Problems In Shrimp-town

[Si4geckos]

A week or two ago I changed the shrimp tank from a 100L 3ft set up to a 2ft 70L set up.

I transferred about 80% of the gravel, kept both double sponge filters, didn't move the fluval 306 (this was always overkill and unnecessary really), moved about 60% of the plants (left the ones with BBA on), moved a load of alfagrog I had in the tank, filled the tank about 70% with original tank water and added a bit of treated tap water to top it up. I added a handful of new alder cones from the garden and a couple of dried oak leaves I collected last year. During the move I think I lost 1 shrimp. everything seemed fine for a day or two. Ever since though I've been probably losing 2 big shrimp a day. Been checking the water daily and no ammonia or nitrite. PH was 6.8 (normal) and hadn't crashed. It did drop to 6.6 one day (normal) so I added a small bag of coral sand like I would've had in the 306. Tested my PH today and it's about 7.4! Removed the crushed coral.

Essentially though, I can't see any reason why they'd be dying. Even with dead shrimp, the others eat them, or I remove them if I see them quick enough. Never any reading of ammonia. As the new tank is pretty clean I've started leaving the light on a lot longer to hopefully grow some algae. I've removed the leaves and alder cones in case they were leaching anything (but now wondering if I should've left them in (maybe put more in) to soften the water again. Did a small water change today, but not sure what to do.

Essentially I've moved them to pretty much exact conditions, just a 30% shorter tank. There's plenty of algae still on the alfagrog, so there'll be food. Seen a couple of hours-old babies today so that's a good sign at least. Just sad finding another adult body every time I sit in the office.

Any ideas appreciated.

[Martinspuddle]

Tested my PH today and it's about 7.4! Removed the crushed coral.

Answer, pH shock. I've done it, with catastrophic results before now.

[Si4geckos]

Tested my PH today and it's about 7.4! Removed the crushed coral.

Answer, pH shock. I've done it, with catastrophic results before now.

The PH has only changed since yesterday. It's been the same 6.6-6.8 for about a week. Hence why I put the crushed coral in as a buffer a sit dropped a tad. Guess it was a bit too much.

[Si4geckos]

It's actually 2 weeks (just checked the dates) the tank has been running theoretically the same, just smaller. Continuous deaths daily. Odd.

[Martinspuddle]

Tested my PH today and it's about 7.4! Removed the crushed coral.

Answer, pH shock. I've done it, with catastrophic results before now.

The PH has only changed since yesterday. It's been the same 6.6-6.8 for about a week. Hence why I put the crushed coral in as a buffer a sit dropped a tad. Guess it was a bit too much.

From 6.8 to a pH 6.6 was a bit a shock for them, but then going the other way would fatal to them over time.

It's actually 2 weeks (just checked the dates) the tank has been running theoretically the same, just smaller. Continuous deaths daily. Odd.

The change to their environment over the last two weeks has probably also upset their moult, hence why your seeing deaths so long after the event.

[plankton]

I was going to suggest the moulting thing as well.
They would have been settled in the other tank and they do seem to get confused, when moved, with their metabolisms.

[Si4geckos]

Interesting. Been seeing a lot of moults in the tank. Only seen one dead in the past couple of days so hoping things are settling down a bit now. Thanks for the input.

[piker]

If it's only the shrimp in there I would be happy with Ph 6 - 6.6,as long as it is relatively stable.
Big changes are the main upset to shrimp in my opinion.
Fingers crossed it's getting stable now.
Bacter ae in small doses will help rebuild the biofilm