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View Full Version : How much ammonia is too much for yellows?



fabsroman
11-11-2009, 6:12 PM
Over the past 3 weeks I have lost 2 adult size yellow shrimp. I tested the water parameters when I found the fist one and they came back as 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and 10 nitrate. When I found the second one tonight I tested the parameters again and they came back as less than .25 ammonia, 0 nitrite, a little over 10 nitrate, and .25 phosphate.

This is the first time I have ever seen an ammonia level in any of my tanks and am somewhat shocked, especially since this tank has a ton of dwarf sag in it that seems to be growing really well. Is an ammonia reading of less than .25, but not exactly 0, too much ammonia for these shrimp?

Another thing I have noticed in the tank is some planaria. There aren't too many, but I am wondering if these planaria could have killed adult shrimp.

I have no idea how many shrimp I have lost since I started keeping these yellows because the MTS in the tank make short work of the bodies. However, in the 3 months I have had them the population has remained about constant and I have seen a berried female here and there, without seeing any shrimplets until about 3 weeks ago. Right now, I have 3 berried females, which at least gives me hope, and I have seen 3 shrimplets at the same time.

What is frustrating is that with my RCS population I can count 20+ shimrplets right now and easily have a population over 100, and I have even gotten rid of 80 of them.

This is frustrating.

blue2fyre
11-11-2009, 8:24 PM
From what I understand yellow shrimp are more sensitive to water quality. Really any ammonia is too much for shrimp.

msjinkzd
11-11-2009, 8:26 PM
What is your pH? If your water is hard, the ammonia is more toxic.

Planaria certainly can effect reproduction and kill/weaken shrimp.

I have noticed that my yellow shrimp need more oxygen/filtration than my other neo species.

fabsroman
11-11-2009, 11:07 PM
What is your pH? If your water is hard, the ammonia is more toxic.

Planaria certainly can effect reproduction and kill/weaken shrimp.

I have noticed that my yellow shrimp need more oxygen/filtration than my other neo species.

ph is a constant 7.2 to 7.3 because of a ph monitor/controller and CO2 injection. The kh is 9.0 and I don't know what the gh is but could also measure that.

I'll have to monitor the tank closely over the next month or two, see what happens, and make some changes in filtration if I have any more fatalities.