SHRIMP, and the Ring of Death!

[Seamus]

My Shrimp are in good shape and very active, Cherry Shrimp. But a few at the moment have the ring of death. From what I've read, it's believed to be from to many or to large of water changes, (shrimp hate change)! So okay, I'll do less changes. My question is......... Does the ring of death mean they will die absolutely for sure? Or will they possibly make it? I've never had this problem before. And I only do 10% water change each week. Dropping to every other week. The few that have the ring are big fat females ready for mating. I spend a lot of time on my tanks......

 

[Lajos_Detari]

Yes, ring of death will kill them.
Can you check your water GH?

I suspect its due to the GH different between your water and the shrimp farm water(my theory) and not really due to how much water you change.

Water Parameters: Everything about GH in Shrimp Tank - Shrimp and Snail Breeder

General Hardness (GH or Total Hardness) is an important water parameter to shrimp keeping and breeding. Unfortunately, Carbonate Hardness (KH) and General Hardness (GH) are commonly confused. General Hardness (GH) represents the overall concentration of salts (calcium, magnesium, iron, etc.) but...

aquariumbreeder.com

Probably, you may need to add some salt that will increase the GH. This salt will provide Calcium and Magnesium that are require by the shrimps for proper molting.

Salty Shrimp Shrimp Mineral GH/KH+

Shrimp Mineral GH/KH+ re-mineralizes e.g. RO water, rainwater, fully desalinated water etc., raising total hardness (°dGH) and carbonate hardness (KH) at a ratio of °dGH/KH: 1.0/0.5.

www.google.com

Shrimp King Shrimp Salt GH+/KH+ | Dennerle

dennerle.com

Note: This salt is usually used with Reverse Osmosis or Distilled water which has TDS of zero or almost zero for distilled water.
If you used it with your tap water, you can only use a very small percentage from the suggested instruction given by the manufacturer to prevent the GH from going too high.
And you have to mix the salt in a pail of water and add the water slowly to prevent sudden GH increase which will kill them.

Alternatively, you also can try to provide some shrimps food that have high Calcium.
Mulberry and Kale leaves have high Calcium. There are pellets form of Mulberry and Kale available in the markets.


Some info on shrimp food:

Shrimp King Mineral Shrimp Food - Pro Shrimp UK

Dennerle Shrimp King Mineral Food Pads for Shrimp. For a stronger shell, supports moulting of your shrimp.

www.pro-shrimp.co.uk

The BIG shrimp food test

www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

Shrimp Food – Green Chapter

Staple and supplementary food for upkeeping of ornamental shrimps such as cardina, neocaridina.

green-chapter-shop.myshopify.com

 

[Lajos_Detari]

What is your water GH?

 

[Lajos_Detari]

Your GH is good.
I had the same problem for my first batch of shrimps even though my GH is 5.
I also changed 15-20% of water once a week.

But now all the shrimps tht were born in my tank don't have this problem any more.
And now I am changing about 60-70% of water once a week.

Try to feed them with more Calcium pellets.
I used many brands of shrimp food.
Glasgarten, Dennerle, HIkari, Genchem, etc.

Here is a Calcium supplement for shrimps:

White Pellet - Calcium Supplement (Shrimp)

Shop our Green Leaf Aquariums White Pellet - Calcium Supplement (Shrimp). Planted aquarium boutique since 2007 & 24/7 customer support, we ship fast!

greenleafaquariums.com

I also reduced the plants in my tank as they also compete with the shrimps for mineral.(from the water)

I have another tank just for Sulawesi shrimps.
For this tank, I used distilled water plus Dennerle Sulawesi salts(mineral).
One of the shrimps in this tank grows so fat. I suspect its due to mineral that I used and the plenty of algae in this tank.
I used a higher power light and the algae is growing very well.
The plants are growing very well.

 

[Lajos_Detari]

Sounds good, but 60 to 70% water change? Seems super high, but........ with a lot of things and each person and their aquarium. If it works, don't change it. I need to add a photo sometime here. I do have a lot of plants, but I also have soil under my black sand. So as far as minerals, I have a lot. Plus I have oyster shell in the bottom of my HOB and under the substrate. I use a pinch of Epsom Salt, (100% Magnesium sulfate) every so often. It's good for ailing fish and adding minerals. I think your right, all fish born in the same tank will do better. They didn't have to adjust to a new environment or water perimeters. Have you tried Snowflake food? I read it doesn't dirty fish tanks much. I haven't but plan to order some. I also have a good LED light. I always order different lights than what comes with the tanks. I have a small grow out tank, 20gal. I have for all my plant trimmings. It's the only one with a crummy light. But with C02 and good ferts, they grow fast. It also works well as a quarantine tank for new fish. I really need some pygmy Cory's for my Shrimp tank.

Yes, a lot of water change due to too much debris and detritus worms in my tank.
I have to siphon them out every week.

If your tap water parameter/chemistry, temperature are the same and stable every week, usually you won't have any problem even with 50-60% of water change.

I'm not sure whether the Epsom salt(Magnesium sulfate) is the same as the salt (minerals) for shrimps.
From what I know, Epsom salt is a laxative. It's used for fish that have constipation.

Anyway, when your shrimps starting to breed, the next generation of shrimps will be adapted to your tap water and they will become hardy.

I suspect that the shrimp breeders may use reverse osmosis water with shrimp minerals and their GH or mineral contents could be very much different from our tap water.
This cause the ring or death and molting problem(my theory).
If we can get more information from the shrimp breeders, then we will be able to solve this problem.

I haven't tried the Snowflake before.
There are too many shrimp food nowadays.
I'm using about 8 types of shrimp food plus another 4 types of fish food to feed my shrimps.
We are spoilt for choices.
I think our shrimps have very good lives as compared to those in the wild.