Mass die off of Shrimp :(

[Travisallen2007]

I have tested the water several times and its the same every time. I'm not sure what happened and it seems like it is continuing. 

 

The water has been cycled for quite a while and I don't ever do over 5 gallons during a water change (30 gallon tank).

 

According to the API liquid tests, I have 0 ammonia, 0 Nitrate, 0 Nitrite, 0 Copper, a balanced PH at 7.8, and a water temperature of 79 degrees. 

 

I have lost (In less than a week) almost 15 shrimp and a tetra. A few days ago, I come home and the fish, shrimp, and snails were all at the top of the tank floating there like there was no oxygen. At that point, I did a partial water change (even though the water tests came back perfect) and I hooked my O2 line to a diffuser so I have micro O2 bubbles throughout the entire tank. 

 

The tetra was dying when i came home from work yesterday and thankfully i have not noticed any more deaths today. Its a planted tank as well so I have no idea what this could be.

[ChadO]

I don't quite see what type of filtration you have in the tank - canister filter?  It seems like you may have some toxin of some sort that was introduced that won't show on the test kits.  Also, what type of shrimp are they?  At 79, that might be a bit warm for certain species of shrimp.  Neos would most likely be fine, but other types may not be so happy with that.

[Travisallen2007]

Thanks for replying! They are neos, and it is a sunsun canister filter for the filtration piece. 

[Vshrimp]

Do u inject co2?

[Vshrimp]

It looks like u have a diffuser in the left side of the tank. That must be the cuprit. Fish and shrimp swimming to the top is usually a sign of co2 overdose. Done that a few times before on a diy regulator that had a bad needle valve and i think ive seen one of those turbo diffor before

[repsaJ]

0 across the board is a little suspicious. Are you shaking the nitrate test extremely thoroughly, including the solution bottles?

I used to shake it as I would the ammonia test, but kept getting 0s. When I looked up why and started shaking everything like a madman, the real value of 40 ppm reared its ugly head...

[Vshrimp]

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/shopping?q=tbn:ANd9GcSIhCi-6HU6wBAyiF1QkWFB0hhGoskgxYdkOBDDyQ13-G8EtONo9_1frmZp_gObaBAyZMM5oMNo&usqp=CAE

[Vshrimp]

It looks like u have a diffuser in the left side of the tank. That must be the cuprit. Fish and shrimp swimming to the top is usually a sign of co2 overdose. Done that a few times before on a diy regulator that had a bad needle valve and i think ive seen one of those turbo diffor before

Wait...i read the story wrong lol

[Travisallen2007]

To answer a few questions, I was injecting CO2 but stopped a few days before this situation. I am using the diffuser to now diffuse O2 into the tank.

 

I have been shaking everything, but ill retest and shake it some more. I shake each bottle before i drop in the water and I also shake quite a few times to make sure that its mixed. 

 

I only have a small amount of fish in the tank and they were - until recently outnumbered two to one by shrimp and snails as a clean up crew. 

 

 

 

EDIT: 

 

I just retested and got the same results - I shook the nitrate test until i felt like I was on a carnival ride and had to much candy. Here is the test.

[sarah]

I would throw some carbon and/or purigen in the filter ASAP.

 

Are you using tap water?

[repsaJ]

Based on the fact that your water tests came back clean, you aren't currently experiencing any more deaths after diffusing O2, and under the assumption you hadn't introduced anything new to the tank, I would venture the guess that there wasn't enough oxygen present in the water.

 

Judging from the picture of your tank you provided, you are not using an airstone, and your spray bar is not above/pointed at the water surface. As a result, the lack of water agitation directly correlates to a lesser gas exchange between the water and air, and perhaps something so simple as a rise in temperature exacerbated the problem by further reducing the amount of dissolved oxygen in the water. 

[Travisallen2007]

That has to be it! The temperature was raised by about 2 degrees at the time that i noticed. Everything seems to have calmed back down now that I hooked up the air pump to the diffuser pump. 

[Wygglz]

I'm sorry you had losses, but glad you got it figured out with the help of these folks!