My favourite CRS just died

[Sprae]

Quite sad today. My favourite SS just died.

[Loach]

:sorrow:

I feel for you Sprae, lets hope this dosent happen again.

[Jess]

Really sorry to hear that Sprae:( Was she quite old?

I'm sure she had a very good life at least.

[Sprae]

Not sure if its old age. I also had a death yesterday on a old A grade female.

Current water tests

GH 6

Ammonia = 0

Nitrate = 0

Nitrite = 0

pH = 6.2

TDS = 166

EC = 360

All I can think of is the EC is too high.

[BlueBolts]

Noooo!

The WP seems fine, TDS is not the issue....just reflect on the past 48 hours on whether any actions may have had an influence.... i.e. water changes, top ups etc.... The 3 factors I always check for are moulting (was the shrimps body soft/mushy to touch - moulting issue), Nitrate and sudden changes/shock with water changes or top ups.

Having a nano tank, ensuring trace amounts of minerals is critical too...I religiously add mineral powder every 2/3 weeks, and other powders and liquids, BUT only in minute amounts to ensure some trace is within the water column. Hobbyist with lager tanks, may not have these issues, due larger volumes of water, BUT, the theory may result in suddenly causing the tank to crash. With nano's the maintenance is different, and ensuring traces of minerals etc is critical....IMHO.

I had some moulting/colour depth issues a while ago, and started research on GH, and the Ca:Mg ratio that is ideal for shrimps.....conclusion was a 4:1 or 3:1 ratio of Ca:Mg......my tank tested 1:1, and started adding CaSO4, to creat. 4:1 ratio....worked great, shrimps stopped moulting issues, and deaths almost eliminated etc.... Anyway, I was pre-mixing /diluting the CaSo4, and poured it into the tank, and at the same time, my fav CBS swam into the pour ! Sadly, I found it dead the very next day. Attributed it to the sudden change/sock of the CaSO4....like us walking through a hydro peroxide shower I guess.....so the lesson is whether it be TDS, Temp, Minerals .... Ensure any new water intro into our tanks are slow and subtle....obviously nano tanks are much more susceptible to this issue.

Good luck.

[jts]

sorry to hear that sprae

thanks bluebolts for the great tips, hope that works for sprae too

[lachie1998]

Sorry for your loss Sprae:sorrow:

Some great info there from BB

[Sprae]

Past 48 hrs;

- Top up water RO mix that is lower EC at 180us. Trying to lower the EC from 360us.

- Fed a special food mix in small amount

Any of these 2 variables could have killed my shrimp.

I think the trace minerals are quite adequate in my tank since starting the saltyshrimp mineral mix to RO water top up. I may have had too little mineral added to the mix as I thought it could be a way to lower EC. But I'll adjust it to 330us next time just to make sure it's not too great a difference.

[HexaD]

i know how u feel Sprae! I lost my SSS this week too..

[Gbang]

feel for you mate. i lost a very precious cbs this week as well. sometimes it happens. :( very sad indeed. my condolences.

and bb thanks for all that info

[yowie05]

yep feel for ya mate. sux to lose anything to death especially when all looks ok

[Sprae]

Got back from a busy day to find another dead CRS SS! Devastated without knowing what is wrong with my tank. I'm not sure I can stand losing any more quality shrimps.

[Dean]

mate, what are you doing ??? everything was going so well!

have you added any new shrimp to the tank recently?

are they all the same age/size?

[doctr-dan]

Must be something in the air, Foxpuppet has lost about 10 this week and Ive lost about 5

[blindfisherman]

On the whole 'something in the air' track, my girlfriend saw this thread and suggested that maybe wives/neighbours/you even :) are doing a spring clean now the weather is warming up?

[Guest Benny]

Sorry to hear your losses mate. Hope all works well.

[emboli]

Sorry for your loss buddy.

I hate when that happens

[Sprae]

The deaths stopped after a 20% WC last weekend. Fingers cross they will be fine from now on.

On the plus side, the WC have induced more berried shrimps :encouragement:

I'll add the chiller next weekend as the weather is starting to warm up here in Melbourne. It was 27c today!

[BlueBolts]

Great...did you figure what the issue/cause was Sprae ? What was the total death count ? Berried grips are always a good sign...phew

[Sprae]

Great...did you figure what the issue/cause was Sprae ? What was the total death count ? Berried grips are always a good sign...phew

Death count is 6 CRS (3 SS adults, 1 S juvenile, 2 A adults).

Still don't know the definitive source of death but high probable causes;

- Cleaners sprayed something into the air and affect the tank

- Bacteria infection introduced by new shrimps

Thanks to everyone's support. This hobby can be damn stressful sometimes and you guys really help.

[bailey88]

Just throwing this out there any planaria???

[Sprae]

Just throwing this out there any planaria???

I've got minimal planaria in the tank, and seriously don't think that they killed any of them. I do inspections on all deaths and none of them have any planaria on them either.