How come my cleaner is dead??

[32Bit_Fish]

My tank is 6 weeks old and 38g. I had a small one inch cleaner shrimp in my tank for almost 2 weeks. I discovered he/she was dead this morning.

The snails were working on the body when I discovered the dead shrimp.
The shrimp stopped eating on the day before yesterday. He/she normally chase after the pellets I dumped in the tank.

There are 3 death of clownfish within 2 week time period due to I didn't quarantine. The fish came down with some weird clownfish disease (rapid breathing and white feces). Hence the parasite infected my tank, the other two healthy clownfish were infected and died later.

Now I dont have any fish or shrimp in my tank, only couple zoa frags and a hammer head coral. The corals are doing great.

I did a 50% w/c after the last clown died (this past Tuesday). I tested the water this morning and I got the following result.

Temp: 78F
Salinity: a little above 1.025
PH: 8.2
Ammonia: 0
Nitrate: 15 ppm

What killed my shrimp? Fish parasites/bacterias will not kill any invert, correct? My shrimp is small (one inch), smaller shrimp is harder to take care of?

I'm not adding anymore fish/shrimp in my tank for another 8 weeks. I want to wait for the parasite (ich) to die off.

I appreciate any comments/inputs.

 

[CONSTANTNE]

Mine just died in my new tank. I think it's because I I didn't feed that much since I only have one fish. Is it possible it starved or did you feed it?


Sent from my iPhone using Reefs

 

[jcs11236]

i honestly think you rushed into it. 6 weeks is way to soon to have 3 clownfish and especially a shrimp. i had my nano setup for like 2 years and i still could not keep a cleaner alive. now my tank i could say is mature after 5 years.. u need to let the tank run for a good month or two without adding anything.. let it fully cycle.
just my $.02. good luck

 

[jaa1456]

And give it some time before you put new fish or shrimp in there, If you had a parasite. Give it time to die off completely, wait another 6 weeks or so I would suggest.

 

[OzoneParkGuy]

Possibly tank was not finished cycling(you state only 6 weeks up and running). I believe your nitrite spiked, killing your clown and invert this week. You did a 50%water change causing the cycling process to possibly start all over and reducing the good bacteria that was cycling through your water. Although Nitrates are not harmfull to fish at that level, long term can cause damage, And inverts will stress to some degree at that level of 15ppm. That's why reefers stress Nitrates & Phos. Sorry for your loss. Hope you are using good test kits to determine your water parameters. API is not accurate. If you are using it. Good Luck and don't give up.
+1 jcs

 

[CHEMCHEF]

Are you sure it didnt molt & you are just seeing the shell. they will usually hide for a few days after they molt.

 

[DREUTZ]

Are you sure it didnt molt & you are just seeing the shell. they will usually hide for a few days after they molt.

I was fooled the first time my cleaner molted.. hopefully its just that

 

[dubs]

maybe it molt and is hiding but i still think that ur tank is not fully cycle cause u lost the fish thats in there

 

[Mr.First]

This week of Molting week, check your aquatic calender, if you have one. I have one in aech of my tanks, they both molted the other day
6 weeks huh, guess you will be asking how to get rid of hair algae soon.
Just messing , we were all nubies once, I made the same dumb mistakes...
6 weeks, thats good.....

 

[Awibrandy]

I just purchased a pair of cleaners last week worrying the whole time that my Marine Betta might eat them. So being paranoid, and not seeing them since I put them in I went looking for them.

I found the shell of one of them, and instantly thought awwww man dead shrimp. But then I looked closer, and saw that it was an empty shell, and the shrimp was in the rock work.

Hopefully that is what happened to yours.

As to the fish I'm very sorry for your loss! May I ask where you got them from?

 

[fcamargo6thave]

Hey i am not really sure but arent cleaner shrimps supposed to go into tanks that are established for a couple months? Don't think i am flaming the situation but that is what some guy who works at absolutely fish told me. I hope it did molt as my cleaner shrimp lately has been molting at least once a month lol and me being a total noob thought that it had a baby lol lol lol lol check this thread out it is hilarious i felt like a moron.

http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=293375

 

[Master Shake]

uhhh dont put delicate stuff in a new tank

 

[32Bit_Fish]

Thanks for all the inputs.

 

[mandown123]

dont rush it. you still have nitrates, while 15 isnt bad, you just started your tank so you shouldve waited. dont add anything new to your tank for a month or so let the water chill out and do its thing.

 

[32Bit_Fish]

I've heard most people wait a month before adding animals to their tanks.

How long would you guys prefer to wait before adding any fish/shrimp into a new tank?

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

Until the tank is completely cycled you should not add anything. After the cycle add hermits and snails as a cleanup crew. Monitor them and then add your first fish. Watch and test for a few weeks then you can start with a 2nd after you QT it.

 

[BIG L A]

I hope that you find the guy and everything is okay, but I must agree that it might of been way to soon to add anything to your tank... I know the wait really sucks while cycling but it will save you some money and save the lives of other animals... I bought a fish when I thought my tank was completely cycled and got a spike and killed a fish, I think it was almost 2 months before I started adding live stock... Take your time and everything will be ok and keep testing your water...

 

[Mikei70]

Make sure when you do a water change to match salinity closely if you have shrimp.

They seem especially sensitive to changes in SG.

Good luck.

 

[Zorba]

The guys who wrote you that its too soon are probably on the right track. I would add snails and crabs to tank but nothing else for a month or so. You didn't mention if you used live sand or cured live rock in your setup. These speed up the time frame when setting up. Shrimp do seem to lose their appetite just before molting and I hope that's what happened to yours but tied with the clown deaths and time frame I doubt it. Give it some time and dont add anything but snails or crabs for at least 4 more weeks.
Good Luck
PS Theres still time to run

 

[32Bit_Fish]

Thanks guys. I'm not adding anymore things specially after my tank was infected by the parasite/ich.

I'm going to wait another 8 weeks before adding fish. Hopefully the parasites/ich will die by then.