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Posted by Susan on May 21, 2005, 11:45 am
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I hope someone out there can give me an idea what's going on in my tank. I
have a 29 gallon reef/fish tank with approx.15-20 lbs live rock. It's been
set up for about 10 months. After I had it set up I bought a pepperment
shrimp who got big and was thriving. I found him dead recently in my tank
with no apparent injury. I rubbed it off that he was old. I since had
purchased 2 cleaner shrimps at different times and lost both of them within
a week after buying each of them. Again no apparent injury. Salinity is 24,
PH 8.0, no nitrites or ammonia. Nitrates around 60.(It's always been around
this point since setting it up) I added a few corals to the tank a month or
so ago. I have a damsel, 2 clown fish, clown goby, 2 crabs and a turbo
snail that have lived in the tank a long time and doing well. The guy at
the pet store thought maybe it was a mantis shrimp killing them. I haven't
seen any in my tank and assume they would eat the shrimp if they did kill
them?? Anybody have any ideas what is killing off the shrimps?
Thanks--Susan
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Posted by on May 21, 2005, 2:41 pm
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I can't guarantee that nitrates are the problem here but one of my books
suggest that nitrates should be below 10 ppm for cleaner shrimp.
Certainly if you intend to keep a few soft corals, you need to get the
nitrates down below 10 ppm and much lower for more sensitive species. I
don't know what filtration you have other than the live rock but I would
suggest adding another 10 to 20 of lbs of fully cured (and quarantined) live
rock and when it has settled remove any canister, trickle or wet/dry filters
you may have gradually (if you have one, keep the canister for
carbon/phosphate filters but remove the biological filters and sponges). You
need to make sure that you have enough water flow over the rock (minimum 150
gallons per hour for your size tank and preferably 300 galls per hour).
I hope it helps.
Mark
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Posted by CheezWiz on May 21, 2005, 4:11 pm
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IMO,
Your nitrates are too high. Also, you need to test for copper.
If you have copper, use a SeaChem cuprisorb bag to get rid of it. It can be
regenerated and used indefinitely if necessary.
CW
>I hope someone out there can give me an idea what's going on in my tank. I
>have a 29 gallon reef/fish tank with approx.15-20 lbs live rock. It's been
>set up for about 10 months. After I had it set up I bought a pepperment
>shrimp who got big and was thriving. I found him dead recently in my tank
>with no apparent injury. I rubbed it off that he was old. I since had
>purchased 2 cleaner shrimps at different times and lost both of them within
>a week after buying each of them. Again no apparent injury. Salinity is 24,
>PH 8.0, no nitrites or ammonia. Nitrates around 60.(It's always been
>around this point since setting it up) I added a few corals to the tank a
>month or so ago. I have a damsel, 2 clown fish, clown goby, 2 crabs and a
>turbo snail that have lived in the tank a long time and doing well. The
>guy at the pet store thought maybe it was a mantis shrimp killing them. I
>haven't seen any in my tank and assume they would eat the shrimp if they
>did kill them?? Anybody have any ideas what is killing off the shrimps?
>
> Thanks--Susan
>
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Posted by Susan on May 21, 2005, 10:57 pm
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Thanks guys for the help. I actually did buy more live rock today. I
currently am running a Fluval 204 canister filter. I added a new poly pad
also in hopes it will help lower nitrates and take out any metals and I
changed some water in the tank. I'll wait a bit and check the nitrates
again. Is it a possibility that I may have a mantis shrimp that could be
killing off my shrimp?
Thanks--Susan :)
> IMO,
>
> Your nitrates are too high. Also, you need to test for copper.
> If you have copper, use a SeaChem cuprisorb bag to get rid of it. It can
> be regenerated and used indefinitely if necessary.
>
> CW
>
>>I hope someone out there can give me an idea what's going on in my tank.
>>I have a 29 gallon reef/fish tank with approx.15-20 lbs live rock. It's
>>been set up for about 10 months. After I had it set up I bought a
>>pepperment shrimp who got big and was thriving. I found him dead recently
>>in my tank with no apparent injury. I rubbed it off that he was old. I
>>since had purchased 2 cleaner shrimps at different times and lost both of
>>them within a week after buying each of them. Again no apparent injury.
>>Salinity is 24, PH 8.0, no nitrites or ammonia. Nitrates around 60.(It's
>>always been around this point since setting it up) I added a few corals
>>to the tank a month or so ago. I have a damsel, 2 clown fish, clown goby,
>>2 crabs and a turbo snail that have lived in the tank a long time and
>>doing well. The guy at the pet store thought maybe it was a mantis shrimp
>>killing them. I haven't seen any in my tank and assume they would eat the
>>shrimp if they did kill them?? Anybody have any ideas what is killing off
>>the shrimps?
>>
>> Thanks--Susan
>>
>
>
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Posted by Billy on May 21, 2005, 11:42 pm
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> Thanks guys for the help. I actually did buy more live rock today.
> I currently am running a Fluval 204 canister filter. I added a new
> poly pad also in hopes it will help lower nitrates and take out any
> metals and I changed some water in the tank. I'll wait a bit and
> check the nitrates again. Is it a possibility that I may have a
> mantis shrimp that could be killing off my shrimp?
I would agree with the others, the nitrates are high, and may be
contributing to the short life of your shrimp. If there was a mantis,
you'd be able to tell. A cleaner shrimp done in by a mantis would
most likely be in more than one piece when he was done with it. <g>
The canister may be contributing to your high nitrates. The
bacteria on the polypads are great for converting ammonia to
nitrites, and nitrites to nitrate, but that's where it ends. Only
water changes, Live Rock, a DSB, algae scrubber or something on those
lines can do the rest. I'd go with Mark's suggestion to add the FULLY
CURED LR to your tank, (don't believe advertisments that say 'fully
cured', cure it yourself, trust me on this.) and lose the canister
very soon after that. I wouldn't try adding any livestock until you
make whatever changes needed to get those nitrates down. It would be
fine in a fish-only tank, but not in what you're striving for. Please
let us know if you need any assistance, or have any other questions!
billy
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>have a 29 gallon reef/fish tank with approx.15-20 lbs live rock. It's been
>set up for about 10 months. After I had it set up I bought a pepperment
>shrimp who got big and was thriving. I found him dead recently in my tank
>with no apparent injury. I rubbed it off that he was old. I since had
>purchased 2 cleaner shrimps at different times and lost both of them within
>a week after buying each of them. Again no apparent injury. Salinity is 24,
>PH 8.0, no nitrites or ammonia. Nitrates around 60.(It's always been
>around this point since setting it up) I added a few corals to the tank a
>month or so ago. I have a damsel, 2 clown fish, clown goby, 2 crabs and a
>turbo snail that have lived in the tank a long time and doing well. The
>guy at the pet store thought maybe it was a mantis shrimp killing them. I
>haven't seen any in my tank and assume they would eat the shrimp if they
>did kill them?? Anybody have any ideas what is killing off the shrimps?
>
> Thanks--Susan
>