Very nice dude, fantastic pattern!

Ha ha ha! She is a beauty but need to thank master Chi for letting her go to my Area 51.

My shrimp luck has taken a bad turn. The little buggers are dying one by one. First I thought it was low ph 5.2 and they were ok after a water change that got them closer to 6

It seems my soil is very acidic. It rapidly goes down to stabilise at 5.2

I don't have many leaves in there say one at a time....

Then I thought it was Hydra killing them but after quarantine in a clean tank I still had a death.... Dread going home to check today :(

I think the other consideration is my batch of salty shrimp mineral.

Could it be a bad batch?

I never had any deaths when I made my own mix of salts .

When I ran the tanks at TDS of 180 I had no problems.

Following the instruction of salty it mixes to TDS of around 125 each time.

Racking my brains!

Think I will rescape / reset my Cade 900 and simply forget about the breeding rack and forge on.

Just curious, is your tank 2-3 months old?

Mineral powder may be needed! Sorry to hear this has happened slin, it's horrible to go through but with persistence it should settle down.

@jayc , mate I think the breeding rack is three plus months old . I think that over feeding caused the hydra... After putting them in a bare bottom tank I can see how little they really eat.

@newbreed , might need to look into some mineral powder. Just want to see them happy.

Bummer dude, it's never good to come home to dead shrimpies. :(

Fully getting ready for my new tank reset this afternoon , fully sponsored by BeniBachi!

Cade 900 turning into the shrimp cage with my hybrid endlers going onto the breeding rack for some more genetic exploration. I also think I want to set a strain that I developed.

Keep you posted with pics?

Damn, that's terrible news :-( Extra frustrating not knowing the cause / issue. The benibachi soil with mineral powder on the base works exceptionally well for me. Keep us posted, and when things have settled, il send ya some replacements....

Good onya Bluebolts, you're a GEM!!!!!!

You are a legend BB ! On a second positive note I have cherry bomb explosion to try catch out of the Cade....

And then you find that 1 in a thousand cherry ... Blue body , red tail feathers hahaha!

@BlueBolts - do you use RO water in your BeniBachi soil tanks?

Thanks for the tip regarding the mineral powder... How much should I put in under the soil?

I hope your efforts reward better results soon slin. I am sorry to hear of your losses and I know that with perseverance you will get there. 

@BlueBolts - do you use RO water in your BeniBachi soil tanks?

Thanks for the tip regarding the mineral powder... How much should I put in under the soil?

This is the recommended benibachi tank set up....

Setting up a new aquarium ready for shrimp has never been so easy, thanks to Benibachi. For a basic set up you are going to need 5 items, Benibachi Mineral Powder, Benibachi BeeMax, Benibachi Fulvic Grain, Benibachi Active Water and Benibachi Black Soil.

Step By Step Guide

Sprinkle a generous layer of BeeMax on the base of the aquarium.

Add a thin layer of substrate over the Beemax.

Spread a generous layer of mineral powder over the substrate.

Now add the remaining substrate to achieve your desired depth. (recommended substrate thickness of 2-4″ in total)

Now sprinkle the entire packet of Fulvic Grain over the substrate.

Connect your filter, lighting and air stone to the aquarium.

Fill the aquarium with reverse osmosis water, making sure you do not disturb the substrate when doing so.

Add your moss and any selected hardscape such as rocks and wood.

Now add the Benibachi Active Water to help kick start the bacteria cycle in the aquarium.

Now let the aquarium cycle until you get readings of 0 for ammonia and nitrite.

Add the shrimp when you are happy with water conditions.

It really is as easy as that! When filling the aquarium for the first time it is fine to use 100% pure RO water. The combination of Benibachi Mineral Powder, Fulvic Grains and Benibachi substrate in the aquarium will help buffer the water to the desired water parameters.

Personally, I just sprinkle the entire tank base with the mineral powder, and then the soil....always use RO. Tap water will prematurely exhaust the buffering capacity of the soil.

Awesome stuff BB, exactly what I do to setup a new tank. You should start a new thread with this in it & I'll make it a sticky.

Thanks for the encouragement @FishBeast

Cheers BB for that info!

And @Squiggle love is all around in this friendly forum, thanks for stopping by this thread ;-)

This is the recommended benibachi tank set up....

Setting up a new aquarium ready for shrimp has never been so easy, thanks to Benibachi. For a basic set up you are going to need 5 items, Benibachi Mineral Powder, Benibachi BeeMax, Benibachi Fulvic Grain, Benibachi Active Water and Benibachi Black Soil.

Step By Step Guide

Sprinkle a generous layer of BeeMax on the base of the aquarium.

Add a thin layer of substrate over the Beemax.

Spread a generous layer of mineral powder over the substrate.

Now add the remaining substrate to achieve your desired depth. (recommended substrate thickness of 2-4″ in total)

Now sprinkle the entire packet of Fulvic Grain over the substrate.

Connect your filter, lighting and air stone to the aquarium.

Fill the aquarium with reverse osmosis water, making sure you do not disturb the substrate when doing so.

Add your moss and any selected hardscape such as rocks and wood.

Now add the Benibachi Active Water to help kick start the bacteria cycle in the aquarium.

Now let the aquarium cycle until you get readings of 0 for ammonia and nitrite.

Add the shrimp when you are happy with water conditions.

It really is as easy as that! When filling the aquarium for the first time it is fine to use 100% pure RO water. The combination of Benibachi Mineral Powder, Fulvic Grains and Benibachi substrate in the aquarium will help buffer the water to the desired water parameters.

Personally, I just sprinkle the entire tank base with the mineral powder, and then the soil....always use RO. Tap water will prematurely exhaust the buffering capacity of the soil.

This is the recommended benibachi tank set up....

Setting up a new aquarium ready for shrimp has never been so easy, thanks to Benibachi. For a basic set up you are going to need 5 items, Benibachi Mineral Powder, Benibachi BeeMax, Benibachi Fulvic Grain, Benibachi Active Water and Benibachi Black Soil.

Step By Step Guide

Sprinkle a generous layer of BeeMax on the base of the aquarium.

Add a thin layer of substrate over the Beemax.

Spread a generous layer of mineral powder over the substrate.

Now add the remaining substrate to achieve your desired depth. (recommended substrate thickness of 2-4″ in total)

Now sprinkle the entire packet of Fulvic Grain over the substrate.

Connect your filter, lighting and air stone to the aquarium.

Fill the aquarium with reverse osmosis water, making sure you do not disturb the substrate when doing so.

Add your moss and any selected hardscape such as rocks and wood.

Now add the Benibachi Active Water to help kick start the bacteria cycle in the aquarium.

Now let the aquarium cycle until you get readings of 0 for ammonia and nitrite.

Add the shrimp when you are happy with water conditions.

It really is as easy as that! When filling the aquarium for the first time it is fine to use 100% pure RO water. The combination of Benibachi Mineral Powder, Fulvic Grains and Benibachi substrate in the aquarium will help buffer the water to the desired water parameters.

Personally, I just sprinkle the entire tank base with the mineral powder, and then the soil....always use RO. Tap water will prematurely exhaust the buffering capacity of the soil.

Even this monkey could be a bee keeper!

Instructions followed ... Time to get wet.

Sadly still losing 1 every two days, even in quarantine with perfect water conditions.

Thinking that the Cade will need to be stocked with a fresh tribe of bees.

If only you knew what a setback this has been to my program and what beaut animals are no longer in Area 51 :-(

I reckon it is the 3+ month syndrome again.

Have you ever dosed extra Calcium sulphate and Magnesium?

It's not ammonia/nitrite, temps, tds or pH.

Have you tested Ca & Mg levels yet?

Might add a pinch of those elements you mentioned @jayc

Have you added any new shrimp to the tank before getting the deaths?

Im glad to see the f2 tibee mumma is doing well in your care.

Have you added any new shrimp to the tank before getting the deaths?

Im glad to see the f2 tibee mumma is doing well in your care.

Sorry for the late reply , sadly two days later she left Area 51 :-(

Followed by a cull CRS a couple days later.

It seems that was the last death in the colony , it's not easy reporting losses but with these events experience grows.

Area 51 has been shut and taken over by my Endlers for the rest of the year.

Shrimp antics will take place in the Cade once the cycle is complete.

We wait and wonder what direction to go.

Sorry to hear but we all go through times of devastation, perserverance is what is required in this hobby. It may take a few goes but you will be rewarded if you keep at it in the end. Learn from personal experiences as what may work for others may not be the same as what may work for you. When i first started i listened to others and tried to match to their water parameters perfectly. Constantly playing around with the wp- ph, tds, gh, kh, magnisium, calcium, etc... killed many shrimp before just relaxing and let them be as long as the wp aren't ridiculous the shrimp will adjust fine.