Subtletanks91 Posted June 14, 2014 Report Share Posted June 14, 2014 Both deaths that I have found in the last two days were pewees. One golden and one crystal red. I just did a water change yesterday. And I tested my water today, my parameters are as follows Ph 6.4 Gh 7 Kh 1 Tds 168 Ammonia 0 Nitrites 0 Nitrates I am unsure of because when I test it on both my tanks it always reads 160ppm I'm sure my nitrates test is no good so for the sake of argument let's day I have 0 nitrates because I have fluval clear max in my filter which absorbs nitrates. Another reason why I know my nitrate test is gone bonkers. I have not done anything new to the tank added anything or even moved or changed anything, I do my water changes with pure ro water remineralized to 140, and top offs with pure ro water. Water changes are once weekly. My tb tib goldens and juvi to adult crystals are unaffected, everyone is molting properly as I found 13 empty shell casings this morning. What in shrimp gods name is going on here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soothing Shrimp Posted June 14, 2014 Report Share Posted June 14, 2014 May be environmental, however sometimes shrimp are just born to be food. Weak and don't make it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subtletanks91 Posted June 15, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 15, 2014 That's true I guess. I just didn't expect it to happen. I keep a close eye on things now it just kinda sent me into a spin again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soothing Shrimp Posted June 15, 2014 Report Share Posted June 15, 2014 As long as it isn't becoming a pattern, ya know? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subtletanks91 Posted June 15, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 15, 2014 That's true. If I check tomorrow and I see another one I'll decide its time to worry. Soothing Shrimp 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shrimpo Posted June 15, 2014 Report Share Posted June 15, 2014 How many % water charge every week? what is your feeding habit? I heard that little ammonia that our test kit can't detect will affect the weakest shrimp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soothing Shrimp Posted June 15, 2014 Report Share Posted June 15, 2014 Good info, Shrimpo. I'll have to mentally pack that away. Microspikes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shrimpo Posted June 15, 2014 Report Share Posted June 15, 2014 If you loose shrimp after feeding then it is most likely due to ammonia, I have yet to find a very, very accurate test kit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
High5's Posted June 15, 2014 Report Share Posted June 15, 2014 How much water are you changing out weekly? I thought water changes should only be done when your water parameters start to become unstable. Sorry that you lost some little guys, hopefully its an isolated event. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subtletanks91 Posted June 15, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 15, 2014 Water changes should be done weekly regardless of water parameters. Your tds raises throughout the week from feeding and bio load. I change out 20% weekly. I feed only when I notice they are not picking at bio film, so maybe once or twice a week. Usually I always have a leaf of some sort in there for a food plate. As far as ammonia goes, anything under a ph of 7.0 ammonia is non toxic, non gas ammonia but ionized form of ammonia and therefore not harmful. My ammonia level is always at 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hungle64 Posted June 15, 2014 Report Share Posted June 15, 2014 Water changes should be done weekly regardless of water parameters. Your tds raises throughout the week from feeding and bio load. I change out 20% weekly. I feed only when I notice they are not picking at bio film, so maybe once or twice a week. Usually I always have a leaf of some sort in there for a food plate. As far as ammonia goes, anything under a ph of 7.0 ammonia is non toxic, non gas ammonia but ionized form of ammonia and therefore not harmful. My ammonia level is always at 0 sorry that i have to disagree with you ammonium is non toxic. It is not as toxic as ammonia. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
High5's Posted June 16, 2014 Report Share Posted June 16, 2014 This maybe subjective 0ppm ammonia is the only acceptable level once the tank has cycled. If you see it go above something is wrong be it over feeding , bacteria can keep up with bio load. As far as water changes if I test my water weekly and everything is with in my desired parameters, I would not do a water change weekly, I'd rather do 5% weekly 20% monthly. You wrote this "Nitrates I am unsure of because when I test it on both my tanks it always reads 160ppm" If your unsure of something that means you don't know. 10-20 ppm is maximum Nitrates you want be seeing in a shrimp tank form what I've read. I'm only trying to be helpful, I'm here to learn and help other's. Someone please correct me if I am wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subtletanks91 Posted June 16, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 16, 2014 I say I am unsure because my nitrate test has been giving me the same reading now for almost a year. I never calibrated it. But being as I have a nitrate absorber in the filter that is max 2 weeks old, as well as Buce and moss all over the tank the nitrate should be 0. Water changes are subjective to each persons schedule and how they keep shrimp and fish. My water changes always coincide with eachother, water changes need to be done weekly though, think of this, through evaporation, water gains tds ss well as gh and kh. Shrimp poop, des integrating food, dead moss and leaves, powder foods all raise the tds and if your trying to keep it at a steady say 140 to 155 in my case weekly water changes are a necessity. Even doing top offs will only dilute the gh kh and tds to a point it won't return back to the parameters it was before the water evaporated. Louie 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soothing Shrimp Posted June 16, 2014 Report Share Posted June 16, 2014 The smaller the tank, the more need for increased wc, methinks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subtletanks91 Posted June 16, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 16, 2014 I use a ten gallon. So tds raises fairly fast. Especially is To summer time so even though I do daily top offs, I still need to do weekly water changes, aside from that we just had a thread about water changes and shrimp size. If I had a 40breeder I wouldn't need to do weekly water changes but more over probably every two weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chibikaie Posted June 18, 2014 Report Share Posted June 18, 2014 I would definitely suggest finding a nitrate kit that works and getting a real level, or calibrating your current one. Moss and slow growing plants don't use much nitrogen, and you may have more nitrates than the absorbent can handle safely. If you don't know, it can't be ruled out as a cause. Maybe it's not 160 ppm, but it may have gone from 15 to 40. Maybe it's usually zero, and now it ticked up to 5, and a few of the weaker ones felt the change. Maybe it is zero and not a factor. But it could be anything right now, and you have no idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Louie Posted June 19, 2014 Report Share Posted June 19, 2014 Subtle, I am also a big fan of weekly water changes . I change 5% twice a week for my shrimp . For my fish I change 10% twice a week . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subtletanks91 Posted June 19, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 19, 2014 Yeah I understand, I'm old school when it comes to water changes on my prize tanks. When I was young and didn't know much I never did water changes (around ten years old) and wondered why my fish died. But as I got into high school and taking the science classes I started realizing water chemistry changes almost weekly due to evaporation etc. so I started my weekly water changes. Sure enough my fish survived. As for a shrimp tank I believe weekly needs to be done in order to keep your tds in order. I have an apisto breeding tank I set up last night I will be doing twice a week water changes on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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