ick affecting amano shrimp?

[dmarcus]

hey so like xerexeswasachump i too fell prey to the tempting 5 neons for 5 dollars deal at petco. Those things are like plague rats.

Anyway after those neons died off or were used as feeder fish i raised the temperature to 84 for about 3 days and treated the tank with maracyn. After the suggested 5 day treatement (treating on days 1,3 and 5) I stopped and waited watching my rams hoping evrything would be ok. So far the rams have survived jsut fine and for one happy week i thought my tank was disease free. However in the last few days i noticed my rams being very skitish and scared and their coloring and behavior seemed to suggest that they were stressed out way more than normal.

Than two days ago i noticed one of my 5 amano shrimps was a dark brown color almost black. The rest of hte shrimp were all acting very stressed out also swimming very quickly to the surface and all over hte top of hte tank as well as the bottom and middle which was cool to watch, but also out of character for the school that i have. Anyway long story short i had two shrimp die in two days on me and there is a third one now that is that dark color. When they turn that dark color they become far less active and stay at the bottom just waiting to die essentially. I dont want more diseases and i want to protect the animals in my tank. Help me fish forums your my only hope.

[Sprite42]

What are your water stats...ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate? Have you run carbon to clear out the last of the meds?

[craftyflalady]

Were the shrimp in the tank when you treated the tank? Inverts are really touchy about medications. Perhaps it was just that. I would run carbon for a day, and then replace the carbon for another for new again. Just to make sure all the meds have been pulled out of the water. Hope things are not as bad as they sound. Keeping my fingers crossed for your shrimps!

[BV77]

after you get things cleared out, the single most important thing you can do for your fish's health is regular partial water changes. Keep up with them and your meds will soon become unused and outdated.

[dmarcus]

yeah i took out the carbon when i put in the meds but i havnt put any new carbon in yet. My nitrites are 0, nitrates ~15ppm, my ph is about 7.4 but im trying to get it down to the mid 6's for my rams. Ive been doing frequent water changes 15% once or twice per week. I have no quarantine tank for the shrimp so im just hoping they pull through, i didnt think to put more carbon in. Will that affect the ph down that im using?

[Sprite42]

I don't know if the carbon will affect your pH. I never monkey with mine. Fish and shrimp will usually adjust to whatever pH level you have. The key is stability. If your pH is fluctuating, this may be part of the problem. I keep amano, ghost, and cherry shrimp with no problem in a pH of 8.0.

[xerxeswasachump]

You could try softening the water with a water softener pillow. I doubt that would do anything positive for the shrimp though. Honestly, dude they are probably just old and ready to die. Also, water changes are really the only sure fire answer and whatever you do TREAT YOUR WATER!