Shrimp and holding female in distress

[timbruun]

So yesterday I had a trapdoor snail die in my shrimp/snail/fry tank. I took it out right away and everyone seemed fine. It was late so I figured I'd do my regular water changes the next day instead, but right before I went to bed I noticed all the shrimp were up at the top sideways and my holding female was at the top looking like it was sucking air. So I did an immediate 30-40% or so w/c and they all seemed better. So today I figured I'd do my w/c on all my tanks and do another couple small ones on the shrimp tank again just to make sure. They all seemed fine until shortly after. They are doing the same thing. What could be causing it?

I do notice alot of very small swimming things in the tank. I assume they came with the plants or something and aren't harming anything? There are also slightly bigger swimming things in the water also that resemble mosquito larvae except smaller. I have no idea what shrimp babies look like so could that be them?

The tank is a 5.5 gal with a aquaclear 20 HOB on it. No air pumps. I was worried first that that was the problem but should that not be resolved by water changes?

Sorry for the long post. Any help is great.

Thanks in advance.

Edit: It is planted slightly and has mostly hornwort in there now. Lots of it.

Edited January 6, 2010 by timbruun

[jvision]

You could keep the water level a bit lower in the tank to keep agitation higher. Shrimp breath through their abdomen, so if they're sucking air, they'll be sticking their bodies out of the water. You shrimp could just be picking/eating surface scum. Mine can often be seen picking at the surface, presumibly eating algae or microbes from the surface and duckweed.

The swimming things could be baby shrimp - I'm not sure if Cardina have an instar phase, but the baby shrimp that I've seen look like very small adult shrimp. The 'slightly bigger swimming things' are probably there due to a bit extra food. There are quite a few little critters that show up when we feed a bit too much.

[timbruun]

I have stopped feeding since. Not that I really fed much anyways. Would they still be going for air after the water changes? And the water level was lower when it first happened. I just filled it up again after water changes.

[timbruun]

Just tested water parameters and everything is at 0.

[timbruun]

Here's some pictures.

Oh and I do have a piece of cuttlebone, I think that's what it's called in there, to make the the snails shells stay hard.

Edited January 6, 2010 by timbruun

[jvision]

Are they still staying up at the surface after the WC? Is that the only part of the tank w. Java moss? If it is, this could just be their favorite place to munch.

My Green Shrimp tend to stay toward the surface unless there's something really tasty at the bottom

[timbruun]

They were staying at the surface after the WC. This morning I looked and found a couple dead and a couple had actually jumped out onto my glass top and died. The rest seem to be doing ok.

That's actually hornwort that they are all laying in. There is a bit of Java Moss in there, but only what I got from you.

I found my thermometer had filled with water. Is there something in there that could leech into the water and cause problems? Otherwise it must be the WC that is causing the problem somehow. I usually do that small tank last after the big ones. Maybe something was in the lines that shouldn't have been for only a pail of water. I've never had issues before. Unless it did have something to do with the dead snail. I really have no idea.

Only other thing is my water has a pH problem where it comes out of the tap at 7.5 and rises to 8.5 after 24-48 hours. I haven't had any issues with this yet on any of my tanks. I don't think the fish enjoy it if I do large water changes, but I've never done more than 50% and they seem fine after I start the pumps up for a minute or two. I also do the couple degrees cooler water change.

I'll keep a close eye on them and see how things go.

And actually my holding female looks like she either swallowed or spat the eggs/fry out. She was gulping at the top for quite a while which none of my other fish have ever done before. She was only holding since Dec. 26 or so.

Edited January 6, 2010 by timbruun