Shrimps keep dying :(

[juanro]

So about 2 months ago I got a maroon clown with a BTA, and the anemone died, took it out immediately, and a few days after, my crabs and shrimp died. Did water changes and tested the water and got normal readings, waited a few weeks and got a new shrimp and a few hermits, dead the next day.
So went to my LFS with water samples thinking my testing kit got messed up somehow, but the readings were good, waited and 2 weeks ago got another shrimp, died in 2 days.
The shrimp have not molted or anything, they start getting stiff and twitching until it stops and theyre gone.
Does anybody have any idea to what may be causing this? All of the fish and other invertebrates (urchin and 2 stars) are ok.

 

[aquaman]

How long are you taking to acclimate them into the tank? What is the salinity level of your tank v. where you are getting them? How long are they at the place you are getting them from? If they are new arrivals there it could be the stress of too much change too fast. You say you got normal readings, what are they?
More info = more help

 

[juanro]

I acclimate them for 1 1/2 hours, been told that 1 is enough, but just to be sure I leave them there for 30 more mins.
The specific gravity of my tank is at 1.024 and I get them from the same LFS I got everything for my tank, the first shrimp lived for a few months until the BTA incident. I usually wait about a week after anything gets there to make sure its not sick and eating well buying, and to read up on it to make sure I can have it.
Readings are:
pH - 8.2
ammonia/nitrite - 0
nitrate - 10
The magnesium and calcium levels were ok from the water I took to the LFS, dont remember the exact readings though.

 

[tangs rule]

This is just a weird thought - but is there any chlorine in your water? My local water varies ALOT thru the year - and this time they add Chloramine (even worse). I know from experience that shrimps are very VERY sensitive to chlorine/chloramine.

 

[tangs rule]

edit function still broke
But my old rodi unit had a hard time removing it all. I hope the new rodi unit I just began using does better..

 

[juanro]

No idea, I have a filter in the pipe going into the kitchen and another filter on the sink, think they should take out any chlorine/chloramine in the water (I hope).
Any way to test for it?

 

[tangs rule]

Unless you are using a reverse osmosis / deionizer unit and making ro/di water - this very well could be the cause of your losses. "filtered" tap water will still have some dissolved solids in it, phosphates, silica, chlorine/chlorimaine/flouride....even if it's filtered 2x, it's NOT the same quality as rodi water...it's better to either buy a ro/di unit OR use ro/di water....I've even used distilled water bought at the grocery store in an emergency.
I think some folks here even use a unit that's only about 140 bucks, and it makes good water....you will also need a tds meter if the unit does not have one - a pocket tds (total dissolved solids) meter can be had for about 10 bucks. This way you can test the watermaker's output and see that it's clean (000)
Chlorine traces will "paralize" shrimps - and they DO make test kits for chlorine....stay away from "dip strips" though - they are notoriously innaccurate.

 

[aquaman]

You say you acclimate them for 1 1/2 hrs. Please describe that process for me.

 

[juanro]

To acclimate them I put the bags to float for 15-20 minutes, then open the bag and put it into a 5 gal bucket, with the bag, and put a tube with running through the bag to the tank with a knot in it to create a drip, once theres enough water to fill the bottom of the bucket so that the shrimp or whatever it is is not sticking out of it I drop them into the bucket and get rid of the bag. The drip continues for about 1 1/2 hours, every once in a while taking out a bit of water. Once the time is up, I take them out with a net and put them into the tank.