Dying shrimp

Ok on Thursday I got some shrimp (supposed to be 10 amano and 8 cherry, but not sure exactly what I've got as I got a few extras ) I put them in my q tank and all seemed to be going well and had counted there to be 21, then yesterday I discovered one cherry shrimp had died, now I have just discovered another cherry one has died, is it just one of those things or maybe a bad batch.

Test results are all okay

pH 7.4
Ammonia 0
NitrIte 0
NitrAte 10
GH 6
KH 3

Oh Hi Gypsy - I have just written a post about my Cherry Shrimp too.

I am sorry yours are dying - they're lovely little things aren't they? I had 10 but only 5 survived but I dont know if they had illness or were an appetiser for something as they just went in the big tank.

What are you feeding them on? If the water is ok, as it is, then it can only be illness/shock due to the move etc, I would think. They're so small when you buy them that they are probably not able to hande all the stress etc.

Just my idea mind you - not Gospel! My remaining 5 are thriving and now having babies, so I hope yours do the same.

They are lovely and I know already that if for some reason they don't survive the quarantine I WILL buy more.

So far they have just had a little flake and a bit of an algae tab as I don't want to overfeed them but then again I dont want to starve them either.

oopps hit the post button to early lol

In my shrimpy post I was mentioning about my baby shrimo and whether I should put them in the q tank as I dont want them to get eaten. I do wonder though if there would be enough 'muck' in there for them to live on.

Obviously I would feed them too, but I wondr if they need access to all the detritus that is in the bottom of a mature tank??

Thats a point maybe they do as I have nothing except a thin layer of gravel in my tank.

Maybe you could take some of your "muck" out of your other tank and put it into the q tank.

I think I might try that with mine just in case and then worry about finding them later although then I might not be able to see if I am losing more, oh the problems and no staright forwards answers :| .

Yeah, thanks Gypsy - have just been given the same advice by MC (great minds think alike ).

I think I will probably take some of the gravel which will have loads of muck in it, and they can have a rummage about in that.

Catching the little beggars will be the worst thing though!

I bet it will.

Awww, sorry to hear that Gypsy...hopefully the mucky gravel will sort them out.

Just checking. Have you checked that the 'dead shrimp' are their malted skins! I had a fright with mine when i thought it was dead but realised it had only malted!

Oh good point, Diana. I thought the same thing when I first found one...in fact, the other night, I found the new Betta tentatively poking one of the shed skins, prob trying to figure out if he could eat it.

lol, the mucky gravel was for diana & matty posted the thread about the skins malting. Are you very stressed Mary...?

munchycarrot wrote:

lol, the mucky gravel was for diana & matty posted the thread about the skins malting. Are you very stressed Mary...?

Doh...Christmas dementia...

Matty yes it definately was shrimps and not just the skins, I did wonder about that at first but then when I did a head count I was pretty sure (well as sure as you can be when there is 20 of the little blighters running around).

Seems to have settled down now and haven't lost anymore so maybe they were just stressed (have now added a plant for cover).

Glad things are settling gypsy

Glad to hear that, Gypsy. Adding places to hide will definitely help them feel more secure. I have seven shrimp in with my Betta in a 15L tank and even though there's only two fake plants in there, they still manage to disguise themselves very well 'coz the only time that I see all seven is when I add cucumber to the tank (a little tip there as they love it); that's how I noticed the female amano carrying the eggs.

How many eggs do they usually lay at a time Mary? I dont know anything about shrimp, (or anything else really ) but they do look great little things in the lfs when I see them.

If they have loads of babies (fry?) what are you going to do with them?

Well judging by the amount of eggs she's carrying, there must be several dozen. Sadly, having researched the breeding a little, it's a lot more difficult than I thought so I won't be breeding them so I guess if the fry do hatch, they'll be lunch for the Betta...