# shrimp keep dying!



## tighidden

I have had four shrimp die now. They all die in the same way. They seem to lose ability of their motor functions and start spazzing out, jerking all over the tank. Then they stop, usually on their backs and continue to kick their legs. Has this happened to anyone.


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## NatalieT

tighidden said:


> I have had four shrimp die now. They all die in the same way. They seem to lose ability of their motor functions and start spazzing out, jerking all over the tank. Then they stop, usually on their backs and continue to kick their legs. Has this happened to anyone.


How long were the shrimp in the tank before this happened? Are there any living shrimp still in the tank? If so, how long have the living ones been in there? Are there any snails or fish in the tank? If so, how long have they been there, and do they seem healthy?

I suspect something toxic (to shrimp) in the water--but that leaves a pretty wide field of possibilities! I asked about snails and fish as well, because some things will kill all of them, other things will kill only some.


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## Newt

What type(s) of shrimp?

What about your water parameters? pH, GH, KH, temp

I'm also thinking something toxic like copper poisoning.


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## tighidden

Only some would die, while others seem fine. They are RCS and they are the only things in there. I originally had 4 that I bought from a pet store. They were in there for a week and a half and then one died. Then the other three seemed fine. Then I got 15 shrimp and put them in. Slowly they have been dying as well. The 15 shrimp have been in for maybe a little over a week. Are there any diseases that could be doing this?

The water parameters are:
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate:5 now. However, I think it was 10 or higher before I did the water changes.
pH:7
KH:10
GH:4


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## Newt

There isnt anything unusual in your water parameters; except maybe KH a bit high but they like it slightly alkaline.
What about the water temp?

Any additives or additives with copper?


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## tighidden

Temp between 70-75 and I was adding ferts to the water for plants but stopped doing that. I really do not understand, they just keep dying off one after the other. I don't see any problems with them except right around when they are going to die, they start jerking around swimming.


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## Newt

You might try 75 to 77 deg F.
I keep RCS and havent experienced this. High nitrates will bother them but I've had mine up around 40ppm w/o any issues and with babies.


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## rjfurbank

Not sure what ferts you're using but I had a problem w/ a big die-off of RCS when dosing too much CSM+B (and/or Flourish Excel). Since then I have been dosing the entire Seachem line of ferts (N,P,K, Flourish, Excel) w/ no issue for ~1yr--but have been going light on the Excel.


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## jpmtotoro

i have the SAME problem. haven't figured out the reason yet, either. had a LONG thread going about a year ago and never figured it out. you aren't alone, but i don't have a solution for you, either. sorry 

if i find anything, i'll let you know... and if you find the reason, please post the solution here for others (like myself).

good luck


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## tighidden

Thanks. Yeah it is very frustrating considering this is the first I have ever tried to keep shrimp. The only thing I can think of is I have this white moldish like stuff growing on my driftwood. I've read and been told a number of times that it is harmless, but who knows. The only thing that I could think of to do was to add AC to my filter, its been in for a few days now so we'll see if that helps.


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## Newt

Pull the driftwood out and pour hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) on it. Then rinse well and scrub it with an algae pad.


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## tighidden

Yup I've done that quite a few times, about six to be exact haha. It just keeps coming back. It definitely is not as bad as when it started out though. I have seen quite a few other people with this problem and either A) It goes away on its own, or B) It doesn't go away and everything fails to remove it. So I'll just keep doing maintenance on it until it hopefully just goes away. My shrimp keep eating at it too.


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## Newt

Black mollies might eat it. 

Have you boiled it?


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## Em85

I have a question - do you use salt in the tank?


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## Esteroali

I have a tank on my desk top at work. I have a guppy and tons of RCS. It is 2.5g and very heavily planted.I usually use RO water from home to replenish it and for W/C. Last month I ran out and used water that had been sitting for a a couple of days from the tap. Before I had shrimp I had always done this with no problems. When I put the shrimp in there...not so good. They did what yours did. The building is very old so I am thinking there is copper in the pipes.


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## tighidden

I don't put salt in the tank but I was thinking about adding a little. And thanks that is really good advice Esteroali I will keep that in mind. I know that I *do* have copper piping so maybe that is the problem. Would AC take that out of the water? Or the water dechloinaters with heavy metal neutralizers in it?


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## Em85

I googled this, because I was curious (re: removing copper from water) - doesn't look like its very easy or cheap to do, if you attack the problem from its source (the pipes)...

Here is a site I found w/ some good information, including some aquarium products that will help remove copper:
http://theaquariumwiki.com/Copper


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## Em85

Oh - also - after reading about copper in aquariums, I think that is what your problem is -- everywhere I went one of the first things I read was how dangerous copper is for small invertebrates, shrimp danger level is 0.03mg per litre...


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## Newt

Where I live all of the pipes in the homes are copper and ductile iron in the street. 
I do use Prime. Activated carbon will remove some levels of dissolved copper and I run whole house dirt/sediment and carbon filters down to 1-2 microns.
Call your water department and ask for an analysis. Copper needs to be kept low even for human consumption. But unless your water is very soft it isnt likely to be corrosive enough to be leaching that much copper.


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## tighidden

Well we have a water softener so it is extremely soft haha. 0 dGH to be exact!


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## Newt

Water sofeners add a lot of sodium to the water in the exchange process. Perhaps it is high sodium.


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## tighidden

I dunno, but they are doing alright right now. I've been holding steady at 10 shrimp and haven't changed the water. So it definitely is the water source that is killing them. So what I've done is treated 5 gallons of water with de-chloros and metals and have been running a filter in the bucket with a bunch of activated carbon. I'm going to be doing the water change on tuesday so hopefully it will take out whatever the harmful substance is by the time I do the water change.


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