Skunk shrimp eaten?

CrashNT

CrashNT

Amphipod
#1
#1
This is the third skunk shrimp that has died on me. I came home form work today to find his shell as being the only thing left. My cuc was eating his insides. Also I came home to find another zebra dartfish had become carpet lunch :( Lets just say I was bummed...

Everytime I get a skunk shrimp he lives for about two weeks and then molts a couple times and then dies. Any idea on what might be doing these guys in? All my other inverts are thriving; crabs, snails, btas, pep shrimp and starfish. So I dont think its copper. Any thoughts?

Current fish: foxface, royal gramma, 1 zerba dartfish, perc clown, ocell clown, green mandarin, rainford goby, bta, emerald crab, 3 pom pom crabs, 2 pep shrimp, SS starfish, lots of herms and snails.

I want a pair of skunk shrimp but i'm afraid to add another until I find the culprit.
 
CrashNT

CrashNT

Amphipod
#3
#3
everything is zero except for nitrates. Nitrates have been steady at 20ppm for three months now. Doesn't ever seem to go down, even with or without water changes. dkh 10, calc 460ppm, phosphate 0, ph 8.4, sg 1.024, temp 79
 
X

xxHLTxx

Detritus
M.A.S.C Club Member
#5
#5
do you ever dose iodone? I have over 10 shrimp in my 75g and i used to have shrimp die on molts, but since i started dosing Iodine, not only have my mushrooms doubled in size, but shrimp are lively, molt and have a shell in less than a day total time. Might be something to look into or try?
 
B

bubbarockies

Anthias
#6
#6
PlumCrazy;247497 said:
do you ever dose iodone? I have over 10 shrimp in my 75g and i used to have shrimp die on molts, but since i started dosing Iodine, not only have my mushrooms doubled in size, but shrimp are lively, molt and have a shell in less than a day total time. Might be something to look into or try?
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+1 shrimp are more sensitive to low iodine than any other livestock I can think of. Did any of them develop black spots before they would molt?
 
CrashNT

CrashNT

Amphipod
#7
#7
Thanks! That is the only thing I haven't thought of. I checked the ingredients of what I was dosing and noticed there wasn't iodine... just was dosing for calcium, magnesium and dkh. I wen't and bought some of Kents Essential Elements to start dosing iodine along with the three.

I never noticed any black spots but this shrimp did die after a molt, stayed hidden behind a rock for 3 days after he molted and just turned up dead soon after. Now that I think about it, the other shrimp I had did the same pattern of molting, hiding and then dying. The pepermint shrimp didn't die after a molt at least... it's always the most expensive livestock that bites the dust :( At least I think that I can rest easy and know there isnt a fish in there that loves shrimp as much as I love coconut shrimp :)
 
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bubbarockies

Anthias
#8
#8
Haha, nice. I found that my shrimps developed black spots when my iodine level was essentially 0. I brought it up over a couple of weeks, unfortunately that was too slow for my cleaner too. My peps made it though.
 
Haulin Oates

Haulin Oates

Reef Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
#9
#9
Skunk shrimp eaten?

Emerald crabs can go rouge... But your nitrates are high. I'd do a few large (~50%) water changes to get your nitrates in order and maybe run some denitrator product. Then I'd put the emeralds in the sump next time you try a new shrimp.
 
sethsolomon

sethsolomon

Hammerhead Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
#10
#10
I have heard iron can cause the molting process to be troublesome. That might be another possibility. But Iodide is a big 1.
 
B

bubbarockies

Anthias
#11
#11
Blazinjack;247542 said:
Emerald crabs can go rouge... But your nitrates are high. I'd do a few large (~50%) water changes to get your nitrates in order and maybe run some denitrator product. Then I'd put the emeralds in the sump next time you try a new shrimp.
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I would also take your water in to a LFS and get them to test the nitrates before you do any large water change. If your test is reading wrong and you have 2 ppm nitrate instead of 20, a big water change will not do much good for you, and may even upset your inhabitants, but if it is still reading 20 ppm on another test that could be what is killing the shrimp as well. 5-10 is safe (not optimal, but safe) for almost any reef inhabitant so getting down to that would be a good step as well.
 
Haulin Oates

Haulin Oates

Reef Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
#12
#12
Skunk shrimp eaten?

bubbarockies;247546 said:
I would also take your water in to a LFS and get them to test the nitrates before you do any large water change. If your test is reading wrong and you have 2 ppm nitrate instead of 20, a big water change will not do much good for you, and may even upset your inhabitants, but if it is still reading 20 ppm on another test that could be what is killing the shrimp as well. 5-10 is safe (not optimal, but safe) for almost any reef inhabitant so getting down to that would be a good step as well.
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Good point, as I had a nitrate test go bad and never read less than 15ppm when was down to less than 5!
 
B

bubbarockies

Anthias
#13
#13
Blazinjack;247547 said:
Good point, as I had a nitrate test go bad and never read less than 15ppm when was down to less than 5!
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Exactly. I had an API test kit do that to me and then a salifert test that read 0 when I had 2.5. Not a big deal, but that's why I went with the Red Sea Kit. Instead of buying a whole new kit every time I just buy the refills to keep on hand as a back up in case I make a bonehead move and contaminate or whatever. But that is beside the point. Test kits can get contaminated easily and then you keep on testing and have no clue what you are reading is wrong.
 
CrashNT

CrashNT

Amphipod
#14
#14
Any suggestions on a good de-nitrate products? I have tried water changes and it didnt seem to help, was doing weekly 35% changes until someone told me to leave it be for awhile so the anerobic bacteria could stabalize. I also have tried decomposable bio-polymers and they didnt help. I have been stuck at 20ppm for NO3 since my tank cycled 3 months ago. I am tired of spending money on salt and products when nothing seems to help. If I could find a sureshot way to lower nitrates I would spend the money but I have yet to find one LOL. Also, how would you suggest I test for iron? Again, I don't want to spend hundreds of dollars all every different testing kit, but if there is a cheap way to test for it let me know :)
 
Haulin Oates

Haulin Oates

Reef Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
#15
#15
Skunk shrimp eaten?

CrashNT;247597 said:
Any suggestions on a good de-nitrate products? I have tried water changes and it didnt seem to help, was doing weekly 35% changes until someone told me to leave it be for awhile so the anerobic bacteria could stabalize. I also have tried decomposable bio-polymers and they didnt help. I have been stuck at 20ppm for NO3 since my tank cycled 3 months ago. I am tired of spending money on salt and products when nothing seems to help. If I could find a sureshot way to lower nitrates I would spend the money but I have yet to find one LOL. Also, how would you suggest I test for iron? Again, I don't want to spend hundreds of dollars all every different testing kit, but if there is a cheap way to test for it let me know :)
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I think the first thing you need to do is take some water to an LFS and have them run through the tests. It may be that your not nearly as high as you think.
Have you tried vodka dosing? (Or any carbon dosing?) there are several denitrator products available at the LFS. Also boosting the bacteria may help, but the bacteria you want don't live in the water column, they are in the rock and sand. I always like to do a 50% water change in my tank when things get outta hand because it cuts your nitrate and phosphate in half. You should be able to immediately see that on almost any test kit. That's how I found out my test kit was bad. Then you can do another 50% change the next day and you've got your #s down almost 75%!
 
CrashNT

CrashNT

Amphipod
#16
#16
Thanks for all the replies! I will take some water to the LFS to get it tested. Must be a bad kit from API since its always reading 20. Guess I will find out tomorrow when I get it tested :) I'll keep everyone updated.

Also I haven't tried vodka dosing yet, I might be trying that soon since everything seems good except for the NO3(depending if the kit is flawed).

@bubba - where do they sell the Red Sea kit at? I haven't seen it in my travels. I always see the API kit but thats all I can ever find.
 
B

bubbarockies

Anthias
#17
#17
CrashNT;247644 said:
Thanks for all the replies! I will take some water to the LFS to get it tested. Must be a bad kit from API since its always reading 20. Guess I will find out tomorrow when I get it tested :) I'll keep everyone updated.

Also I haven't tried vodka dosing yet, I might be trying that soon since everything seems good except for the NO3(depending if the kit is flawed).

@bubba - where do they sell the Red Sea kit at? I haven't seen it in my travels. I always see the API kit but thats all I can ever find.
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I got mine off amazon because I get 4 dollar overnight shipping. Red Sea products are all beast. If you check your nitrates with a new test and it's high I would recommend NO3 PO4 x from red sea. It is essentially vodka dosing, but it is concentrated and has the right ratios of everything for "optimized vodka dosing." You just have to run a skimmer, which i saw that you had. I use it and it works awesome.
 
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