Amano shrimp - 2 deaths...help?

[nanahachi]

Hey all

I bought 5 amano shrimp, maybe 2 or 3 weeks ago. I'm fuzzy on the date right now. One disappeared within a few days of bringing them home. I thought it had molted, and went into hiding. What I now suspect is that one of them just died, and the carcass that I saw was not the translucent molted shell, but the remains of the shrimp.

I came home today, fed my fish (5 white clouds), and saw a molted shrimp exoskeleton. I counted 3 shrimp moving around, and assumed the other was off hiding. As I was about to leave, I noticed my Hagen CO2 system wasnt putting out any bubbles, that something seemed to be blocking the way. When I looked a bit closer, there appeared to be something soft and white, in the opening of the tube, where the bubbles escape into the diffuser. Something inside of me told me it was the no longer living missing shrimp. I pressed the airhose, trying to force some gas out, hopefully then pushing the white stuff out of the way, but no luck.

So, unless the shrimp magically appears, I now have 3 shrimp left, out of 5. The others, especially one of them, seem to be active and thriving. I really dont know what happened to the first shrimp, and am saddened at the loss of a second. I am left wondering why it was trying to get inside the CO2 airline....for safety perhaps, but I havent seen my shrimp go near it before, and I have 2 rocks providing a few cave spaces for hiding.

I guess this sort of thing is normal. Fish will die. My 20 gallon, planted freshwater tank seems to be ok. While the water is a bit soft, I am trying to remedy that and the parameters seem ok overall. I am going to do a water change in a few mins, and I can post my levels later.

Any thoughts would be much appreciated.

Thanks

 

[nanahachi]

update:
after a water change, i spotted the fleshy upper section of the missing shrimp's torso, with a few legs still attached. This was not the molted exo., which I already removed from the tank. so, no longer MIA, the shrimp is confirmed to be dead.

so, I am left confused why this shrimp died. if you guys/gals think of anything that might lend an explanation, let me know.

thanks.

 

[anonapersona]

Data required

pH?
KH?

White stuff on the end of the CO2 airline that looks like snot is from CO2 mixes, not too often seen when using the prepared Hagen mixes, but pretty much standard with DIY mixes, unless you add a bubble counter/bubble scrubber that forces bubbles to go through clean water where goo can be removed. Bubble counter water must be changed -- stinky.

And you are sure that the shrimp did not climb into the filter?

Amano shrimp have been known to walk out of tank, across floor, down stairs (read that online, can't locate source to confirm details).

I have found several ghost shrimp dried up alongside my tank, they had jumped.

Are the shrimp getting enough to eat? I put in a bit of steamed lettuce (or microwaved) just until it is soft, for the rosy barbs, but the amano shrimp love it too. If there is not a lot of algae, they might need some greens.