Six (6) Dead Shrimps (filter sock change the cause?)

ramblinwreck

New Member
I have a 75 gallon saltwater tank. A recent 20 gallon water change killed four peppermint and two cleaner shrimps. I've done water changes many times without any problems. What happened this time??? The only other change to my routine was a filter sock change. The instructions say to rinse the filter sock before use so I held it under a running faucet for a couple minutes. I've done filter sock changes before without rinsing and hadn't had any problems. Thanks in advance for your advice.
 

mattfrancis

Member
I remember the first time I replaced my sock. It turned my who tank white, but i didn't lose anything. Are you sure it wasn't the salinity?
 

ramblinwreck

New Member
Originally Posted by BTLDreef
http:///forum/post/3278876
Probably salinity.
How do you test your salinity?
What are the water parameters?
I actually found two of the peppermints! But the cleaners and at least of the peppermints are definitely gone. I check the salinity of each bucket of RO/DI water I mix. The nitrate was about 20-25 and has been higher. I should add that the water I add to the tank is about 72-73 F while the tank is 77 F. But like I've said, I've done this many times without any problems. I add the new water using a 1/4" ID hose (pretty slow). All of my fish and corals are fine. Are the shrimps more sensitive?
 

btldreef

Moderator
Originally Posted by RamblinWreck
http:///forum/post/3278901
I actually found two of the peppermints! But the cleaners and at least of the peppermints are definitely gone. I check the salinity of each bucket of RO/DI water I mix. The nitrate was about 20-25 and has been higher. I should add that the water I add to the tank is about 72-73 F while the tank is 77 F. But like I've said, I've done this many times without any problems. I add the new water using a 1/4" ID hose (pretty slow). All of my fish and corals are fine. Are the shrimps more sensitive?
IMO, get your nitrates down. They're too high, but should not have caused the death of the shrimp.
Yes, shrimp and all inverts for that matter, are far more sensitive to changes in water.
How are you checking your salinity? Swing arm hydrometer? Floating hydrometer? Refractometer? Taste (lol Cranberry!)?
Where do you add the water? How slow is "pretty slow"? The temperature shouldn't have been an issue, but it could be a factor to the bigger picture. I really think that the issue is more related to salinity.
Peppermints will hide, they're really nocturnal for the most part. Any stress will make them hide.
 

ramblinwreck

New Member
Originally Posted by BTLDreef
http:///forum/post/3278988
IMO, get your nitrates down. They're too high, but should not have caused the death of the shrimp.
Yes, shrimp and all inverts for that matter, are far more sensitive to changes in water.
How are you checking your salinity? Swing arm hydrometer? Floating hydrometer? Refractometer? Taste (lol Cranberry!)?
Where do you add the water? How slow is "pretty slow"? The temperature shouldn't have been an issue, but it could be a factor to the bigger picture. I really think that the issue is more related to salinity.
Peppermints will hide, they're really nocturnal for the most part. Any stress will make them hide.
I use a floating hydrometer. The rate is approximately 5 gallons / 20-30 minutes. I just don't see how it could've been salinity unless I forgot to mix one of the (four) buckets with salt. UPDATE: One more peppermint shrimp has been found. Like I said before, the new water was about 72 degrees. And because most of my shrimps live near the bottom of the tank, perhaps they were thermally shocked by colder water dropping to the bottom of the tank.
 

btldreef

Moderator
Do yourself a favor, and get a refractometer, hydrometers (ALL not just the swing arms) are not as accurate and go bad over time.
Peppermints hide, you'll likely find more. I hardly ever see mine and I've went days without seeing my Skunk Cleaners as well. Depends on your rock work/fish, etc with them and just how social they are. I have a mated pair and it's a heavily fed tank, so they hide more often since they don't have to scavenge for food so much.
Changes in salinity is a very common cause of death in shrimp. It also causes them to molt more often. Are you sure the shrimp you thought were dead are actually dead, they may have just been shocked and molted?
Also, water conditions affect shrimp more so than fish, IMO, you need to lower your nitrates still.
 

ramblinwreck

New Member
Originally Posted by BTLDreef
http:///forum/post/3279684
Do yourself a favor, and get a refractometer, hydrometers (ALL not just the swing arms) are not as accurate and go bad over time.
Peppermints hide, you'll likely find more. I hardly ever see mine and I've went days without seeing my Skunk Cleaners as well. Depends on your rock work/fish, etc with them and just how social they are. I have a mated pair and it's a heavily fed tank, so they hide more often since they don't have to scavenge for food so much.
Changes in salinity is a very common cause of death in shrimp. It also causes them to molt more often. Are you sure the shrimp you thought were dead are actually dead, they may have just been shocked and molted?
Also, water conditions affect shrimp more so than fish, IMO, you need to lower your nitrates still.
I know that three are definitely dead (2 cleaners, 1 peppermint) because I saw their bodies being eaten by other scavengers. It was pretty disturbing and depressing.
My nitrate has always been around 20-25. I did have a spike once and did lose a few fish, but never did lose a single shrimp.
Like I said, I've never had any problems with my shrimps. I'll just have to be more careful next time. I'll also go ahead and purchase a refractometer.
 
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