Shrimp tank disaster - the tank of death

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The Zigman

Here fishy fishy fishy!!!
Oct 5, 2007
5,249
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Near Chicago, Il.
www.uglymuggs.com
Well as many of you may know I have been having issues with my RCS tank. I have had leeches in the 20 gal long and I suspected them of eating the baby RCS.

There are about 100 adult rcs in this tank but I never saw any baby shrimp, so the other day I removed all of the substrate, and waited 2 days saw nothing adverse.

Cleaned the tank up. everything was fine. I mived some of the big stones around by hand and the shrimp didnt mind heck they even rode on the stones while I moved them. all was good.

Yesterday I added the new substrate, Top fin black aquarium gravel, I bought it new from petsmart. I rinsed it well in non chlorinated water, and added it tot he tank. about 2 inches.

There is a sponge filter, and a small internal filter in the tank. they are both working fine and were never removed from the tank. I never did more than a 50% water change in one day.

Today I woke up to find about 10 dead shrimp, and 5-6 more looking like they are ready to die. some look like they were trying to molt, and died in the process.

My water params are as follows.
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
nitrate 0
Gh 14
Kh 8
ph 8.8 (I was surprised it was this high usually its mid 7)
temp 78F

the water looks a little cloudy, and has no plants in it yet. was going to add them today.

the gravel bag says it may raise PH and I think it did.

Maybe I just stressed them out too much?
Maybe the Ph Spike killed some?
The water params are all fine.

I use no buckets so there is not really a possibility of contamination from soaps and stuff like that.

Any help?

IMG_3179.JPG IMG_3183.JPG IMG_3185.JPG
 

msjinkzd

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Feb 11, 2007
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Rachel O'Leary
gosh man, I really don't know. Last week I had to move 6 of my invert tanks which required draining them by 80% or so. I had a few losses in my RCS tank and that was it. Did you temp match? Do you think your pH is swinging around?
 

MGDMIRAGE

AC Members
Nov 29, 2009
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Spokane, Washington
It may just be the sudden PH spike. Shrimp are pretty delicate but hardy once adjusted.

Also no plants and zero nitrates? how often do you change your water?
 

The Zigman

Here fishy fishy fishy!!!
Oct 5, 2007
5,249
7
62
Near Chicago, Il.
www.uglymuggs.com
gosh man, I really don't know. Last week I had to move 6 of my invert tanks which required draining them by 80% or so. I had a few losses in my RCS tank and that was it. Did you temp match? Do you think your pH is swinging around?

I usually Mix RO and tap 50/50 to get the right chemestry for this tank.
I think the ph spiked due to the new substrate, but is that enough to start a massive die off?
 

MGDMIRAGE

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Nov 29, 2009
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Spokane, Washington
I usually Mix RO and tap 50/50 to get the right chemestry for this tank.
I think the ph spiked due to the new substrate, but is that enough to start a massive die off?
Yes, shrimps are very intolerant of change :( And PH rapid change is a MAJOR stress factor if it occured too quickly.
 

msjinkzd

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Feb 11, 2007
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can you post a link to the gravel? Its weird that a common product like epoxy coated gravel would shift your pH. You said it was marked as such? Do you know what its made out of?
 

MGDMIRAGE

AC Members
Nov 29, 2009
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Spokane, Washington
Is it coated? doesn't have a sheen like epoxy coating usually has. Yeah if it is coated it shouldn't leach anything or cause PH fluctuations.
 

msjinkzd

AC Members
Feb 11, 2007
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Rachel O'Leary
weird, if its epoxy coated it shouldn't change anything. I have used that stsuff countless times and never had a shift. I would call them and ask what "minerals" can leech out.
 
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