# RCS keep on dying



## Martin steele (2 May 2021)

Hi I was wondering if anybody can help me I am on my 4/5th batch of RCS.
They were in my 16 litre tank Wich has an external filter of 8 litres capacity so about 24 litres total capacity.

My water perameters are as follows
Ph 6.95
Gh.                    5°
Kh.                    4°
Ammonia.        0
Nitrite.               5 ppm
Nitrate.             10 ppm
I use salty shrimp GH kh +.

And I use backter ae and mineral junkie.

I feed with birch leaves Nettle and bramble,as well as snowflake food.
In all my years of being around aquatics I have never ever known a specie's as IMPOSSIBLE to keep alive.Can someone out there please help I have literally battered my head trying to work out why these easy to keep creatures keep on dying.

I can't even begin to imagine where I am going wrong.Can anybody recommend a good basic book for reference of the type interpet used to do on guppies goldfishes ect.

You get a little tired of veiwing all the stuff that is on-line and basically takes you round in circles.

Regards Martin Steele


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## Hufsa (2 May 2021)

Nitrite 5?? How did you get this reading


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## X3NiTH (2 May 2021)

Nitrite at 5ppm is a major problem, it’s telling you that you have a persistent reducing Ammonia concentration in the tank which appears to be bottoming out to zero (if the Ammonia test result is correct, also depending on the Nitrite test being accurate also), this suggests that the bacterial assemblage in your filter is able to moderate this part of the process but there is failure to complete the process in the bacterial assemblage that converts Nitrite to Nitrate which would render the tank safe, the Ammonia present in the tank is inhibiting this bacteria from being able to fully convert the Nitrite to Nitrate. Your going to have to perform water changes to reduce the Nitrite concentration and your going to need to keep this up to prevent Ammonia from building up (even if it’s being converted to Nitrite), this way the cycle can complete. If this doesn’t fix things within a few weeks then you have bigger problems that the tank size/water volume and filtration is not enough to support the current bio load or input of feed to support them.

The GH and KH is fine and doesn’t require adjustment.


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## sparkyweasel (3 May 2021)

That's a big filter for a little tank. What filter is it? And what media are in it?
Have you had to restrict the flow a lot? It's possible that the flow is too slow for it to work efficiently. There may not be enough oxygen passing through, or it may have stagnant areas.
More info would help. Do the shrimps show any symptoms before dying? What colour are the dead ones?
Were all your plants guaranteed (by a seller you can trust) to be shrimp-safe?
Are you certain the leaves you feed are free of pesticides?
How long has the tank been running, and how did you mature it?
Is there any other livestock (snails, scuds etc) and are they healthy?


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## rebel (3 May 2021)

When did you start this tank?  Maybe it needs time to 'cycle'.

Nitrites (if the measurements are correct) will definitely knock off shrimp faster that you can say "Shrimp on a barbie".


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## PARAGUAY (3 May 2021)

If you want something in print@Martin steele.Practical Fishkeeping article by  Gabor Horvath An Introduction To Shrimp in Feb 2021 issue


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## Martin steele (3 May 2021)

Hufsa said:


> Nitrite 5?? How did you get this reading


Hi I used a test kit sea chem although I am dubious about it's efficacy thanks for your reply.


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## Martin steele (3 May 2021)

X3NiTH said:


> Nitrite at 5ppm is a major problem, it’s telling you that you have a persistent reducing Ammonia concentration in the tank which appears to be bottoming out to zero (if the Ammonia test result is correct, also depending on the Nitrite test being accurate also), this suggests that the bacterial assemblage in your filter is able to moderate this part of the process but there is failure to complete the process in the bacterial assemblage that converts Nitrite to Nitrate which would render the tank safe, the Ammonia present in the tank is inhibiting this bacteria from being able to fully convert the Nitrite to Nitrate. Your going to have to perform water changes to reduce the Nitrite concentration and your going to need to keep this up to prevent Ammonia from building up (even if it’s being converted to Nitrite), this way the cycle can complete. If this doesn’t fix things within a few weeks then you have bigger problems that the tank size/water volume and filtration is not enough to support the current bio load or input of feed to support them.
> 
> The GH and KH is fine and doesn’t require adjustment.


I think I know what you are saying if there is nitrite there must be ammonia.Since either only exist for a few seconds in an aquarium. I have been using nt labs nitrate sea chem,s nitrate nitrite test kit both of Wich give different results.This is food for thought thank you sir.


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## Martin steele (3 May 2021)

sparkyweasel said:


> That's a big filter for a little tank. What filter is it? And what media are in it?
> Have you had to restrict the flow a lot? It's possible that the flow is too slow for it to work efficiently. There may not be enough oxygen passing through, or it may have stagnant areas.
> More info would help. Do the shrimps show any symptoms before dying? What colour are the dead ones?
> Were all your plants guaranteed (by a seller you can trust) to be shrimp-safe?
> ...


Hi sparkweasel,
It's a jad fef 230 although I think this is a branch of the boyu co.

And yes I have dialled it down a fair bit. For media I am using lava rock and foam. The dead shrimp are red only one of them had a green growth near o his head.The only symptoms they have shown is they seem to disappear from view for all I know they might still be alive in there but I doubt it very much.Your comments on my filter the in quite nicely with the previous. The tank has been running for 3 months or so and I matured it using a few guppies,and the plants are all home grown.And I have ramshorn snails in there and they are very healthy.And can you ever guarantee no pesticides most of the leaves came from my garden so I am pretty sure that  they are ok.

Thanks for your input.

Regards Martin


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## Martin steele (3 May 2021)

rebel said:


> When did you start this tank?  Maybe it needs time to 'cycle'.
> 
> Nitrites (if the measurements are correct) will definitely knock off shrimp faster that you can say "Shrimp on a barbie".


Thanks for your input I am beggining to realise that you can't dial down a filter however I have ordered a new nitrite test kit and will keep you posted.

Many thanks for your input.


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## Martin steele (3 May 2021)

PARAGUAY said:


> If you want something in print@Martin steele.Practical Fishkeeping article by  Gabor Horvath An Introduction To Shrimp in Feb 2021 issue


Thanks for your help.


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## sparkyweasel (3 May 2021)

Martin steele said:


> And can you ever guarantee no pesticides most of the leaves came from my garden so I am pretty sure that they are ok.


That's as sure as you can be.  And heathly ramshorns are a good sign, they are quite sensitive to (some at least) pesticides.
Your extra info rules out a lot of possible problems, so I think nitrite caused by your filter not working effeciently looks like the most likely cause.
Guppies (and ramshorns) are not as sensitive to nitrite as shrimps, so they could have tolerated a bit without showing you any signs of trouble.
I would suggest a little internal filter, I've found that even the very cheap ones are fine. And plenty of water changes until it's up and running nicely.
Then of course, you can get a new, big tank so your big filter isn't wasted.


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## X3NiTH (4 May 2021)

Martin steele said:


> The dead shrimp are red only one of them had a green growth near o his head.



You should check the rest of the population for Vorticella/Scuteriella, this would be suspected for external growths, also check that you don’t have Ellobiopsidae/Cladogonium.


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