Egg Laden Pepermint shrimp dying

[ouchthathu]

OK, I started with 5 Peppermint shrimp and one by one they have been dying off with no visible damage to them. The only thing in common with each death is that they were fully laden with eggs at the time they died. I could almost see it coming the day before, the one shrimp would isolate herself from the others and become lethargic. The next morning it's dead with the eggs still attached.
After each death I check the water quality and everything is normal (all at 0 across the board). I'm really stumped! I do 20% water changes every 2 weeks, keep salinity at 1.023 temp at 80, ph at 8.2.
Now I'm down to my last one, and today I notice it's got eggs, is there some really wierd trace element that it needs? I like my Peppermint shrimp (they are like piranaha at feeding time) and I really don't want to keep loosing them mysteriously.
Other items in the tank;
3 or 4 Emerald crabs (I think there are 4 but I can't seem to keep them still to count)
2 Yellowtail damsels
2 percs
1 royal gramma
1 lawnmower blenny
30-40 hermits (red and blue)
20 or so Astrea snails
1 Coral Banded Shrimp
1 Lettuce Nudi
1 Yellow cucumber
and my lone Peppermint Shrimp

 

[kcobain111]

Don't banded shrimp kill other shrimp?...or am i thinking of something else?

 

[mudplayerx]

Yes, coral banded shrimp will kill all other shrimp. Also, the specific gravity is a little on the low side. You might want to slowly raise it to 1.026

 

[ouchthathu]

Yes, coral banded shrimp will kill all other shrimp.
Thats not it in this case. The CBS and peppermints have been in there since day 1 and have never gone at it. They have all goten along in the same section of the tank with no harrasment at all. All the reading I've done on the CBS indicates that they are only hostile to other shrimp of the same speicies unless they are a mated pair. I would expect the peppermint (if attacked by anything else) would be marred or visibly damaged in some way.
In this case, they die without a mark on them.

 

[snipe]

Could be the low salanity. Have you ever had this tank set up for freshwater? Is this tank near a place were you put perfume or colone or hairspray on? If so one of thoughs might be killing them.

 

[ouchthathu]

Have you ever had this tank set up for freshwater? Is this tank near a place were you put perfume or colone or hairspray on?
Nope, saltwater from the start and it's in my office (no perfume or any type of aerosols around).
The only thing I can think of now is that they must be more suceptable to lower salinity when they are getting ready to drop the eggs.

 

[snipe]

Either that or something has killed them and left them. Of course most things would kill and eat them.

 

[ouchthathu]

ok, I came in this morning, and my last peppermint shrimp is dead. Just like the others, he's unmarred or damaged, eggs still attached. Tested the water and everything is still at 0 across the board (Ammonia/0 Nitrite/0 Nitrates/below 10 PH/8.2 SG/1.023 Phosphates/0 Alk/~300). All the other inverts in the tank appear lively with no problems...I'm still stumped.

 

[snipe]

Are you sure there not molting?

 

[ouchthathu]

Are you sure there not molting?
Yup, 100% postive, thier little bodies are intact inside thier carapace when I pull them out. Deader than a doornail but still insdie thier carapace, untouched.
I've decided to take a water sample over to our local University to have it tested (I have some friends in the Marine Bio labs). I want to make sure that my tests are right, since the cycle I haven't had anything read above 0 on any test.