# Help with Amano Shrimp problem



## Axelrodi202 (Jul 29, 2008)

Ammonia and nitrites should always be at 0.


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## kubalik (Jul 8, 2011)

Since there is no plants in the tank , do you ever clean the gravel ? have u cleaned the filter recantly ? 
Asking this questions because with no plants , at some point all the leftover food and fish poop going to reach a level where the little biological filtration you have on the hob filter may not be able to neutralize the amonia and the nitrites fast enough .


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## wetworks (Jul 22, 2011)

I clean my gravel each time I do a water change, which is usually on Saturday for this tank. I change between 10 and 20% of the water each week, and clean about 1/2 of the gravel. While I have my filter turned off, I clean the intake and impeller and change the media carts as well. Since my filter has space for four carts, I usually change only one per week on a rotating basis so that there is one new one per week and they never are used for more than 4 weeks. This particular filter model has two of the large sized bio-wheels, which I thought would probably be fine, especially considering that the filter moves all of the water in the tank almost ten times per hour. This tank is almost identical to several of my other tanks in size and filter, and I have not had ANY problems with the others, though those tanks house only fishes with no inverts. I had the shrimps in this tank for almost a year before this weeks deaths, and my maintenance, feeding and stock levels have been unchanged since then. I think there is some other factor at work here that I have not yet discovered. Thanks for the responses.


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## msjinkzd (May 12, 2007)

Shrimp are super sensitive to fluctuations in water parameters. How long has this tank been running? To have detectable nitrites and ammonia says its not a fully cycled tank. This is what is killing your shrimp.


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## wetworks (Jul 22, 2011)

msjinkzd said:


> Shrimp are super sensitive to fluctuations in water parameters. How long has this tank been running? To have detectable nitrites and ammonia says its not a fully cycled tank. This is what is killing your shrimp.


The tank has been set up for just over a year. If this were a newer tank, you would be correct, but it has been established with the current residents (minus the Amano shrimps, the last of which passed a few hours ago) for that entire time. If the tank or the shrimps were new, I would have a pretty good idea what the problem is, but since they are not I am still a bit confused. I am getting a reading on the nitrates/nitrites and ammonia, but it is well within the acceptable range for the waters pH and temp. It has not fluctuated, but has been steady. The remainder of my fish show no signs of shock or sickness, they are eating, and there appears to be no distress. The water does look a bit more cloudy tonight than it did earlier; it has a weird filmy look to it that reminds me a bit of an algae bloom without the greenish color to it. (The tank is not in sunlight and the light is not super-powerful, so I do not think it is algae...) Hope this additional info will help someone shed some light on my problem. Thanks!


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## msjinkzd (May 12, 2007)

The issue is, its not in the acceptable range for inverts. Despite your water being soft, any detectable amounts of those two levels will kill shrimp. They just cannot tolerate readable levels of ammonia or nitrite. The fact that the shrimp were molting alot says they were stressed, the readings and the cloudiness suggest its not totally stable. Are you using a liquid test kit? I am not trying to be difficult or say you don't know your tank but the problem is the nitrite.


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## GDP (Mar 12, 2011)

Yep deffinately should be 0 amonnia and nitrites. Any amount will kill shrimp like already stated.


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## wetworks (Jul 22, 2011)

msjinkzd said:


> The issue is, its not in the acceptable range for inverts. Despite your water being soft, any detectable amounts of those two levels will kill shrimp. They just cannot tolerate readable levels of ammonia or nitrite. The fact that the shrimp were molting alot says they were stressed, the readings and the cloudiness suggest its not totally stable. Are you using a liquid test kit? I am not trying to be difficult or say you don't know your tank but the problem is the nitrite.


Thanks for the help. I did not know that molting was a sign of stress- they molted about every 6 to 10 weeks with no problems since last year. The nitrites/nitrates have always read a tiny bit in this tank and since I never had any problems before I thought nothing of it because there were never any signs of distress in either my fishes or my shrimps. I use test strips for frequent testing and a reagent kit for getting finer readings if something appears to be wrong in the tank or if the strips are not accurate enough. 

Msjinkzd, I really appreciate the explanation and I do not think you are being difficult. I do know my tank, but I also am smart enough to ask for help when I do not know the answer. Since you have been nice enough to help me thus far, I hope you will not mind if I pose a few questions. First, why do you think that the shrimps did well in identical conditions for 11 months (since last Sept.) and then all died suddenly within days of each other? If this was caused by nitrites/nitrates, how did it happen and what can I do in the future to prevent this from happening again? And last, what is the best way to reduce my current test readings to zero? (I was thinking of perhaps adding some ammo-carb to one of my filter carts or perhaps an additional bio component to my system...)

Thanks to all of you for replying. If you can shed some light on my new questions, please do.


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## GDP (Mar 12, 2011)

Only thing I can think of is either that test kit is off and there really isnt any ammonia and nitrites, and something else killed the shrimp. I will advise to buy some biochem zorb and run it in your filter. It will remove most of everything that cant be tested for.


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## msjinkzd (May 12, 2007)

Is your water municipal water or well water? Sometimes, depending on season and rain, there can be shifts in the chemicals used to treat water which could also impact your invertebrates.

Regular molting, for growth, is normal, I read in your post you were noticing molts. Was it more often? For example, invertebrates will generally molt when added to a new tank or when water parameters are shifting. I took your observation as an unusual molt, though it could have been normal. That coupled with their deaths and the cloudy bacterial bloom made me think anecdotally that there was an abnormal shift in your tank.

Any chance your water conditioner changed? A particularly dry spell in your area? If you have municipal water, you could also consider calling your water company to ask if anything has changed in their treatment chemicals. 

Fish are a little more flexible to invertebrates in slight shifts in the nitrogen cycle. Often your invertebrates will act as your tank barometer, showing stress before fish.


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## wetworks (Jul 22, 2011)

msjinkzd said:


> Is your water municipal water or well water? Sometimes, depending on season and rain, there can be shifts in the chemicals used to treat water which could also impact your invertebrates.
> 
> Regular molting, for growth, is normal, I read in your post you were noticing molts. Was it more often? For example, invertebrates will generally molt when added to a new tank or when water parameters are shifting. I took your observation as an unusual molt, though it could have been normal. That coupled with their deaths and the cloudy bacterial bloom made me think anecdotally that there was an abnormal shift in your tank.
> 
> ...


I have municipal water. In Florida the amount of rain may have an effect on water quality; I will call on Monday to see if there have been any changes to the water treatment regimen. (This is a great idea, thanks!)

Regarding the molting, I thought it was unusual that four of my five Amano shrimps died within 24 hours of molting. When they molted, it seemed like business as usual, except for the shrimps dying afterward. I have not changed my treatment; I use AmQuel Plus. I did know that inverts were more sensitive, which is why I posted here: to figure out what was wrong and to keep the problem from getting any worse than it is. 



GDP said:


> Only thing I can think of is either that test kit is off and there really isnt any ammonia and nitrites, and something else killed the shrimp. I will advise to buy some biochem zorb and run it in your filter. It will remove most of everything that cant be tested for.


The tests that I use are Mardel test strips for routine testing, and an API test kit for diagnosing problems. I have never used biochem zorb; is it like ammo carb? I will try to pick some up this weekend and see how it works out. Any idea what else may have been the cause of my shrimp deaths?


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