Cleaner Shrimp Keep Dying - HELP!

[bluecoyote79]

I transferred my year old 24g nano cube into a 28g nano cube in January. My livestock included a very large and happy scarlet/skunk cleaner shrimp. About a little over a month ago that shrimp died. I don't know why, but I speculate that it may have been old. Shortly after he dies, I found a small pistol shrimp that had been unknown to me. Around the time he died, I'd let the tank become neglected, so those are also possible culprits.

 

Since then I cleaned the tank up and have been doing 5g water changes once a week. All over my test kits are showing 0 ammonium and no nitrates. I have never used copper in the tank. My pistol (the one i knew about) is doing very well, as are my 5 hermit crabs. All corals and fish are doing very well. I use a media basket and with filter floss and Chemipure elite. The CPE is one month old and I change the floss nearly every day.

 

Now that I've told you what is going on in my tank, can somebody please tell me why every cleaner shrimp i've bought since my original one has died? I've lost all 5 that i've added. I float the bag and slowly add small portions of tank water every 5-10 minutes for nearly 2 hours. The last time I bought two; I put food in the bag and one ate, the other didn't. The one that didn't died within 30 minutes of bringing him home and after adding tank water. The one that lived made it 36 hours in the tank before dying while I was at work.

 

I have ruled out predators, so can anyone give me some advice? I really want a pair of cleaners, but I want advice before I proceed.

[calabdiver]

I'd start with knowing that shrimp are not the easiest to get acclimated. Also its always a good idea to make sure that the shrimp you purchased did not just come into your LFS shipping stress can kill them as well. I don't know much about Cleaner Shrimp however I have a Coral Banded and I can't kill that thing it has survived 2 moves with claws being droped during the travel it is about 2 years old now in my tank and I didnt do anything to acclimate it just dropped it in. Obviously not the best idea but thats my experience with shrimp acclimation lol.

[Alkamist]

what is the salt gravity from your tank and the tank the shrimp are coming from? and how long are you acclimating the shrimp for?

[bluecoyote79]

I tried acclimating them nearly 2 hours, if not longer. My sg was 1.025, not sure about the store. THe thing is, I got my original shrimp before I knew about acclimating and he survived moves and the new tank just fine.

 

I've added distilled water and have dropped my sg down to 1.023-1.024. Should that help them?

[Alkamist]

Well it seams like you them fine acclimated and lowering sg wouldnt really do much but it may stress your tank a bit if you lowered it too quickly. Could just be bad shrimp that are too stressed have you started dosing anything to your tank? What are all your parameters at?

[cptbjorn]

if the 5-6 shrimp you have put in there in the last month have all died, then maybe stop putting them in?

[bluecoyote79]

Yeah I'm not putting in anymore shrimp, that goes without saying...

 

All tank parameters are fine. I even bought salifert kits thinking maybe my API kits weren't accurate, but both show no ammonium, nitrite or nitrate. Temp is 78 and sg is 1.024 since dropping it. All my inverts are thriving so I've ruled out predators or copper.

 

I haven't started dosing anything new. Once in a while I'll put in Kent additives like iodine, ca etc, but not at the time the shrimp were added.

[WillWork4Frags]

Firstly, recommended reef salinty is 1.025 - 1.026. You can also get away with 1.024. I do, and I have cleaner shrimp, sps, etc...

 

Are you using anything in your tank that may of had copper? Such as equipment or live rock? Is the new tank used? These will diagnose copper.

 

Are you using a properly calibrated refractometer to test your SG/Salinity? Low salinity is a shrimp killer. Has your LFS checked your salinity? Did it match?

 

Have your last 5 tries been from the same batch of shrimp? From the same LFS? Shrimp can be hit or miss.

 

I highly suspect copper, considering your problems started after you switched tanks. Unless you have starfish, hermits and snails are internally stable. This is why we can just temperature float them and plop them in with no harm done. So I suspect they can withstand trace amounts of copper.

 

Anyway, I hope you get this resolved. Cleaners are excellent tank inhabitants.

[Seamonkey84]

What kind of pistol shrimp is it do you know? I know some species are quite aggressive or territorial in nature and will kill crabs or other shrimps that get too close to it's burrow. I was just watching a docutmentory that showed a pistol shrimp killing a skunk cleaner and then eating it.

[Neya]

What kind of pistol shrimp is it do you know? I know some species are quite aggressive or territorial in nature and will kill crabs or other shrimps that get too close to it's burrow. I was just watching a docutmentory that showed a pistol shrimp killing a skunk cleaner and then eating it.

 

My tiger pistol shrimp made quick work of a pep shrimp banned to the pico after tearing apart Lps.

 

 

I think if it was toxic levels of copper all your inverts would drop dead.

 

I recently went through the same as op with snails and pep shrimp. No problems for a year buying from Lfs. Now suddenly no invert from them lives- but current stock in my tank is fine.

I believe they (lfs)lowered their sg a lot, acclimation time should be adjusted.

[mbonus]

^^ I agree with the above. One of my local fish stores routinely keeps their sg at 1.020. Before you add anymore, compare the salinity of the lfs to you tank. I'm guessing they are low.

[bluecoyote79]

I was thinking it was a tiger pistol that I found in the back, he was removed though and the last one that died was stuck to my mp10, so a predator didn't kill it.

 

I have never used copper and my tank/rocks/equip was all purchased new. My original shrimp lived with this setup in this tank for 5 months and in the previous tank for a year, so I'm gonna rule out copper.

 

All my other inverts are fine and nothing has died other than the cleaner shrimps. My pistol shrimp that I still have is very mellow and well fed and I'm gonna rule him out as a culprit as well. He lives up front away from the cleaner shrimp were hanging out.

 

I got the cleaner shrimp from different batches from 2 different LFS that I haven't had problems with before.

 

My sg was checked with a brand new and calibrated refractometer ($75 on Amazon).

 

I will check with the store to see what their salinity is, perhaps theirs is very low and it's making the transition hard for the shrimp, I know they're very sensitive.

[Urchinhead]

Also stop dosing iodine. It causes molting which can cause them to have much shorter than the normal 18 month to 2 year life span.

[Alkamist]

check the store, but did you add any more rock to your tank after you moved everything over? or add any equipment to your set up?

[bluecoyote79]

I thought they needed iodine to molt, not that it caused them to molt? I added rock, but the original shrimp was in there with the added rock for 5 months.

[Lawnman]

There is iodine in the salt mix you are using.What kind of iodine are you using and where do you get it?

[bluecoyote79]

I dont use a salt mix, I use natural seawater from Petco. I use the Kent marine iodine, and usually only dose twice a month.

[Formula462]

I dont use a salt mix, I use natural seawater from Petco. I use the Kent marine iodine, and usually only dose twice a month.

 

Eeww Petco. Yeah my money is on the pistol. I watched one square off with a banded coral shrimp yesterday at work. ( they didn't realize the pistol was still in that tank) if I wouldn't have pulled out that cb shrimp, he would have been toast. Lowering your SG from 1.025 to 1.023 is not going to kill anything.b

[bluecoyote79]

I know I'm resurrecting an old thread, but I wanted to share this. I held off for 2 months before I tried again with 2 new cleaner shrimp last weekend. I gave them a 45 min drip acclimate and then floated for 15 to acclimate to the tank temp. The shrimp are doing very well after a week and I think they may have paired up as they are ALWAYS next to one another.

[tajaba]

not to resurrect a dead thread or anything but I recently bumped into the same problem as the OP and I would like to get some help:

 

I've had 3 shrimps : 1 mated pair of skunk cleaner shrimp and 1 fire shrimp.

 

I've had the pair of cleaner since the first week of the tank and have had them for the last 2 month

 

I recently added the fire shrimp about 3 weeks ago and they have been all doing very well and molting every 2 weeks

 

but just last week I've lost the fire shrimp and my big cleaner shrimp

 

then today I've lost my last surviving cleaner shrimp.

 

My tank is 3 months old and I've never lost a thing yet till these shrimps. All LPS and SPS corals are doing well, except the green bali, which RTNed yesterday. I've went out and bought some hanna instrument phosphate just to make sure

 

since that is the only test that I'm using API, everything else is Seachem and Salifert

 

I keep the tank at 25-26 C and the SG is at 1.026.5 just about (35ppm) and always at that for the past 2 month

 

Before these guys started dying though I did take out some LR and rearranged the tank with some new dead Rock, do you think this could have caused them to die? I did put the new rock into another tank and cycled it for a month before switching it into the main tank