Just found one of my SSS i traded 2ofus for dead unexpectedly so fearing something may have gone wrong in my tank as my shrimp have not been eating alot lately i did a quick test.

 

This is what i came up with.

 

PH 7.2+

Nitrite - 0 

Amonia - 0 

Nitrate - 0 

Calc - 75ppm

KH - 2

GH 12-13 

 

Nothing is sticking out to me, i know ph could be lower but my shrimp soil is now inert.

Can anyone see anything that i am missing? Did my last water change on Sunday so not sure if my GH is affected by all the stuff i put into the tank which is not out of the ordinary.

 

Ultimately i am hoping its a one off death, just the fact they been off their eating is slightly concerning

PH 7.2+

Nitrite - 0 

Amonia - 0 

Nitrate - 0 

Calc - 75ppm

KH - 2

GH 12-13 

 

GH will be an issue if they can't moult properly. It should range between 6-10 to be safe. PH isn't a big issue with crystal as long as it's slowly changed over time, but 6.5+ is a big problem for T-bees.

Yeah, the only thing that stands out is the GH value. A bit high.

 

How old is the tank? And how long has the shrimp been in it?

This tank is nearly two years old, the only thing that has changed is i got some rocks with mini pelia on it.

 

I think last time i checked my parameters about 3-4 weeks ago the gh was around 4-6. 

GH 4-6 is ideal.

Something has changed since you last tested that water.

From the Calcium reading in your tank you must be dosing Ca and possibly Mg.

 

Are you adding Calcium?

If so, what type? Calcium Carbonate? or Calcium Sulphate?

 

Calcium Carbonate (CaCO3), will raise GH. Whereas, CaSO4 won't raise GH (as much).

 

Magnesium Sulphate will also raise GH, without altering KH.

Use a ratio of 1:3 with Ca.

 

Are you adding too much Mg?

 

Is the rock the mini pellia is growing on a Limestone rock? Limestone will also leach carbonates and increases GH (as well as pH and KH).

Edited September 2, 201411 yr by jayc

No i dont think its limestone. All i dose is the liquid IAL, shrimp minerals, salty shrimp and some other benibachi products.

What's your TDS measurement?

If GH is high, TDS will likely be high as well.

 

Either way, time for a pure RO water change.

It was like 180 when i did water change and i added straight RO water. I have room to add just straight RP water cause my tank is only 2/3rds full.

 

Will just check it again as i forgot to today lol

My TDS is 180 so its normal for what i normally run my tank

So, is this a new shrimp that was introduced into the tank, recently?

It might not have handled the change in parameters from it's original conditions.

If no other shrimp is dying, then that might the the reason.

Its the first one i have noticed dead, dont know if there is more in the plants. been in there a week and a half two weeks 

Hey Oz, sorry to hear of your loss.. CRS from 2OFUS are always nice and sad to loose.

 

For me I've noticed that once the GH is 8+ problems become inevitable. The problems wont show immediately but soon starts to become apparent.

 

Maybe adding a half or full pack of fulvic grains may solve PH and GH issues without effecting other WP's.

 

Worth a try for $20?

GH is the issue IMO...Ive kept  TB's at PH 7.5 without issues. Water stability/acclimatisation is critical. Shrimplet survival is another issue, but moulting at that high of a GH will be an issue.

So what would be the best and safest way to drop it ?

Water change with pure RO, no Salty Shrimp.

I have to agree that the GH is way too high, as mentioned, the ideal is 4-6dGH & I think you Ca is causing this. I have done the math & researched the Ca:Mg ratio & the ideal, according to a lot of breeders & literature, is 3.6:1. At that ratio, for every 1dGH you should have 5ppm of Ca, so your Ca being at 75ppm is very high, this will inevitably cause the high GH &, as already has been suggested, the only way to lower it will be to do WC's with pure RO.

No worries I will have to add some ro water tonight

It's strange how you are getting Ca so high with no extra dosing of CaSO4.

 

Go through your list of things added to the tank.

 

You've already mentioned these ...

liquid IAL, (unlikely cause)

shrimp minerals, (possibly, list them)

salty shrimp (likely if dosing too much)

and some other benibachi products (what products?)

I just did a partial water change, took out about 30 litres of water and re added about 20-5 of pure RO. Saw my first CRS shrimplet in the tank whilst i was gravel vaccing. Fingers crossed doing this doesnt cause any deaths.

 

I dose salty shrimp to bring my tds to 140-160 to slowly bring it down.

The minerals i dose i got from newbreed and believe they are the benebachi ones, the grey sandy looking one and then the other one looks a bit like bee pollen.

also add genchem beta G 

 

I will retest the GH tomorrow night as i got a whole one day off after i get home tomorrow night

Edited September 5, 201411 yr by OzShrimp

Well i thought f&^% it and retested bearing in mind its a 4ft and i took the test water from the side i dumped the RO water in, my test result was a GH level of 7.

 

So considerably less. I will still retest tomorrow night 

Lost another two girls last night and one was heavily berried, had nothing to cut the eggs out though and float them in unfortunately.

The joys of shrimp keeping

That's a bummer Oz. I just lost 2 berried mischling girls in a satelite breeding box yet the 3 others were fine. As you say the joys of shrimp keeping.

Hope you get it sorted - trouble is you often have fixed the problem but the stress still kills a few more before they all get settled into the new WP's. I had similar problems in my big tank with the CSR colony and was losing at least 1 or 2 shrimp a day. I ended up getting the water right then just doing topups with RO and no water changes for a while to create a stable environment - I still dose with BetaG weekly and add minerals and this seems to have solved my problem. Too many changes too quickly can be detrimental too. Stability is the key!

The minerals i dose i got from newbreed and believe they are the benebachi ones, the grey sandy looking one and then the other one looks a bit like bee pollen.

also add genchem beta G

I will retest the GH tomorrow night as i got a whole one day off after i get home tomorrow night

Sorry just fully read this thread. The powders I sent are beni micronecton powder and red bee max powder. I don't get fluctuations from these.

Sorry to hear this is happening mate!!

I dont think its the powders you sent me, i think its just one of those things, one a lighter note one of the other girls dropped her load and i can count atleast 15 shrimplets in my tank :)

 

I am still trying to source a low grade tb cull if anyone  comes across one in their stock so i can see if i can keep it alive :)

Edited September 23, 201411 yr by OzShrimp

If you are after Tibees they are much easier to keep than TB's . If you can keep CRS you won't have a problem with Tibees. They are tough little critters! If you can't source any locally I have quite a few males so I'm happy to part with a few for the cost of postage.

They are mostly like this one maybe a bit more white or more black but this is my typical Tibee.