why did i loose a couple in the first 24 hours

[butadien]

So, I've got a 5 gallon cube with a otto and a frew CRS..

the first time I bought shrimp, i got 4, about 1 cm in length, and in the first 24 hours 1 lost 1 shrimp.. in the next days I lost two more.. the last one is still surviving and looking good.

yesterday I got 3 three more shrimp.. and during the night 1 have died..

the other ones are doing fine..

what is going wrong?

water values:
ph: 6.8
kh: ~3
gh: ~3

[acbaldwin]

Is it a freshly setup tank? Are you feeding enough for them as well as the fish?

[butadien]

its not freshly set up..

what should i feed them? i was under the impression that they would survive on algae and stuff floating around..

[silane]

It could due to poor acclimatization or even the CRS were sick even before they reach your tank.

[acbaldwin]

They will survive on algae and stuff floating around, but if the tank is still young or very clean, then you may need to supplement that. It's probably a good idea to give them a bit of variety anyways. You can use pretty much anything fish will eat, certain boiled vegetables, etc.
If food is not the issue, possibly heavy metals in the water. Being too quickly acclimated could also be it. What about your nitrates/nitrites/ammonia? Does the oto appear stressed or sick?

[lifetapestry]

Are you buying them at your LFS or via mail order/online? Invertebrates as well as fish can get very stressed by the transit and acclimation process. If you bought them at your LFS, they had to adjust to their tanks (maybe just a day or two before) going into yours. Two adjustments in a matter of days can be very stressful. Not even counting the transit time in a plastic bag for days until they got to the fish store.

Losses are normal when acclimating new creatures of any kind. If your water quality is excellent, and the other conditions of your tank are good for shrimp, that' s the best you can do.

Karla

[spinex]

Is your tank fully cycled ?
Do you have any filtration ?
What's your tank temperature ?