Sudden Death....Belly Up Shrimp

[ShmooBeast]

Ok, all it seems I post lately are problems, lol. But here ya go.

Just this past week my gf's 20 gallon was finally cycled and allready for her fish. We special ordered 4 cherry red shrimp, and also put in 4 dwarf puffers.

A few days after everyone was settled in one of the shrimp was found upside down in our water hedge...
The puffers have not been picking on them, and the water is fine, no nitrates, no nitrites, no ammonia, level pH that's not too high or low...the shrimp are getting enough food because we see them eating algae all day.
They seem perfectly healthy and happy zipping about the tank, scaring the puffers.

However, today while she was looking around the tank again she spotted another shrimp, lying on it's back under one of her false driftwood decorations.

Why are the shrimp going belly up? Any suggestions??? HELP!

 

[Blinky]

I'm still new to shrimp keeping, I can offer a few ideas, but no sure answer. Sometimes shrimp are stressed from shipping, just like fish. If they were new, this may be a cause. I've also heard that shrimp can die during a molt, though I'm not sure exactly what happens to cause it. Some people recommend adding iodide to the water, others say it's not needed at all. Those who recommend it do so because it's reputed to prevent molting problems.
I brought some ghost shrimp home a few days ago and lost one of them the next morning, probably just stress from being shipped. I'm sorry you lost your shrimp, I hope you don't lose any more.

 

[ouch]

are u using somthing that disturbs the gravel like a syphon when you clean the tank? The guy I bought my shrimp from breeds them and he told me to no syphon gravel because it causes nitrites or something to be released on the bottom of your tank, which kills all the shrimp

 

[Stefanie]

I would not be too surprised if your dwarf puffers are not all that innocent... Mine killed 5 shrimp, that were living with them for several months all of the sudden. They can do this slowly (over a few days) by ganging up and nipping on them, thus causing stress and little injuries, especially after or during a molt. You might not always be able to see it. I stopped adding anything to my puffer tank, except snails as food and some ghost shrimp to eat every now and then.