temp/parameters aren't the same as tank water.
I would also add carbon if you don't have one in the filter (to pick up any metals from water) or change carbon in filter if you have one there (they start releasing what they picked up after a while).

P.S. I never kept Amano but from what I heard from people that do: they are kind of hard to keep in small tanks. Cherries are much more hardy and forgiving once you manage to acclimate few and get offspring going.
GL

 

[StandbySetting]

Copper from plant fertilisers shouldn't be of a high enough concentration to kill shrimp. Your tap water could be the problem here and to rule it out you could always test for copper, what state are you in may I ask? Only most have a legal limit for copper of 1.3mg/L similar to us in the UK. Has the tank you're using ever been used to treat a sick fish with a copper based treatment?