why do my peppermint shrimp keep dying!!

[reneehaecker]

Well I bought three peppermint shrimp so far and they did within the first 30 minutes of being in the tank:headwally:,, I only have
Black clownfish
Ocellaris clownfish
Fire fish goby -gave away
And a blue damsel -died

Is their some thing wrong ??

 

[pmcarbrey]

How did you acclimate them? have you ever dosed copper in this tank?

 

[reneehaecker]

I drip acclimated them and I never used copper in my tank

 

[Biocubehqi]

Do you buy local or have them shipped? What's your tank parameters? Everything!
Do you test the salinty in the bag? Something is wrong...

 

[Jamey1010]

Many of the common aquarium medications are quite toxic to invertebrates if you've used any

 

[reneehaecker]

I buy them locally and I bring some water from my tank to the store to be tested an I don't check the salinity

 

[reneehaecker]

I use the prime water conditioner

 

[squishifishi]

Welcome to Reef Central!!!

first off, you NEED to test salinity regularly, like every water change. a glass floating hydrometer is only a dollar usually and can be found at any lfs. pretty accurate and easy to use. salinity fluctuations will destroy yout tank. also, are you using tap water? sometimes, tap water has high copper levels. i dont think prime fixes that. if you dont allready, you should buy reverse osmosis or distilled water. you can get it at your lfs, but if not, many grocery stores sell it too. using ro/di water can prevent many issues in the reef tank.
I do hope you can find the problem in your tank. dont hesitate to ask questions along the way, we're always here!
good luck, and happy reefing!

 

[Jamey1010]

Switch to ro water and you won't need the prime anymore, I would be suspect of that although I know it's suppose to be invertebrate safe. I've heard of issues before with it

Shrimp can be sensitive to salinity changes so checking yours would be a good start and make sure your acclimating them.

 

[reneehaecker]

The aquatic lady at petco told me to get the priciest which was prime water conditioner .should I just buy premade saltwater from my lfs because I don't think I can a afford a to unit and I check the salinity of my tank water I just thought u ment the bag

 

[reneehaecker]

...

 

[robotman]

The aquatic lady at petco told me to get the priciest which was prime water conditioner .should I just buy premade saltwater from my lfs because I don't think I can a afford a to unit and I check the salinity of my tank water I just thought u ment the bag

best to usually buy from your lfs if you cant afford a ro/di unit. but either fresh or salt, depending on your salintiy. depending on what your salinity is at, topping off keeps it the same, when you do water changes you use salt.

 

[rssjsb]

You need to be able to check the salinity in your tank.

As someone mentioned above, shrimp and other inverts are very sensitive to salinity changes. I always check the salinity in the bag and then in the tank. Drip them until they are within .001 points of each other. So if your tank is at 1.026, you should drip the bag until it is at least 1.024.

 

[Biocubehqi]

As someone mentioned testing the salinty in the bag is also important. The LFS may be keeping the tanks salinty a lot different from yours... Also you need some test kits, for the price of those three shrimp you could of bought a API test kit... Please buy water from your LFS. But always check the salinty of the jug, most stores have a habit of saying its 1.025 when really its more like 1.021... Saves them money... It does stink to spend money on not so fun things, but it makes the hobby so much more fun.

Water chemistry is the most crucial part of this hobby... Clownfish are so hardy those would probley be the last thing that dies in the tank... Coraline algae will die before a clownfish, I've seen it with my own eyes...

What types of corals do you have and how have they been acting lately?

 

[squishifishi]

I just buy jugs of or water at the grocery store or lfs for like 15 cents a gallon. It's much cheaper than premixed saltwater, but it might be different where you live.

 

[reneehaecker]

I don't have corals ,I am going to start buying premade saltwater or regular filtered water and I'm gonna get the API saltwater test strips

 

[pmcarbrey]

I don't have corals ,I am going to start buying premade saltwater or regular filtered water and I'm gonna get the API saltwater test strips

Test strips are useless, don't waste your money.

The best investment you can make is an RO unit, you can probably find one for $50-100 used

 

[squishifishi]

Yes, liquid test kits are more accurate

 

[reneehaecker]

Ok liquid test kits it this tomorrow

 

[Tangnerd]

Do you ever drop pellet in the tank? If not I have found my fish to eat all the food that's in the water so I drop a few pellets in and never have had a problem with keeping any kind of shrimp.