Do 50/50 water changes with distilled water and conditioned tap water. My Kh and Gh were insanely high and since I started using the distilled water I haven't lost anymore and have some babies too.
I lost a couple!
- Thread starter E's_Crab_Shack
- Start date
I have had particularly bad luck at cherries too my first attempt was almost a complete failure ( lost all but one monster female - I call her godzilla she is huge and very red and apparently bullet proof!!) I think I just made too many mistakes!!
I finally got some super cherries from addictedtofish after many months of just wondering if I should give up and so far.... so good so I am hopeful. I am glad to know about the distilled water/conditioned water trick cause most of the losses I suffered before were at water change time.
I have only done one water change on my super cherry tank ( its small 5 gal) and the whole time I was l really didn't want to do it. I think once I see them breeding and I have a bunch the loss of 1 or 2 won't hit so hard.... so far I haven't lost any of these and I'd like to keep it that way.
Just letting you know you were not alone.....other things grow and thrive under my care but so far cherries...not so much!
I finally got some super cherries from addictedtofish after many months of just wondering if I should give up and so far.... so good so I am hopeful. I am glad to know about the distilled water/conditioned water trick cause most of the losses I suffered before were at water change time.
I have only done one water change on my super cherry tank ( its small 5 gal) and the whole time I was l really didn't want to do it. I think once I see them breeding and I have a bunch the loss of 1 or 2 won't hit so hard.... so far I haven't lost any of these and I'd like to keep it that way.
Just letting you know you were not alone.....other things grow and thrive under my care but so far cherries...not so much!
Will stop by the store and get some water before I go home. Huff, it is funny you say that because I have one huge really red female I call big mama that I have had forever. She even survived my gf adopting a red parrot and live with it for close to 5 months along with 2 big goldfish in the 30g(before I traded those in). She is actually the only one I bought from this one lfs and has somehow survived two substrate changes, extremely dirty water and now whatever this is that is happening. It would really suck to lose her
I'm going through the same thing right now... I have lost approx. 20-30 cherry shrimp over the past two weeks for now apparent reason. I am wondering of something got sprayed in the air?
Most of my babies have recently been male as well, I wonder if that happens if the tanks starting getting crowded?
Most of my babies have recently been male as well, I wonder if that happens if the tanks starting getting crowded?
Well youre not that close to me but that would be weird, "california sprayed with cherry shrimp pestisides"
Haha, I wasn't thinking about pesticides from the tap but possibly my apartment complex. I have been leaving the windows open in the mornings and evenings and I know they have sprayed recently.
Hmmm well nothing like that at my place. I am in a kitty corner and get no experience to wind, heat or cold. It stays pretty much the same all year round which is really nice and has worked great for my aquariums. Thats why Im so suprised these little guys are dying like the plague
mellowvision
Seafood Lover
they're more sensitive than RCS, but nearly all of my crystal reds died off this summer too. I took the last survivor out today actually. there are a few things to consider... pesticides are certainly one of them. temperature, ph swings, amonia are all things to watch as well, but it sounds like you were.
my tank seemed normal in most ways, so I've been baffled by the rapid decline. the tank's been up for over 2 years, and at times has been a great producer of crs. I've come up with a list of things I think may have been the cause or at least part of the problem...
1. Green Spot Algae. it's not really mentioned as a big problem, but I wonder if it got to be too much in the tank. I've read that it is actually a tiny crustacean, and not algae, so maybe it overcompeted for food or oxygen.
2. Snails. This tank was snail free for years, but has developed a colony of MTS this summer. Who knows. I've never had luck with the crs in tanks with MTS, but most people don't seem to have an issue. Again, overcompetition.
3. Oxygen Depletion. With snails and greenspot competing for o2, and plants not producing as much due to algae growth, and a filter aging and slowing down, I can't help but wonder if there was not enough oxygen or flow.
4. Aged substrate. this tank was an odd shape, with a small amount of gravel. I always thought it would be the limiting factor of the tank, but it could easily have gone anerobic or simply aged to the point where it did not support microfauna the way it used to.
5. Construction Dust. Over the past year they have destroyed the building next to my apartment, and built a new one. Lots and lots of dust.
6. Tap water fluxuations. NYC is a big place, and our water is supposedly pretty good, and pretty stable, but with the construction next door, the water mains have been disturbed several times, and as is common in nyc, the hydrant in front of my apartment has been run for days on end, and off and on... when ever hydrants and mains are disturbed, sediment is stirred and there can be a fluxuation in water quality.
7. Lack of discipline. I've also gone from having 4 tanks in february, to having 11 right now. This has required I skimp a little here and there, to squeeze it all in. Knowing CRS don't like waterchanges very much, I have probably stretched the time between changes a bit too long, and done larger changes to compensate.
8. Food changes. In june I found some information that suggested I try blood worms for the crs occasionally. They loved them. But I did not continue that diet very long, maybe once a week for a month, and then stopped. I felt like the blood worms were contributing to dirtier water.
9. Pesticides. My upstairs neighbor has been complaining about her ant problem all summer. Even though I convinced my landlord not to spray the building, I think the neighbor probably sprayed in her place.
the list could go on and on. Shrimp are sensitive, and we can't test for everything. The best thing you can do is to split your colony up, and put half in a more controlled, fresher environment, to ensure the longevity of the group. It was my plan to do so, but I haven't finished the new tank yet. If only...
I disagree about avoiding water conditioners. I use prime in all my tanks without a problem. I know nothing about stress coat but thought it was a lot more than a dechlor... and that I would avoid. dechlorinization though, is something you want to do, unless you let your water dechlorinate in a tank with a pump before using it.
I also want to warn you with the bottled water... I ran my shrimp tank on poland spring for the first 3 months I had it, and didn't have much of anything happen... it seemed fine. but if the bottled water has different parameters than your typical tap water, you could drastically change the tank chemistry by water changing with it, so take it easy. up's and downs aren't any better.
hope all this helps. helped me to list out all the potential problems... I think tomorrow I'll start by eliminating the snails and green spot.
my tank seemed normal in most ways, so I've been baffled by the rapid decline. the tank's been up for over 2 years, and at times has been a great producer of crs. I've come up with a list of things I think may have been the cause or at least part of the problem...
1. Green Spot Algae. it's not really mentioned as a big problem, but I wonder if it got to be too much in the tank. I've read that it is actually a tiny crustacean, and not algae, so maybe it overcompeted for food or oxygen.
2. Snails. This tank was snail free for years, but has developed a colony of MTS this summer. Who knows. I've never had luck with the crs in tanks with MTS, but most people don't seem to have an issue. Again, overcompetition.
3. Oxygen Depletion. With snails and greenspot competing for o2, and plants not producing as much due to algae growth, and a filter aging and slowing down, I can't help but wonder if there was not enough oxygen or flow.
4. Aged substrate. this tank was an odd shape, with a small amount of gravel. I always thought it would be the limiting factor of the tank, but it could easily have gone anerobic or simply aged to the point where it did not support microfauna the way it used to.
5. Construction Dust. Over the past year they have destroyed the building next to my apartment, and built a new one. Lots and lots of dust.
6. Tap water fluxuations. NYC is a big place, and our water is supposedly pretty good, and pretty stable, but with the construction next door, the water mains have been disturbed several times, and as is common in nyc, the hydrant in front of my apartment has been run for days on end, and off and on... when ever hydrants and mains are disturbed, sediment is stirred and there can be a fluxuation in water quality.
7. Lack of discipline. I've also gone from having 4 tanks in february, to having 11 right now. This has required I skimp a little here and there, to squeeze it all in. Knowing CRS don't like waterchanges very much, I have probably stretched the time between changes a bit too long, and done larger changes to compensate.
8. Food changes. In june I found some information that suggested I try blood worms for the crs occasionally. They loved them. But I did not continue that diet very long, maybe once a week for a month, and then stopped. I felt like the blood worms were contributing to dirtier water.
9. Pesticides. My upstairs neighbor has been complaining about her ant problem all summer. Even though I convinced my landlord not to spray the building, I think the neighbor probably sprayed in her place.
the list could go on and on. Shrimp are sensitive, and we can't test for everything. The best thing you can do is to split your colony up, and put half in a more controlled, fresher environment, to ensure the longevity of the group. It was my plan to do so, but I haven't finished the new tank yet. If only...
I disagree about avoiding water conditioners. I use prime in all my tanks without a problem. I know nothing about stress coat but thought it was a lot more than a dechlor... and that I would avoid. dechlorinization though, is something you want to do, unless you let your water dechlorinate in a tank with a pump before using it.
I also want to warn you with the bottled water... I ran my shrimp tank on poland spring for the first 3 months I had it, and didn't have much of anything happen... it seemed fine. but if the bottled water has different parameters than your typical tap water, you could drastically change the tank chemistry by water changing with it, so take it easy. up's and downs aren't any better.
hope all this helps. helped me to list out all the potential problems... I think tomorrow I'll start by eliminating the snails and green spot.
mellowvision
Seafood Lover
the other point I wanted to add was, that shrimp have relatively short life spans. Deaths could be entirely natural, especially for females that have spent a healthy duration producing offspring.
Thanks mellow, you always have great wisdom to pass on. I actually have more left than I thought previously. When I did the water change earlier today a lot of them came out to investigate so that's a little good news. One other thing I forgot to mention is when I put any ramshorns in this tank they slow down A LOT, almost to the point of not moving at all. If I take them out and put them back in the 10g they pick right up. I think the one pestiside point you made could be valid. My gf has been spraying the **** outta my place with raid since we got an ant infestation. I will limit that
