# Cherry Shrimp Sudden Death



## misant777 (Mar 21, 2014)

Hey all,

I just found two of my dozen or so cherry shrimp suddenly dead and upside down. 

I've got a 10 gallon tank with cherry shrimp, java fern, susswassertang and some sort of grass, along with a piece of wood and recently added MTS, but there are and have been tiny ramshorn snails present also.

For nearly a month now, since I acquired the cherry shrimp, they've appeared to be happy and healthy. I do a 1/4 water change a week and my ammonia, nitrite & nitrate readings are all zero. My pH is about 7.5, despite there being wood in the tank. Our water supply is alkaline from the tap.

A few days ago I introduced a dozen or so MTS snails to the mix and I've been watching recent algae growth occur on two of the glass panes that get the most sunlight. I figured this would be ok. 

My temperature seems to be riding somewhere around 82F and I just unplugged the heater thinking it might be too warm. Certainly the room temperature should keep this tank sufficiently heated. I can pull the drapes closed at night to keep it from getting chilled also. 

So, the MTS and the algae are the only two recent changes I've made, aside from just now unplugging the heater, but again, the waste readings and pH seem ok. 

I've been grinding up an algae wafer every few days and sprinkling it in for them, which they seem to appreciate. But aside from that and the growing algae, I've not been doing anything extra. Do they maybe need some calcium in there? I notice that the ramshorn snails don't get much beyond the size of a pinhead and while I don't want them around at all, I figure they can help with extra algae. Are they perhaps also not thriving due to low calcium levels? I don't have a test kit yet to help determine this, however the nerites I have in another aquarium are starting to show signs of pitting on their shells. Also I think I can take it on general principle that my water is quite soft, based on the area I live in, Milwaukie, OR. 

I'm thinking maybe I should drop an oyster shell in the mix just in case they need a little extra but as far as shrimp are concerned, I'm not sure, because chitin doesn't seem to contain any calcium. Besides, I'm worried about the oyster shell driving the alkalinity up even further and the thought of trying to ph balance a 10 gallon tank with sensitive critters in it makes me nervous. Maybe a few ml of lemon juice would be ok... 

Could a small dose of potassium phosphate a few days ago have killed the 2 little guys? It was done in approximation to Seachem's guidelines. 

Arrg! They are too young (and new) to be dying like this!

Any thoughts?


----------



## Ericj (Oct 22, 2007)

I wouldn't start by messing with your PH any, since that is a slippery slope towards potentially crashing the tank. Sometimes cherries die when they have trouble molting, so it does happen. Often it can happen when the water is too soft, although I've found that more with crayfish than Cherries. 

Snails and algae shouldn't have cause any issues

82 is definitely warm, but shouldn't be a problem for them, I actually think removing the heaters could cause the temps to fluctuate in the tank day and night which could be more of an issue than the heat. I'd keep the heater but perhaps turn it down a touch. 

Also, if you got the shrimp fully grown, they could have been older, and died of old age, no way to know. 

For now, I'd suggest small changes, increase hardness slightly and slowly.


----------



## Tugg (Jul 28, 2013)

I'm a small tank like a 10g it's easy for the water to go to hell quickly. I lost a bunch of cherries a few months ago for unknown reasons. The two main theories that I lean towards the most are:

1) A significant increase in the DOC of my tapwater with the season change. Tap water can fluctuate a lot and cause the shrimp problems.

2) I sprayed bug spray in a diffrent area of the house. The tank has a hood, and I wasn't anywhere near the tank, but the HV/AC could have kicked a trace amount around.


Ironically, it was the adults that died. I had several newly hatched babies that survived and are now grown and doing fine.


----------



## CWY0608 (Jan 18, 2014)

temperature error?


----------



## superflame (Apr 24, 2012)

Try to do a water change. It might helps.


----------



## apistomaster (May 24, 2008)

I know this is a little late to add to this topic but it's been quite some time since my last visit.
It has been my experience with shrimp that it is more difficult to establish a colony with only 10 or 12 adults. I had a difficult time initially when I also bought only 10-12 specimens.
It seems to be best to buy at least 25 from a breeder and not from a major online dealer.
Most individual breeders selling in larger groups don't really bother to count out Cherry Shrimp and send their customers all the number they ordered plus many juveniles. Be sure to ask if they will include extra juveniles just in case they are accustomed to selling only mature specimens.
Juveniles are more adaptable than adults and it seems that a couple dozens establishes some kind of "critical mass".
I have raised huge numbers of this harder variety of N. cardina in almost straight RO water with a pH between 5.0 and 6.0 to moderately hard water with a pH of 7.4 and 400 ppm TDS.I normally changed 2/3 to 3/4 the water every 4 days or so.
Note: Shrimp populations can suddenly crash when the population density becomes too high. One should harvest the excess periodically to avoid this. 
I always kept them in my Leopard Frog Pleco(Peckoltia compta aka L134) and Corydoras hastatus breeding colonies at relatively warm temperatures of 82 to 85*F. They thrive in the 70's*F and can even continue to reproduce in the mid 60's degrees F.
I find that Cherry Shrimp thrive on a diet of mostly earth worm sticks and daily feedings of Artemia nauplii as I fed my C. hastatus breeding colony. I hope sharing my experiences will be useful.
Please don't ask me if I have any C. hastatus for sale. I had to stop breeding fish due to health reasons but my best friend took over maintaining the Corydoras hastatus. Unfortunately he isn't as successful at producing them in large numbers but at least the colony is stable at about 50 adults.
I would often have upwards of 200 juveniles and adults in a 20 Long, permanent breeding setup.


----------

