# Can't keep RCS alive



## 90gal (Jan 7, 2008)

I've had tanks for 30 years, fresh, salt, planted and reef. I MUST be doing something wrong with my new species RCS tank. I'm ready to scap it and make it a simple salt setup....

It's a 30 gallon, mirror mounted on the back, black substrate sand, a few pieces of well-seasoned cholla wood (was in my 90 gallon planted), some Java moss, some Java fern, some duckweed, and a aqueon (40 gallon model) for a filter with floss over the intake. I've checked everything with a master test kit, nitrites 0, nitrates 0, ph 7.6 (is this too high?), and no ammonia, temp 80. The tank ran and cycled for 4 months prior to the RCS add (with a few tetras which were removed prior to putting the shrimp in). The lights are on five hours a day, and it's a simple light - basic bulb setup. I'm feeding them a nibble of algae wafer, then water changing the next day to remove leftovers. I'm treating fresh water prior to adding it to the tank, with stress coat. I purchased 25 Sakura RCS from a local breeder whose tanks were magnificent, and I'm losing on average five a day (over the past four days!). They seem pretty active, and the dead ones are really dark red in color. What in the world am I doing wrong? Are steady losses when they are transferred normal? I have the filter turned down, but the water is still moving - is the filter making too much flow for them?

I'm a little frustrated by this whole situation so any insight is appreciated. Thank you, 
Rob


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## losa (Jul 16, 2015)

How did you acclimate the shrimp to the new water? I'm not an expert, but I've found measuring the TDS is a common practice for shrimp keepers. I've got about 100 rcs in a 3 gallon right now with tds of 250 and another 100 plus 20 sakuras in a 29 gal sump with a tds of 100. The tds pen was about $15 on amazon.


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## JustLikeAPill (Oct 9, 2006)

Iosa, how do you use the TDS pen to acclimate them?


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## losa (Jul 16, 2015)

Just test the water and do a drip acclimation. Google it. Basically slowly introducing the tank water to shrimp over a 12-24 hour period. I also sent you a PM to send you a bunch of mine. 😜


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## JustLikeAPill (Oct 9, 2006)

I have always wondered if copper pipes make difference. My house has all copper pipes (and well water) and I can never keep them alive despite meticulous acclimation. Are your pipes copper?

Saltwater shrimp, however, never gave me any problems.


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## jem_xxiii (Apr 16, 2014)

JustLikeAPill said:


> I have always wondered if copper pipes make difference. My house has all copper pipes (and well water) and I can never keep them alive despite meticulous acclimation. Are your pipes copper?
> 
> Saltwater shrimp, however, never gave me any problems.


hmm, never thought of copper pipes effecting the amount of copper in the water running through them. This very well could be a problem.

As to the OP. PH is good, the temperature is okay, a little on the higher end but RCS adjust to pretty much anything.


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## kyubi9tail (Jun 16, 2012)

im not a xpert of shrimp keeping , but i did learn from mine mistake....rcs they like low ph.. and i have successful keeping em in ro water along with akadama substrate..hopefully this will help u


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## Amazonaquascaper (Sep 20, 2015)

Mine also died like you said deep red coloration...
This is due to the fact that they were introduced too rapidly; did they change shell during this period of time??
Check your dkh and dgh they should be optimally 4 and 9 respectively though the ranges can go from 0-8dkh and 4-14 dgh ph should be between 6.5-7.8 and temp. should be btw 20°c-26°c.
IMO if they died factor was dkh and dgh...high dkh and dgh mean can either mean a quick moulting and fragile membrane or difficulty in moulting and no change in size


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