I think there is something in the tank that is poisoning them, the cholla wood could be the culprit. That stuff is usually sandblasted before being sold and sometimes they use copper slag instead of sand because it’s cheaper. I would drain that tank completely and start over with remineralized RO water, maybe a new substrate (the stratum will lower your PH and KH over time) and no wood. Once you have all the variables controlled and the water tuned in, it should work for you.
API makes copper test kits. Copper is a silent killer, takes days or weeks sometimes. If you’ve exhausted all your other testing, then I would definitely give it a try.
Do you test your chlorine levels? If you use spring water it can have low levels of chlorine. It might be worth it to throw in some prime and some dechlorinator.
It’s either the wood like people stated or the water source. However if it’s like toxic terpenes from wood it would likely kill fish or snails too.
Shrimp get stressed very fast. Make sure that light is on a timer too.
Lastly if the store you’re buying the shrimp from doesn’t know how to care for shrimp then they’re possibly coming in weak/half dead or stressed and just not surviving the trip.
I think there is something in your water that is poisoning your shrimps. It could be copper or other heavy metal. If you live in an older house or apartment complex, sometimes the old copper piping can leach into the water. It could also be from your water heating tank if you don’t exclusively use cold water from your tap.
If you are using a fertilizer or root tabs, it could have too much copper in it. I have neos and amanos and I use liquid fertilizer and root tabs from The 2Hr Aquarist as their products are shrimp and snail safe. Traces are fine, but some ferts are not safe.
I know [API](https://apifishcare.com/product/copper-test-kit) has a test for copper. Maybe it’s something you could look into. I never personally used it but it would at least confirm if that’s your issue.
If you can’t find the root cause (we know it’s not a temperature GH/KH or pH issue) I think your only safe option is to exclusively use RO/DI water reminalized. You top up with pure RO/DI water and use the reminalized water when you do your water changes making sure the GH matches with your tank.
I use Aquatic Life RO Buddie 50 GPD 4-stage (RO/DI) since the cartridges are easy to find/purchase online in Canada. I rent so I got the attachment for my bathroom sink tap. I have 3 nano tanks and it’s fine for my needs (2x 15g, 1x 5g).
I’d stop trying to do anything and see if more shrimp continue to die.
I know the feeling of frustration of not know what’s killing them and trying to fix it.
Shrimp are sensitive to changing water conditions though, but low gh/kh won’t kill them instantly, it just causes moulting problems.
If they stabilise with you not doing anything then you could just continue trying to increase kh at a very slow pace. You can feed them high quality food to make up for the low calcium in the water column too I believe.
All of that to say your panicked messing with the parameters may be hurting them more then helping. If the new 25 you got were adjusted to your tank water try to slam the water Params to where you want them may not be helping
Mine were also dying like crazy I bought a protein shrimp food and these calcium rocks from Amazon and they’re all molting and thriving like crazy now. I’ll grab a picture of both for you. Wouldn’t hurt to try
There are certain chemical solution such as Proper PH 7.0 that will remove heavy metals like copper. Since it’s challenging to use RO for a large tank. You can use tap water with de-chlorinator, they usually also remove heavy metals. Just need to research before you buy. Proper PH 7.0 is the one I am using. Make sure you let it mix in with the water for 5 minutes or more. Also dont do a large water change, it will shock the shrimp.
I had the hardest time with keeping shrimp alive. I did all the things and one by one they perished. I put in some egg shells… No more die offs. I just do a water change once a week now with aged water from the tap. The best thing I could do was leave them alone. Life got busy and they’re thriving now.
ZeroPt99 
Make sure you are using RO water. Remineralize it before putting in.
Copper kills your shrimps! 99%
I think there is something in the tank that is poisoning them, the cholla wood could be the culprit. That stuff is usually sandblasted before being sold and sometimes they use copper slag instead of sand because it’s cheaper. I would drain that tank completely and start over with remineralized RO water, maybe a new substrate (the stratum will lower your PH and KH over time) and no wood. Once you have all the variables controlled and the water tuned in, it should work for you.
– Did you use any fertilisers/root tabs/medications?
– How much tankwater did you add while acclimating in comparison to the water the shrimp came in?
– Did you get all the shrimp from the same store?
– Did you notice any unusual behaviours or changes in the shrimp before dying?
– Did you use tapwater? if so did you test it for copper? most tapwater has safe levels of copper but that’s not always the case.
API makes copper test kits. Copper is a silent killer, takes days or weeks sometimes. If you’ve exhausted all your other testing, then I would definitely give it a try.
Do you test your chlorine levels? If you use spring water it can have low levels of chlorine. It might be worth it to throw in some prime and some dechlorinator.
It’s either the wood like people stated or the water source. However if it’s like toxic terpenes from wood it would likely kill fish or snails too.
Shrimp get stressed very fast. Make sure that light is on a timer too.
Lastly if the store you’re buying the shrimp from doesn’t know how to care for shrimp then they’re possibly coming in weak/half dead or stressed and just not surviving the trip.
Good luck with finding out the cause!
I have ordered cherry shrimp and this is making me nervous…
The tetras are fine, so it’s not something that affect fish as much.
Do you know what your city uses to treat tap water? Is it chlorine or chloramine? Do you use Seachem Prime in your tap water to neutralize it?
I don’t really like Equilibrium for shrimps. I prefer [Salty Shrimp GH+](https://www.saltyshrimp.de/english/beesalt_bee_shrimp_mineral_gh_plus.html) it doesn’t have any KH buffer, just GH. I have soft tap water (GH4, KH1) so I use it to raise GH but not to alter my pH or KH.
I think there is something in your water that is poisoning your shrimps. It could be copper or other heavy metal. If you live in an older house or apartment complex, sometimes the old copper piping can leach into the water. It could also be from your water heating tank if you don’t exclusively use cold water from your tap.
If you are using a fertilizer or root tabs, it could have too much copper in it. I have neos and amanos and I use liquid fertilizer and root tabs from The 2Hr Aquarist as their products are shrimp and snail safe. Traces are fine, but some ferts are not safe.
I know [API](https://apifishcare.com/product/copper-test-kit) has a test for copper. Maybe it’s something you could look into. I never personally used it but it would at least confirm if that’s your issue.
If you can’t find the root cause (we know it’s not a temperature GH/KH or pH issue) I think your only safe option is to exclusively use RO/DI water reminalized. You top up with pure RO/DI water and use the reminalized water when you do your water changes making sure the GH matches with your tank.
I use Aquatic Life RO Buddie 50 GPD 4-stage (RO/DI) since the cartridges are easy to find/purchase online in Canada. I rent so I got the attachment for my bathroom sink tap. I have 3 nano tanks and it’s fine for my needs (2x 15g, 1x 5g).
Hey, your nitrate shouldn’t be 0. Think that means you’re not actually in a cycle
Your tetras might be killing it.
Check copper
Have you noticed any planaria in your tank?
just trying to think of something I haven’t seen mentioned here already.
I’d stop trying to do anything and see if more shrimp continue to die.
I know the feeling of frustration of not know what’s killing them and trying to fix it.
Shrimp are sensitive to changing water conditions though, but low gh/kh won’t kill them instantly, it just causes moulting problems.
If they stabilise with you not doing anything then you could just continue trying to increase kh at a very slow pace. You can feed them high quality food to make up for the low calcium in the water column too I believe.
All of that to say your panicked messing with the parameters may be hurting them more then helping. If the new 25 you got were adjusted to your tank water try to slam the water Params to where you want them may not be helping
Do you take your time to drip acclimate your new shrimps?
This is almost certainly copper poisoning. Have you ever used medications in this tank or did you buy it used?
That an active substrate?
Yeah, that’ll be fighting any of your attempts at changing the GH and kH.
Mine were also dying like crazy I bought a protein shrimp food and these calcium rocks from Amazon and they’re all molting and thriving like crazy now. I’ll grab a picture of both for you. Wouldn’t hurt to try
There are certain chemical solution such as Proper PH 7.0 that will remove heavy metals like copper. Since it’s challenging to use RO for a large tank. You can use tap water with de-chlorinator, they usually also remove heavy metals. Just need to research before you buy. Proper PH 7.0 is the one I am using. Make sure you let it mix in with the water for 5 minutes or more. Also dont do a large water change, it will shock the shrimp.
Calcium ?
I mean, are you feeding them?
Are your fish eating them?
I had the hardest time with keeping shrimp alive. I did all the things and one by one they perished. I put in some egg shells… No more die offs. I just do a water change once a week now with aged water from the tap. The best thing I could do was leave them alone. Life got busy and they’re thriving now.
I could not keep cherry alive for more than a few weeks eventually found out I had a buffering aquasoil , once I put them on sand no problem .
UPDATE: TDS meter arrived today. Jesus, my numbers are nuts.
RO water: 6,
Tap water: 370,
Tank: 636
What does THAT mean?
I had the same happen to me and it took forever
Lost over 50 shrimp less and less each day in both of my tanks
Mine was gh being like 25+ plus since I topped off with tap water cause mine evaporated a lot
I switched to ro, bought a kit on Amazon for 60 bucks
Changed water every 2 weeks and fill with tap since the parameters for tap water were perfect
And I’ve only lost 1 in the last month that I can see
I have TONS of babies in 1 tank while the other is just snails
Both tanks have the same gh and kh, 7 and 3 respectively
Tap water is similar
I will slowly move a few to the other tank in the next month or so
Do you use any sprays, any lotions, any pets with flea meds?
Good