Dying CRS shrimp

[walker26]

Hi
After a previous failed attempt at keeping CRS I decided to give them another try. I got them in January and everything was fine until a couple of weeks ago. I lost a couple a few days apart and then I lost 3 in the last 24 hours . Water parameters are spot on, I’ve added a piece of cuttlefish bone but not sure that will help.

1 of them looked like it might have had trouble molting but couldn’t see anything wrong with the others. 1 of them had been berried for 3 weeks , I’ve tried to rescue the eggs so will see in a week or so if I can get them to hatch. I had another shrimp successfully hatch some eggs yesterday, seen 7 shrimplets so far.

I set the 30L aquarium up using Tropica aquarium soil, a piece of bog wood, a couple of oak leaves and alder cones and a couple of plants including some floating plants. I then let it all mature for 3 months before adding the shrimp.

I use RODI water, remineralised using Salty shrimp GH+. This gives the following stable water parameters.

pH- 6.5
GH - 4
KH - 0
TDS - 120-130
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 5
TEMP’ - 23c

I do 10% water changes every 7-14 days, pre-mixing it to match the tank water and drip feed it into the tank.

I feed them 2-3 times a week using Bacter AE and Snowflake shrimp snacks.

I have noticed some long white worm like things that I think are detritus worms. Am I correct in thinking these are harmless?

I’ve also seen another small thing about 2mm long that crawls over the glass quite quickly, not sure what it is. Anybody got an idea?

What is causing my shrimp to die? Is it a parasite of some sort or am I missing something? Any ideas greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[Martinspuddle]

Detritus worms are harmless to fish and shrimp. Leeches however are a big problem.

I’ve also seen another small thing about 2mm long that crawls over the glass quite quickly, not sure what it is. Anybody got an idea?

Copepod ...fish food, quite harmless too.

Weekly maintenance is a must with these shrimp.

Where did you get these shrimp, did get them all in one go or from different sources?

Is this aquarium planted?

Lightly or heavily planted?

Are you using CO2 injection?

Have you any pictures of the deceased shrimp?

Caridina cantonensis are very susceptible to any pH fluctuations, oxygen deprivation, water parameter changes plus bacterial infections, not to mention diseases and parasites.

[Lo1]

Soils can capture, store and release nutrients back into the water column in peaks and troughs. Which can have a negative effect on shrimps.

[walker26]

Detritus worms are harmless to fish and shrimp. Leeches however are a big problem.

I’ve also seen another small thing about 2mm long that crawls over the glass quite quickly, not sure what it is. Anybody got an idea?

Copepod ...fish food, quite harmless too.

Weekly maintenance is a must with these shrimp.

Where did you get these shrimp, did get them all in one go or from different sources?

Is this aquarium planted?

Lightly or heavily planted?

Are you using CO2 injection?

Have you any pictures of the deceased shrimp?

Caridina cantonensis are very susceptible to any pH fluctuations, oxygen deprivation, water parameter changes plus bacterial infections, not to mention diseases and parasites.

The shrimp came from someone on EBay. They were quite small when I got them, of a pretty good grade and looked very healthy. All 12 arrived alive and they’ve been moulting regularly with no issues in the first 7 weeks, then a couple of weeks ago I got the first death.

The first shrimp to get berried hatched the eggs on Wednesday. I watched her moult Friday and Saturday she was berried again. The fact they’re breeding and the shrimplets are surviving (so far) surely says the water is good?

Part of the problem is that there is so much conflicting information out there. I’ve read some people recommending weekly water changes and others fortnightly to try and keep the water parameters stable.

No pictures of the body unfortunately. Most of them just looked like they did when they were alive. The berried one was different, the body segments were splayed out sideways, I wondered if it had tried to moult? The Ph is pretty stable, it normally sits at 6.4 but does occasionally go to 6.6 by the time I do a water change, not sure what causes it to increase. When I do a 10% water change I drip it in over about half an hour and I pre mix it to match.

No CO2 injection.

Planted with a large Java fern that takes up about a quarter of the tank, small bunch of Limnophila Sessiflora which is struggling and about half the surface covered in floating plants that I have to remove half of every week.

The little thing I’ve seen on the glass looks like a tiny slug. Bad picture below. I’ve also seen long worm like things free swimming mid water, they look a little different to what I think are detritus worms in the aqua soil. Any ideas or are they just detritus worms?

Sorry for the long post and thanks for any help.

[walker26]

Soils can capture, store and release nutrients back into the water column in peaks and troughs. Which can have a negative effect on shrimps.

Thanks for the response.
Not saying you’re wrong, but every shrimp video I’ve seen and everything I’ve read shows people using aqua soils of some sort to help buffer the pH. It’s certainly helped keep my pH down and stable.

[walker26]

Just found another dead shrimp.
After a bit of research, I think I might have planaria or something similar. The shrimp that are alive just seem too healthy and normal for it to be a water issue and I wouldn’t have thought they’d be breeding if it was too off. I’ve ordered some No Planaria, fingers crossed it works before they all die. Only 5 of the original 12 left and the unknown amount of babies. I saw 10 a couple of days ago but not seen that many since! Hopefully they’re just good at hiding.

[Martinspuddle]

That's a Planaria, they are real problem to shrimp. Planaria exude a substance that stuns and paralyzes arthropods like shrimp. They then eat the shrimp while it is alive.

The only treatment that will clear them is Copper and Fenbendazole but while the Fenbendazole may not harm your ornamental shrimp the copper is lethal to them. You need to remove them, best to use a Planaria trap and these are pretty cheap. I got mine from Amazon. You can also find them on eBay or Pro Shrimp.

Link: Amazon - Planaria trap


Image courtesy from Amazon.

The Planaria may well be the reason for your Shrimp deaths. Normally every aquarium has these but we don't see because of the fish eat them long before they get to any real size but in a shrimp only setup they grow large and can get out of control.

Try shining a torch into your aquarium after dark, you maybe shocked to see how many there are.

[plankton]

The planaria must have come in on plants.
It's very difficult with shrimp to get rid of them.
If you have to treat plants then the copper treatments will kill the fish so you have to quarantine the plants for weeks after treatment with many water changes and running carbon to try and lower the amount of copper left.
Introducing plants that still have pesticide on them can kill the shrimp, and not necessarily straight away.
Shrimp also enjoy some fresh veg. Crushed peas are the easiest to cope with, but they will eat courgette and cucumber as it gets softer.

[walker26]

That's a Planaria, they are real problem to shrimp. Planaria exude a substance that stuns and paralyzes arthropods like shrimp. They then eat the shrimp while it is alive.

The only treatment that will clear them is Copper and Fenbendazole but while the Fenbendazole may not harm your ornamental shrimp the copper is lethal to them. You need to remove them, best to use a Planaria trap and these are pretty cheap. I got mine from Amazon. You can also find them on eBay or Pro Shrimp.

Link: Amazon - Planaria trap


Image courtesy from Amazon.

The Planaria may well be the reason for your Shrimp deaths. Normally every aquarium has these but we don't see because of the fish eat them long before they get to any real size but in a shrimp only setup they grow large and can get out of control.

Try shining a torch into your aquarium after dark, you maybe shocked to see how many there are.

Thanks. You’re right, there are dozens if not hundreds of the things.

I’d already ordered the treatment so I will see how that goes. It’s specifically designed for shrimp using Betel nut extract, so should be safe but not cheap at £20. It might be worth getting one of those traps though, to pop in occasionally to see if there are any planaria.

I’ll keep a close eye on the shrimp for a few hours to make sure there are no adverse reactions, although I suppose it will be too late once I notice any. They seem happy enough, eating and chasing each other about, I think one of them must have moulted.

I’ve spotted 10 babies this evening, looks like they’re already getting bigger.

[walker26]

The planaria must have come in on plants.
It's very difficult with shrimp to get rid of them.
If you have to treat plants then the copper treatments will kill the fish so you have to quarantine the plants for weeks after treatment with many water changes and running carbon to try and lower the amount of copper left.
Introducing plants that still have pesticide on them can kill the shrimp, and not necessarily straight away.
Shrimp also enjoy some fresh veg. Crushed peas are the easiest to cope with, but they will eat courgette and cucumber as it gets softer.

Thanks.
Yes, I couldn’t work out where they had come from as the Limnophila was one of those lab grown sealed pots and the Java fern has been in there for a couple of years. Then I remembered the floating plants I added about 6 weeks ago, they probably came in on those.

I will definitely avoid copper. I’ll try them with a pea next time I feed them.