Red Cherries Dying

[stubzy]

hi, i have had my tank set up for just over a month, it was instantly cycled using water and filter material from my other tropical aquarium that is 3 years old, its a 55 ltr planted iwagumi tank, Co2 is pressurised, ammonia = 0 Nitrite = 0 nitrate = 40ppm (goes down to 5ppm after a water change and a few hours later is back at 40 ppm and is steady at this level, i think this is due to my substrate colombo flora base)
i have tested for copper as i read that it is deadly to shrimp, the ph 6.8 and the temp was 27 but i have turned it down a bit now as its starting to get warmer in here in th UK.
 
the bio load in my tank atm is 12 ember tetras, 6 neon tetras and 10 rcs
The shrimp have been in my tank for 17 days and the ember tetras have been in for 30 days, i have had 0 deadloss in either of my aquariums but yesterday i found 1 dead red cherry shrimp, and again this morning i found my 2nd dead RCS, up until yesterday the shrimp have looked happy, moving around and grazing on food, i have no idea what is killing them

 

[scotty]

do the die during moulting or after

 

[stubzy]

a i have noticed 2 molts since they have been in the tank, they hanvt died during molting

 

[DreamertK]

Might have been old age. Shrimps live shorter lives in higher temps.

 

[Livewire88]

Have you recently added any live plants? if so where did you purchase the plants from?
 
Plants bought from some suppliers (mainly Ebay sellers) are treated with copper, if the copper is not removed from the plants it can be fatal to Shrimp.

 

[stubzy]

the plants are from aqua essentials a very trustworthy source, HC and dwarf hairgrass. The shrimp seemed really happy, 2 or 3 of the females have saddles, and they have been happily grazing away on their food, a friend said that it might be a high nitrate reading cos i had 40 ppm, the ph in the tank is fine at 6.7-6.8

 

[Livewire88]

So you can rule the plants out then, your substrate would leach some ammonia so how long has it been in the tank?
 
Your NitrAte level is nothing to worry about, my RCS live and thrive in a much higer level.

 

[DrRob]

Also, read your food packets. It's amazing what foods have copper in them. I've fallen foul of food poisoning shrimp before (and recently).

 

[PrairieSunflower]

Same here, my shrimp were dieing being feed on shrimp food.    But I stopped and just let them eat leftovers and they haven't died from the food since.

 

[Baccus]

Could the pH change when the co2 is off for the night be causing pH shock in the shrimp?
I don't use any shrimp substrates or plant dedicated substrates but I do know with time they lose their buffering affect.
The other options are as stated the age of the shrimp, in conjunction with the higher tank temp. Cherry shrimp can handle higher temps but it does tend to burn them out sooner. By any chance do you know the size or approx. size of the shrimp that died? If they where full grown then its a good chance that it was just age.
Foods too can be a problem for shrimp. Many fish foods have copper in their make up, even shrimp dedicated foods will have minute amounts of copper. But apparently even fresh water species of shrimp/ inverts do need some copper its the levels and the exact copper compound that can cause issues rather than just being copper.
How long have you had the shrimp? If they have not had many moults (they should moult at least every 30 odd days or so), could you gH be to low for the shrimp to develop and shed their shells?.

 

[DreamertK]

I wouldn't count copper sulfate if it's in the last two ingredients listed. I've put some bottom feeder in for my snails, my shrimps grazed on it before the snail could get to it and they're still around. Plus OP said they tested for copper and found nothing.
 
I still say old age.

 

[stubzy]

it could be a ph change at night, as i run a venturi valve at night when plants are taking in oxygen and giving off co2, the tank and plants are all new and havent had time to carpet much of the substrate yet (especially the HC)  i will try not running that at night for a few days but if i see my fish gasping i will have to run it, it wouldnt be my fish or shimp food as its a special food for shrimp and i use tetra pro color for my fish. it could be an overfeed.
 
you can see my tank here http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/416328-my-first-attempt-at-a-planted-aquarium/

 

[Livewire88]

it could be a ph change at night, as i run a venturi valve at night when plants are taking in oxygen and giving off co2, i will try not running that at night for a few days but if i see my fish gasping i will have to run it, it wouldnt be my fish or shimp food as its a special food for shrimp and i use tetra pro color for my fish. it could be an overfeed, 

 
 
Unlikley to be anything to do with the PH swing caused by your Co2, because the change the Co2 causes with the PH is not harmfull to fish because your TDS, GH and KH will stay the same.
 
99% of planted tanks running pressurized Co2 will suffer PH swings during the night, tanks using PH controlers will not as far as I am aware. If the rest of your shrimp seem happy and are feeding/cleaning as they should I would just keep an eye on them over the next week or so.

 

[stubzy]

just found another 3 dead... no idea whats caused it

 

[Baccus]

Do the dead ones have all their limbs? Could the ember tetras be nipping at them? I know my large black neon has had the odd go at the cherry shrimp, mostly when they see the shrimp swimming in open water.