Please help unknown deaths

[blackcat]

Check the other forum sponsors.

or get the 1000 gram container.

I have bought the GH + bee shrimp mineral from aquakits hope this is the right one lol sheish so much learning to do ....

Hubby will go and get the ro unit connections tomorrow along with a water storage container...

[blackcat]

just don't get anymore new shrimp until you notice things have calmed down (you will be tempted to replace the lost ones ASAP trust me I know!)...May want to get some live beneficial bacteria to help in the mean time' date=' unless you have a separate mature tank (you can move most prized shrimp to temporarily) and assuming all water params are ideal then there is nothing much you can do but wait it out. Maybe you can chuck in a big bag of quality carbon just in case it is a case of toxins?[/quote']

I will try to not buy any more shrimp and after the amounts I spent on setup I dont think I can pay for any more atm as it is....

Thanks for the help and I will keep you posted ....

Oh and no I unfortunately dont have a spare tank these two are the only tanks for the crs/cbs I have

[MrShrimp]

I will try to not buy any more shrimp and after the amounts I spent on setup I dont think I can pay for any more atm as it is....

Thanks for the help and I will keep you posted ....

Oh and no I unfortunately dont have a spare tank these two are the only tanks for the crs/cbs I have

Ive been trying to tell you to slow down when buying crystals from the beginning as summer is comming which makes it much harder compare to winter. For now just breed with what you got and if you can grow crystal shrimplets in summer, then your on the right track for a big colony.

[jayc]

The tanks have been set up since july I guess and no i was told not to gravel clean as it can cause ammonia spikes. ? is this not true? due to the fact that I have a lot of evaporative loss i have not done water changes either I just test perams fortnightly and have always come up as perfect.

Have you been going 3 months with your tanks without water changes?

What tests are you doing? There is no way to test ALL parameters for healthy environment.

Ammonia, nitrite, nitrate is only part of the tests, but there are more.

[Garnelchen]

Hello Blackcat

I'm going 100% with what BlueBolts says!

I suspect that your tapwater is very soft (just like mine). If your Carbonate Hardness is low (as your KH Test is indicating) it is highly unlikely that the GH is high.

My guess is, that your water is so soft, that there is no colour change at all and what you are seeing as a pale yellow is, in fact, the green you are looking for.

I just tried it with my own tap water and I totally agree, that the green can be seen as a pale yellow and no change will happen.

The reason why Mr Shrimp's test looks different, is that his water does contain Mg and Ca Ions (those are the ones that we are trying to measure with the GH test) for the colour indicator to react with and thus creating a more intense colour.

With very soft water the test is pretty useless!

[blackcat]

Thanks for that ... I just want to know how to fix it .... I now know that the tank water is soft the tds is too high, I should be using RO and salty shrimp, and doing water change, and remove most of the plant life BUT I dont even know where to start fixing it, its not the heat or overcrowding I have lost another 2 crs adults today and have removed a few plants tonight and deposited them into the goldfish tank. So when the salty shrimp arrives ill be ready to start making ro and getting some water mineralized however how much of a water change shoukd I do ? Should I gravel vac ? If yes how much ? So many questions

[Squiggle]

If you're using shrimp soil you never gravel vac :encouragement: When you get your minerals, take all the shrimp out & change all the water then slowly reacclimatize(drip method) the shrimp to the new water over a few hours, this way they will have the proper WP as quick as possible & suffer the least stress :victorious:

[blackcat]

Ok thanks squiggle im worried that I have some new new babies in there only born in the last few days... how do manage them?

[Squiggle]

Carefully, very carefully :encouragement:

[blackcat]

:-) careful I shall be, thank you :-)

I heard elmer fud when I read that lol

[Garnelchen]

Thanks for that ... I just want to know how to fix it .... I now know that the tank water is soft the tds is too high' date=' I should be using RO and salty shrimp, and doing water change, and remove most of the plant life BUT I dont even know where to start fixing it, its not the heat or overcrowding I have lost another 2 crs adults today and have removed a few plants tonight and deposited them into the goldfish tank. So when the salty shrimp arrives ill be ready to start making ro and getting some water mineralized however how much of a water change shoukd I do ? Should I gravel vac ? If yes how much ? So many questions[/quote']

Deniz, I doubt that your TDS is high if you're on tank water and your KH and GH are close to 0.

Tankwater is basicly rainwater and unless you have a concrete tank there is little chance that there are any disolved solids/minerals in it. I wouldn't even worry about filtering the water because if it's rainwater, there is hardly anything in it to remove.

So for a start use the salty shrimp with your water changes. I would do daily water changes of max. 5% and thus slowly increasing the TDS and the GH until you have perfect parameters for your shrimp.

[Garnelchen]

If you're using shrimp soil you never gravel vac :encouragement: When you get your minerals' date=' take all the shrimp out & change all the water then slowly reacclimatize(drip method) the shrimp to the new water over a few hours, this way they will have the proper WP as quick as possible & suffer the least stress :victorious:[/quote']

Yes, or you could use the drip method. I forgot about that. :) although I would spare the shrimp the additional stress of being caught, removed from and reintroduced back into their tank. But Squiggs method is the quickest way of getting things right. :encouragement:

and as Squiggs says....do not use gravel or rocks in your shrimp tanks if you are not 100% sure that they are innert (if they are not, they will increase your TDS)

[blackcat]

Deniz' date=' I doubt that your TDS is high if you're on tank water and your KH and GH are close to 0.

Tankwater is basicly rainwater and unless you have a concrete tank there is little chance that there are any disolved solids/minerals in it. I wouldn't even worry about filtering the water because if it's rainwater, there is hardly anything in it to remove.

So for a start use the salty shrimp with your water changes. I would do daily water changes of max. 5% and thus slowly increasing the TDS and the GH until you have perfect parameters for your shrimp.[/quote']

Im sorry you misunderstood me im not on any tank water at all. I meant the tank water as in the shrimp tank water :-)

[shrimpstan]

really sorry to hear of ur losses blackcat,

just one tip... don't change everything at once like WC, ripping out plants adding this and adding that to compensate for what u think might be the problem. while doing WC u will need to maintain sufficient biofilm from plants etc.. if the plants are healthy and u dont add ferts then id keep them in there for now as they can help by absorbing nitrates, which may occur if u have any ammonia from any unseen deaths. try to make any change gradual and ride it out. also if ur going to do big WC just remember RO takes a long ass time to make so dont drop the water until u have what u need to fill it back up.

goodluck!!

[blackcat]

really sorry to hear of ur losses blackcat' date='

just one tip... don't change everything at once like WC, ripping out plants adding this and adding that to compensate for what u think might be the problem. while doing WC u will need to maintain sufficient biofilm from plants etc.. if the plants are healthy and u dont add ferts then id keep them in there for now as they can help by absorbing nitrates, which may occur if u have any ammonia from any unseen deaths. try to make any change gradual and ride it out. also if ur going to do big WC just remember RO takes a long ass time to make so dont drop the water until u have what u need to fill it back up.

goodluck!![/quote']

Thanks heaps for the advice, it is sad to see and you do want to make it all ok all at once but having said that I also know that too many changes can be deadly so I am waiting for my salty shrimp to come and in the mean time will source some storage containers for the RO water and start production over the weekend ....

In the meantime i have added PRIME .... 2.5 ml between the 2 x 84 L tanks.... as the normal dose is 5ml per 200L I figure this would be a safe dose for them ... here is to hoping I have no more losses till I get my RO and shrimp mineral going.

[Squiggle]

Bunnings have 25L wide lid drums for about $15-$20, I use these cause they aren't too heavy when full. :encouragement:

[blackcat]

Tgank you so much Squiggle your help is always amazing !

[shrimpstan]

If u find an aussie disposal store somewhere i got my 20l for jus $11!! The mixture on the salty shrimp is one full scoop to 20l and then really aerate the mixture before adding to the tanks.. and also when u store the RO

[blackcat]

Bunnings have 25L wide lid drums for about $15-$20' date=' I use these cause they aren't too heavy when full. :encouragement:[/quote']I have lashed out and bought .....There is a stand that ot sits on ... each of my tanks is 84 L this ill make it easy to store :-) as the capacity is 100L ... so how long can the ro be stored and do I srore it mineralized or unmineralized ?

[Squiggle]

That's the tank I have for my auto water change top up water, they are awesome! :triumphant:

[BlueBolts]

Great work blackcat ! You've taken your shrimp keeping to another level :-)

[blackcat]

That's the tank I have for my auto water change top up water' date=' they are awesome! :triumphant:[/quote']Killycory has a video on youtube that shows him doing topups via tanks on the top of his racks .... weellllll I was thinking if I can work out how to do it I could have the same system as currently I have 2 empty tanks on the top shelf of the rack ... here is a pic I just have to work out exactly how to rig it up :-) Thanks couldnt do it without the forum members Encouragement and Advice... Do you think I should store just the RO in that tank or mix it in there and keep it already mineralized ???The RO unit will be getting its first run tomorrow ;-)

[Wraithie]

We keep RO in one of those :) make sure you mount them high enough to be able to get your buckets under the tap

[Squiggle]

I took the little breather out of the top of the lid & I have a airline running through the hole & it mixes the minerals in for me. :victorious:

You could use the top tanks but you will need to either put a hole & a tap in the bottom of the tanks or a hose system to siphon the water, it's definitely a good idea. :encouragement: You'll also have to get a small pump to get the water up there. :congratulatory:

[MrShrimp]

Here is another option. When you hook up your RO unit, buy some airline tube that is long enough from you RO unit to the top tank on your rack. This could be all the Way across the room/house. Then fill the holding tank on top of your rack directly from you RO unit (will take hours). When it's full, mix the salty shrimp untill you get the correct TDS reading. Now the two holding is ready to use without any effort. To do a water change, siphon the tank below( shrimp tank). Then get an air line tube and hook it from the holding tank to the shrimp tank with a plastic value/tap to control the flow. The down side of this is if you forget about the drip, it wil overflow your shrimp tank.to fix that you can get a auto top device( $35)that sits inside of you shrimp tank. It will stop the water fflow from your holding tank when the water level has reach your desire setting. I'm not sure if this makes any sense :(