Jadenlea Posted March 8, 2015 Report Share Posted March 8, 2015 wow ok. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charis Posted March 9, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2015 This thread is pretty old so I have to think back two months to remember all of the details! But, it's likely great to revisit it to explain what I found worked. Firstly, yes, the tanks were and are cycled. They sponge filters spent a good amount of time in my cycled fish tanks and the consistently 0 ammonia/nitrite continued to prove this. I did end up changing to 100% RO water and remineralized with the SS for my crystals (can't remember the name now). And, yes the pH out of the tap is really high. The city website states that it will be in a lower range than that, but since I live on the edge of the Rocky Mountains and our city uses rivers created by the run off of glaciers and mountain rain, our water is rock hard. There is a reason this is one of the Cichlid raising capitals of North America. My RO unit works well and creates water with a TDS of 5 or so. I have a DI component I could add on, but TDS of 5 is fine with me. I did correspond with my seller who told me he had seen these kind of deaths before and I should likely expect to slowly lose the whole batch, although he was unable to specify what the specific problem may be. In the end, I did notice that some of the shrimp dieing were cloudy. I don't know if this was a change from what I originally had as a problem or the problem all along. I read as many posts as I could about treating bacterial infections in shrimp and felt unsatisfied with the outcome of most of the treatments. I found a study that discussed the use of kanamycin with salt water shrimp and it's effectiveness. I decided that I would rather take my chances with an antibiotic based treatment as it did not seem to be something frequently tried. I used the kanamycin on both neo tanks, with 4 treatments of about 3/4 strength initially then full strength over 6 days. The deaths stopped and did not return and it didn't have any adverse affects on the shrimp from shrimplets through adults. So, I'm glad I tried it. The tanks have both been thriving and from the 5 or so remaining adult survivors of the problem, there are now 50-60 shrimp in each tank. Obviously, most of these are shrimplets to juvies. I would definitely go the kanamycin route again if I suspect the same issue! mbenjamin16 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OMG Aquatics Posted March 9, 2015 Report Share Posted March 9, 2015 I did correspond with my seller who told me he had seen these kind of deaths before and I should likely expect to slowly lose the whole batch, although he was unable to specify what the specific problem may be. So a seller knows their shrimp has issues yet sells them as if nothing is wrong??? I wonder what's going on in their head. Obviously it ain't right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charis Posted March 9, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2015 Yes.... that did cross my mind..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soothing Shrimp Posted March 9, 2015 Report Share Posted March 9, 2015 Did they offer you a full refund, I hope? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soothing Shrimp Posted March 9, 2015 Report Share Posted March 9, 2015 Oh, and would you please go into detail about the kanamycin? what size tank, how much dosed, etc? I've not heard about this drug. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chibikaie Posted March 9, 2015 Report Share Posted March 9, 2015 Kanamycin is available from Seachem as Kanaplex, with dosing instructions for fish. I don't remember them offhand but I have used it on fish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charis Posted March 14, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 14, 2015 I'm so sorry for the long wait! I've tried to respond a couple of times, but for some reason, it would not let me log in... just kept saying that the page didn't work. Anyways, it works now! Yes, I was specifically using Kanaplex by Seachem, but as with any medication, if the ingredients are the same, it wouldn't matter what brand you were using. However, I was dosing based on my Kanaplex bottle, which involved two flat scoops of the med/10 gallons. Each of my tanks are ten gallons. The first day I used it, I added in the full 10 gallon dose all at once. This caused a bit of an uproad with the shrimp and they went racing around like there was fire on their tails. I quickly did a 30% water change in the tanks to reduce the concentration and everything settled out. After a few hours with the med in the tank, even my lethargic milky shrimp became active and began eating. Ultimately, the few milky shimp I had did not make it, but I never had any others become ill and the tank was disease free after that time which I consider a real success after dealing with this mystery illness for so long. So, basically I did 4 treatments in the tanks. Treatments are supposed to be 1x/day for 4 days. I was extremely busy with work and didn't have time to do the small water changes needed before treatments in the time required, so my treatments were done every 36ish hours (with the water change), instead of the 24 hours instructed on the bottle. I also did approximately a 3/4 dose for the first 2 treatments and then a full dose for the last two. I did this because my first treatment had caused such a dramatic response. I added the second treatment in slowly, via drip method with my water change water, over about an hour. No big reaction from the shrimp. Infact, they didn't even seem to notice it. So, I upped the last two treatments to full dosage and they tolerated it just fine. I think they tolerated it specifically because I added the medication in more slowly. After it was done, I did a large water change and added my Purigen bags back into the tanks. I'm guessing this treatment will not work for just any bacterial infection in a tank of shrimp. Antibiotics treat gram positive and gram negative, aerobic or anaerobic bacteria... so I just took a guess with this, since I didn't even know what in particular was ailing my shimp and lucked out with the fact that it was obviously the correct antibiotic for the particular sickness affecting them. Kanamycin is absorbed readily and doesn't need to be consumed, as other medications do, which made it preferable and it doesn't affect the filter bed. Kanamycin is a lesser used antibiotic in the aquarium hobby, so it hasn't developed the resistance that others, such as sulfa meds and tetracycline, have. I don't think that antibiotic should be used lightly and generally as a "shot in the dark" but since I had been advised that all of my shrimp we going to die off one by one and there didn't seem to be any other hugely effective treatments, I felt trying something like this was warranted. I prevented resistance from developing by finished the recommended cycle and until all of the shrimp appeared to be healthy. Anyways, in the end, I'm really glad it worked out well! Hopefully if I encounter this same thing in the future, I'll be able to treat it again. Here's a little more info on the product, if desired: http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/aquariummedication2.html Shrimple minded and Soothing Shrimp 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chibikaie Posted March 14, 2015 Report Share Posted March 14, 2015 Little tip: 10 gallon tank holds more like 8 gallons of water, so the "3/4 strength" was full strength for actual water volume. Good idea on dripping it in, though. Charis and Soothing Shrimp 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike7381 Posted July 8, 2015 Report Share Posted July 8, 2015 Wow, it is so informational, I am planning to have one or two shrimp tanks and I am new to shrimps, can someone tell me if my water parameters is good for any type of shrimps? PH = 7.6 Temp = 76-78 Ammonia & Nitrites = 0 Nitrates ~ 25 GH = 8 KH = 12 Substrates = Fluval plant and shrimp sustrum and seechem substrate (Black Sand) Water = Tap Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dr0p Posted July 8, 2015 Report Share Posted July 8, 2015 You would need to treat your tap water, and Gh and KH are a bit high. If you can get them down just a tad along with the Nitrates, any color Neos should do fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lyana Posted July 8, 2015 Report Share Posted July 8, 2015 Neos are fine with gh of 8 not sure if kh matters too much with them. Use prime to treat tap water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike7381 Posted July 8, 2015 Report Share Posted July 8, 2015 I used prime, but this is the stat after I used it, is there another way to lower the ph, gh and kh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.