# Berried Shrimp dying



## Mattyshrimp

Hey so I have a 20 gallon planted tank and have cherry shrimp. My parameters are all on point. I do 10-20% water change with gravel vac once a week. Temp is a 72.

About 1.5 months ago I spotted my first berried shrimp ( i had about 10 at that point with no prior deaths) and then as the days went by i noticed she was losing eggs slowly and then 4 days later i found her dead. A week later i bought 4 more cherry shrimp from my vendor in my city. I buy everything from him. About 1 month has passed since then and all 13 shrimp were doing great. Last week i noticed a dead shrimp and took him out. A day after i found 2 berried females. And now today i found one of the berried females dead. Yes they are dead shrimp not molts lol.... all my parameters have been on point since my tank was fully cycled.... so in the last 1.5 months I have 3 dead shrimp 2 of which were berried.

Any clues or ideas as to why?


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## Mattyshrimp

Oh and there are only shrimp and 2 nerite snails in the tank nothing else except wood, 2 lava rocks and a variety of plants and i use 0 nutrients for my plants and they are all doing awsome so is my moss and massimo balls


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## Fisheye

Hi Mattyshrimp,

Sorry to hear you are having issues with your Cherry Shrimp.

I had a similar problem when I was starting a colony so can totally relate. It wasn't until I added more shrimp, possibly from a different colony (same store though) that the deaths stopped-same substrate, same plant load...

You can harvest the eggs from dead shrimp (if the other shrimp don't eat them first)-it's very easy and doesn't require tearing the shrimp apart. I keep a diy floating sieve in one of my shrimp tanks (it's ugly but saves the eggs and I always get babies). As the eggs are just held externally, you can take a toothpick and gently scrape them away from the shrimp.

Do try to offer your shrimp blanched spinach or rapini florets for calcium which can help with molting issues. Try to keep protein feedings to a minimum.

They are pretty tough but if you have PH and GH readings, maybe someone who has lots of experience breeding could give you a more informative answer. 

Best of luck,

Jackie


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## ashtonfitzgerald

That sucks to hear. What were the water parameters when you last checked? Also check the parameters of the fill water you're using for water changes. Do the deaths correspond with the water change schedule in any way?

I can't say for sure what's causing the deaths, especially if they've been molting successfully. Young females have been known to drop eggs as they're still "learning" how to juggle. 

In a shrimp-only setup water changes don't have to happen as frequently as with a setup with fish as the bio-load is very low. That said shrimp will benefit from clean water provided the water being added is appropriately aged and dechlorinated. 

Sometimes a bacterial infection can come in with the shrimp and slowly take its toll on them, especially if they're stressed. Google image search is helpful for identifying bacterial symptoms. 

Keep us posted on how things go. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## thezenmaestro

Are you using any additives? Seachem prime? Water change could be a strong change indicator.


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