Help with Skunk Cleaner

[Ciali]

I got a cleaner shrimp tonight and I started a drip acclimation. After 45 minutes I went to put him in and he was dead. I was really sad, because cleaner shrimp are my favorite. I brough him back 5 minutes later and got another one. I started the acclimation again and again he was dead. I don't want you guys to think that I don't care about these little shrimps, I really do. My levels are fine, all my fish and corals look beautiful. What could the problem be? Some one please help me, i'm looking for any info.

Thanks,
Ciali

[Perureef]

shrimp are somewhat delicate in acclimation but once they go through that they are very hardy. what are your tank specs exactly? my guess is that there is a major difference in salinity from the shop's tank and your setup, in which case the shrimp would need a much longer acclimation period. but that is only one of many possible reasons why this is happening.

[twkenny]

45 minutes for drip acclimation for a shrimp or star or delicate invert is not long enough in my opinion. I commend you on the drip method, I have had great success with that. How fast did you let it drip? I try for about 2 drips per second...and may let it go for a few hours. The slower the better. I agree with Perureef about the possibility of a major salinity difference. Also...is the container you're dripping staying warm enough? I've put my bags in a small cooler that I had warmed with water then used it for the process.

Sorry this happened to you.

[TealCobra]

What was the SG of the bag water to the tank water? Are you saying it died in the bag or right after being put in the tank?

[Ciali]

My salinity is at 1.024 and the stores is at 1.018. I had about 2 drips per second. I was worried about the temperature. Do you think that is it? I want to get another one, but not if it will die.


Thanks all for the help,
Ciali

[twkenny]

So I'm assuming it made it into the tank then died?
Maybe get them to put more water in a bigger bag with him. Drain a bit out of the bag, and drip it very slowly. maybe even stop the drip for a while during the process. That's a pretty big salinity swing. Each time you stop you could drain a bit of water and then continue the drip. I'd do it when I had several hours and take my time.
Once he's in and acclimated he'll be fine....they seem pretty tough once they acclimate.
This is all what I would try...maybe others will offer some advice.
Good luck, let us know.
Did they credit you for the ones that died?

[leheath]

I agree, I think perhaps you need to take longer as shrimp are particularly sensitive to salinity changes and that is a huge change in a relatively short period of time. I would acclimate with the same drip rate for 2-3 hours next time or until the water in the bag/container is the same salinity as the tank.

Good luck! :)

[MATTT]

Is this a reef tank or a fish only tank ? If it is a fish only tank, make sure that there is no copper still in the water from ick treatment.

mattt.

[Ciali]

The shrimp was dead before I ever put it in my tank. The store is going to give me another one b/c they have a 24 hour gaurantee. My tank is a reef tank and I would never treat it with anything containing copper.

Ciali

[twkenny]

Did you get another one?

[STACKER]

WOW! I have 2 and they are/were hardy as hardy gets. I put the in the fuge in their bags for about an hr. Put both together in a large specimine vessel 1/2 full of LFS water (yecth) and dripped steady for about 30 min. dumped 1/2 and dripped for another 30. I poured them both into a net and dropped 'em in the tank. They both hid for 10 min. then raced out to snag brine shrimp when I fed everyone. Now a month later they have both moulted twice. I've never really gone out of my way to treat any critter too gently, I figure that nature is much nastier than I am and they should be able to handle a little stress or they aren't gonna make it too well.

LFS has SG at .018? Wuh? That's scary low!!! Maybe drip for 10 min, then hold for 30 , then another 10... Give 'em substantial time to deal with the salinity hit. Or just don't buy from that FS...

[CaliforniaDreamer]

I agree with everyone’s concern about such a large SG change. In cases where the livestock cannot handle large SG changes (just about everything except most fish) I set my QT up such that the SG comes very close to matching the bag water (yea I know I am paranoid about QT everything). This gives me a couple of weeks to change to match the display where it is going.

[twkenny]

QT'ing everything is not being paranoid...

[Perureef]

well yeah from what has been said the salinity swing is pretty vicious. for your next shrimp acclimate him very very slowly, perhaps 1 drop every second for 2-3 hours. 1.018 is very low for invertebrates so it might have been stressed to begin with, plus add on netting and bagging and you are looking at one very "sick" shrimp. just take it very slow and it might go a lot better the second time around. temp. is another concern. if you have a sump/refugium (especially if it's located under the display tank for siphon purposes), i would float the bag there while you are dripping.

[maroun.c]

how big is the bag your getting the shrimp in? usualy cleaner shrimps are sold in tiny bags and therefore one drip per second is just too fast with that much of salinity difference. also keep in mind that usually critters would tolerate a drop in salinity a lot more than salinity going up. having an introduction tank prooves handy in those cases and if your LFS is always providing yo livestock at 1.018 then i guess an small introduction tank would be essantial this way you would take the salinty of the tank down to 1.018 acclimate a little then keep the fish or critter for a week going up just a little every day. keep in mind that it has to be a filtered and cycled tank. good luck.

[Putawaywet]

Pretty common for LFS's to run their tanks that low. Helps keep diseases a little more managable ...or at least buys them enough time until they can pass them on to you ;)

6 points is a significant jump and 45 minutes is definitely not enough time to overcome osmotic shock. I try to limit my salinity changes to 2 points within a 24 hour period.

When you get your next shrimp my suggestion would be to make it's acclimation a 1 or even 2 day affair.

And be sure to voice your displeasure with your LFS for taking the easy road while making life harder for you.

Brett

[DougSupreme]

when I drip acclimate (actually I just started this when I got my Leetuce Nudi this week :)), I pour the contents of the LFS bag into a container about twice the size that is needed to hold all the water. I then place that container in an even larger container. Start your drip into the smaller container. when the water reaches the top of the inner container, it will overflow into the outer container. depending on the size of the outer container, you could let this drip overnight if needed. this also eliminates the need to fill, drain, fill, drain.

[Boat]

Ciali,

I lost a Peppermint shrimp the same way. The LFS suggested putting an airstone in the bag during acclimation. Apparently the slow drip over a long period of time didn't provide enough aeration.

[Ciali]

Thank you everyone soooo much for your opinions. I thought the salinity would have something to do with it. It really bothers my how they keep it so low. I haven't got another one quite yet, cause I want to be prepared, and if another on died, I would be devastated, but this I why I have you guys, to help make sure my little shrimpy doesn't die. When I get another shrimp I will make sure to follow up on his status. Thanks again, you guys are great.

[gophia]

Wow, my bother and I must be lucky. I have three cleaners and he has two and we never really did any acclimation except floating the bag for 10 minutes to acclimate the water temperaure. I agree that inverts are more sensitive than fish, but I think excessive acclimation causes way too much stress.
I'm not telling you that acclimationn is bad or not to do it, but IMO the less stress the shrimp is exposed to the less likely it will die.