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Cherry Shrimp Dying


WaldoDude

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Hello,

I've had 3 cherry shrimp die in the last 2 weeks and can't seem to pin point the issue. For context I had 13 cherry shrimp in a planted 10 gallon with 7 Celestial Pearl Danios. I found the first dead shrimp one afternoon, half eaten by the CPDs. Now about 4-5 months back I had witnessed my CPDs attack and kill a small male cherry shrimp. So my initial thoughts were that the CPDs had done it again, which is odd in itself as they have been fine together for many months. So a week later I found another dead cherry but this time it seemed to have died within the last hour of me spotting it and it hadn't been touched by the CPDs (it was at night, so the CPDs were sleeping). This got me thinking that perhaps, the first Shrimp had died due to something else and then picked off by the CPDs. About 5 days later to today, I found the 3rd dead shrimp again already half eaten by the CPDs, this one was a large adult female. Now on top of all this, I have also had 5 of 6 shrimplets in a hang-on breeder box die. The shrimplets were the first to go and which I think makes sense if it was something to do with the tank environment as they would've been more sensitive. I initially thought I wasn't feeding the shrimplets enough or that it was because I wasn't rinsing the baby brine shrimp I was feeding to the CPD fry. Now that the adults are dying too, i dont think it is a coincidence nor do I think its my CPDs that are the issue.

My speculation is that they are having a molting issues. Now the dead shrimp I found whole had a white line across its back and a cloudy white underbelly, which I took to indicate a molting issue. The shrimplets seem to be having a molting issues too, although the 1 remaining shrimplet molted successfully, and many of the adults did too judging by the many molts scattered about the tank. However, I tested my GH and KH and got 6 and 4 respectively, which I believe is fine from what I've googled. Also I figured if there was an issue with a lack of calcium/minerals could it mean that those that successfully molted could still suffer from a weaker exoskeleton and thus be more vulnerable to the CPDs?
Another possibility I thought was muscular necrosis, as the half eaten shrimp I found today had a cloudy white underbelly too and from memory the others all did  (not 100% sure) but I had always thought that was just something that happens when a shrimp dies. I'll attach photos to see what you all think.
I've also considered that perhaps i'm not feeding them enough/well but my previous attempts at feeding them blanched veggies have been unfruitful, they dont swarm the veggies or really touch it (i've tried sweet potato, zucchini, carrots and broccoli). They dont go crazy for the shrimp algae wafers or the hikari shrimp pellets  either but I chuck it in the tank once a week just in case but I assume there's enough algae/biofilm for them. 
I'm thinking of getting a mineral/calcium supplement for the water but not sure if thats a good idea if my gh/kh is already fine. 
CPDs are all fine and healthy. 

Anyways here are my parameters:

Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 0
PH - 8.0
GH - 6
KH - 4
TDS - don't know. I've seen mentions of TDS but not quite sure how important it is with cherry shrimp. Do you think I should get a TDS meter?
Temp - 26C
Water change - 25% once a week with dechlorinated tap water.

Would love to hear some of your thoughts.
Cheers!

Pictures
Top Left: latest death with white underside (fuzziness?) visible. Top Right: Second death with the white line across the back visible as well as a white potruding underbelly.
Bottom Left: Just a picture of an alive shrimp in the tank, to see if anyone can see anything wrong. Are those brownish discoloration an issue?
Bottom Right: Another live shrimp can also see a white underbelly which I thought was normal?

IMG-882811.jpg.ed1a1d37d3d5dd41849b7997ac239671.jpgIMG-8009.jpg.59ae5d8413297b395ebcc4e26fd59e98.jpg
IMG-8268.jpg.701948989518dfc54f4e537071aadbff.jpg1830637935_Shrimpsmall.jpg.c2f85d985cbb4fdae4bb7c9d9110c3e5.jpg

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10 hours ago, WaldoDude said:

Anyways here are my parameters:

Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 0
PH - 8.0
GH - 6
KH - 4

These parameters look ok with the exception of pH. pH is a bit too high, both for cherries and CPDs. I keep my cherries and CPDs closer to 7.0 pH. That is one thing you could try rectifying. Remove any rock decorations and add more driftwood and Indian Almond Leaves. Unless it was not an accurate pH or KH measurement. Your KH doesn't seem too high compared to the high pH reading. Retest pH maybe?

How mature is this tank?

 

10 hours ago, WaldoDude said:

TDS - don't know. I've seen mentions of TDS but not quite sure how important it is with cherry shrimp. Do you think I should get a TDS meter?

The TDS of a tank is always useful for fish and shrimp keepers. TDS meters are so cheap now it's no longer a barrier to NOT have one. Do a search for it on ebay. Under $10 for a TDS meter. Or under $20 for both TDS and pH meter.

 

 

Having the CPDs in the same tank is confusing the whole issue. Are they the cause or not, plus the fact that they are eating and mangling up the shrimp is throwing us off an accurate diagnosis.

If you have another tank and if possible, separate the CPD from the shrimp as soon as possible. Even if you can set up a small hospital tank with the right parameters (lower pH), for the shrimp would be helpful to test if the shrimp do better without the CPDs.

 

The white strip across the back (we call it the racing strip), and pale or white underbelly is normal in cherry shrimps and does not necessarily mean something is wrong. However, your initial suspicion of moulting issues is not unfounded. That is one of the most common causes of shrimp death and an indication of incorrect water parameters. Which means the water is too hard, and needs to be softened with RO water, distilled water or rain water.

 

10 hours ago, WaldoDude said:

Water change - 25% once a week with dechlorinated tap water.

I would drop this down to 10% maybe 20%max. That TDS meter will certainly help you determine if a water change is absolutely necessary. When TDS reading goes above the baseline of your tank, than a water change is needed. That could be daily, weekly, even fortnightly. But that's where a TDS meter comes in handy to determine the frequency. Use it with the pH meter to make sure ph doesn't crash.

Edited by jayc
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Thanks for the thorough response Jayc. Found another dead this morning, half eaten. I should have around 8 out of original 13 shrimp remaining + however many babies I’ve seen here and there. 
 A TDS and a PH meter is on the way (got a bundle for <$20). I find it hard to distinguish the API PH test but will try again while I wait for the meters to arrive. On another note, my tap water is a 7.4/7.6. I have Seiryu Stone in my tank which I think buffers the PH up? It also uses ADA Amazonia soil which would bring it down, but it’s been over a year and I’m assuming the substrate is close to depleted (I’ve noticed recently some of my plants are dying at the stems).
something I forgot to mention is that I dose Flourish, Iron (for red plants) After each water change and Nitrate (maybe every 3 weeks, when I find nitrates gone back down to 0. it brings it upto to <5). im going to stop all doses for a while and see if it helps.

as for moving the shrimp, I only have a 15 gallon in the midst of being setup. Could I move my shrimp into the hang-on breeder box with the cpd fry? But considering the shrimplets have been dying in there too I think the water is an issue which the box would not solve.

I also have a 7 gallon with neon tetras and Darwin algae shrimp. Could move em in there? 

 

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33 minutes ago, WaldoDude said:

I have Seiryu Stone in my tank which I think buffers the PH up? It also uses ADA Amazonia soil which would bring it down, but it’s been over a year and I’m assuming the substrate is close to depleted

Yes, Seiryu is notorious for raising pH. ADA Amazonia can last a few years. So take the stones out for now. The Seiryu is fighting against the ADA substrate with the pH, exhausting the buffering capabilities. But more importantly, it is causing pH fluctuations. Up, down, up, down. And that is not good for water parameter stability.

Don't throw the stones away, as you might be able to use them in a CPD only tank. Fish don't mind.

You can add them back in slowly if you find pH falling below 7.0 in the future.

 

33 minutes ago, WaldoDude said:

I dose Flourish, Iron (for red plants) After each water change and Nitrate (maybe every 3 weeks, when I find nitrates gone back down to 0. it brings it upto to <5). im going to stop all doses for a while and see if it helps.

Good idea. Are you sure you need that much Iron? Iron as a nutrient isn't required all that much in an aquarium. Yes, red plants need more iron than green plants but make sure you are not overdosing iron.

If anything, the Macro nutrients will be lacking in a closed system like an aquarium. Hence the name - Macro. It's needed in macro amounts. The plants need more of the big 3 nutrients. NPK - Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium.

N & P can be found in a tank - fish waste nitrogen, food breaking down, foods added, etc.

But potassium once used is not found in the tank unless you specifically add some. So if anything, you tank will most likely be depleted of Potassium (K). But be careful Potassium can alter pH and KH dramatically, so never add too much in one go. Split up a weekly dose of fertilisers into smaller daily doses when shrimp are in the tank.

 

33 minutes ago, WaldoDude said:

as for moving the shrimp, I only have a 15 gallon in the midst of being setup. Could I move my shrimp into the hang-on breeder box with the cpd fry? But considering the shrimplets have been dying in there too I think the water is an issue which the box would not solve.

As a first plan of action, yes, move them. The water might be the problem, but we need to get the issue of the fish out of the equation.

Second part of the action plan is to start taking steps to reduce the pH. Remove stones, water change with RO, Distilled or rain water. Collecting rain water with buckets the next time it rains might be a cheap option.  Hopefully this will help while you wait for another tank to be setup. As an added bonus, your CPDs will thank you for the reduced pH as well.

 

33 minutes ago, WaldoDude said:

I also have a 7 gallon with neon tetras and Darwin algae shrimp. Could move em in there?

No. Don't move them into another healthy tank with other livestock. You never know if it's something that might get transferred to that tank. 

Edited by jayc
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2 hours ago, jayc said:

Good idea. Are you sure you need that much Iron? Iron as a nutrient isn't required all that much in an aquarium. Yes, red plants need more iron than green plants but make sure you are not overdosing iron.

If anything, the Macro nutrients will be lacking in a closed system like an aquarium. Hence the name - Macro. It's needed in macro amounts. The plants need more of the big 3 nutrients. NPK - Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium.

N & P can be found in a tank - fish waste nitrogen, food breaking down, foods added, etc.

But potassium once used is not found in the tank unless you specifically add some. So if anything, you tank will most likely be depleted of Potassium (K). But be careful Potassium can alter pH and KH dramatically, so never add too much in one go. Split up a weekly dose of fertilisers into smaller daily doses when shrimp are in the tank.

I dose miniscule amounts of iron since my tank is only a 10 gallon, but yeah I guess depending on how everything goes now that ive stopped dosing, I'll know whether I really need iron or not. 
So do you think I should dose potassium to help with the plants? I see Flourish contains "Potash" K20 not sure if thats the same thing. 
 

Quote

As a first plan of action, yes, move them. The water might be the problem, but we need to get the issue of the fish out of the equation.

Alright I've moved the 5 I could see and catch into the breeder box. 
 

Quote

Second part of the action plan is to start taking steps to reduce the pH. Remove stones, water change with RO, Distilled or rain water. Collecting rain water with buckets the next time it rains might be a cheap option.  Hopefully this will help while you wait for another tank to be setup. As an added bonus, your CPDs will thank you for the reduced pH as well.

I'm considering getting an RO/DI unit as well. I've thought about it before, but prior searches yielded many results and the seemingly technical nature of it put me off. Figured may as well ask here. Im thinking of this unit to connect to my outdoor garden tap: https://water-filter-sentry.com.au/products/reverse-osmosis-ro-water-filters-marine-fish-rodi-resin-filter-hro-3-d?utm_campaign=gs-2019-09-19&utm_source=google&utm_medium=smart_campaign&gclid=Cj0KCQjwgo_5BRDuARIsADDEntSmpU9rSLdQ2fDbQzsMUcSKYw9Nul47dSE_d1LBYGvG8jNMGJSN0LYaAqEZEALw_wcB
Will this work?
Cheers

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JayC has you well covered here. Bear in mind of course that you may still lose more shrimps when messing with the water parameters so don't panic if this happens.

I don't think it too likely that the fish killed the shrimp, but probably just snacked on them once they died. I expect the fish may eat babies though if they can see/catch them.

I keep my red cherry with tetras and they have been fine for 5+ years in tap water with the same PH as yours (and still using the same soil substrate). Once you remove the rock, do a major water change and add some Indian almond leaves all as JayC recommends you are well on your way! I would carry on using your tap water as you have been and not get tied into the expensive and extra work of RO water though, but stop adding chemicals, ferts etc, I add NOTHING and am weekly trimming plants or throwing them out in my tetra/cherry shrimp tank which uses just tap water (dechlorinated). When changing water always drip in the new water (if shrimp are in the tank) if you can somehow, usually you can just leave it to 'do its thing' for hours so it isn't too much hassle once you have worked out to rig it up. Without the rocks curse, mathematically, if you remove 50% of PH 8 water and put in the same amount of PH 7.4 tap water, the PH will be 7.7 on that first change and reduce slower each time you do another change until it gets to the 7.4 of your source water, but of course that depends on the accurancy of the kit as most jump (mine in .5) so it could be anywhere between and that is assuming the test is accurate as well to start with, so the PH pen as recommended by JayC is the best route. The TDS also recommended is great because it is cheap and the easiest test you can do as it doesn't use drops etc, you just put it in the water and your done, it will end up being the one you use most. IF you do decide to use RO water obviously you will need to start adding minerals to that water otherwise your other parameters will crash. I would stick with your tap water (sorry JayC) as its parameters are perfect for the shrimps (probably near enough for the fish as wel,l if you haven't lost any fish thus far), it is the cheapest, easiest source and the transition will be slower, gentler and more natural all round. Just always bear in mind any messing with the water parameters is likely to result in more deaths during this (and maybe even shortly after) period.

Simon

Edited by sdlTBfanUK
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1 hour ago, WaldoDude said:

I see Flourish contains "Potash" K20 not sure if thats the same thing.

 

Flourish has a bit of everything. Yes, potash is potassium. Potassium Sulphate = Potash. 

You can use that, but note ... it's $14 for a 250ml. As an alternative, you can go to bunnings and pick up a 2.5kg bag of sulphate of potash for the same price. https://www.bunnings.com.au/richgro-2-5kg-granular-sulphate-of-potash_p2985054

If your plants are yellowing and dying, that is one sign of potassium deficiency.

 

1 hour ago, WaldoDude said:

Will this work?

Yes, will work perfectly. That is a great price, I must say. An equivalent unit elsewhere is $200.

Grab extra 1x NSF certified 50GPD reverse osmosis membrane and 1x in line mixed resin deionising post membrane DI filter, if you can.

 

Really easy to use.

- Connect one end of the supplied white hose to "Inlet" of the unit and the tap adapter.

- Connect one end of the supplied white hose to "Produce" of the unit and put a clean collection bucket under it to collect RO water.

- Connect one end of the supplied white hose to "Waste" of the unit to another bucket or straight into a drain. You can use the waste water for watering plants. Don't drink it however.

- turn your tap on full and flip the black lever on the tap adapter to send water through the RO/DI unit.

- then it's just a matter of waiting for the "Produce" bucket to fill up.

 

 

 

Edited by jayc
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10 minutes ago, sdlTBfanUK said:

. I would stick with your tap water (sorry JayC)

No offence taken. All valid opinions welcomed.

Waldodude, you can always try with your tap water until you are really determined to get an RO unit. As Simon said, your tap water is good enough for Cherry shrimps. And a few water changes without any Seiryu rocks should start reducing pH a bit. It's the cheapest option. However, as I said, that RO unit you found is very cheap!

 

 

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I think our posts crossed? You will want GH/KH+ with cherry shrimp and RO water. This obviously is the safest route to go as RO water will be void of everything and then you add back the GH/KH+ which is mixed at the perfect balance for the shrimp so there won't be any fluctuations as you may get with tap water. You can start bringing the PH down by using tap water whilst you wait for the RO unit and I would then just start doing 20% weekly water changes using the new RO remineralised water from that point in a regular routine which will gradually bring everything into line over time, rather than doing a massive/complete change, and this means you don't need to remove the fish/shrimps.

Look forward to hearing how it all goes!

Simon

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7 hours ago, WaldoDude said:

A TDS and a PH meter is on the way (got a bundle for <$20)

uhhhhh could you pretty please with a cherry shrimp on top send me a link to where you got that? I've been looking for a bundle that cheap for months!

In regards to your problem, I'm sorry to hear about your shrimp. I agree that the pH is too high, but that is probably not the main problem here. You may need to do some detective work, as nothing major besides pH is popping out for me.

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uhhhhh could you pretty please with a cherry shrimp on top send me a link to where you got that? I've been looking for a bundle that cheap for months!

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/383203322241 Here you go @Crabby didn't realise there was a timer but you have 44 minutes!
 

Quote

Waldodude, you can always try with your tap water until you are really determined to get an RO unit. As Simon said, your tap water is good enough for Cherry shrimps. And a few water changes without any Seiryu rocks should start reducing pH a bit. It's the cheapest option. However, as I said, that RO unit you found is very cheap!

I decided to go with it cause it was the cheapest I found and figured I could use it for my new 15 gallon! 
 

Quote

I think our posts crossed? You will want GH/KH+ with cherry shrimp and RO water. This obviously is the safest route to go as RO water will be void of everything and then you add back the GH/KH+ which is mixed at the perfect balance for the shrimp so there won't be any fluctuations as you may get with tap water. You can start bringing the PH down by using tap water whilst you wait for the RO unit and I would then just start doing 20% weekly water changes using the new RO remineralised water from that point in a regular routine which will gradually bring everything into line over time, rather than doing a massive/complete change, and this means you don't need to remove the fish/shrimps.

Thank you for the tips but yes I am going to try removing the stones and see how my tap water goes first, whilst I wait for my ro unit and get used to using it for my 15 gallon.

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So quick update:
I think I'm about to lose another shrimp, this time in the breeder box that I've moved them in. This male shrimp I noticed was swimming oddly yesterday (kind of lazily, even upside down at points) but then would also resume acting normally. Anyways today I noticed he was standing still, so I gave him a little nudge with a squirt from a pippette and he just fell on his side, didn't react at all. In the picture you can clearly see the "white ring of death" around him. He's still alive though as every now and then I can see him fan his legs. Not sure what I can do for him... Also I noticed that the other shrimp all huddle at the breeder box outtake (where've plugged some filter foam to stop cpd fry from swimming out), every now and then one or two of them would venture away. Although at night they definitely are out and about (1 shrimp even managed to escape the box somehow and back into the main tank. She seems to be the most active one, so i've let her be.) Not sure if these are symptoms of anything in particular. 

TDS and PH pen should come tomorrow. I've added cattapa leaves to the tank.

IMG-8871.jpg

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Sorry to hear you are still having this problem. I think it is a molting related issue, and the water isn't quite right if they are trying to get out.

The trouble with tap water is you don't know what is in it so you will be better off slowly transitioning to RO remineralised when you get the new unit as that will be ideal parameters always - tap water can change as well from time to time and you won't know. Going back to the original post, the parameters are only just acceptable but out of 'sync' a bit, ie KH uppermost limit, GH lowermost limit etc. I don't know how hot it is where you are but if you can get that temperature down to 22-23 that would be better as well as again, you were at the uppermost limit!

I hope you get the equipment before all the shrimps die off!

Simon

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I think it is moulting related issues as well based on that picture. At least we don't have the fish mangling the shrimp, so we can diagnose it properly. Thanks for moving them into a breeder box, even though it's a pain catching them.

If those stone have been removed, the water parameters should start improving. But the symptoms with the shrimps will continue for a big longer. 

I know you don't have RO water yet, but have you done a water change since removing the stones? Even with your tap water parameters, it should help a little with moving the tank's water parameters in the right direction. 

Canberra is about to get some rain on Friday. Maybe set some buckets out to collect some rain water and use that for water change. 

Simon also has a good point with temps. We are in winter here,  so moving temps down to 22-23 should not be a problem. I keep my CPDs at 23degC. So your's should acclimate well to that temp too. Plus it saves on electricity.

 

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Thank you both, 

Yep I've lowered my heater setting to 24C (which should give me 23C). Not sure why I had it up at 26C in the first place, i think because my thermometers designates 25/26 as a green spot which i associated with being ideal but a quick google search would've told me otherwise. 

The stones have been removed and cattapa leaves added but i havent done a water change yet as I had just done one a few days ago but I will do a small one tomorrow to begin that transition to a lower PH.

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Had another die today, I noticed something different. This female shrimp had just successfully molted in the breeder box then died about 15-20 minutes later. What was noticeably different was that she had a big black growth coming out of her shell as you can see in the picture. Havent seen this before. Is that normal?

IMG-8902.jpg

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Sorry to hear that! It's definitely not normal in any way. Are you sure it is a growth and not a baby snail or leech type critter, it's a bit blurred to get a clear idea? Snails soon find anyrhing dead......

Simon

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Sorry for the blurry picture but definitely not a snail or slug, I keep them out of the breederbox. Kinda looked like an algae wafer that's been left for a bit but darker ? Could it just be the organs you'd normally see in the shrimp's head area under the shell? Don't know what would've made it come out like that though...

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So got my TDS pen today. Tank water is 100 tds. Which is at the lowest end for cherry shrimp i believe.

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25 minutes ago, WaldoDude said:

Tank water is 100 tds

Something is weird with your water parameters.

For TDS100 , I would have expected pH, GH and KH to be lower.

Can you measure your tap water TDS?

Alternatively, you might need to "condition" your TDS meter. Let it sit in the water with with a little bit of water, enough to cover the TDS probes. Let it sit in water for 10-20 minutes, then test your tank water again.

Check that the probe is straight and not slightly bent. 

Edited by jayc
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So tap water TDS is 54, after conditioning it as you said, my tank water measures 103 TDS this time. I did do a 30% water change last night.

Edited by WaldoDude
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1 hour ago, WaldoDude said:

my tank water measures 103 TDS this time. I did do a 30% water change last night.

Ok, that makes more sense. That means your earlier measurement for pH, GH and KH does not count anymore, as it will most likely have changed. 

Retest pH, GH and KH.

Write down your parameters to keep track of it. 

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Ok so:
Ph: 7.8 (looks like a 7.8 in the light, looks like a 8 when not in the light, but a 7.8 makes more sense i think) 
KH: 3
GH: 4

Looks like progress, how often should I do a water change to slowly bring down the ph

Cheers!

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As you say, the figures are coming down but that means the TDS and GH are getting too low really for cherry shrimp so I wouldn't keep doing extra water changes over your normal routine until you have a definitive plan, stick to your weekly usual for now. Make sure new water is added sowly as well!

You could continue with the tap water but would need to get some GH+ to bring the new water TDS and GH up, but thats a bit impractical if you plan to transfer to RO water soon anyway as that requires a different remineraliser.

With the RO water you will need to get GH/KH+ before you can use the RO water! The RO water remineralised is the safest way to get and keep the ideal water parameters as tap water can change from different areas and at different times of the year. As JayC mentioned, you could collect rainwater in the meantime but that would still require GH/KH+ I expect otherwise the TDS and GH (and KH) will drop even lower?

You will be able to check the TDS pen with the RO water as it should be 000 (or very very close) TDS.

Simon

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      Good to have an update and good to hear you are getting shrimplets, so hopefully your colony will continue and you may not get to the point where you have to cull some to stop over population. These type of shrimp only live 12 - 18 months so the adult deaths may be natural? If you have the time I would do weekly 25% water changes, adding the new water via a drip system and do some vacuuming clean of the substrate each week, even if only a different bit each week! See if that helps in a few months and if it does then stick with that regime? It should help reduce any build-ups that may be occuring!
    • beanbag
      Hello again, much belated update: The tank still has "cycles" of 1-2 month "good streaks" where everybody seems to be doing well, and then a bad streak where the short antenna problem shows up again, and a shrimp dies once every few days.  I am not sure what causes things to go bad, but usually over the course of a few days I will start to see more shrimp quietly standing on the HMF filter, and so I know something is wrong.  Since I am not "doing anything" besides the regular 1-2 week water changes, I just assume that something bad is building up.  Here's a list of things that I've tried that are supposed to be "can't hurt" but didn't prevent the problem either: Dose every other day with Shrimp Fit (very small dose, and the shrimp seem to like it) Sotching Oxydator Seachem Purigen to keep the nitrates lower Keeping the pH below 5.5 with peat Things that I don't do often, so could possibly "reset" the tank back to a good streak, are gravel vac and plant trim, so maybe time to try those again. One other problem I used to have was that sometimes a shrimp would suddenly stop eating with a full or partially full digestive tract that doesn't clear out, and then the shrimp will die within a few days.  I suspected it was one of the foods in my rotation - Shrimp Nature Infection, which contains a bunch of herbal plant things.  I've had this in my food rotation for a few years now and generally didn't seem to cause problems, but I removed it from the rotation anyway.  I don't have a lot of adult Golden Bees at this point so I can't really tell if it worked or not. Overall the tank is not too bad - during the good streaks occasionally a shrimp will get berried and hatch babies with a 33-50% survival rate.  So while there are fewer adults now, there are also a bunch of babies roaming around.  I guess this tank will stagger on, but I really do need to take the time to start up a new tank.  (or figure out the problem)
    • jayc
      If that is the offspring, then the parents are unlikely to be PRL. I tend to agree with you. There are very few PRLs in Australia. And any that claim to be needs to show proof. PRL genes have to start as PRL. CRS that breed true after x generations doesn't turn it into a PRL. Neither can a Taiwan bee shrimp turn into a PRL despite how ever many generations. I've never seen a PRL with that sort of red colour. I have on Red Wines and Red Shadows - Taiwan bee shrimps. So somewhere down the line one of your shrimp might have been mixed with Taiwan bees and is no longer PRL. It just tanks one shrimp to mess up the genes of a whole colony. 
    • sdlTBfanUK
      Sorry, missed this one somehow! The PRL look fantastic and the odd ones look part PRL and part Red wine/Red shadow in the colour. They are still very beautiful but ideally should be seperated to help keep the PRL clean if you can do that.  Nice clear photos!
    • GtWalker97
      Hi SKF!   So I bought some PRL (or at least they were sold as such. These claims are dubious in Australia as people don't know much about the genetics, nor do they care as long as they can make a quick buck). After 8 generations of breeding true, I'm having around 1 in 200 throw a much darker red. They almost look like Red Shadows, but I don't know too much about those types of hybrid. Can anyone help with ID'ing the gene?   TIA (First 2 pics are the weird throws, second photo is their siblings and the last photo is the parents)
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