My shrimps dying :(

[ElitePirate]

Hi Friends,

This is a frustrating experience and I really hope someone can help/guide me. I have a 15G tank nearly 9 months old.

Water params -

KH - 8.5-9
Mg - 1380
Ca - 440
Nitrate - very very low
Nitrite - 0
Ammonia - 0
Phosphate - very low

CUC :

1 blue legged hermit
05 Nassarius
02 - Astrea
01 - cleaner shrimp

Fish :

02 Ocellaris clownfish
01 Blue Damselfish (Blue devil)

I've been maintaining my tank really well - checking water params every 3 days etc. Never had any issues with my fishes. Clowns and damsel swimming, playing, eating very well.

My 1st ever cleaner shrimp went missing 6 months ago so i bought a new cleaner shrimp as a replacement and until yesterday it was fine. For almost 6 months he had no issues. Suddenly yesterday i saw his remaining body parts at the sand bed and i quickly removed them. I have no idea what happened.

I have to be honest - i dont target feed them. He usually catch my fish food/flakes and eat them. Day before yesterday i changed my coral food from "Coral Frenzy" to "Reef-Roids" and did a coral target feeding. That's the only change i ever made and I really dont know if my cleaner shrimp died because of that (i highly doubt so)..

Any thoughts?

I can see some algae building up n my live rocks. May be its because im using NOPOX so i need a clean up crew to clean them and pick any remaining food. Can you suggest any other hardy inverts to do this cleanup? what about Banded Coral Shrimp? he is hardy or fragile like others?

Thanks in advance.

 

[cracker]

Hello , sure it not a molt ? was there any actual shrimp in the shell You removed ? If not I would suspect either the damsel or it was the shrimp's time .

 

[ElitePirate]

Hello , sure it not a molt ? was there any actual shrimp in the shell You removed ? If not I would suspect either the damsel or it was the shrimp's time .

I'm 200% sure it's not molt coz my snails started eating his remaining. yes, i removed the actual shrimp and his shell. not just the shell. I really dont think its damsel. my damsel wont disturb any of my shrimps. they used to swim nearby and all..

i thought cleaner shrimp can live for years? :(

 

[Hemmdog]

If your nitrate and phosphate are undetectable there may have not been enough food for him to graze on.

 

[ElitePirate]

If your nitrate and phosphate are undetectable there may have not been enough food for him to graze on.

i wouldn't say its undetectable.. it's low.. so what is the best practice here? target feed them? the thing is i tried once, but my clown and damsel wouldnt let me target feed him.

 

[Hemmdog]

i wouldn't say its undetectable.. it's low.. so what is the best practice here? target feed them? the thing is i tried once, but my clown and damsel wouldnt let me target feed him.

Idk do you have any pics of your tank. Once your reef is mature he will find food all over. It just takes a bit. But yea I’ve seen them grab pellets that are leftover as well as frozen mysis, little cannibals! Sort of :p

 

[ElitePirate]

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/15g-setup.478129/ this is my tank but now i only have 3 fishes.

im thinking should i add another hermit or buy another cleaner shrimp

 

[ScottR]

Cleaner shrimps have a lifespan of up to 3 years or so. Depending on how long he’s been alive prior to you buying him would be a factor I’d think about.

 

[ElitePirate]

Cleaner shrimps have a lifespan of up to 3 years or so. Depending on how long he’s been alive prior to you buying him would be a factor I’d think about.

i agree thats why i purposely bought a small sized one

 

[Hemmdog]

Last pic was October. But as of that pic it doesn’t look like enough food.

 

[ElitePirate]

current pictures. i do do have quite a lot of algae growth

 

[Hemmdog]

current pictures. i do do have quite a lot of algae growth

Very nice. I’m not to sure then.

 

[ElitePirate]

Very nice. I’m not to sure then.

thanks for the reply. any other thoughts #reefsquad ? should i get another cleaner or hermit?

 

[ScottR]

Did you feed your shrimp? I target feed mine LRS reef frenzy food. It gobbles that stuff up and I feel good knowing that they’re eating good stuff. I have tons of pods it goes around snacking on all day.

 

[ElitePirate]

Did you feed your shrimp? I target feed mine LRS reef frenzy food. It gobbles that stuff up and I feel good knowing that they’re eating good stuff. I have tons of pods it goes around snacking on all day.

No I don't feed them particularly. How you use pods? Jusf leave them inside or?

 

[RobW]

I have a fire shrimp in my tank. He is a total pig when it comes to food. When I feed the fish he comes out and grabs food right away and takes it back to his cave and goes to work on it. He eats everything. Herbivore Frenzy, mysis shrimp, brine, shrimp, spectrum pellets, pieces of sea veggies that float off from my tang chomping at the clip.

 

[ScottR]

No I don't feed them particularly. How you use pods? Jusf leave them inside or?

For frozen food, it’s a smoothie of scallop, fish, mysis, oyster eggs and more. I’ll use a pipette to introduce a pea-sized piece into the tank. Shrimps run up and grab it. A good 5 mins worth of munching. For the pods, they grow naturally in my tank and they graze the tank picking away at the rocks. Not every tank has

 

[ScottR]

Sorry. Glitch and it was sent...

Not every tank has pods. They have to be introduced and can be kept easily as long as your inhabitants don’t eat them all.