# Cherry Shrimp Molted & Die.



## jmowbray (Dec 20, 2009)

I had the same thing happen to my painted fire reds. Have you checked the KH and GH of the water? I also add Mosura Eros and Gravides to the tank now and the problem went alway. 

I'm still not sure to this day what was going on....

Maybe someone in the shrimp breeding area will chime in.


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## GeToChKn (Apr 15, 2011)

Getting full sized shrimp can be a challenge to move to a new tank, even with the best of param's. Most LFS sell full sized shrimp because they look nicer and more attractive to people to buy, but sadly many die after being moved to a new tank. That's why most breeders ship young/juvi shrimp. They take the tank change the best and who wants to send out a batch of $30 each SSS+ shrimp and have them all die on the buying.


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## diwu13 (Sep 20, 2011)

Before putting them in and doing a large ware change make sure you acclimate the shrimp if the parameters between the LFS and your tank water are different. I believe the reason the shrimp molted was because of your large water change as those induce molting. However, with acclimation your shrimp should be fine. As thr previous poster also said the larger/older the shrimp the harder it is for them to adapt to even small water parameter differences.


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## scags (Sep 22, 2003)

I experienced the same problem a year ago. My tank had been cycling about 2 months, I added a couple adult shrimp, 2 days later they molted...next day dead.
I tested my water and everything was fine, but something I didn't do was acclimate them properly. They came in a bag of water and I immediately put that bag in the tank...then cut a little hole in the bag about 20 minutes later, and then about 10 minutes after that dumped the shrimp in. 
Now I always do a very slow acclimation. Takes a couple hours, and they are slowly introduced to the new tank's parameter through drips. Haven't had a shrimp die since. And that tank is full of them now.

Plus a month old tank might still experience some spikes. I have seen tanks that re-cycle after a WC too. 

Good luck! Hope the best for your little guys.


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## diwu13 (Sep 20, 2011)

doncityz, this site is really good for all information regarding shrimp (besides this forum haha). This article explains very clearly how to acclimate shrimp http://www.planetinverts.com/Acclimating New Shrimp.html. I used to just dump them in as well and always had a few deaths shorty afterwards.


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## johnny313 (Apr 15, 2011)

doesnt Iodine help with molting?


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## doncityz (May 17, 2011)

scags said:


> I experienced the same problem a year ago. My tank had been cycling about 2 months, I added a couple adult shrimp, 2 days later they molted...next day dead.
> I tested my water and everything was fine, but something I didn't do was acclimate them properly. They came in a bag of water and I immediately put that bag in the tank...then cut a little hole in the bag about 20 minutes later, and then about 10 minutes after that dumped the shrimp in.
> Now I always do a very slow acclimation. Takes a couple hours, and they are slowly introduced to the new tank's parameter through drips. Haven't had a shrimp die since. And that tank is full of them now.
> 
> ...


I think it could be the acclimation factor after reading all of the replies. I put the plastic bag in the tank, and 20mins later, i cut it open and pour them in.
The other 2 are still doing okay as I checked them today.

diwu13, thanks for that link. I'll try that acclimation method if I add new shrimps later. 

Thanks all!


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## wetworks (Jul 22, 2011)

I have had the same thing happen with Amano Shrimps, and after a bunch of water testing and trial and error, it ended up being the pH, which was way too acidic. You may want to check that. Also, shrimps are very sensitive to poor water quality, so if your tank has not fully cycled, then that may also be the culprit. In your OP you asked about hiding places for shrimps. Well, the more the better, especially if you plan to add more shrimps down the road. The Java Moss is a great start though- I only have one clump of it in my 6 gallon, and the shrimps flock to that stuff like it was going out of style.


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