Dying CRS

[yowie05]

as title says i have had a spate of deaths in the last couple weeks and i am at a loss as to what is happening the parameters seem fine

[ATTACH=CONFIG]512[/ATTACH]these have been like this the whole time have had this running

ph id say 6.6

Kh 0-1

Gh 5

TDS 184 lowest reading have had was about 150 highest was 214 over the last 2 weeks

using RO water with saltyshrimp mineralizer and an oxydator up aqua shrimp soil, filter is a 4 foot tank adapted sump with bio balls and noodles these are not very old but have got my 2213/eden 501 and 3 sponges that were in the seperate tanks all running on the system as well, 3 x 2foot tanks housing shrimp

this is my rack setup so i have all my shrimp in there.there is 2 ss CBS males now 1 lonely SS CRS male 2 S/SS females berried 1 white/golden female berried, numerous shrimplets from newborn to about 2-3mm and there is about 7female YCS and 2 male YCS with 30-40 shrimplets. i have eggs from 4 dead females tumbling but not lookin good

i have had die 4 golden/white female 1 white male 4 s/SS females 5 a/b grades CRS males and 3 a/b CRS females. no yellow deaths as yet and the CBS are ok atm. 1 male yellow has a very white internal body from back of head to his tail. have noticed and removed a couple of leeches out of 1 of the 3 tanks nothing in the others, last 1 was a week ago might still be more in there. the females that have died have all been berried and i think it was there 2nd berry that they dying on. the majority of males have been in a sepperate tank to females as only wanted the best looking/grade males to breed

am feeding bee pollen,barley grass powder, mullberry leaves, tuscan kale leaves, shirakura pellet, ocean nutrition shrimp pellets, hikari shrimp pellets, have put a couple of stinging nettle leaves in.

their colour seems ok their white dont look clearish/opaque as if they are stressed. Ive been reading as much as i can find on the net and ive got nothin,it all seems fine so im about to give up on the rest of these. really shitting me to tears going down to the fishroom to find another dead shrimp

[Sprae]

From what I can see, deaths might be caused by a few thing happening;

- High TDS or EC, but we don't know the EC level.

- pH 6.6 is ok, but not optimal

- Also looks to me low ppm Ammonia is present

How regular do you WC? I find that since doing top ups only, my loses have been kept at a minimum.

[yowie05]

hi Sprae thanks. i havent done a WC on the system as yet just do the topp ups. was thinkng that about the ammonia is y i posted the pic.i didnt think the TDS was too high from what i been reading i was meant to say TDS was 174 misclicked but whether 10 makes a diff not sure

looking at having to change my substrate but will need someting that can house shrimps straight away so what are my options there?

[Jess]

Oh on! So sorry to hear you've been losing some :(

It does look like you might be some ammonia there. I have trouble reading those test kits (I have the same one), but when ammonia is 0 the solution is pretty obviously yellow. If it has even the slightest greenish look to it, I assume there's some ammonia there. Maybe you could do a retest just to be sure?

Hopefully that is all it is! Maybe you could add some Seachem Prime or other ammonia-neutralizing conditioner to protect them just in case?

[yowie05]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]513[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]514[/ATTACH]

after retest and the lone male

may have been getting a tinge from the glass tank behind?

[ATTACH=CONFIG]515[/ATTACH]

thanks guys

[Brado]

perhaps try a uv clarifier mate.. dean put me onto these a few weeks ago and no death since, worked for me as all my water parameters were the same as yours i didnt know what to do.

its worth a try.. goodluck with it all mate

[yowie05]

hey Brado thx mate have been looking at the UV sterilizers. is there a difference between a clarifier and sterilizer?

[Brado]

i dont think so but i could be wrong....

[Triggs]

Up Aqua shrimp sand is safe to use instantly. I tested it daily when I first added it and never had a sign of Ammonia or anything at all.

Another option would be Benibachi fulvic grain. Might help with the deaths also?