# Shrimp tank wiped out :(



## BBXB (Oct 7, 2012)

Well I just took a look at my tank and all my RCS and snowball shrimps where dead. About 50 total. Strange thing is I had 5 OEBT in the tank and only one died whereas no rcs or snowballs survived. 

I am hoping someone can perhaps give me some insight on what may have caused this? I checked parameters and all seemed normal. (ammonia, ph, nitrite/nitrate). Also, I have had this tank for well over 6 months with shrimps reproducing and raising babies no problem. 

Only thing I can think of that has changed within the last month is I bought some new shrimp and started feeding mosura Bioplus. 

One other thing, while cleaning the tank I saw these things swimming around and thought they were baby shrimp, but with further inspection they were these little bug like things. Almost looked like baby shrimp but a tiny bit stubbier with a hunched back. That's the best Description I can offer lol. Does anyone know what I may be talking about and if they can harm shrimp or fish?

Sorry for the long post, but if anyone can provide some insight or advice so I don't commit the same mistakes would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.


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## BBXB (Oct 7, 2012)

Also, one other observation I forgot to mention was with the snowball shrimps, the head area where the brains would be was a dark brown color. Don't know if this has any relevance but figured would mention it anyways.


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## bettaforu (Sep 6, 2009)

It sounds like a bacterial infection from possibly the new shrimps you got.
The bug you are talking about is a cocopod and they don't kill shrimps...if all of your parameters were good, especially the ammonia/nitrite/nitrate part then I can't see anything else that would kill the shrimps.

Did you feed anything other than the Bio-Plus (I use this all the time and have had NO deaths in my tanks) If you fed something different its possible it may have contained copper which is deadly to shrimp.

Also what are you using as a water conditioner? If you are using Prime that could possibly be the culprit as I have lost both shrimps and Bettas from this product! I will Never, ever use it again.

OEBTs are extremely finicky so if they survived then something else killed you Neos. What is the PH? is it below 7 

Sorry for your tank crash, this is always the hardest part and to lose that many


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## BBXB (Oct 7, 2012)

Thanks for the reply. The ph was at 7. I use prime but not for my shrimp tank and have not been feeding anything new besides the Bioplus. So can we just narrow this down to bacterial infection? Also, are you suppose to quarantine shrimp?


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## zfarsh (Apr 7, 2011)

Anna, 

Prime is bad for shimps??? Whats wrong with it, what hapened, i have been using Prime only in all my tanks!!!

Also, to help out the OP, what type of bacterias do shrimp even get, i didnt know of any disease that could suddenly wipe out so many shrimps. Do people quarantine new shrimps to something?


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## BBXB (Oct 7, 2012)

Ya, I took some time thinking. If it was a bacteria infection, is the bacteria in the water column or does the shrimp need to consume the infected shrimp to be affected? 
If I am cleaning the tank and am planning to try shrimps again, do I need to throw out all the substrate, moss, plants etc? 
Also, is this "bacteria" harmful to humans? Do I need to put glove on while cleaning? Lol sorry for all the questions, total newb here as you can tell.


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## bettaforu (Sep 6, 2009)

Many people like Prime and use it in all their tanks fish/shrimps etc. I however don't...like I said I have had a problem with it in the past and so have other shrimp people in the USA. Don't know what it is, could of been
a bad batch, dosing problem, who knows  I just won't use it in my shrimp tanks.

I use Kordon products like Amquel + and Nova-Aqua as water conditioners and sometimes Topfin, but nothing else. I don't have a problem with shrimps dying except from old age. 

Im not an expert on infections as I haven't really had any issues, but here's a good article and what to look for in infections.

http://www.shrimpnow.com/content.php/134-Shrimp-Diseases-Bacterial-Infections for the bacterial infections in shrimps

hope this helps.


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## camboy012406 (Jun 11, 2010)

probably the mosura biolplus you got is expired? I experienced that before I got this mosurabioplus and fed my neos and after a few days they keep dying. did you check the expire date?


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## Jaysan (Dec 19, 2011)

Prime, when used correctly, probably doesn't harm shrimps or fish. The thing with prime is, it is very concentrated. If you over dose on a shrimp tank, your shrimps will take a hit. 
What I do is I use Prime, but I leave the water sitting in the bucket for a week before using it.


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## malajulinka (Mar 29, 2008)

I once wiped out most of my shrimp by leaving open the rubbermaid bin I keep my yarn in (I'm also a knitter). It had mothballs in it, and they're very volatile, so I'm guessing they got in the air and the air got into the tank, and blammo - all shrimps, except a couple of hardy survivors, gone. Took me a while to solve that mystery, but I keep the bin sealed shut now.

Mr Bako also told me a story of someone who sprayed mosquito repellent in his room, and same thing. Anything toxic and volatile can affect them negatively.


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## arc (Mar 11, 2010)

What was the time frame of the deaths? Hours? Days?
Did the snowballs appear cloudy when you had them?
Where did you get the BioPlus and was it sealed?

For that many shrimp to die in a short time frame requires more than just a bacterial infection and most likely something contaminated it. Even overdosing with prime(you really have to try hard to do this) will only slowly kill them over a period of time.


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## randy (Jan 29, 2012)

My opinion, although it's not likely bioplus but it's worth stop feeding them this for now, especially when that's the only thing in months you have changed.

Don't do anything special and observe the OEBTs. Normally OEBTs are the easiest to get bacteria infection (or the ones that can't deal with it successfully). I have one that got infected for a few months now (in a separate 20G tank), the "meat" in the body turn cloudy, then a bit orange, now it's purple  

If the survivors are doing okay then no need to change much. Don't introduce new shrimps for a week or two.


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## BBXB (Oct 7, 2012)

Thanks for all the helpful posts. The deaths occurred probably within a day or two. Just went to check out my tank and they were all dead except the oebt. 

The bio plus was from another member on here opened... that may be the source of the problem?! 

Also, I removed all the oebt to another tank as I was so shocked and didn't want to risk it. So should I remove all the water from my current tank? And is all the moss/driftwood/substrate safe to use again?


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## camboy012406 (Jun 11, 2010)

randy said:


> Normally OEBTs are the easiest to get bacteria infection


totally agree with this even if you compare to crs.


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

Yarg I am so sorry that happened. :/ I have no experience with anything but cherries... So I am no help


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## splur (May 11, 2011)

One time my CRS was nearly wiped out due to the substrate dying, had to redo the tank and the shrimps began reproducing again.


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## BBXB (Oct 7, 2012)

Again thanks again for all the info. Unfortunately I have bad news and two of the OEBT died today. Also, one of the remaining two is starting to turn really pale. Is this a sign of a bacteria infection?
Also,thinking about the Bioplus. When I started feeding it, all my cherries started to turn a really dark red, is that normal?


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## zfarsh (Apr 7, 2011)

oh no, sorry to hear that.


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## pyrrolin (Jan 11, 2012)

Hopefully you are able to figure out the cause to fix the problem and help others.


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## bettaforu (Sep 6, 2009)

Ive used bioplus for ages with no problems....maybe something got into the bottle you got and contaminated it...sorry you've lost so many that's hard.

If they are all gone now, I would strip down your tank and clean everything out, as you don't know what caused this to happen, best to be on the safe side if your planning on starting again. Wash everything in very hot water, some people use vinegar for disinfectant, dump the substrate too. Leave the driftwood sitting in very hot water for a few days, the moss I doubt would carry anything, but you could just rinse them out, scrub any stones with vinegar and hot water...let them all dry out.

I heard about someone having a tank crash because the mother cleaned the furniture in the room with Pledge....was anything sprayed anywhere close to the room?


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## Egonsgirl (Feb 28, 2012)

Do you have any young children, sometimes they like to feed the pretty fish/ shrimp.


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## CrystalMethShrimp (Apr 27, 2010)

Sorry to hear that.

About 4 months ago my tank crashed and most my crs died. I was a millimeter away from just giving up on the hobby. Today I'm so happy I didn't. I started with a fresh batch of crs and noww they are doing wonderfully. Re-doing your tank allows you to take new knowledge and apply it to a brand new set up design. Don't feel discouraged buddy, a lot of ppl have lost much more. I remember a few years back a guy on shrimnow had a crash with more then 30 crs SS/sSs deaths.


For all your shrimps to die over 2 days sounds more like a chemical cause than a organic bacterial one. Like others mentioned, either something spray got into the water, or you had chemical on your hand which you put into the tank. If you think it was the bioplus then try it on a cherry in a bucket of water and so if it dies the same way.


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## Fishfur (Mar 4, 2012)

That's so harsh, to lose so many. Having just gone through a major pest control deal in my building, I was worried sick I'd lose my shrimp. Used layers of clear plastic bags and miles of packing tape to seal the plastic to the tanks. Put a big air puff in them, because I'd have to seal the tanks air tight for hours and turn off everything except the circulation pump. Took me hours to do but it paid off because nothing appears to have died as a result of the chemical spray.

Btw, I've noticed that a few Snowball shrimp that I have lost in the past would turn opaque white for some days before they died. With some other colours it is harder to see this, and I think it is some sort of infection, though it does not seem to spread to all the shrimp and I know at least one that died was eaten by it's fellows with no apparent harm being done. But it was only a few shrimp and only one at a time, spread out over the summer mostly.
. 
But having that pest spray thing really put me in mind of just how many chemicals there are these days, in everything. Perfume and cologne, household cleaners, fabric refreshers, air fresheners, waterproofing spray for winter boots, etc. So many people use all kinds of stuff without even thinking about it, because we're just so used to it.

But a lot of those things may well have something in them that could kill shrimp. If it wasn't something they ate, it had to be something that got into the water. Nowadays, I don't even burn candles or incense any more. If I must use cleaners, I spray them on the cloth, not on the item, and never in the room where the tanks are. I turn off fans if I'm cleaning, so as not to carry anything around in the air.

Hope you can start over, just clean everything really well and make sure it gets dried out well before you start. 

Also I think CrystalMeth had a good idea, to see if a cherry shrimp in a bucket dies the same way if you feed it the same thing you were using. If it does, at least you'd know the likely cause. Wish you luck.


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