# Other Aquarium Forums > Freshwater Fauna > Invertebrates >  Help! My Yamato shrimp dying!!!

## cydaph

Hi, anyone here could tell me why yamato shrimp is dying 1 by 1?  :Crying: 
I just bought them last 3 day ago and now 2 of them has already died. I don't know if it's because I mixed them with ram and ottos fish. By the way I asked the uncle in the LFS if it can be mixed with those kind of fish. He said It's ok. And it's not sensitive with the temp(30 deg. is my temp).

I was so happy at first because they literally consume all those white fungus in my DW in just 1 day which happen to be my 1st problem anyways. Now I can say that my tank is clean but only 6 of them left and I don't want to see another casualty :Embarassed: .

My tank specs:
-9.5g
-16 w lighting
-Co2 tab
-ocean free soil base and some black sand
-mineral stone ( which I bought on the same shop)
-30deg temp.
-Don't know my PH
-4 ram fish and 3 ottos
- some plants and DW.

Please help me as I'm new to this hobby. Any advice would be very much appreciated. Thanks

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## mozaqua

Improper PH, KH, or GH. Too much Ammonia, Nitrite (NO2), Nitrate (NO3). Most likely reasons. Have your water tested. If you don't have a kit, borrow one, or take a sample to the LFS where you got your shrimp (they might test it for you).

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## beetroot

Is your tank newly set up? How old is it?

Also do bear in mind that some plants bought from fish shops have fertilisers on them, and shrimps are more sensitive to bad water parameters. 

Perhaps you could show us your tank shot?

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## cydaph

> Improper PH, KH, or GH. Too much Ammonia, Nitrite (NO2), Nitrate (NO3). Most likely reasons. Have your water tested. If you don't have a kit, borrow one, or take a sample to the LFS where you got your shrimp (they might test it for you).


Hi Cobalt99... thank for replying. Maybe your right. I think I should get my test kit first. I'll drop by at LFS tomorrow and get one. But is there any cheap ones that works and can test all that you've mention above in one go? Not enough budget though for those tetra ones... :Sad:

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## cydaph

> Is your tank newly set up? How old is it?
> 
> Also do bear in mind that some plants bought from fish shops have fertilisers on them, and shrimps are more sensitive to bad water parameters. 
> 
> Perhaps you could show us your tank shot?



Thanks beetroot, My tank is around 2 months old. But I do rescaping every week though. I don't know if that is considered week old or months old  :Opps: . My Itchy hands can't help it :Jump for joy: .I do 50&#37; water change every week though. Oh I see, does that I mean can't put liquid fertilizer on my tank? :Surprised:  I'm using Prodac liquid ferts now ( nutron ferro and nutron flora) which I bought last aquarama exhibit.

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## blue33

Some liquids fert, excel, easylife carbo may kill your shrimp. Especially those weaker one, some can withstand some cannot.

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## lucasjiang

you shouldnt do rescaping every week. when you stir the gravel, poisonous gases that have been accumulating under the gravel will dissolve in the water and poison your fishes!

another thing, rams are aggresive, and may bite your yamato shrimps and cause them to be stressed, resulting in their death.

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## cydaph

> Some liquids fert, excel, easylife carbo may kill your shrimp. Especially those weaker one, some can withstand some cannot.


So you think I should stop dosing liquid fertilizer the next time around? Thanks for the feedback. :Grin:

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## cydaph

> you shouldnt do rescaping every week. when you stir the gravel, poisonous gases that have been accumulating under the gravel will dissolve in the water and poison your fishes!
> 
> another thing, rams are aggresive, and may bite your yamato shrimps and cause them to be stressed, resulting in their death.


Well I think you're right. That only confirm my suspicion about my Ram fish attacking my yamato. 1 of my 1st casualty was headless, though I read somewhere on this forum that shrimps also devour their fallen comrades. :Shocked: . 

I guess my shrimps are so stress out because I notice that they only stay in place on my DW. Hiding from my Ram I guess. 

About the weekly rescaping, I'll try to avoid that now. 

By the way, I will setup my new tank soon. Any advice from you or anyone on what should I consider.

I'm Considering FF:

- 2 ft. tank w lighting appropriate for plants
- Plants would be HC o glosso
- It would probably be rockscaping 
- CRS and some cardinal Tetra ( Can they be mixed together? would it affect the shrimp when they start to breed?)
- no chiller for now or forever
-Substrate???what to buy?
- DIY CO2
- Filtration maybe hang on or any suggestion?

Please advice if this setup is feasible.



Thanks.

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## Shadow

I would guess your ram killing them, happen to mine  :Opps:

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## cydaph

> I would guess your ram killing them, happen to mine


Yeah! But It seems that they're getting along with each other now.  :Smile:  So far I don't see any problem with them. Does Co2 tabs cause a problem to yamato shrimp? Should I avoid Liquid fert?

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## cydaph

I guess I'm wrong after all. Just when I thought that they are getting along with each other...they don't!!! All my 8 Yamato's died. :Crying:  I'll just setup a different tank for my shrimp.

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## Jumanji

your Ram is the KILLER..!!! :Blah: Happened to mine too back about 8 years ago or so but luckily its just the Malayan shrimps...cheaper on the pockets. :Grin: ..gave the rams to a friends after that...

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## warrenlee

Hi,

I have the same experience like you. And I have tried not once but 3 times. Everything I went to C328 and bought 1 pack (10 pieces for $ :Cool: .

Yamato shrimp live happily only for first 2 days. then, later on they dies one by one.

Finally, I have a chatted with C328 uncle and I asked him why ? he said, Yamato must keep in the temp below 29. My temp is around 30, that's why I can see my died yamato body is always pinkish red.

That is from my experience, hope it helps

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## cydaph

> Hi,
> 
> I have the same experience like you. And I have tried not once but 3 times. Everything I went to C328 and bought 1 pack (10 pieces for $.
> 
> Yamato shrimp live happily only for first 2 days. then, later on they dies one by one.
> 
> Finally, I have a chatted with C328 uncle and I asked him why ? he said, Yamato must keep in the temp below 29. My temp is around 30, that's why I can see my died yamato body is always pinkish red.
> 
> That is from my experience, hope it helps


Thank Bro, 

I'll take note of that. Actually, mine is the same with you, I saw that pinkish red dead body of my yamato but Don't have a clue. Now that you've mentioned that, I know what to do next time. I have one question though, Did you try it for the 4th time? Have you already succeded keeping them?

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## blue33

CO2 tab? That could be your killer!  :Huh?: 




> My tank specs:
> -9.5g
> -16 w lighting
> -*Co2 tab*
> -ocean free soil base and some black sand
> -mineral stone ( which I bought on the same shop)
> -30deg temp.
> -Don't know my PH
> -4 ram fish and 3 ottos
> ...

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## mozaqua

> Hi Cobalt99... thank for replying. Maybe your right. I think I should get my test kit first. I'll drop by at LFS tomorrow and get one. But is there any cheap ones that works and can test all that you've mention above in one go? Not enough budget though for those tetra ones...


Tetra makes good kits, and fairly cheap compared to more pricey ones but still accurate enough for hobby use.
If your tank is already cycled I would skip the Amonia/NO2 kits, since the Bacillus sp. should take care of them on contact. Get a PH test, and NO3 (Nitrate). Nitrate is accumulated over time in an aged aquarium (2 mo + setup). PH can drop very rapidly if you inject/ add CO2. I would not use any CO2 if you do not know the PH and KH first! If you have only plants then go for it, but shrimp are more sensitive (even Yamatos, the easiest dwarf shrimp).





> Thanks beetroot, My tank is around 2 months old. But I do rescaping every week though. I don't know if that is considered week old or months old . My Itchy hands can't help it.I do 50% water change every week though. Oh I see, does that I mean can't put liquid fertilizer on my tank? I'm using Prodac liquid ferts now ( nutron ferro and nutron flora) which I bought last aquarama exhibit.


Man.....Don't mess with stuff so often. Your animals are going to stress to death! Also if you move rocks and plants you are disturbing the substrate too much! This will cause a Nitrate spike, which could kill your shrimp within a day or two. This is a common problem with shrimp, and not so much in fish. Fish are more immune to Nitrate, it will only make them sick slowly...while shrimp will die from the same amount (higher than 10-30ppm depending on the species).





> I guess I'm wrong after all. Just when I thought that they are getting along with each other...they don't!!! All my 8 Yamato's died. I'll just setup a different tank for my shrimp.


Sorry to hear... Next time do not fertilize so much (as too many heavy metals can hurt shrimp) Iron, and trace copper can build up quickly if you over-dose on the fertilizers. Yamatos will live in tap water! Just let them be and they will do fine.

Regards

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## cydaph

> Tetra makes good kits, and fairly cheap compared to more pricey ones but still accurate enough for hobby use.
> If your tank is already cycled I would skip the Amonia/NO2 kits, since the Bacillus sp. should take care of them on contact. Get a PH test, and NO3 (Nitrate). Nitrate is accumulated over time in an aged aquarium (2 mo + setup). PH can drop very rapidly if you inject/ add CO2. I would not use any CO2 if you do not know the PH and KH first! If you have only plants then go for it, but shrimp are more sensitive (even Yamatos, the easiest dwarf shrimp).
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Man.....Don't mess with stuff so often. Your animals are going to stress to death! Also if you move rocks and plants you are disturbing the substrate too much! This will cause a Nitrate spike, which could kill your shrimp within a day or two. This is a common problem with shrimp, and not so much in fish. Fish are more immune to Nitrate, it will only make them sick slowly...while shrimp will die from the same amount (higher than 10-30ppm depending on the species).
> 
> 
> ...


 
Thanks bro for the advice. I will be trying shrimps again soon...just waitng for my new setup to establish and grow. It will take sometime though, cause I used Dry Start Method.  :Laughing:  I just hope HC and probably hairgrass don't need much fertilizer.

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## mozaqua

> Hi,
> 
> I have the same experience like you. And I have tried not once but 3 times. Everything I went to C328 and bought 1 pack (10 pieces for $.
> 
> Yamato shrimp live happily only for first 2 days. then, later on they dies one by one.
> 
> Finally, I have a chatted with C328 uncle and I asked him why ? he said, Yamato must keep in the temp below 29. My temp is around 30, that's why I can see my died yamato body is always pinkish red.
> 
> That is from my experience, hope it helps


Yamato shrimp can be kept up to 32C no problem!! I have lots of them in a tank right now, the average temperature is 30C. *Of course never put the tank in direct sunlight, but other than that Yamatos are not picky about temperature.
Your shrimp could be dying for a variety of reasons. Have your water tested for Ammonia/ Nitrites and other parameters before placing shrimp in the tank. Yamatos are also one of the few dwarf shrimp with a high tolerance for Nitrates (NO3).

It is also possible your shrimp were sick when you got them, but you should make sure it is not from your tank.




> Thanks bro for the advice. I will be trying shrimps again soon...just waitng for my new setup to establish and grow. It will take sometime though, cause I used Dry Start Method.  I just hope HC and probably hairgrass don't need much fertilizer.


Hair-grass is easy, no additional fertilizers should be required. What do you mean by "HC"...Hygrophila corymbosa? If so, additional CO2 and hard water is best for that species. Hygrophilla polysperma can be grown without C02 injection, or heavy fertilizers, also can grow in hard or soft water. H. polysperma can take a while to set in, and leaves will drop if water parameters change to quickly.

Regards

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## cydaph

> Yamato shrimp can be kept up to 32C no problem!! I have lots of them in a tank right now, the average temperature is 30C. *Of course never put the tank in direct sunlight, but other than that Yamatos are not picky about temperature.
> Your shrimp could be dying for a variety of reasons. Have your water tested for Ammonia/ Nitrites and other parameters before placing shrimp in the tank. Yamatos are also one of the few dwarf shrimp with a high tolerance for Nitrates (NO3).
> 
> It is also possible your shrimp were sick when you got them, but you should make sure it is not from your tank.
> 
> 
> 
> Hair-grass is easy, no additional fertilizers should be required. What do you mean by "HC"...Hygrophila corymbosa? If so, additional CO2 and hard water is best for that species. Hygrophilla polysperma can be grown without C02 injection, or heavy fertilizers, also can grow in hard or soft water. H. polysperma can take a while to set in, and leaves will drop if water parameters change to quickly.
> 
> Regards


Hi Bro, What I meant by HC is (Hemianthus callitrichoides). I'll be mixing hairgrass with it, as of now i'm fixed with these 2 plants and won't be adding another plant species. How about other shrimp species like CRS and other sensitive ones, Keeping them with out chiller and only the same setup? 

I will try to use fan to lower down my temp and hopefully i can bring down the temp to 28deg. Thanks for the adviced.

Cheers,
Lawrence :Jump for joy:

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## Fuzzy

> Improper PH, KH, or GH. Too much Ammonia, Nitrite (NO2), Nitrate (NO3). Most likely reasons. Have your water tested. If you don't have a kit, borrow one, or take a sample to the LFS where you got your shrimp (they might test it for you).


Unfortunately I haven't found a local LFS that offers this service yet. I think the assumption is if you're serious enough to want to know your water parameters, you'll be willing to buy a set of test kits yourself.

Also 30C over prolonged periods is probably not healthy for your livestock, a fan should definitely get it below 28C, but you will have to be prepared to daily water topups due to evaporation.

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## shanexu

i try to keep shrimp tanks free of ferts. it stresses them. and also 50% water change a week is quite upsetting to the shrimps. they get wonky if water chemistry changes too much too often.

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## mozaqua

> Unfortunately I haven't found a local LFS that offers this service yet. I think the assumption is if you're serious enough to want to know your water parameters, you'll be willing to buy a set of test kits yourself.
> 
> Also 30C over prolonged periods is probably not healthy for your livestock, a fan should definitely get it below 28C, but you will have to be prepared to daily water topups due to evaporation.


Well, I am sure it would not hurt to ask... Maybe even offer a small fee to borrow the shopkeepers kit, and bring your water sample. Who would refuse that?
 :Grin:  Man you crack me up. Who says above 28C is unhealthy for every species? If you supplement ample oxygen, than 30C is not a problem for Yamato shrimp. I guarantee it!




> i try to keep shrimp tanks free of ferts. it stresses them. and also 50% water change a week is quite upsetting to the shrimps. they get wonky if water chemistry changes too much too often.


Yes, agreed! Try changing 50% or more a week, can cause casualties for sure. I think a major problem people overlook is the shrimp needs to molt after a major water change. If they molt more than 1x per week they can die! Some might molt then die, others may just die while attempting to molt. Probably very stressful for them.

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