Is it something in my water?

[dragoonwoman]

I have tried keeping inverts in my tanks (all 3), and so far only the nerite snails in my 46 have lived for any length of time.

I had red cherry shrimp, ghost shrimp, mystery and ramshorn snails that all died within a few days to a few weeks. I tested my tap water (well water) for copper but the test came up negative.

POND snails thrive, of course, but those beggars could live in raw sewage and be happy. :hmm3grin2orange:

My water is extremely soft - a GH test shows about 6-8 degrees, and a KH test is less than 1 (one drop is all it takes). Can the softness of my water be causing the deaths?

Each tank is planted, cycled and stocked with fish (see sig). Ammo and nitrites are zero, nitrates are under 20, pH is around 6.8, temp 78 F and I water change about 30% every week. I use Tap Water Conditioner every time, even though my water isn't "treated" in any way (no municipal involvement).

Anybody got any suggestions on this? Any ideas on WHY my inverts die? I really like shrimp and snails and want to keep them, but I hate pulling little bodies out after a few days. Is there something else I should be doing or testing for?

Thanks, anyone. :22:

[WhiteDevil]

This PDF might help you
I think its the acidic water IMO, I cant keep any inverts alive but MTS in my 6.4 and lower Ph tanks

[SwordTaleLair]

Didn't know if you put a link in your reply WD, where's the pdf? :)

[Northernguy]

I have acidic water as well so I add sea shells to the water.It does raise the ph,not sure about the hardness.
Adding a calcium supplement to their diet will also help.

[dragoonwoman]

And that's supposed to have calcium in it. I'll check the labels of the other foods I use as well.

I don't see the link either, WD.

My fish seem fine but I keep lower pH fish anyway. I chose them specifically because of my soft, acid water.

I've been reading about Equilibrium (Seachem) which is supposed to be good for planted tanks. It raises the GH and KH somewhat, and helps buffer the water. Might that help? Does anyone use it?

[WhiteDevil]

darn it.

[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]

I use equilbrium,acid and alkaline buffers in my 210 to keep the gh and kh in check, I dont go over 6 drops on either test ever. Ph is at 6.4.
My 52 well thats a different story, the gh and kh are under 4 each and the ph is at 5.8 sustained with no added chemicals just straight RO water(odd because the 210 is on the same water yet needs the powders to equalize the parameters.

[dragoonwoman]

For a KH test, that's six times greater than my water from our well.

I think I need to add calcium to the water itself. I'll have to look for sea shells, or Equilibrium at the lfs.

I seem to remember reading that extremely soft acid water is detrimental to invertebrates, but I don't remember WHERE I read that. Nor do I remember what was suggested (if anything) to help the matter.

RATS!

[WhiteDevil]

Most things cant live in soft acidic water, inverts,bacteria,parasites ect. I think the acidity is whats the problem, maybe not enough minerals to keep them healthy as in shells and such.

[dragoonwoman]

My pH of 6.8 isn't what I would think of as overly acid, so maybe the softness of the water is the main culprit.

My husband was hot for a water-softening system for our house, until I showed him the test results. Saved us some $$$!

Just looking for the silver lining....

[WhiteDevil]

well the Ph is OK but the gh and kh being low is the culprit. if you can boost the alkaline levels you should see a big turn around.

[teddscau]

Strange you can't keep shrimp alive. I can't keep any snails alive except for pond snails. I find it's easier to keep shrimps thriving than algae! My ghost shrimps had two babies that made it past the larval stage! I have my ghost shrimp in a 90g filled with fish that would love to eat babies! Do you have any copper in your tank? Inverts are very sensitive to the stuff.

[Sursion]

I bought 5 Ghost Shrimp, one was pregnant. All of them were dead in a few days. I feel your pain.

[Sarkazmo]

Get some aragonite marine substrate, it's very high in calcium and minerals. Either put it in a mesh bag in your filters or put a layer of it under your current substrate. If the water's too soft snails can't build their shells and shrimp can't molt/grow properly.

Ghost shrimp are notorious for dying within hours/days/weeks after buying them. They typically come from feeder populations and are not cared for well. If a GS goes from clear to white and stays that way it's going to die soon. Typically they won't last a week after they turn white. I've bought GS' and had two-three die before I could drive 7 miles home, no stops. Started with 25 and a week later there was only 5 left. One or two made it about two months but that was it.

Red Cherry Shrimp are far hardier than GS and breed more readily. If you want a breeding population of either shrimp you need to get 25-30 shrimp.

Inverts do not tolerate ammonia. If you have a spike because you added some fish, overfed, or a loss of BB in the filter you can lose every invert in a tank. Some are more tolerant than others but a .5 ammonia reading is enough to kill most of them or at least weaken them greatly.

Sark

[dragoonwoman]

I didn't realize GS were so fragile. I thought they were cheap because they'd survive under almost any conditions. I learned something new today, thanks.

I stated in an earlier post that I'd run a copper test on my tap water, with negative results. The test sample never changed color at all. Nada.

I'll have to pick up some aragonite next time I'm in the lfs. Wonder what the smallest amount is they sell...it's only a 10g, so it won't take much.

I didn't see any kind of ammo spike, and the only thing added to the established tank was 9 ghosties. I wouldn't think they'd be enough of a bioload to stress a BB colony.