Shrimp Death Emergency! Help Please.

[TAF]

Okay... quick description:

I have a small reef tank (12 gallons).

Recently (within the last week) I added a skunk cleaner shrimp, a little peppermint shrimp, and a little crocea clam.

In the last week the heat had been getting up to 82-84 late in the day, so I attached a big clean juice bottle in a mini-fridge to keep it cooler, and the temp now has only been getting up to about 80-81 for the last couple days.

Yesterday my little coral banded shrimp molted and died with no sign of damage on him... so I assumed it was a molting issue.

However, today, the skunk cleaner shrimp has died... again with no apparent damage. Could the skunk have transmitted some kind of shimp only disease? Also, the peppermint shrimp is no where to be found, but it always hid under a rock, so I have no idea if it is dead or just hiding.

Since several things have changed in the last couple days, I don't know what the problem is. All the corals look fine, and the clam seems fine, too. Also, my porcelain crab and pom-pom crab seem fine, but are they next?

Do shrimp die first if it is a copper or something else kinda issue? I thought the corals would look worse first. Would the tiny residue of juice have something harmful in it?

All my stats have stayed the same as they usually are:
PH is 8.2
KH is 300-ish
Nitrite is 0
Nitrate is <5
Salinity is 1.024

Please help. Any ideas of what the cause is or what I can do about it will be appreceated.

 

[Sk8r]

Did you acclimate the shrimp when you put them into the tank? It can take several days to die of osmotic shock.

No shrimp-specific disease that I know of. If your other inverts seem ok, and you did things right, I'd just be suspicious of the store where you got them didn't acclimate properly.

 

[TAF]

I slow aclimated the shrimp.

However, the coral banded I have had for over 8 months, and he died first.

Does anyone know if the porcelain crab could have killed them without leaving distinct damage?

He has only been in the tank for about a week and a half.

 

[Nano Chris]

Have you checked your calcium/mag/alk? They could have changed? Mine gets up to 83F or so and i haven't had any problems.

 

[TAF]

Update... I checked the peppermints hiding places with a flashlight, and can't find him anywhere, so I will put him on the list of the dead.

Are shrimp more sensitive to heat and temperature changes than corals?

 

[TAF]

My alkalinity is high, but is always around that.

I havn't taken my calcium/magnesium level to be tested lately, but usually they are in the mid-high range that is prefered for a coral tank.

Could a small hike or drop in these levels be the cause? I added about a gallon of salt water (that had been aged in a bucket for about two months) when I added the juice bottle cooler. I really don't think a gallon would cause that much change, but would it?

 

[Playa-1]

Have you checked for Ammonia?
How big of a temp swing are you getting in a day?
What exactly did you do with the juice bottle again?

 

[TAF]

I havn't had even a tiny trace of amonia for so long that I don't even have a test for it.

The temp is about 78 at night and slowly climbs to about 82 in the evening and then slowly back down in by morning. It was getting up to around 84, and that is why I started the chiller (on the same timing as the lights.

The juice bottle was rinsed several times, then connected to the tank with air-line tubing, filled with saltwater, and placed into a mini-fridge. When the lights come on, it starts pumping a tiny drissle of water into the bottle in the fridge and then back into the tank. Not supper helpful, but it is keeping the max temp of the day down by about 2 to 3 degrees. It shuts back off when the lights go out.

 

[RyanMcLaughlin]

Are you using a refractometer for testing sg? I had a brain, hammer, and some shrooms in a tank w/ two clownfish. They were all doing excellent and then I added a fire shrimp and cleaner that acclimated fine but died after a couple days. I was testing sg w/ a hydrometer that said 1.026. I purchased a refractometer and it turns out it was at 1.030. Everything else but the shrimp acclimated fine to the high sg. I guess they are just more sensitive.

 

[Sk8r]

The thing most critical to shrimp and shelled creatures is salinity.

 

[TAF]

The Coral Banded Shrimp who died first had been in the tank for over 8 months. I am using a hydrometer to measure the SG, however I have checked it against several refractometers and it has been dead on every time.

 

[Playa-1]

I agree. A refractometer with calibration fluid is wise.

That's a gheto chiller :lol:

 

[TAF]

True about the mini frig, but at least I can store my refrigerated fish foods there as well!!! LOL

 

[Playa-1]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13009152#post13009152 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by TAF
True about the mini frig, but at least I can store my refrigerated fish foods there as well!!! LOL

That's very resourceful

:thumbsup:

 

[JLAURIA751]

Im sorry about your loss sorry I don't have any Ideas. I do Like your home made chiller its better than my getto $8 walmart fan next to the tank. It does work though.

 

[TAF]

So, the hubby got home and has been helping me research things.

Nothing is sure, but our best guess at this moment is that either the shrimp in the freezer went bad somehow before I fed it, or... more likely... the large amount of brand new air-line tubing I used has leached some chemicals into the water.

Currently we will be replacing the air line with RO line and will be mixing water for a really big water change.

I hate doing a big water change like that, but if it is a chemical, I gotta get it out of there, right?

 

[TAF]

While we are waiting for the water to age, would using carbon in the filter help?

 

[EllieSuz]

Have you tried aiming a small fan at the water to bring the temperature down? It's such an effective and inexpensive solution.

 

[TAF]

I have a pretty big fan that is aimed at it, but fans can only do so much when they are blowing hot air around, unfortunatly.

 

[TAF]

Okay... new idea.

I went to add charcoal to the filter, and realized that the canister filter is barely running at all. Then if you add to that the secondary filter/pump being turned off at night since this was what I set to pump to the chiller.

And poof! The water flow cuts almost completely off for two nights. I have seen freshwater shrimp die off this way, but would this affect the shrimp without affecting the crabs or corals???