How to make my CRS thrive?

F

FrenchFry

AC Members
Feb 7, 2011
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Hello,

About five months ago, I set up a new 17 gallon tank. Once the tank was completely cycled I added a few Amanos and Otos, that all did very well, so I added 20 Grade S juvenile Crystal Red Shrimps.

They all molted and grew without issues, so I added another 20 CRS. Within a few weeks, one was berried. A few days later, this shrimp died. This was the first death.

Several weeks went by without any issues or additional pregnancies, so I added another 40 CRS. This is where the trouble began. The sudden increase in the bio-load caused the system to be off-balance, so there were numerous (about 20) deaths. The ones who died were mostly adult shrimp, and they would all stay near the bottom. At this point, I switched from using San Francisco tap water (very high in chloramines so ammonia in the tap water was elevated) to pure RO water, and I added an airstone at night. After about a week and a half, the mysterious deaths came to an end.

While I am of course relieved that these deaths appear to have halted for the time being, I am worried that the CRS are not thriving. Does anyone have any tips on what I might change in order to improve their living situation? All of the female Amanos in the tank are berried, and yet not a single CRS is berried. I'm assuming that this means that something is off-balance, missing, or creating issues that would affect CRS but not Amanos.

Tank Specs:
17 gallon rimless
Eheim 2213 canister filter
Eco-Complete substrate
Lots of plants
Root tabs and seachem potassium and seachem iron used to fertilize occasionally
High Output Light
CO2 on the same timer as the lights, roughly 12 hours per day
Airstone at night

Water Parameters:
TDS: 180
Temp: 72 degrees
GH: 6
KH: 2
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0 (the plants use it up fast)
RO water supplemented with Mosura Rich Water, Mineral Plus, and Sea Mud Powder

Food:
Mosura specialty Food or Excel once per day (alternate foods) except Friday (fasting day)
Dietary supplements: Mosura Gravidas, Bioplus

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Beautiful tank, by the way. Have you checked the copper levels of your tank? Are you sure all of the CRS are adults? Do you have males AND females?
I know these are basic questions but all good to know.
 
Thanks!

I have checked for copper but there is none. Everything in the tank was new and thoroughly washed when I put it together a few months ago. The tank has never been medicated.
I am sure that some have to be male and some female, since the larger ones have different tail shapes. And the odds of having just one gender with 40-60 shrimps are just too tiny.
I guess i can't say for sure that they are adults, but they have grown a lot and there are several who are much bigger than the original pregnant shrimp was when she passed away.
Also, I forgot to mention pH. It is 6.4-6.8, depending on time of day.
 
I would say give them a little while and don't add any more shrimp for a while to reduce amount of ammonia spikes. I would see if you could raise the ph to around 7-7.2 because shrimp like the ph a little higher and less acidic. I have red cherry shrimp and I wonder when they will breed but I am trying to be patient. So ya know patience is a virtue ;)
 
Mines thrive in sf water. My ph is around 7 -7.2 and when a friend tested my tds was about 165ppm. My tank looks ugly but they survive (set it and forget it style). I place an almond leaf in there every three weeks or so for grazing and the tanins. Maybe it just needs time because it did take about three to four months to start seeing berried females then juvies.

Here are some questions:
When you got that 40 extra shrimps did you acclimate them? Drip or flop and plop?
How is your feeding habit and what are you feeding?
Could it be that your co2 caused a ph spike or dip?
Do you have a prefilter for you canister inatke tube?
 
No, the water is not brackish. The amanos are very happy and are berried constantly, then release their larva, which do not grow in freshwater.
Raising pH is hard to do in a tank with pressurized Co2, but I can try if that would improve things. I have read in many places that CRS like acidic pH though.
Napsterninja, how do you treat your water? Is it from the tap? What water conditioner do you use? I was using a basic brita filter and the adding prime, but there was still ammonia present so I switched to RO water. I may buy an RO unit if necessary, but I would not.
Acclimation of new shrimps was accomplished using the drip method over the course of 3 hours, which is how I acclimated the first two batches of shrimps.
I feed a variety of mosura products. A small half flat spoon of powder dietary supplement in the morning and a small amount of the mosura pellets at night. The size I put in is about a 0.75 inches by 0.3 inches. It comes in strips but I cut it into small pieces to nake sure the crs get some. Otherwise only the amanos would hog the food.
The pressurized CO2 is on a timer with the lights. I cannot rule out that it caused a sudden spike midday, but reading in the morning and night are very consistent.
Yes, there is a sponge prefilter covering the glass intake, so no one gets sucked in.
 
Just straight from the tap and conditioned with Prime. I only at most do one or two 10% water change a month (and thats a over statment). My water is brown like a meduim tea color.
Maybe the focus on the plants is what is hindering the shrimp cycle. I used do the drip acclimating method with shrimps but after having a couple big losses (not sure but suspect) I just flop and plop. Seemed like the following week I don't notice any deaths compared to the drip method. Like you that first week one or two some will die.

I did used to try raising some CRS and CBS with other shrimps but always lost all of them. I guess shrimps like cherries and green out compete the CRS and CBS. Mines are in a tank of their own other than pond snails and 4 assassins snails.

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Nice! And do your shrimps breed in the tea-colored water? I have some leave I could put in, thought they would likely increase acidity. Where do you get your shrimps?

I have read about RCS and others outcompeting CRS by breeding really fast and taking all the food, but the amano offspring are not viable, so there numbers stay constant.

Everything went perfectly until I added the third batch of shrimp (all three batches were from one breeder), so now I hesitate to get more. I dont want to risk any lives until I know the tank has no issues, but since they are not breeding or berried it seems like there is something "off"
 
Yes, tea color works for me. I bought mines at the San Francisco Aquarium Auction. I think they were S grade. It took a good 6 months to get them the way they are now and about 50 shrimps to start. I moved the tank from one location to another during that time also. What grade are your CRS? I heard that the higher the grade the more sensitive they are.

Also I have a tea bag of sort of crushed coral in the picture. Its in the middle behind the driftwood. Someone suggested to me to give them calcium through a supplement (Fluval Shrimp Mineral Supplement). I was cheap and used that instead and its working! Also what is your substrate? People again suggest the ada soil or fluval shrimp substarte. But when I started I just used the basic black gravel And/or mixed in 10% of black fluorite too. Can't remember.
 
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