did something stupid, shrimps dying [PESTICIDE FROM NEW PLANT]
 

Really a bad day, in the middle of my exams, as I have finished one of my "hell" module, decided to go LFS relax buy some stuff before continue studying

bought some plants, introduced into the tank, go to the washroom and come back, my shrimps like very excited swimming around, especially the shrimplets, so many of them which i usually dont see as they r hiding..

then I realised the are swimming weirdly, more like twitching and then motionless and let the current carry them.. and I realised disaster!!! snail poison??

did a 50% WC, they still twitching and dying one by one, really a very very heart breaking sight.. gotta wait till tomorrow to see the full damage my stupidity had caused me..

and to think its the middle of my exams.. i really feel vv distressed now.. my studying desk is directly next to my tank..

but well.. hope some bros will be able to benefit and learn from my painful mistake..

sad to hear that ... next time better wash b4 put any new plant in ur tank.. dun think to much. shrimp die can buy more.. study hard fail exam need to retake and gpa drop this is worst than shrimp die...

agree.. u can always start your setup again, not as costly as being distracted during your exam period... prioritize bro! all the best for your exams and your shrimp tank! :)

Dont get too worried with your shrimps for now. Study well and you will be rewarded in future:)

agreed....good results will determine u to get more shrimps in future:D:D

sad to hear that, bro

Always soak (like quarantin) plants for a while before introducing into tank. This not only help clean e plants, but also reduce chances of introducing snails or parasites into e tank.

I tink it's not abt monetary lost but seeing LIVES lost that is causing e guilt.

Shimps' lifes are in our hands and if we are not serious, might as well not keep it. What shrimp die can buy more?

i actually sat in front of my tank till 4 am and see them die one by one..
300++ shrimps now estimated less den 20

and the remaining ones don't seem to be behaving normally too.. some still twitching and lying on their backs..

ya its not the money.. they have been with me for half a year.. from a humble 50 shrimps grow till a huge population..

what is the problem?? snail poison?? my hillstream loaches don't seem the least affected but my bumble bee horned seemed alot less active than usual.. but with snails, its not as easy to judge..

might buy a puffer to end their suffering..

Yeaaa i will feel the same about losing shrimps lives. I also have this bad habit of putting plants straight away. How long do you guys "quarantine" the plants before putting into shrimps tank?

Sad to hear the news. I dun think parasites will immediately kill your shrimp. More like there's medication or copper that come with the plants. Next time, when introducing new plants into the tank, remember to wash it thoroughly or soak it for a few days.

ThoughTs
I think bumble bee snails tends to be inactive (hibernate) when the water condition doesn't suit them initially (eg new snails intro to tank). They take a few days to a week to accustomise.

Lesson learnt and I share you sentiments of seeing shrimps die one after another. Afterall, they are all lives in our charge.

69efan69,
One 'lazy' man's way is, soak e plants in salt water for abt 10-15mins to rid some parasites and unwanted snails, but make sure you drain e plants in clean water several times to avoid any salt residue.

I make it a point to keep new plants (no new plants for very long time) in seperate container and drain it couple of times. I only use the plants after couple of days usually. Another thing is, if you tie new plants to dw, rock or anything, it is better to soak e tied plants seperately for awhile to let the plant 'bleed' away saps from some damaged stems.

It is the pesticide or chemical plant farmers use on their plant. It is known not to introduce new plant directlty into your shrimp tank. Soak the plant in a pail of water for a few days, changes water a few times before introducing them into your tank.

soak a few days may also have problem, it depends on how concentrate the pesticide was and how much you can get rid of them.

since we cannot quantify how much or none pesticide the plant has in the first place, we better soak them as long as possible, or else you may spent even longer time to fix your tank.


Add activate carbon into your filter and add Old Sea Mud powder into your tank to remove residual toxic. But these will not beat water changes, but if you change too much water and too sudeen, further damage can cause to your shrimps.

This is the second posting of massive death from newly introduced plants. Never know that the problem could be so serious.

Bro, take care and better move on. Study more important for now.

It wouldn't be surprised to find out the plant purchased by the 2 bros are from the same source.

not blaming the source, its my own fault not to have quarantine the plants which is the common practice.

the first time i got plants from the same source, did not have such problems, only introduced snails, so this time i thought since i buying helena snails, snails wouldnt be a problem.. but guess this time they had "settled" the snail problem and added some real potent insecticide..

since my loaches are doing fine, i am guessing the pesticide is copper based..

6 months, i had since grown attached to them.. its more heartwrecking to see them twitching around than to see them dead.. did two 50% WC so far, the shrimps seems ok now, but i think left less than 10% of them..

i think next time when i buy plants, after i finish quarantining them will probably use a few culls to test first..

many plants are grown emmersed before being supplied to our LFS. during the emmersed stage. plants may have been sprayed with instecticide to prevent any insects eating the plants. so i guess it may not be the LFS fault.. i don't think they even know that.

nope really, i do not have the slightest thought of blaming the LFS, its my own inexperience and that the first time i actually got lucky and got away with only a snail infestation..

Sharing
 

hi friend,
You are not alone... I have same experience before... No worry... start all over again...

not your fault
 

Hi bro sorry to hear about that I too have almost the same problem,
My tank which has cories and loaches was already stable in water only abt 10 inches depth with some plant terarium style. Got bored with it since java fern turnin brown cos not immerse itchy hand top up water to 1ft cories and loaches died Left 2 survivor only.I felt guilty for killing them.You can buy
fish again but dont let this distract you from your studies .Its fated we cant forsee whats going to happen

kudos to you bro. i met many people who always blame LFS when it comes to such things.. as well as others that problem came from the supplier.;)

Thoughts
 

May your shirmps rest in peace.
So sorry to hear that.
I'd seen your shirmps before.
Jia you for your exams... Don't let this affect you.

I feel the same as others... Study for ur exam n let them be. Shrimps can be with u for half a year. But ur results will stick with u forever...

Study hard n out the shrimps aside for now yeah? Good luck for ya exams man!

Take care.
The kind of plants you bought is it those tied on DW?

bro one more week of exam.
I think this coming week is ur last paper right, hope u can do well. all the best to U.. my last paper on monday...

i finished less than half of my papers so far-.-"

3 papers next week.. but well i m still able to study considerably now.. thanks for all the bros concern..

will update you guys when i revamp my tank after exams..

wow still have 3 paper.. all the best to you. hope is not chain together.

Bro, in that case, would it be advisible to drain the water used for new plants, and add in carbon and old sea mud powder?

From this incident, it also set me wondering, dw and rocks sold at lfs are potentially at higher risk since most of them are left along the corridor of lfs, which exposed them to more hazzards.

For large dw, how would you suggest cleaning it of parasite and potential foreign toxins? Large dw are not easy to soak in hot water like small dw.

One man's lost is many others gain. With this topic, it set many of us thinking harder and reducing risk of such innocent mistakes.

Agree! Initially, I did something to cause disaster to my tank & shrimps. My heart felt so pain. Its not abt dying & buying more. Its more like being able to care for them to make sure they survive, live well & can breed too.

I guess it would be safer to buy plants that are submerged in a tank at the LFS rather than those already out of water and stored in plastic bags waiting for purchase...

At least that way, any pesticides should have leached out at the LFS before heading our way...

Those dw and rock has less risk then plants that are intentionally soak with pesticide, unless health agency has done fumigation in the vincity where the dw and rock are placed.

I was just thinking, since the dw and rocks are left outside, it is exposed to many possible polution, including pesticides, dirt from e ground, etc. Good thing I don't have to get any plants, dw or rocks for now.

From this topic, I realised the simple soaking and draining may not be sufficient. Have been lucky so far, but won't take risk when I set up a big tank next time.

No!!!!! as mentioned, both me and dkk08 bought plants that come from tanks.. and not those packet ones..

just to add, we got our plants from different sources(i dont think its right to say where, no point anw its not their fault), so its not an isolated problem, so all bros please do process your plants before introducing into the tank wherever you got the plants from.

Why are snails bad for shrimps?

I am thinking of mixing snails with shrimps, what kind of snails are safe?

i think apple snails are quite safe...

sad to hear that bro..:(

Sad to hear that bro.Move on :(

curious to know what type of plants you bought?..

want to add on, what to do when your tank has been poisoned.

not want to paisei wjustin but hope all can learn how to clear away the chemicals.

http://www.arofanatics.com/forums/sh...highlight=soil

I have had such a bad experience even after reading the warning. Perhaps I did not take it to heart not until when I experienced this catastrophe. I seen numerous of my shrimp swimming excitedly and I suspected something was wrong with it. I tried to narrow down the factors of such cause as nothing happened to my snails. I kept ramshorns and horned nerite snails. After observed for a while, finally I realized that the main cause was that I put those newly bought plants into my tank without "quarantine" them. This was the price I had paid. Right now, I have restarted the keeping of shrimps all over again and so far so good. Just my two cents worth of info.