Can a fire shrimp die due to lowered salinity?

[emanguba]

We usually get our saltwater from place A...but place A was not in the schedule and we were definitely due for a water change.
So, we decided to go to place B for saltwater because of availability.
The salinity of place B's water was 1.18 and place A is usually 1.24.
We did your water change (30 gallons for a 72 gallon tank) and noticed that Fred, our fire shrimp, didn't make it.
We checked the salinity of the tank this morning and it is at 1.2 now.
All our other parameters are okie dokie.
So, was his death due to the salinity difference?

 

[parkercandleco]

ya i have noticed... that i had a peppermint shrimp and i lowered my salinity to help with parasites and what not.. and then i noticed that i lost my peppermint shrimp.. could be.

 

[ophiura]

YES YES YES
Absolutely they will die in lower salinity.

The parasites that are killed off are invertebrate parasites so logically those you want would die as well when the salinity is lowered.
Specific gravity below 1.024, IMO, is stressful to shrimp, below 1.022 is likely fatal...ideally 1.025-1.026 should be kept.
Definitely check that specific gravity before adding

It will can be a severe stress on ALL inverts

 

[emanguba]

Dang, that sux...we really liked Fred...he was very cool...
We also had 3 pepermints and 1 cleaner that made it...and Fred (fire shrimp) was the biggest one...how is it that he didn't make it and the others did?

 

[parkercandleco]

well i also guess that explains my blue lobster dying also.. i was baffled by that one.. i usually keep my salinity at 1.21,, i will definitely raise it and add my shrimpy friends back in once the water is stable for them...
god rest there soul

 

[m0nk]

Originally Posted by emanguba
We usually get our saltwater from place A...but place A was not in the schedule and we were definitely due for a water change.
So, we decided to go to place B for saltwater because of availability.
The salinity of place B's water was 1.18 and place A is usually 1.24.
We did your water change (30 gallons for a 72 gallon tank) and noticed that Fred, our fire shrimp, didn't make it.
We checked the salinity of the tank this morning and it is at 1.2 now.
All our other parameters are okie dokie.
So, was his death due to the salinity difference?
Ophiura is right on, but I'm just curious why you wouldn't have tried to add some salt mix to raise your salinity if you noticed, prior to doing the water change especially, that the new water was lower salinity than you usually use? You really need to be sure that water going into your tank has a consistent salinity level because it can not only affect inverts, but the large fluctuation of salinity can affect fish as well, and could kill them if the fluctuation is too great with just one water change.

 

[emanguba]

I thought we had some salt at home...but it turned out that we were out...so we were SOL...
Lesson learned...RIP FRED!

 

[ophiura]

Different species, and even different individuals of a species, will have different tolerances both for the specific gravity, and the rate of change. The study of these in ecology are experiments to determine the "lethal limits" and frequently they are done using numerous individuals to account for individual physiology.