Got an issue with my cleaner shrimp...

dedwards

dedwards

Member
I purchased 6 snails, (3 Cerith Snails, 3 larger ones but not as large as a turbo) sorry I wish I could remember the names of them, 2 blue legged hermit crabs, 1 cleaner shrimp and 1 sifter goby. I drip acclimated the snails and hermits together for 15 minutes, then dripped the shrimp for 30 minutes, and then the goby for 30 minutes (all under the advised time from my LFS) I turned my moonlight on and went for dinner. Came back almost an hour after the shrimp went in tank, it was the 2nd acclimant, and the shrimp was dead in the back of the tank. The shrimp was pregnant and LFS thought that was a good sign. Personally I thought it wasn't a great idea but thought LFS knew best. All my tank parameters seem in check.
Ammonia = 0
Trites = 0
Trates = ~15
Ph = 8.2
Sg = 1.024
Temp = 81
I don't know if the shrimp died due to being pregnant and having the stress from moving tanks or not. But I do know that something is going on. All of the other fish are doing great. Hermits are all over the tank, snails haven't really moved much, 3 of them are buried in the sand, and the goby is buried under one of my pieces of LR. Any idea what happened to the shrimp? I was thinking of taking it back tomorrow but wasn't sure if it was something in my water that could have caused it. Last time I saw her was when she crawled towards the backside of my LR directly below my outlet on my powerhead and she was cleaning the LR. Other than stress & being pregnant I can't think of anything else. All ideas are welcome.
 
elfdoctors

elfdoctors

Active Member
Shrimp are notoriously difficult to acclimate. The LFS owner didn't know what he was talking about if he told you to only acclimate for 30 minutes.
This site recommends 2+ hours. I usually do a 6 hour acclimation for shrimp and starfish as these organisms are among the most likely to die from acclimation stress.
 
dedwards

dedwards

Member
Thanks...I did the typical noob rushing tank mistakes. Large bioload + inappropiate acclimate times = disaster. I am just hoping that the shrimp is the only thing that I loose. Thanks for you help
 
dedwards

dedwards

Member
Final update incase anyone is actually reading this. I saw the sifter goby poke his head out of the LR this morning so I know he is still alive. After 15 minutes of searching for 1 of the snails I finally found it on a piece of LR. Damn shell blended right with the rounds on the LR. Everything with the exception of the shrimp is doing well.
 
kogle

kogle

Member
Good to hear. I'm also a newbie and lost a orange linkia a few months ago to acclimation shock.
 
debbie

debbie

Active Member
I am going to be trading in my camelback for a cleaner shrimp. My 10 gal tank is 11 months old, how long do you recommend I acclimatize my new shrimp for?
Do you mean floating the bag and then adding a bit of water from the tank every 15 min? Please let me know how long the floating and how much water I add at each interval and min apart.
Thanks for the help, sorry to hear about your loss. I sure don't want to loose my new shrimp when it comes or I will be really out and the store will gain.
Debbie
 
dedwards

dedwards

Member
I would suggest 2+ hrs. You can do the 'add water to the bag' method. I prefer to drip acclimate. It's pretty much the same method but you aren't adding a bunch at a time. It's a more gradual change.
 
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