CRS deaths + color is off?

**MyBoyNicodemus** · 1st Feb 2012, 03:28 PM

I recieved 9 CRS in the mail a week ago (this is my first time keeping shrimp)I had a 5 gallon, heavily planted with lots of moss that was cycled set up for them & was planning on moving them to a bigger tank later on. Over the course of a few days, 5 shrimp died (about 1 per night)
Water is (all tested w/ tetra easystrips):

nitrate: 0
nitrate: 0
GH: 75
ph: 6.8

I have moved the remaining shrimp into a temporary 1 gallon, but once I moved them I realized how their color is off (attatched a picture, sorry my camera sucks)
005.jpg

Is this normal or are they sick/stressed? Since I transferred the 4 shrimp I haven't had any deaths but the color is still (to me, at least) off.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, sorry if the way I wrote this is confusing.
Thanks for any information.

**imke_j** · 2nd Feb 2012, 03:47 AM

I recieved 9 CRS in the mail a week ago

Transportation with postal courier is more stressful to shrimp than most people think. For how long have they been on the road? The coloration looks okay for me, as you must consider that shrimp need around a week to regenerate. Besides, your tank has no hiding places, which also can them make feeling stressed.

It is also possible that shrimp do not recover to full coloration again. I have seen this in very good shrimp after pH swings in a tank. Hope it helps, you are welcome.

**Navanod** · 2nd Feb 2012, 05:01 AM

In addition, may I know how you had acclimatized the shrimps to your tank when they arrived in the mail Nick?
The accumulative stress of shipping and being exposed to new water parameters upon arrival may account for the rapid deaths.

**MyBoyNicodemus** · 2nd Feb 2012, 01:37 PM

Seller shipped them Monday & I got them Friday, so it was quite a long trip for them. The tank they were in isn't actually their home, I had just moved them later after the others started dying off (the other tank was heavily planted with lots of moss). I went ahead & pulled a lot of moss from another tank & added it to this one, maybe that will help.

I acclimated them over a 12 hr period, slowly adding a little of my water to theirs in an attempt to not shock them too much.

Thank you very much for your help.

**Deep6** · 4th Feb 2012, 07:32 AM

That's way too long to be in a little bag. I've found myself that anything longer than 2 day shipping usually ends up with a good chunk of the shrimp dieing off over the next week. They'll be fine for the first few days, and then slowly start dieing off one by one.

Not sure if its ammonia built-up from being in a small bag with their own waste for several days that's harming them, or if general stress makes them more susceptible to disease/parasites.

**Navanod** · 4th Feb 2012, 01:24 PM

5 days in a shipping bag is way too long I'm afraid. Those shrimps were probably already marked for death by the time you get them.

Ammonia poisoning burns and damages the gills, resulting in lower respiration rates, slower movements and loss of feeding behavior. Most of them die a slow death either from gill failures and infections, or starvation.

Deep6 is right, 2 days is the norm for most people trying to ship shrimps.