[cwilfinger]

I have a 35 gal high and I had about 130 rcs shrimps in the tank to start off with. Now I am finding about 3-5 shrimps dead a day. They are not necessarily older shrimps that are dyeing – juvies are dyeing also. My water parameters are…


temp is 77f
ph is 7.4
kh is 4 or 70ppm
gh ?? no clue
ammonia is 0
nitrite is 0
nitrate is 10-15

I feed them HBH Crab & Lobster Bites about every other day to every third day. I did test the tank for copper and the test came out negitive - so copper is not the problem. I have not seen any of the adults saddled or berried yet, but they all have nice red coloring. I have not dose anything in the past 2 weeks, but before that, I was doing the EI doseing. I do a 30-50% wc every week. I do not add CO2 to the tank. Lighting is on for about 10 hours a day.
I have tiger shrimps in there also and they are all doing fine - no deaths. I have no fish in the tank - just rcs and tiger shrimps.
What am I doing wrong?? What more can I do? Any suggestions?

 

[Seattle_Aquarist]

Hi cwilfinger,

I did not see where you mention water changes. I do a 20% water change weekly on my RCS tank and I am do not use ferts for my plants. The nitrate level could be your problem, I would start trying to get that down if it were me. Hope this helps.

 

[Th4nhPh0ng]

Maybe its the water change every week that's causing stress to them. I believe shrimp only tank can go a lot longer without changing the water every so often.

 

[Muirner]

I'm with Roy, i think that your nitrates need to drop a good amount. The level's i've heard are that they shouldnt go above 10ppm or so. There is a fine line between what's good for plants and whats good for shrimp. And i think your nitrates are good for plants but not for shrimp