# Why do my RCS crack open and die?



## Raymond S. (Dec 29, 2012)

Please follow up on the results from the mineral stone. I have seen some of those white lines in my tank and it's a separation of the shell between the head and rear of the shrimp but that is all I know about it. Mine have not died(one or two a month at
most)from it but I'm still thinking they could have some kind of deficiency in diet.
With two ten g tanks, the very mature one usually has little response when I feed them so it indicates a good supply of natural food in there. But there are no new shrimp from berried females/no berried females either and yes I put 3-4 other in there to see if one might be a male(hard for me to tell but I think at least one was).
In the other tank the breeding is outrageous. 8-10 berries at any time. Dozens of babies/juviniles everywhere.


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## h4n (Jan 4, 2006)

That does appear to be a molting issues. 
What is your GH?


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## roadmaster (Nov 5, 2009)

Some I hear add iodide for marine tank's at 1/2 dose suggested with good result's when moulting problem's arise.(just sayin)


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## Trollete (Feb 26, 2014)

Together with the mineral stone I ordered a Gh Kh test kit because I didn't have one and saw molting issues can be related to that.

Will post results as soon as it arrives (tomorrow?)

Thanks a lot everyone roud:


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## h4n (Jan 4, 2006)

Ya I'm guessing its a GH issue.


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## Soothing Shrimp (Nov 9, 2011)

+1 Almost always this indicates a molting issue.


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## trakturboy (Mar 5, 2014)

*I feel your pain*

I had the same issue over the past 2-3 weeks with my CRS / CBS tank.
Lost half of a colony of about 80 shrimp.

Here my test reading before action:
pH = 7.0, GH = 12, KH = 6, temp 22C
*** water too hard, when shrimp tried to molt (the white ring) they could not and died trying ***

What I did:
- performed a 15% water change
- living in the country we are on a well and the water is hard plus it is about pH = 7.2
- added 1/2 teaspoon of Seachem Acid Buffer to about 2.5 L / 1 gal water
- pH = 6.6, GH = 2, KH = 1

Results:
- temp stayed the same, everything else dropped
- pH = 6.7, GH = 3-4, KH = 1-2

Tested once a day for the next 3 days and the values were steady:
- pH = 6.8, GH = 3, KH = 1

today I noticed that one of my female CBS is berried (This is a sure sign of a successful molt - IMO)

Hope this helps.

Note: If you find the Acid Buffer drops pH too much, you could try Discus Buffer or add some Neutral Regulator (be careful not to add too much or you will end up back where you started) *all products by Seachem - it just happens to be the brand I have available


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## prighello (Aug 19, 2007)

I thought RCS could handle hard water?


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## Soothing Shrimp (Nov 9, 2011)

Depends what params the breeder reared them in, and how hard the water is.


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## Trollete (Feb 26, 2014)

*Update!!*

Hello guys!!
Sorry for taking so long to reply!!

I've got good news though!!

I read that colder water makes them grow slower and therefore they don't molt as often. So I changed the temperature from 25C to 22C and added the mineral stone and haven't had a single loss since then!!

They all come out and eat when I drop the food and seem more active. I haven't seen any empty molt since then, so I don't really know if I solved the problem or I've just been lucky that they haven't molted.

I do have the water test results:

GH - 6° 
KH - 3°

For what I've read these might be a bit too low?

Thank you very much for your advice guys, your replies saved my shrimps! 

PS: They say hi!!


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## Trollete (Feb 26, 2014)

trakturboy said:


> I had the same issue over the past 2-3 weeks with my CRS / CBS tank.
> Lost half of a colony of about 80 shrimp.
> 
> Here my test reading before action:
> ...



Thanks a lot man, I think my problem might be that the values are too low but this helps a lot anyway!


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## 00camaro16 (Mar 7, 2014)

I am having this exact issue right now and figured I wouldn’t make a new post. Did anything you try fix it? I don't have a gh/kh tester yet but am ordering today but I am assuming our issues are the same.

I tried the slight squeeze trick on one and it cracked the shell in and other place so I hoping that helps, but I am not holding out much hope for my last female.

Did you find any quick fixes that allowed time to ship the stone and tester so that at least the current ones could live?

Any suggestions would help greatly, because of a financial surprise I can’t buy any more shrimp and was really hoping to breed my cherries a bit to at least have somewhat of a populated tank.

Can I add RO water? Or something other then tap to help them molt? I did a 50% WC yesterday and plan another 50% today. I hoping this doesn’t swing parameters to much to cause them stress.

Thank you,
Chris


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## Soothing Shrimp (Nov 9, 2011)

Most of the time molt problems happen because of gh issues. Once you get your test kit, report back on gh and the type of shrimp. 

Oh, and I'd avoid any squeezing shrimp from here on out.


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## 00camaro16 (Mar 7, 2014)

Soothing Shrimp said:


> Most of the time molt problems happen because of gh issues. Once you get your test kit, report back on gh and the type of shrimp.
> 
> Oh, and I'd avoid any squeezing shrimp from here on out.


Got it, no more squeezing shrimp, didn't like doing it and scared me anyways... one of those feelings like your just being mean you know. Thank you amazon prime so I should have the tests in 2 days. Any suggestions for those two days?


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## Brolly33 (Apr 25, 2014)

*Crack of doom*

Adding here rather than starting another thread.

I just got my first RCS female showing the crack of doom issue. 

10 gal
HOB and sponger filter

TDS: 230
Temp: 25 C/ 77 F
pH 7.5
GH: 60ppm
KH: 50 ppm
NO2: 0
NO3: 0

Bare bottom with shallow pots with sand over topsoil.

Tank running for about a year. Shrimp in for 6 months.
Tank has been breeding steady but low survival rate of babies.
Some females berried now.

TDS was about 380 a few months back and I have been using pure RO at 10% a week to bring it down into the 200-250 range.

Here is a he vid of the poor dear.
http://youtu.be/K9dyCRbhNxA


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## Pika (Jan 13, 2014)

Many people do KH and GH in degrees, rather than ppm. Yours are:
~GH 3.4
~KH 2.8

(Roughly ppm divided by 18 to convert)
Your GH is pretty low for cherries/Neos. It's usually ok to have a little higher TDS for these guys, so I wouldn't worry about dropping that so much.


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## Puddles (Jan 5, 2013)

Yes, gH should be bumped. Kh is fine, I've kept cherries from 0-10 kh no problem. If you are using just tap water and getting a gH reading of 3, then you probably need a booster. I and others use Salty Shrimp gH plus. It raises gH without affecting kH.


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## Rbnserrate (Sep 29, 2014)

Hey all, I'm the same user that started the thread, but forgot my username/password! :s

I know it's a really late update but I'm sure it will help other as there seem to be some people with the same problem. After putting some of that Shirakura mineral stone in, my shrimp stopped dying, so give it a go if you're experiencing this issue!


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