I have a question for anyone whod like to answer. I have recently bought set up and cycled a 12g nano and have purchased 3 shrimp ( 2 cleaners and 1 peppermint ) all at different time and none have lived past 1 day in my tank. I have also purchesed some snails that have failed to survive past a day in my tank as well. I have tested my water multiple times and everything tests out OK i also have a chromis that is currently living and healthy. I am confused on why i am having so much trouple with invertebrates. I have a lot of green algae in my tank because i let it cycle for about 6 wks or more before trying to add anything. Does anyone have any thoughts?
Dying Shrimp
- Thread starter MarklPDX
- Start date
has the tank ever had any FW or non reef safe medication that contains copper in? copper is lethal to invertibrates and can leach into the silicone seals of an aquarium therefore it will always be a problem if you havre yoused meds. Also another point is do you use tapwater because you amy have copper water pipes. To find out if your seals have been copperd they can look greenish . It is also advisable to buy a copper testkit.
Even though direct copper poisoning is a possible idea, the amount of algae you are describing sounds a little much for that new of a tank, I'm wondering if items like pH shift greatly, really greatly, in between morning and night cycles thereby stressing them enough to die. I've really never seen a tank develop any green hair algae at all during a cycle aside from some simple brown diatoms on the glass. If it was a tiny bit of green algae on some rock or on a small part of the glass I'd still chalk that up to normal phases, but green infestation simply means you have something rotting in there during a clean-only phase and this is problematic. Imagine that algae getting a footing before any animals are even added, if we don't find your algae problem just as importantly as your invert problem you'll be robbing Peter to pay Paul and soon you'll dislike the tank due to constant algae battles.
I've had many aquariums and have never had that problem with algae, somehow during your cycling there were nutrient accumulations and sometimes these wastes, if considerable enough, can cause wild pH swings depending on how you manage your calcium and alkalinity. Either way I'd like to see a pH reading taken at 7 am and 7 pm for a 4 day cycle, to check the data for consistency. copper is a great first suspect just guessing, but I'd also look for nutrient loading and simple water fouling that may impact basic parameters and cause pH shock--just brainstorming.
I've also seen people use really dense/animal loaded live sand from established systems that took that system's aged detritus load and deposited it in a clean/new system they thought could keep all that life fed as it did in the aged sand...the giant aged system had nutrient cycles that fed a dense sandbed of dying and reproducing pods and worms galore, then when starved in a new tank these items died slowly altogether and were only algae and alkalinity suckers for the life of the new tank. I say start clean, add only a tiny bit of aged sand, and what thrives is in relation to the capabilities of the system.
Brandon
I've had many aquariums and have never had that problem with algae, somehow during your cycling there were nutrient accumulations and sometimes these wastes, if considerable enough, can cause wild pH swings depending on how you manage your calcium and alkalinity. Either way I'd like to see a pH reading taken at 7 am and 7 pm for a 4 day cycle, to check the data for consistency. copper is a great first suspect just guessing, but I'd also look for nutrient loading and simple water fouling that may impact basic parameters and cause pH shock--just brainstorming.
I've also seen people use really dense/animal loaded live sand from established systems that took that system's aged detritus load and deposited it in a clean/new system they thought could keep all that life fed as it did in the aged sand...the giant aged system had nutrient cycles that fed a dense sandbed of dying and reproducing pods and worms galore, then when starved in a new tank these items died slowly altogether and were only algae and alkalinity suckers for the life of the new tank. I say start clean, add only a tiny bit of aged sand, and what thrives is in relation to the capabilities of the system.
Brandon
There was a die off when I first cycled the tank due to a LFS selling me a piece of live rock that had just come out of someone elses fish tank and had not been fully cured.. I ended up taking the rock out and cleaning all of the dead oranisms off of it..And put it back in the tank, I thought once the awful smell had gone away that I was in the clear but I had and still have this constant green algae. My problem seems to fit your description of the sand die off and I did start with live sand as well as the live rock that died in my tank for 2 days before I took it out. If this is the case what would be your advice on starting clean and keeping the stuff I already have i.e. 12 lbs of live rock and a chromis? And would i have to cycle all over again or no? By the way I just checked my PH and at 3pm and it wasnt abnormaly high or low I guess ill try checking it later tonight.
Thanx
Mark
Thanx
Mark
MarklPDX":1usazxev said:
my bet is nitrate/phosphate poisoning-make sure you're using good quality and accurate test kits
i'd first run some high quality carbon for a few days, then rowaphos for a week, and see if that helps to solve the issue
make your own salt water with an rodi unit-it's cheaper in the long run, and i could tell you many horror stories about lfs's 'ready made salt water'
what, exactly, are your test numbers ? high, low, normal, abnormal, 'ok'etc mean nothing to anyone
pH
SG
NH4
NO2
NO3
PO4
and temp should all be provided for any real stab at an answer
shrimp should be acclimated as slooowly as possible, ditto with snails-a drip is best-doubling the water, then pouring out half, then doubling again, at a minimum, with a drop rate of no faster than 1/second
i'm with vitz. especially if the tank is new, the water chemistry can do some funky fluxes while it settles down. those huge dips and spikes are hard on critters. you also mentioned that you put in some LR - cured or not, healthy or not, adding LR always causes water chemistry fluxes ... in my experience. in my tanks that have been mature, i am loathe to even add a small chunk of LR without doing lots of water changes
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