# Water changes causing berried shrimp to try to molt?



## Pronk (Apr 5, 2016)

My tank is due for a water change, and I can see that a few of my shrimp have molting bands and I would like to help them along... especially since one is saddled.

The last water change I did, one of my two berried females tried to molt and died. The one remaining berried female looks like she will drop any day now (I see eyes!). I'm terrified of doing the water change because I'm afraid it will happen again. 

Just wondering if anyone knows what causes that and if there is a way to prevent it? I'm only doing 10 to 15% changes a week now that my tank is invert only.

Params:
Temp 73-75f (took out the heater)
Ammonia 0
Nitrites 0
Nitrates 5
PH 7.8
KH 3
GH 7



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## Yukiharu (May 3, 2014)

Sudden changes tend to induce molting. I do a drip when I change my water, and my shrimp don't attempt to molt.


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## csynic (Jun 19, 2015)

on a related note, how often do CRS molt, and how do I spot a molting brand on a shrimp? (my guess is that those are visual indicators on the shrimp)?


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## randym (Sep 20, 2015)

Shrimp do better with minimal water changes, IME.

Some shrimp breeders recommend changing water only when it's necessary. 

I change a little bit every day, rather than doing a big change all at once.


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## DluxeShrimps (Dec 26, 2015)

I rarely do any changes, if anything I only do top offs. no water changes at all unless my parameters are really going to jeopardize the shrimps .


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## randym (Sep 20, 2015)

DluxeShrimps said:


> I rarely do any changes, if anything I only do top offs. no water changes at all unless my parameters are really going to jeopardize the shrimps .


What parameters do you look for, and how much water do you change when you decide it's time?


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## elf123 (Feb 11, 2016)

I change water only based on my TDS. I keep my TDS for Tigers and Cherries around 150-180. When I hit 200 (maybe monthly), I change enough to get it back down. Otherwise, I just top off with RO water for evaporation. Less stress on shrimp. I was doing more water changes and too much feeding when I first started and it was killing my shrimp.


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## Pronk (Apr 5, 2016)

Does over feeding itself kill shrimp, or the water changes you had to do as a consequence?

I still need to get a TDS meter. That's the only parameter I'm in the dark about. I didn't realize was anything important unil recently. Is there a recommended one that isn't too expensive?

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## WaterLife (Jul 1, 2015)

Just get a cheap TDS meter from eBay or Amazon. Works good enough for our needs.


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## Pronk (Apr 5, 2016)

So I did a drip change on Friday, adding the water back over the course of 4 hours. Was about 15%. 

Everything seemed fine until yesterday, I had 2 males die in molt. Same as the female, it looked like the whole carapace was trying to peel off, not just the top layer. Now I'm stumped. 

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## Yukiharu (May 3, 2014)

That.... is very strange. Maybe they need calcium? Are you using tap water?
I can't imagine it would be probable with a gH of 7, but maybe calcium or iodine needs to be added to make molting easier.
The other possibility is that the gH is too high for them and they are dying from their shells being too hard to molt off, but I don't think that's the case..


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## Pronk (Apr 5, 2016)

I have a bit of cuttlebone in the water, I even pulverized a small amount so it would disolve a little faster. My KH was lower before I added it. I'm also feeding them Sera shrimps natural, that is what the LFS feeds them that I bought them from. It has calcium, and iodide if I'm not mistaken.

My ghost shrimp are molting fine, the snails are all growing healthy shells. I'm only having an issue with the neos.

I am using tap water, it's Pittsburgh's city water. I'll look into contacting them about their parameters.

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## Yukiharu (May 3, 2014)

I had good luck with Pittsburgh water when I was using it. Maybe the food + water + cuttlebone is proving too much for them.


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## Zoidburg (Mar 8, 2016)

I think I might be with Yukiharu on this one? Water parameters sound fine, tbh.


I think the KH/GH in my shrimp tank is about 3/4 each, so even lower than yours and, knock on wood, I haven't noticed any with molting problems. The ones that I've lost, I have no clue why they keeled over.




Pronk, did you ad straight tap water or did you treat the water with anything prior to adding it to the tank? Aged water or fresh water?

Also... do you know what the water parameters are of the water you added?



Here's the TDS meter that I bought. It was one of the first ones that showed up in a search when I went to go look for one, and other shrimp keepers have also used it.

Amazon.com: HM Digital TDS-EZ Water Quality TDS Tester, 0-9990 ppm Measurement Range , 1 ppm Resolution, +/- 3% Readout Accuracy: Home Improvement




The recommended TDS for cherries is at least within the 80-200 range. Even with using tap water, ferts and overfeeding, my tank is ~85-91. If it gets "high", it's due to water evaporation... I see other people who have problems with TDS that's too high and they have trouble lowering it, meanwhile mine's a little "too low". I do plan on buying some shrimp minerals which should raise the TDS, I just haven't yet...



You might try lowering the PH of the water a little, too. Or maybe that could be an issue? Especially if you are dosing with CO2, the PH of the water in the tank may not be the same or similar as to what's being put in it.

Test PH straight out of the tap, then set aside a bucket of water overnight or 24-48 hours (with or without an air stone) and test the PH again.




With the right setup, you may only need to do water changes a few times a year, if that. I'm having a bit of a hard time *not* doing water changes simply because I want to raise the TDS level. Since it's already on the low side, doing water changes would further lower the TDS - at least until I could get some shrimp minerals.


I've changed as much as 30% of the water in the tank and used the "drip" method to replace the water without issues. Well, more like a siphon... gallon jug above the aquarium and a slightly large hose (somewhat bigger than the typical air line hoses) to siphon the water out of the jug and into the aquarium. (so not a true drip - it's fast!)




And last thought... if you don't have one, get a sponge filter! They come in different sizes and styles (have a large one for 90+ tank, small one [type 3] for 20g, small corner one for 30g [being set up as a temp tank], and a Cosmo Aquarium Bio-Filter that's waiting to be used... somewhere).


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