# why do my ghost shrimp keep dying?



## bennytheben (Aug 12, 2011)

im new the to forum so im sorry if this isnt the right section for my post. i have a small 5 gal tank with 4 zebra danios and i used to have 8 ghost shrimp. 2 of them died recently and im not sure why could somebody tell me what may have caused it? when i first got the tank i only put in 4 shrimp then one died so there were 3. i just got 4 more added to the tank and one died just now. is a 5 gallon tank too small? did i not put them into the tank the right way or what other reasons may have caused it. they are only ghost shrimp but i still feel upset when something dies it sucks :-(


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## BarbH (May 23, 2011)

What is the water parameters? The level of ammonia, nitirites and nitrates? What is the temp of the water?


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## bennytheben (Aug 12, 2011)

i dont know any water chemistry but the water temp hangs around 76-82


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## BarbH (May 23, 2011)

I would suggest having a test kit to be able to check the water parameters. When something goes wrong in the tank that is one of the best places to start to see where the problems may lie. If you do not have a test kit yet I would suggest getting a liquid test kit like API master test kit. The liquid tests are more realiable and accurate than the strip tests. If you are unable to get a test kit right now than I would suggest taking a sample the water to your lfs and have them test it for you. Most places will do the testing for free, have them give you the actual numbers, not just that it is fine or not.


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## bennytheben (Aug 12, 2011)

alright ill probably buy a testing kit since i dont have one yet... thank you


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## BarbH (May 23, 2011)

Your welcome, once you are able to find out the numbers post it here. It may help us to help you figure out what is going on :thumbsup:


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## ladayen (Jun 21, 2011)

As barb indicated you need to find out your parameters first of all. 

On to other reasons why your ghost shrimp will likely all be dead shortly. There are several species of ghost shrimp, most of them are brackish. This means you have to have a small amount of marine salt in the tank. Also Danios are curious fish. Unfortuantly a curious nip from a danio will probably kill a ghost shrimp.

The size of the tank is fine for the shrimp, however Zebra Danio are fairly active fish and should be in a 20g+.

If you would like to have shrimp I would recommend looking into Red Cherry Shrimp, aka RCS. Again though putting them with danios will probably just mean more dead shrimp.


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## bennytheben (Aug 12, 2011)

thanks a lot guys.

i had another question. is it normal for the ghost shrimp to swim on the side of the tank like swimming up in the water at the glass? im not sure why they do that.. they like to do that a lot


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