Fustrated by shrimp!

[lightcs4]

I had two fire shrimp a few months ago that died. I had acclimated them slowly and they did well for a few weeks, but both went in a short time of each other. I figured maybe I just needed to wait a while longer before adding them. I finally added a new fire shrimp thinking that one should do well with the tank over a year old. It only lasted a week! Water params are good; 1.24 salinity 8.3 Ph, no ammonia, no nitrite and less than .5 on the nitrates. I acclimated this last one over an hour time. Any thoughts as to why I'm having such a hard time keeping a shrimp?

Edit: By the way, temp is kept between 80 and 81.

 

[ZOOT098]

:death:dont have an answer for you but
i had two skunk cleaners and a coral banded
1 morning i woke up and had 1 skunk cleaner
about a month later the coral banded was gone
im going to stick to ghost shrimp so my dwarf lions can eat them
then i know what happed to them :death:

 

[lightcs4]

im going to stick to ghost shrimp so my dwarf lions can eat them
then i know what happed to them :death:

Funny. But my wife loves the fire shrimp, so I hope to find a way to keep them.

 

[ZOOT098]

if im correct fireshrimp arent cheap either
they are 1 of the more expensive ornamentals

 

[daugherty]

:death:dont have an answer for you but
i had two skunk cleaners and a coral banded
1 morning i woke up and had 1 skunk cleaner
about a month later the coral banded was gone
im going to stick to ghost shrimp so my dwarf lions can eat them
then i know what happed to them :death:

your lion prob ate them

 

[lightcs4]

if im correct fireshrimp arent cheap either
they are 1 of the more expensive ornamentals

No, they run between $35 and $40. I am thinking about adding a couple peppermint shrimp but hate to see anything die, regardless of cost.

 

[ZOOT098]

daugherty
the shrimp dissapearance was prior to the lions being in the tank

my peppermints didnt last long either
i guess shrimp just dont like me

 

[dan55gallonhex]

are you usig ro di water or tap and are you usng copper base medications?

 

[lightcs4]

No RODI yet, but I do have a house filter. It's not as good as an rodi, but it takes a lot out of the water. It runs at 7.8 Ph so I adjust the Ph with Kent's. I can wait to try again until I get an RODI unit. I plan on getting the one on Ebay by the Spring. My wife likes bottled water so I can use it for both drinking water and the tank.

 

[daugherty]

they can be difficult to keep sometimes. did you have any other fish in the tank with them?

 

[cthegame]

have you dosed your tank with anything? any medications?

I'm not sure how well your filters work and if you;re not sure either, just to be on the safe side i would buy RO or Distilled water for water changes until you get your unit.

 

[yote]

+1 Game
I've been either using distilled or out of the RO machine at wal-mart for over a year now.But I'm gonna have to break down and invest in my own RO/DI system.3 1/2 gallons a day for top-off and the wife said she wasnt making that many trips for water in a week.
I dont have an answer for your shrimp problem.But I have about the same luck with cleaner shrimp.I just cant keep them for some reason.But I've had my one fire shrimp for nearly 8 months now.

 

[lightcs4]

Daugherty, I have two clown fish (false percs) with them.

I'll invest in an RO unit soon. I'll wait on any more shrimp until then.

Yote, nice to know you can keep a fire shrimp. Maybe there is hope.

 

[yote]

Theres always hope:D
I've found that this hobby is just like any thing else.Theres some things you'll have good luck with and keep for years.There'll be other animals that no matter how well you research it and care for it,just wont do good.
Thats why I've quit trying cleaner shrimp.I just cant keep them alive for more than a week.Plating Montis too.I give up on em.

 

[Doc]

I agree with yote. Some tanks just cannot keep certain things alive. Biff cannot keep a plate alive to save her life. I have two tanks and in one xenia thrives and in the other, same rocks, same water, same salt... I get ZIP. All whither and die. I have had the same blood shrimp for over two years now and he just keeps plugging along. I have tried a dozen cleaner shrimp in my reef and they all kick the bucket within a month. Just part of the hobby. Learning to accept limits keeps the hobby fun and a lot cheaper!

-Doc

 

[Bifferwine]

Yep, plate corals are supposed to be "easy". I've tried at least half a dozen short-tentacled and long-tentacled plates. They die within 2 weeks, no matter what I do.

 

[lightcs4]

So a different shrimp may do better? I may try a peppermint shrimp.

 

[JAG107]

I'm done wasting money on shrimp. My one fire shrimp died overnight, death by coral banded. I had a skunk cleaner shrimp for almost 2 yrs though. I agree that some species are just hit and miss for our tanks

 

[Becki67]

Hello all,

I've had two fire shrimp for about 4 months and they are doing great and we have a coral banded. Do CB's bother the fire shrimp? We've only had the CB for about two months.

I saw the coolest Sea Hare the other day...it was a Blue spot...it was awesome. But, our tank is too clean and it wouldn't have anything to eat so I couldn't buy it.

Also, I was going to buy the BF an R/O unit for Xmas and don't even know where to start. Any suggestions?

 

[yote]

CBs are known to catch and eat just about anything.From corals and fish to other shrimp and star fish.