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Shrimp Losses, Normal?

Richard Dowling

Richard Dowling

Member
Joined
6 Nov 2010
Messages
417
Location
Kings Hill, Kent
Hi all,

This may be a question which begs the answer "Course not you idiot", but I think It needs asking...

Is it normal to get shrimp deaths in the first week of owning them?

I got 30 Cherrys three nights ago and have already lost 5-6, about 2 each night, I get up to find empty shrimp exoskeletons.

Ive done water quality tests which came up fine, which it should do whilst im doing very regular water changes. I had high CO2 on one of the nights but reversed this with a water change before I went to bed.

I can only assume its pH swings or stress from moving from a non CO2 home to a CO2 tank like mine. I do have 14 Cardinal Tetras but I havnt seen them showing any sign of aggression, but perhaps a mistake in identity when lights are out??
 
As Tim says it looks like they are just moulting :) I find with mine they tend to do it after a water change so as you've only just got them I would say this is what has prompted them.
 
I have seen one floating head, and one exoskeleton-less prawn but other than that its been all exoskeletons on their own. I was aware of moulting but presumed it was a seasonal thing. Ill keep an eye on them. If my numbers dont drop I'll assume theyre not dying.

The reason I thought they were dead is, I assume that as soon as one dies the other shrimp go in for dinner time and eat every spec of flesh
 
In a sense, I bought them in a pot so I submerged the pot so that it was in the water secured to the edge of the tank. I left it there for a few hours and just put pipettes of my water in in exchange for their water every so often. I was only given about 300ml of their own water which isn't great.

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Quetzalcoatl said:
Cherries are sensitive to high CO2 levels. Are you injecting a lot of gas?
Click to expand...

To be honest I don't actually know...people have commented that my drop checker looks very green and felt that more was needed, however my bubble counter seems to count 3-4 bps at least (maybe small bubbles but it seems excessive)

There seems to be very little gas wasted in terms of rising to the surface.

Fish generally seem fine.

My drop checker starts off dark green and finishes a light lime.
 
Lime green. That could explain the deaths. Amano`s seem to deal with higher levels but Cherries don`t do so well in my experience!
 
If it was co2 killing them id expect it to happen in the evening, I have the co2 going off Pretty soon after lights out so the levels shouldn't be high over night, which is when its happening.

But perhaps they are just moulting....I wish the little buggers were easy to count!

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Richard Dowling said:
I have the co2 going off Pretty soon after lights out so the levels shouldn't be high over night, which is when its happening.
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I would shut off CO2 a good hour before your lights, that way any CO2 in the water will be used up by your plants in the last hour of the photoperiod. Do you have good surface agitation?
 
Quetzalcoatl said:
I would shut off CO2 a good hour before your lights, that way any CO2 in the water will be used up by your plants in the last hour of the photoperiod. Do you have good surface agitation?
Click to expand...

I have the co2 going off half hour after because I'm told plants don't immediately stop photosynthesising when the lights go off.

Surface agitation id say is no worse than anyone else that uses Lilys, its not as good as spray bar but it does ripple like other peoples
 
Richard Dowling said:
I have the co2 going off half hour after because I'm told plants don't immediately stop photosynthesising when the lights go off.
Click to expand...
Well that's a complete load of matrix....plants need light to photosynthesise, turn light off, photosynthesis stops..easy as that. Most people turn their CO2 an hour before lights off, no point continuing with CO2 when no light is present.
 
If it is a moulted exoskeleton it would look how you might imagine a ghost shrimp to look. It is pretty soft and whitish/see through. If it were a dead shrimp the shell would still be hard but empty once cleaned out by others.
 
ldcgroomer said:
If it is a moulted exoskeleton it would look how you might imagine a ghost shrimp to look. It is pretty soft and whitish/see through. If it were a dead shrimp the shell would still be hard but empty once cleaned out by others.
Click to expand...

They are soft, usually weak in the middle, with legs and tail, completely see through.

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Sounds like a moult. When shrimp clean out a dead one they also eat all the connective tissue holding the body together so you just find the larger shell parts and all the tiny leg parts and tail parts are scattered.
 
I would say 100% moult andddd I currently have breeding cherries with a yellow drop checker but I do keep high o2 levels as well...

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