I have a mystery Mr. Amano

[jweis]

I use lots of co2 and occasionally lots of excel. Shrimp breed like crazy right thru it. It's either the soil or some additive.

J

Amanos or other shrimp? I've heard the cherries are less sensitive to CO2 and excel.

From my experience this past year, Amanos are the most hardy followed by RCS (Red Cherry Shrimp). All others are various degress of less hardy.

[jweis]

I should also add I managed to kill Amanos, RCS and others by having the CO2 too high. Once I put the CO2 controller/monitor in, they all did much better. I also managed to cook them all when I accidently bumped the inline heater's temperture knob.

[takadi]

There is a thread over in pvas with someone experiencing fish deaths after a water change and apparently according to a poster, Fairfax has been flushing out their pipes with chlorine instead of chloramines, so the chlorine levels are much higher than usual. I see you live in DC, so I'm not sure if the same thing is happening over there

[Cristy Keister]

Even if you are not in an area that consistently uses chloramines, they are a risk. From a WSSC water quality FAQ:

"Why does my water smell bleachy or musty?
Due to rain, ice and snowstorms, river conditions can produce strong bleachy odors and musty/earthy odors. The strong bleachy odor is not an indication of increased chlorine. The odor is a result of the combination of the chlorine used to disinfect and ammonia in the runoff water (rain, melting snow and ice) producing chloramines. Chloramines are not harmful and in fact are used by some utilities as the primary disinfectant. However, under certain circumstances, chloramines produce a very strong bleachy odor. There are no adverse health affects from the odor."

[jweis]

I found this info online:

Question: How do you remove chloramines from tap water?
Answer: There are three methods that are most commonly used to remove chloramines from tap water.

1) The easiest and least expensive way is to use of a chemical dechlorinating product, but choose one carefully, because not all tap water conditioners or dechlorinators are the same. Read product labels closely, and if a product states that it removes chlorine and chloramines, but has no mention of ammonia, beware. Products such as these are designed to break the chloramine bond, separating the ammonia from the chlorine, at which point the chlorine is eliminated, but the released associated toxic ammonia remains in the water. Again, read labels carefully. In all likelihood a product like this will also state that an additional brand name ammonia eliminating or detoxifying product should be used at the same time. The simplest solution to this problem is to buy a complete three-in-one chlorine, chloramines and ammonia treatment tap water conditioner. Shop and compare prices on top choice tap water conditioners recommended as some of the best we have used, both professionally and personally.

2) Install and filter the tap water through an RO (Reverse Osmosis) unit, but make sure it is a quality model that is designed to remove chlorine, chloramines, and ammonia.

3) A simple faucet or under the counter tap water drinking carbon type filter can be used, but the unit must contain high quality carbon, and unless the water is allowed sufficient contact time, it may not be completely effective. Also, chloramines can exhaust carbon much faster than chlorine alone, and therefore filter cartridges need to be replaced more often. Buying a tap water filter that has an indicator that tells you when it's time to change the cartridge is a good investment here.

[150EH]

I've had a similar problem with my nano tank not being able to keep shrimp alive but if I add fish they have no problems, I feed my shrimp Hikari Algae Wafers as many others at TPT forum said they feed the same food with no problems but I was unable to find a food without some form of copper. I have also read the same about dechlorinators for used Purigen so Prime would be a good one to use but it is a little more expensive, I however use AmQuel and it also works fine. I have no idea what is going on with my nano as I can keep shrimp in my 150 but they get eaten by the larger fish and there would be no chance of reproduction but I have had a RO/DI unit in my garage for 6 months and have yet to make a move toward setting it up, but I'll wait til that day before adding more shrimp as it is just a waste. I can only guess that there is something undetectable in my tap (well) water that kills shrimp so after I get the RO unit working I'm hoping it will stop but there is no guarantee.

[sfarkhan]

I use 5ml of Prime for every 3.5 gallon bucket during water changes - I don't trust DC water.

I have two packs of Purigen in my filter as well so I am weary of using other chemicals. My water is usually clear.

I have a feeling the aquasoil has copper in it or my pipes have copper. Otherwise, it's the combo of CO2 and Excel that does it.

My CO2 is diffused inline at 1.5 bps - not a lot for such a large tank. I don't have bubbles so it's fully diffused and my CO2 drop checker is usually an emerald green to light green during the day. I have used two of them with their own solutions to make sure they are calibrated. I am seriously considering getting a PH controller but that only gives me a pH not a CO2 quantity.

I am going to get 10 RCS this weekend at CCA and try 5 in my QT with no additives and 5 in the Display tank... They are 10 for $12 so I think that may be a good test of the tank water.

[150EH]

You never know, they could have just been super stressed from the ride. My nano substrate is Stratum and there is no CO2 or Excel used in the tank and I only dose monthly or just slightly more but my luck has been poor so far, I hope your luck is better.

[sfarkhan]

I found this info online:

Question: How do you remove chloramines from tap water?
Answer: There are three methods that are most commonly used to remove chloramines from tap water.

1) The easiest and least expensive way is to use of a chemical dechlorinating product, but choose one carefully, because not all tap water conditioners or dechlorinators are the same. Read product labels closely, and if a product states that it removes chlorine and chloramines, but has no mention of ammonia, beware. Products such as these are designed to break the chloramine bond, separating the ammonia from the chlorine, at which point the chlorine is eliminated, but the released associated toxic ammonia remains in the water. Again, read labels carefully. In all likelihood a product like this will also state that an additional brand name ammonia eliminating or detoxifying product should be used at the same time. The simplest solution to this problem is to buy a complete three-in-one chlorine, chloramines and ammonia treatment tap water conditioner. Shop and compare prices on top choice tap water conditioners recommended as some of the best we have used, both professionally and personally.

I was told Seachem Prime is probably one of the best for this purpose.

[scientist0724]

I use NutraFin Plus and have never lost a fish during the spring. It takes care of chlorine, chloramines, and heavy metals.

Arlene