# Disaster Please Help Cherry Shrimp!!!!



## jeff63851 (Feb 23, 2005)

ok. Just woke up this morning...found the water very milky. However, the tank has been running for aboout three-four weeks ago. The shrimps used to be very prolific, but now they seem dead. They are near the surface of the water. My guess is that my parents was happy to see the shrimps swimming around last night and then threw in a whole bunch of fish flakes for the fishes  I am guessing that the nitrates (or nitrites...) killed them. I just changed about 10 gallons of water (from the 60 gallon tank). I also added some nitrates (or nitirite) remover.

What should I do now???

P.S. please excuse the bad spelling mistakes since I am typing fast hoping for a responce.

Thanks!!!


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## John N. (Dec 11, 2005)

WHOA! Changing the water is a good idea. I would change another 10-15 gallons in an hour or so. Crank up the filter, and if you have some carbon pads on hand, that can help remove some of the extra chemicals and nutrients from the decaying flakes and water.

I've never seen shrimp "hang out" at the surface of the water so with any luck they'll still be okay. Maybe even do 1 more water change tomorrow...Good luck!

-John N.


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## Shrimp&Snails (Mar 27, 2006)

Your tank could still be cycling which would have affected the shrimp.

I would do a water change every other day until your water readings are ok.....don't feed the tank at all or feed very lightly and keep feeding the tank lightly when you get things under control.

Add an air stone as your water could be oxygen starved.

Best of luck.


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## turbomkt (Mar 31, 2004)

Definitely do some water changes. Don't be afraid to do a couple 50% water changes.


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## jeff63851 (Feb 23, 2005)

THANKS for you replies!

This is what I did about two hours ago when John N. first posted...(just finished in time to post). I first cleaned the filter, added carbon to the filter to remove the extra nitrates. I also did another water change like another 10 gallons. 

When I first saw the cloudy water, I thought that the tank was cycling. But can a bacteria bloom start in a few hours?? I think my grandmother  fed the shrimps a little too much this morning (like 7:00) Now, I’m out of RO water (we drink RO water). Will tap water (with water conditioner) harm the shrimps? I might do another water change in another two hours.

ALSO...learn from your mistake...DON'T use pantyhose to prevent shrimps from getting sucked up into the filter. It will clog up your filter. This is probably one of the many reasons why the shrimps are like this. Wash the pantyhose every four days to prevent it from getting clogged up.


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## jeff63851 (Feb 23, 2005)

update: found 2 dead adult cherry shrimp. I only see a few swimming around now. None is at the surface of the water...maybe they are dead in the substrate 

Humans always make mistakes...learn from them


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## jeff63851 (Feb 23, 2005)

ok Now, it seems hopeless. Tonight, I found alot of the shrimps in the surface of the aquarium. The water has gotten more cloudly. At around 12:30 PM today, I found two dead shrimps. The water smells kind of like dead shrimps. It has gotten so bad that I switched them to my 40 gallon QT tank (barebottom with 2 corydoras). What should I do now??

Thanks.


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## turtlehead (Nov 27, 2004)

It's a bacterial bloom... you just have to wait it out, that is the best solution and hope for the best, after 3 days 50% wc.


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## John N. (Dec 11, 2005)

I think it's a good idea to remove all the cherries you can and stick them into the extra tank. Waterchanges and filtration will be really the only solution. Hopefully things will be stable enough to put them back into the main tank.

-John N.


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## jeff63851 (Feb 23, 2005)

Thanks for your quick responses!

Is there anyway that a bacteria bloom can happen overnight? Well from 2:00 the water was cristal clear. I woke up around 7:00...that's like 5 hours for a small but noticable bacteria bloom. I did about two water changes, cleared the filter intake, and added carbon. By 5:00PM today, the water is so cloudly, that I can't even see the background plants! I will continue more water changes through out the week. Is there anything else I can do?

Thanks!


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## turtlehead (Nov 27, 2004)

jeff63851 said:


> Thanks for your quick responses!
> ...cleared the filter intake...
> Thanks!


Did you completely clear the intake? If you did your tank will completely recycle. And yes, a bacterial bloom may happen over night.


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## jeff63851 (Feb 23, 2005)

I just took off the pantyhose that was on the filter intake so that there won't be any baby shrimps getting sucked into the filter.


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## turtlehead (Nov 27, 2004)

I used to think that babies would get stuck in the filter just like you and put pantyhose to cover the inflow, but in reality, not much babies will get sucked up and if they do, just dump them back in. The panty hose just restrict water flow.


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## jeff63851 (Feb 23, 2005)

That's what I thought...but it's pretty hard to find the baby shrimps in the filter.

Today, the water is much clearer. I changed about 40 gallons of the water and now, it's christal clear. Here's my water permerter from today after a water change (my water testing stuff ran out, so I went to petco...not that reliable):

Nitrate: 4
nitrite: 0
GH: 75
KH: 0
pH: 6.2 (maybe 5.9?)
ammonia: 0-0.25

This was yesterday, when the water was really cloudy. This is my test kit: (retargents...much more reliable)

Ammonia: 0.10
nitrate: 0
pH:7.0
nitrate:0

Is there anything wrong with the water parameters? I see a big change in the pH, but my test today isn't that reliable since it's those test strips. I might move the shrimps into the 60 gallon by Wednesday.

Thanks


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## jeff63851 (Feb 23, 2005)

also forgot to add...

I also found more algae growth. I never seen this type of algae before. It looks like BBA, but it is in a light greenish (almost white) color that seems very fragile (but it isn't) What type of algae is it?


Thanks.


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## milalic (Aug 26, 2005)

jeff63851 said:


> That's what I thought...but it's pretty hard to find the baby shrimps in the filter.
> 
> Today, the water is much clearer. I changed about 40 gallons of the water and now, it's christal clear. Here's my water permerter from today after a water change (my water testing stuff ran out, so I went to petco...not that reliable):
> 
> ...


Try to move the shrimp. Also see if you can get the test kits with the regents. Keep us posted.


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## jeff63851 (Feb 23, 2005)

I think I can find some more extra regents somewhere. I will post the water parameters tomarrow. As for the shrimp in the QT, I found a dead shrimp being eatten by some ramshron snails.

It seems pretty interesting...on huge bacteria bloom in 5 hours, then one day later, there's no trace of a bacteria bloom in the tank.

Thanks for your replies!


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## John N. (Dec 11, 2005)

Maybe Grandma decided to take a long stick and stir up the substrate and making mushroom clouds for kicks... 

Just kidding, hopefully things will get set straight soon 

-John N.


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## turtlehead (Nov 27, 2004)

Ammonia: 0.10 is a problem should be 0 that is what's causing the bloom.


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## jeff63851 (Feb 23, 2005)

John N. said:


> Maybe Grandma decided to take a long stick and stir up the substrate and making mushroom clouds for kicks...
> 
> Just kidding, hopefully things will get set straight soon
> 
> -John N.


LOL! I'm pretty sure that the bacteria bloom is caused by

1) the blockage to the filter
2) (my dad suggested this) Wiping the brown algae off the aquarium glass
3) extra food?

I will retest the water again tonight (just did water change...let water settle in before test) Also, what should be the water parameter of a stable cycled tank? I might move the shrimps in the tank tomorrow.

Thanks


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## turbomkt (Mar 31, 2004)

A stable tank will have no measurable NH4 or nitrites, IIRC. I haven't cared about the "cycle" in so darn long


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## psidriven (Feb 21, 2004)

John N. said:


> Maybe Grandma decided to take a long stick and stir up the substrate and making mushroom clouds for kicks...
> 
> Just kidding, hopefully things will get set straight soon
> 
> -John N.


I can believe that. When I was in high school, my mom used to bang my plexi 55 to scare the fish, than she wait til they calmed down and do it again.

Sorry for the OT, but thought I share.


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## turtlehead (Nov 27, 2004)

(my dad suggested this) Wiping the brown algae off the aquarium glass
blocking the filter does nothing expect restrict waterflow. Tanks with no filters are fine, maybe a lack of water changes before the bloom.

will not cause a bacterial bloom, it seems like it was the over feeding, but I have not experienced that before when I accidentally overfed. Might have over fed a lottttt.


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## jeff63851 (Feb 23, 2005)

psidriven said:


> I can believe that. When I was in high school, my mom used to bang my plexi 55 to scare the fish, than she wait til they calmed down and do it again.
> 
> Sorry for the OT, but thought I share.


lol!!!

Well, here are the water parameters that I promised...

pH: (color was around 7.5 to 8.0) 7.6
nitrate: 20N
nitrite: 0
ammonia: 0.25

Is it safe to put the shrimps back in the tank? The water seems crystal clear now, but I am concerned about the ammonia.


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## turtlehead (Nov 27, 2004)

Don't rush things, ammonia 0 for the shrimps to be safely back in the tank. Maybe a few days and a water change.


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## jeff63851 (Feb 23, 2005)

The shrimps seem fine now. I just put them in the tank yesterday. Some are swimming and picking stuff. What is the normal shrimp behavior?

Thanks


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## Raul-7 (Feb 4, 2004)

jeff63851 said:


> The shrimps seem fine now. I just put them in the tank yesterday. Some are swimming and picking stuff. What is the normal shrimp behavior?
> 
> Thanks


That is normal behavior. They like to sift through the sand or they love congregating onto any moss they can find; especially the pregnant females (they always drop their fry there).

I noticed when they are stressed, they try to escape - they crawl up to the surface and jump onto the rim of the aquarium to avoid the ammonia/nitirite poisoning.


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## jeff63851 (Feb 23, 2005)

Thanks for the input!

I think that when I had the bacteria bloom, most of my adult and infant shrimps was on the surface but they never jumped out of the tank. How tall can these little buggers jump? My top backside of the tank is uncovered, but I didn't find any dried up shrimps on the ground.

Also, I am having trouble catching the small tiny shrimps. Any ideas on how to catch them? I will use bait (zucchini) and then use a net to catch them. Is there any other nice successful way to catch them? 

Thanks!


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## dstephens (Nov 30, 2005)

Don't know how many shrimp you lost but when your tank gets stable let me know and if you want I will send you extra cherries from my shrimp tank. I have had it set up for 3 months and the tank is thick with little shrimplets and adults alike! There are even 7-8 pregnant females that are getting ready to drop! Anyway, just let me know. Darrell


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