Why is this Cherry shrimp dying? please help!

[Danielle]

I found a little cherry shrimp body a few days ago. It looked like something you'd find in a shrimp cocktail almost. The head/thorax shell was tilted up, the legs were gone and there was no shell on the tail. All the meat was still there so nothing had been eating on it.

Now I find this poor shrimp



Look at it's shell. It's like something tried to pinch it's head off or pull the tail. The poor thing is alive still... but it's very slow and doesn't seem like it will make it. I'm wondering if this is the same thing that happened to the first shrimp.

What could be causing this?????

I don't think it's any of the tank inhabitants.... I have CPDs, an otto and two very tiny dwarf cories and a couple of amanos. None of which have ever messed with the cherry shrimp. The filter is an eheim 2213, but the shrimp (even small juvies) crawl all over the inlet and have never been stuck or sucked in.

I did do some rescaping, but I don't think I squished anyone?

water parameters are all good.... they get R/O water that has been reconstituted with equilibrium and a bit of KH buffer. I've been using the same water and treatment for months with no ill effects.

Thoughts???

[Danielle]

Well it died not too long ago

If they are in water with a moderate GH and KH will it make the shell hard enough that they can't molt and die? I'm not sure what the GH is, but the KH is at about 4 according to my test kit. Although it's been that way for months now and I've seen a few molts.

[waterfaller1]

Perhaps during your rescape you disturbed the substrate enough to cause a problem. CPD's are known to attack shrimp. You say they haven't bothered them, but honestly you can't watch them all the time.The first description sounds suspiciously like an attack to me. The water's GH & KH matters not as far as CA to molt. They get this from their food, assuming you are feeding them properly. What is the temperature of the water? What additives/dosing goes into the tank? Is it planted? How long has it been set up? Any chance you introduced something on your hands/fingernails? Why are you using RO water, then Equlibrium and buffer? I just use straight RO, and have for almost a year.

[Rudi Giacomini]

Please what did CPD state for? I'm unable to translate it...

[waterfaller1]

CPD=Celestial Pearl Danios, formerly known as Galaxy Rasboras.

[Danielle]

Hi Carole

So far my theory is that when I rescaped/cleaned I possibly squished a couple of shrimp. I move around a lot of driftwood and plants.

I know CPDs are terrific hunters and eaters of baby shrimp, but I'd never read of them attacking adults? I know I can't keep constant eye on them, but I'm here in front of the tank all day basically and I've never seen them pay the shrimp any interest. They'll even share food sometimes when I put algae pellets in for the shrimp and otto... they pick at the pellet but ignore the shrimp completely. I could see them possibly picking at the first shrimp if it was already injured and mosty dead, though the second one they also ignored completely.

Water temp is 76
It is moderately planted
setup for almost a year now
It gets pfertz every other day and a small dose of excel
I try to keep my hands as clean as possible when working with the tank, but you never know...
You'll remember the episode where the tap water started killing everything... shrimp, fish, all my plants died? that's why I use RO water.

As far as equilibrium and KH booster... It's my understanding that R/O water (at least the stuff I use) is extremely pure with a KH and GH of 0 and thus needs reconstituted with minerals and vitamins necessary for life. When I swapped to the R/O it was in an emergency situation and it needed to be swapped in fast and in large amounts without stressing things more than they already were... The water in the tank was a GH of about 89ppm and KH of 4 so I matched that.

I've kept a close eye on the remaining shrimp and so far so good. They range in size from full adult to 1/4" long shrimplet and all seem healthy and happy. One of the smaller adults has a saddle of eggs, though I don't expect to see any babies because it would seem I have all females.... lol

One day I'd like to move the CPDs to a larger tank and keep them with larger shrimp only like amanos and get otto and the cats some more friends. I'll keep the 5.5g for a shrimp tank then... or perhaps get a mini-s.

Originally Posted by waterfaller1

Perhaps during your rescape you disturbed the substrate enough to cause a problem. CPD's are known to attack shrimp. You say they haven't bothered them, but honestly you can't watch them all the time.The first description sounds suspiciously like an attack to me. The water's GH & KH matters not as far as CA to molt. They get this from their food, assuming you are feeding them properly. What is the temperature of the water? What additives/dosing goes into the tank? Is it planted? How long has it been set up? Any chance you introduced something on your hands/fingernails? Why are you using RO water, then Equlibrium and buffer? I just use straight RO, and have for almost a year.

[waterfaller1]

Hi Danielle,
I hope you don't lose any more! Sounds like you definitely know what you are doing.
I had one recently at the front of the CRS tank chopped completely in half. At first I thought..who could have done this?{no fish, just snails}. Then I realized it must not be "who", but "what". I believe he must have squeezed beyond the prefilter of my HOB, and got sucked in and ejected..resting at the front of the glass. If you need some males after things cool off a bit, LMK. I need to thin my herd soon.