MarkNJD15 Posted December 9, 2013 Report Share Posted December 9, 2013 So for the past year I have had RCS and they are having a lot of babies. Now, the problem is that they don't seem to be making it past 1/4 inch. I also have CRS in the same tank and they are getting close to breeding age. I'm hoping I don't have this issue with them. Distilled water Temp- 72-73F TDS 200-250 (I do a w/c when the TDS get above 250) pH- 6.8-7.3 Ammonia- 0 ppm NO2- 0 ppm N03- 20-30ppm GH-6 KH-0 A little over a month ago I switched foods and started to feed them Mosura BioPlus, Mosura Specialty Crystal Red Shrimp Food and blanched spinach. What do you guys/gals recommend I do to fix this problem? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sake Posted December 9, 2013 Report Share Posted December 9, 2013 Maybe try keeping your nitrates closer to 10ppm? That's the only thing I can think of, your tank seems to have hiding spots and there aren't any fish in there that I seen. Everything else seems to be middle of the road good, so I can't see any issues. Have you seen any planaria or hydra in the tanks? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MABJ Posted December 9, 2013 Report Share Posted December 9, 2013 With your KH at 0, I'd say you're likely having PH swings? I would wager that could be an issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkNJD15 Posted December 9, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 9, 2013 Maybe try keeping your nitrates closer to 10ppm? That's the only thing I can think of, your tank seems to have hiding spots and there aren't any fish in there that I seen. Everything else seems to be middle of the road good, so I can't see any issues. Have you seen any planaria or hydra in the tanks? No and no. With your KH at 0, I'd say you're likely having PH swings? I would wager that could be an issue. I haven't checked the pH in the morning, maybe I should. Any other pH change happens over a weeks time, usually longer. By the time my TDS reaches 250 the pH is about 7.3 so I do a few gallon w/c. Besides w/c's, what's a good way to lower NO3, preferably without chemicals? Maybe purchase a canister filter and add some kinda of media to it? I have a dual sponge filter and a HOB, no biowheel right now for filtration. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MABJ Posted December 9, 2013 Report Share Posted December 9, 2013 Nitrates go down with WCs. Make sure any % WCs you do are remineralized to about half of what you want in the tank so it balances out what you're removing. MarkNJD15 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sake Posted December 9, 2013 Report Share Posted December 9, 2013 Wait, didn't you say in your other thread that you did 10 gallon water changes weekly? Your nitrates shouldn't be anywhere near that high using distilled water with 10 gallon water change 2 or 3 times a month, something is up, unless you have way more shrimp than I've seen in the pictures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OblongShrimp Posted December 9, 2013 Report Share Posted December 9, 2013 I have a few questions... What are you using to remineralize your water? Are you dosing any ferts? Is the tank planted? What size is the tank and how many shrimp do you think are in there? The nitrates look high given the amount of water changes you are doing and that shrimp don't produce that much waste. I am wondering if you could be overfeeding (I assume they are eating everything you give them) or if you are having plants that are dying and creating nitrates or if your filters are dirty and giving off nitrates. When did you last squeeze out those sponge filters or rinse the media in your HOB? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkNJD15 Posted December 12, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 12, 2013 I've been busy at work lately and have cut back on water changes. I just did a 4 gallon tonight and it's probably been 2-3 weeks since the last. My tank has a lot of plants in it also. As for over feeding, I don't think I'm anywhere near that. Every other day typically I switch out feeding them Bioplus (level spoonfull) and Specialty CRS food. I don't even feed them a whole strip of that CRS food either, maybe 2-3 1/4" pieces I break off the strip. They eat everything I feed them also. As for remineralizing the water, I have those mineral rocks in the tank and they keep it around 200-250 TDS. If I drop the TDS below 200 I have Bee Shrimp Mineral GH+ to add to the water. Not dosing anything, 30 gallon tank with probably 30 adult CRS and RCS mixed with 25+- baby RCS. I'm gonna do a 2 gallon w/c on Sunday and maybe another one on Wednesday of next week. It's been maybe 2 months since I've cleaned out the sponge filters. The HOB I just threw out an old filter and added a new one. It has two filter pads in it, I throw one out and rotate the old and new. My plants aren't dying or losing leaves so I don't see them being the issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkNJD15 Posted December 12, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 12, 2013 One thing I should probably mention is that I can't vacuum the gravel bed due to plants and baby shrimp all over it. I'm worried that that is the problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MABJ Posted December 12, 2013 Report Share Posted December 12, 2013 Most shrimpers don't gravel vac. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Puddles Posted December 25, 2013 Report Share Posted December 25, 2013 With no buffering soil and a kh of 0 my guess would be ph swings are causing trouble. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pastu Posted January 2, 2017 Report Share Posted January 2, 2017 On 9/12/2013 at 6:33 AM, MarkNJD15 said: No and no. I haven't checked the pH in the morning, maybe I should. Any other pH change happens over a weeks time, usually longer. By the time my TDS reaches 250 the pH is about 7.3 so I do a few gallon w/c. Besides w/c's, what's a good way to lower NO3, preferably without chemicals? Maybe purchase a canister filter and add some kinda of media to it? I have a dual sponge filter and a HOB, no biowheel right now for filtration. Since i use biohome ultra filter media on my canister my nitrates have dropped to about 1ppm i fear For the plants Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dao Posted January 3, 2017 Report Share Posted January 3, 2017 NO3 is a shrimplet killer. For Caridina shrimp you need 0-5 ppm NO3 to get a decent survival rate. At 5-10ppm I'm not sure if at least 10% will survive. At 20-30ppm I would expect the adults to be dead within 4-6 months. As for vacuuming - at the NO3 level you have right now most likely no shrimplets will survive anyway so don't be bothered by that - just vacuum the tank to control the NO3. I had the same issue in my planted tank, and I also though that vacuuming won't work - wasn't true. Vacuuming did work and in fact is essential for proper NO3 control in my tank. I'm not sure what is your substrate is, but I have a planted tank with Eleocharis Parvula as carpet and a 5mm-10mm grain substrate. The muck gets between the substrate and I just vacuum it by pressing the tube real hard to the substrate - the plants stay in place most of the time, while muck gets sucked out nicely. coryjames 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nuri Posted January 29, 2017 Report Share Posted January 29, 2017 On 3-1-2017 at 9:20 PM, dao said: NO3 is a shrimplet killer. For Caridina shrimp you need 0-5 ppm NO3 to get a decent survival rate. At 5-10ppm I'm not sure if at least 10% will survive. At 20-30ppm I would expect the adults to be dead within 4-6 months. As for vacuuming - at the NO3 level you have right now most likely no shrimplets will survive anyway so don't be bothered by that - just vacuum the tank to control the NO3. I had the same issue in my planted tank, and I also though that vacuuming won't work - wasn't true. Vacuuming did work and in fact is essential for proper NO3 control in my tank. I'm not sure what is your substrate is, but I have a planted tank with Eleocharis Parvula as carpet and a 5mm-10mm grain substrate. The muck gets between the substrate and I just vacuum it by pressing the tube real hard to the substrate - the plants stay in place most of the time, while muck gets sucked out nicely. This is not true! I don't think you know the difference between NO3 and NO2! NO3 WON'T kill your shrimplets. Unless it is way to high Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dao Posted January 29, 2017 Report Share Posted January 29, 2017 34 minutes ago, nuri said: This is not true! I don't think you know the difference between NO3 and NO2! NO3 WON'T kill your shrimplets. Unless it is way to high We will have to disagree on that - from my experience, proper shrimplet survival rate is possible only with NO3 close to 0 (at least if we are talking Taiwan Bee and most likely high grade CRS). It won't kill your shrimp instantly, which is why I believe many overlook it's influence on shrimp condition, but it is a toxin nonetheless and shrimps are very vulnerable to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clansman Posted February 10, 2017 Report Share Posted February 10, 2017 Nitrate is a killer of shrimp but although we strive for under 10ppm under 20 is maybe not ideal but won't kill them , your problem seems to be when your babies get to,the foraging on the soil stage remember at this size they moult often and bad bacteria in the soil will kill them , the hope is nitrifying bacteria in the soil helps break down waste Ie poop uneaten food if the colony of good bacteria is out of balance with bad bacteria baby survival can drop to,zero Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trong Posted March 4, 2017 Report Share Posted March 4, 2017 very interesting Clansman, i like this thought. it is food for thought. I was thinking biofilm availability with high No3 but this is interesting. thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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