# I underestimated RCS



## modster (Jun 16, 2007)

It's such a shame. I was able to breed CRS, but now have trouble with RCS. My RCS have been dying at a rate of 1 shrimp per day. I have pretty much gave up on this batch now. I read a few articles about water condition for RCS. Most of them said any water condition will do as long as the tank is cycled. That's not true at all. I am sure there is an optimal condition because I have noticed an increase in activity after I lower the pH. Do you guys have any advices for me before I get my next batch?


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## trackhazard (Sep 20, 2006)

RCS tend to do better in cooler water.

Also, they aren't particularly long lived so if you have a bunch of adults, I wouldn't be surprised if they are near the end of their lives in the first place.

I've had quite a few batches of RCS and they've always seemed happy in my hard, high phosphate, high pH Los Angeles tap water.

Charlie

Charlie


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## modster (Jun 16, 2007)

I have lost 15 out of 20 shrimps already, so old age is probably out of the question. I am sure the high pH was not the reason they are dying but I would think they do better in slightly acidic water.


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## feiyang (Jan 27, 2007)

1. lower temprature is better for CRS and RCS

2. keep water PH and other parameters stable. some times, we try to adjust water parameter to get the "best" condition, but the best condition is actually a stablized environment

3. no copper

4. less feeding, more live plant 

5. good filtering, good bacterias

6. have u tested ammonia, no2, no3?

7. is tap water treated before adding into tank?


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## modster (Jun 16, 2007)

feiyang said:


> 1. lower temprature is better for CRS and RCS
> 
> 2. keep water PH and other parameters stable. some times, we try to adjust water parameter to get the "best" condition, but the best condition is actually a stablized environment
> 
> ...


1. From what I heard, RCS can deal with higher temperature. I have a fan blowing at the tank already. It does get warm in the afternoon but there isnt much that i can do unless i invest a bunch of money on a chiller, which I really can't afford right now. Anyways, you brought up a good point. I will get a thermometer and see what the exact temperature is.

2. I agree with that, but when they are dying one after another, I think changing the water parameters is necessary.

3. Copper could be the answer. I have been feeding them HBH algae wafer and crab bite. They both contain copper, however a lot of people claim it only has a trace amount and doesn't affect the shrimps.

4. I feed very little. Their appetite isn't good at all. (more reason to believe something is wrong)

5. Aquaclear 30 for a 10 gallon tank. Cycled.

6. Yes, they are all zero.

7. I started with treated tap water, which is like liquid rock. After the massive die off has started, I started using spring water + distill.


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## Gordonrichards (Apr 28, 2009)

My suggestion:

I keep my shrimp in a 20 gallon long planted tank€€
-The only fish I have in the tank are 3 ottos and 3 cories.
I have about 40 shrimps

I do two water changes each week, about 2-3 gallons each time depending on how the water looks.
- I like to keep my tank crystal clear.
- Shrimps require clean, fresh water to survive. I feel bad that you lost most of your shrimps.

Your best bet is to add plenty of plants, purchase a package from someone here, I'm doubtful you'll end up spending more then 20.00 for a ton of cuttings.

Plant the tank, and keep up with the water changes.
Keep the water temperature stable at 75-78 degrees.
You do not need to feed them alot. I would suggest feeding them once every two days.
They can eat crap on the plants, or will eat certain plants.

Good luck.


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## tex627 (Nov 2, 2008)

from my experience with RCS, they have been able to live in a variety of conditions. after reading all the info you provided, the only reasons I could think of are:

1. the rcs grew up in an environment with water params that are very different from yours and are not able to adapt to new conditions as they are too old. This happened to me with wild tiger shrimp. Since they were wild caught, it was hard for them to adapt to tank conditions. 4/15 died and they were all adults, all of the younger ones survived.

2. the rcs were stressed from being packaged and shipped. I have a friend who tried RCS twice without success. when he recieved the shrimp they were not very active but were still alive. they started to die out one by one. Later, I started to breed rcs and was doing very well, so I gave him some to try again, he put them in the same tank with same dosing+water change routine and they thrived. So if you checked everything but cant find anything wrong, its probably not your fault.

those would probably be the only reasons that caused the death of rcs in your tank if everything with water params are fine. I'm a huge fan of purigen as it takes care of everything I would be worried about in an emergency situation. So sticking a bag of purigen in your filter will eliminate the chances of copper, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and other toxins from killing your shrimp. I do not think using RO water or anything else to adjust the water parameters are necessary. They are very hardy and will be able to live in various conditions. Maybe you could try to get shrimp from a closer source and at a younger age to prevent death from shipping stress and dramatic change in conditions. I hope this helped and goodluck with your next batch!


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## Rachel (Mar 21, 2003)

I don't have alot of experience for comparison, but RCS have done well in my 10g. I got them when they were teeny tiny. The tank is very planted, has a heater - I think I turned it on 80-85F or so when I first set it up. I'm terrible at doing maintenance on it, but everything seems to be doing well. Shrimp everywhere and the plants are outta control. I'm not sure of the water parameters, but I do know the water is rock hard. 
So, from my stand-point, they are incredibly hardy, otherwise, my laziness would have likely killed them ages ago. 
If possible, I would try cramming a bunch of plants in there and feeding them a couple of shrimp pellets or a pinch of flakes, every couple of days.

Oh, you mentioned the tank gets warm certain parts of the day. Does the temperature flunctuate up and down throughout the day? That could stress them out. I'm not sure how you would fix that though.


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## jamesstill84 (Mar 29, 2009)

I keep mine in a temp of 80F with a PH of 7.4. I had over 150 in a 30 gallon and they're still breeding without any deaths. I started out with a colony of 20 in January of this year and had over 150 of them by June.

Increasing the temp to 80 helps promote breeding.


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## OrangeCones (Aug 15, 2009)

modster said:


> 6. Yes, they are all zero.


It would be very unusual to have zero nitrates in a cycled tank. I keep planted tanks with small amounts of fish and I have readings of nitrates between 5 and 10 at all times.

Is it possible your testkit is out of date? Might be worth having someone else test the water as a 2nd check (LFS or a friend with their own kit).


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## tex627 (Nov 2, 2008)

if you use carbon or purigen, nitrate can be at 0


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## dyollnave (May 30, 2009)

my tank reads all zero's and my shrimp are doing great. Started with 15 in June and im up to 45 or so, cant find all the babies


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