My Cleaner Shrimp bit the dust. WHY?

[stonewilled]

OK, I have a 30 gallon tank that is about 2.5 months old. My ammonia is 0, my nitrites are 0, Nitrates are 20 ppm, PH 7.8 .... I bought a cleaner shrimp and a peppermint shrimp 8 days ago. Yesterday afternoon I bought a new piece of live rock (9 lbs) from my local saltwater store cuz I really liked the way it looked. Last night (couple hours after the rock entered) my cleaner shrimp which normally parades around on top of my other rock was standing in the sand and being very still, until he would suddenly shoot across the tank and try and dig under a rock. I knew instantly that this is not good behavior, but as it was too late for me to do much, and I don't have a hospital tank, all I could do was hope for the best. Sure enough, this morning he was lying on his side, dead as a door nail. Anyone know anything that might help me? Seriously, cuz I'm scared of the owner of my local saltwater store. I don't even want to tell her it died, cuz she'll just bitch me out instead of trying to help me with my tank.. She won't even test water for me. Sorry for typing so much (>.<)... Thank you for reading!

 

[emusinky]

I would not buy from them again. May not be anything you did. If they act like that, not worth doing business with! SWF stands behind what they sell. Even with the extra costs of shipping, it's well worth the money

 

[blackjacktang]

Originally Posted by EmusinKY
http:///forum/post/3124423
I would not buy from them again. May not be anything you did. If they act like that, not worth doing business with! SWF stands behind what they sell. Even with the extra costs of shipping, it's well worth the money
+1

 

[roundboy]

When I first set up my tank with my live rock I only waited 3 days before putting my cleaner shrimp in and the following day he died. I took him back to the store and they told me that whenever you add a live rock do not add a shrimp or any other fish that is delicate to water change for at least 2 - 3 weeks. Also, I brought them a sample and told me the Alkalinity spiked when I added the rock.

 

[rdub62]

Some people swear by the point where if you add new live rock or move it around it causes stress, also can cause aggression over a certain territory depending on what fish you have in the tank.
I know when I put new rock into my tank my Yellow Tang has to check it out first. It will chase off any other fish or invert.
Some people say if you do it at night or turn the lights out it can help but I just say all of that is subject to the inhabitants.

 

[kronos5]

I wouldn't buy from that store at all, and I would tell them why. They are in business to promote SW Aquariums, not scare people away from it.