Dead shrimp!!

[deg40]

I have kept freshwater for years and finally took the dive into marine a few weeks ago with a 29g. The tank has been running with 45lbs of live rock for about 2 weeks, ammonia and nitrite tested zero with nitrate at 2.5ppm yesterday so it seemed to be cycled. I had a bunch of aiptasia popping up all over my rock so I bought 3 peppermint shrimp as well as 10 dwarf blue legged hermit crabs. They were fine and running around yesterday evening and this morning. When I got home this evening two of the shrimp are dead and I can't find the other. Suprisingly enough a number of the aiptasia look like they have shrunken and/or are damaged. The hermits and a hitchhiker snail I have along with all of the normal little worms look fine.

I did see for the first time a hitchhiker crab this evening. Is it possible he would be responsible for the shrimp and aiptasia? The 2 shrimp that I can find don't appear damaged, just flopped over on their sides dead.

I tested the tank, my levels are below. I know the temp is pretty high any suggestions on that would be great. I did order a new light with cooling fans so hopefully that will help. I do have legs on my pc lights now but it doesn't seem to help much (outside air temp is around 80). I did drip acclimate the shrimp and hermits, but I don't know what went wrong with the shrimp. Any throughts or suggestions would be great. Thank you!!

Specific gravity: 1.0225
PH: 8.4
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Nitrate: 5.0 ppm
Ammonia: .25 ppm
Temp: 94 F (I don't have A/C in the room. I do have lights on order with cooling fans that should be here soon. Any ideas on this otherwise other than buying an A/C for the room or a chiller for the tank?)

 

[Fishieness]

the temp killed them.
To try to help with that, point a deak fan at the surface of the water. Adding lights will add more heat, even if they have fans. The fans help with some of the lights heat, but heat will still be given off. But by blowing water with a fan, it causes a lot more evaporation which is the removal of kinetic energy (heat) as water turns to a gas. You will have to do a lot more top offs, but it will work. Im not sure if it will bring it down 14 degrees though. i say save up for an AC.

 

[Zeromason577]

take clean water bottles and freeze them, then add the bottle to the tank, and keep doing it as long as you need, then when the ice melts in the bottle re-freze it.

Thats what i do on the hott summer days when it gets 90+ in the house.

 

[nccoastal]

invest in a window ac unit. if one cannot be put in get a chiller.
small window ac units can be bought for 150.00 at a walmart.
chillers start at 300.00+.

 

[deg40]

I put in a window A/C last night, so the room is cooled off. The tank is down to about 88 now. It is taking some time to cool off. I am planning on doing a water change today to put in some cooler water and trade out some of water the shrimp died in. By the time I was done posting the other night the shrimp disappeared. Not sure what dragged them off, but I couldn't find them. I'm still a bit worried about my power compacts heating it up, but I have new ones on the way that have a cooling fan and I think I will try aiming a fan at them to help some more.

Thanks a bunch guys!

 

[mysis]

Power compacts do not really heat up to very high levels, you will be fine with monitering and keeping in check the room temperature and also having some small fans blowing the water in the tank. other that that insulation can reduce temperaure in a house dramatically, my house in summer barely gets over 27 c, and the tank barley gets over 26 c.