We all love our shrimp colonies and want them to stay with us for as long as possible! Having your blue dream shrimp dying in your tank is a terrible sight that can leave us in tears, especially when we don’t know what we’ve done wrong.
Most of the time, the reason behind a shrimp death is our own mistake or misunderstanding of their care needs. Fortunately, all of this can be fixed if you’ve identified the problem quickly enough.
Without further ado, here are the most common reason why are your blue dream shrimp dying:
Why Are My Blue Dream Shrimp Dying?
Blue dream shrimp have rather straightforward care requirements. These are hardy shrimps and they won’t get sick easily. However, this doesn’t mean they’ll live forever.
Seeing a shrimp or two die from time to time is entirely normal. However, if you see your blue dream shrimp dying in large numbers or for a prolonged period of time, you might want to make sure everything is alright.
The only way you can fix this is if you find the cause of their death as soon as possible. Here are the most common reasons behind a blue dream shrimp death:
1. Acclimation Issues
If you’ve noticed your new shrimp dying the moment you’ve placed them in a tank, they’re probably having issues acclimating to the new environment.
Similarly, if you’ve changed the water too quickly, your shrimp might have a hard time acclimating to it.
While you cannot fix this problem, you can prevent it from happening again by checking the water parameters in their old and new tank and making sure they are as close to each other as possible.
Also, keep your shrimp in a bag with old water inside the new tank for about half an hour to make sure the temperatures equal out.
2. Travel Stress
Another reason why your new shrimp might be dying is travel stress.
Not all companies ship their shrimps in a safe way. At the same time, shrimp hate traveling in dark boxes for days! This is especially harmful for older, more sensitive shrimp.
To prevent this from happening, only purchase young (but not too young!) shrimp from reputable companies.
3. Too Much New Water
While regular water changes are the key to keeping your blue dream shrimp happy, never change more than 30% of water at a time!
When you change too much water, your shrimp will need to acclimate to the new conditions, and this can put a toll on their health.
While you can clean the tank without getting your fish and shrimp out of the tank, replacing a large amount of water is extremely stressful nonetheless.
4. Improper Cycle
Cycling is essential for a reason. I know it takes a lot of time and many people think it’s a hassle, if you don’t cycle your tank your shrimp will likely die.
While there are ways to cycle your tank in 24-hours, such methods are risky and should only be practiced in a case of emergency. If you rush the process, you are risking the death of your blue dream shrimp.
5. Overfeeding
Overfeeding can kill your shrimp, but not for reasons you might be expecting.
Uneaten fish and shrimp food carries many dangers for your tank, such as the risk of bacteria and parasite overgrowth.
Only feed your shrimp the amount of food they can eat in an hour or two!
6. Underfeeding
This one is pretty straightforward. If you don’t feed your shrimp, or any other tank inhabitant, they’ll die from starvation.
Shrimps are known to be among critters that eat poop inside your tank. Contrary to this belief, though, they cannot survive on fish waste alone. They need proper feeding every 2-3 days.
7. Tap Water
Tap water isn’t suitable for aquatic life due to the high amount of chlorine it contains. Chlorine is toxic to fish and shrimp, so it can be the reason why your blue dream shrimp is dying.
If you use tap water for your tank, make sure to leave it in a bottle to dechlorinate for 24 hours or more. Of course, cycle your tank properly before adding new shrimp.
8. Copper Poisoning
Some fishkeepers use copper as a method for killing unwanted snails in their tanks.
Unfortunately, copper is poisonous for all invertebrates, not just snails. Never use chemicals and pesticides if you have shrimp in your tank!
9. Chemicals
Copper isn’t the only dangerous chemical for your blue dream shrimp.
Shrimp and live plants go hand-in-hand. However, many plant fertilizers are toxic for your shrimp!
The same goes for detergents and other products you might use if you want to keep your tank glass crystal clear.
Shrimp are more sensitive than most fish species, so make sure to monitor the ingredients of anything you might use inside the tank.
10. Molting Problems
All shrimp species go through the molting process. While this comes natural to them, some things can go wrong and a shrimp can die from bad molt.
While you cannot help your dwarf shrimp molt, you can do all you can to prevent bad molts from happening. The most common reason behind an unsuccessful molt is improper water parameters.
By making sure your shrimp has the best living conditions, you are also making sure each shrimp survives molting.
11. Stress
Shrimp can die from too much stress. From bad water parameters and sudden water changes to unsuitable tankmates, many things can stress your little critters.
Another cause of too much stress is handling. Shrimps don’t like to be handled too much, so avoid doing this.
Give your shrimp plenty of plants and hiding spots, healthy food, and proper tankmates. This will keep them happy.
12. Pests
Many pests can harm and even kill your shrimp. Two most common pests are hydra and planaria.
The most common reason behind these two pests is overfeeding, so you can keep your shrimp safe by providing them with the right amount of food and regular water changes.
13. Diseases
Blue dream shrimp are also susceptible to various bacterial, parasitical, and fungal diseases, such as:
- Scutariella Japonica
- Vorticella
- Muscular Necrosis
If you notice some of your shrimp exhibiting signs of these infections, it’s essential to quarantine them immediately to stop the diseases from spreading. This will help save the rest of your colony.
14. Old Age
Sadly, our shrimp cannot live forever and will eventually die from old age. With proper condition, blue dream shrimp can live up to 2 years in captivity.
If you see your blue dream shrimp dying from time to time, maybe they’re not sick, just old.
15. They’re Not Really Dead
Things are not always as they seem. Sometimes, what you’re looking at isn’t a dead shrimp but rather a molt.
When shrimp finish with their molting process, they’ll drop their old exoskeleton that looks just like a dead shrimp!
If you see your shrimp lying on the bottom of the tank transparent and grayish in color, don’t panic immediately. Inspect the ‘body’. It’s more likely than not that you’ve simply noticed a healthy molt.
Bottom Line
Having a pet die is never a good thing, even when we’re speaking about shrimp.
No matter what’s the cause of your blue shrimp dying, you must identify the issue as quickly as possible, so you can help the rest of the colony.
Inspect the water parameters regularly, and make sure the living conditions are suitable for your little critters. You want old age to be the only thing they are dying of!
Hi fellow aquarists, I’m Ava and I’ve been an enthusiastic aquarium hobbyist for over four years now.
I’ve been amazed by these beautiful creatures since I was a kid and I’m thrilled to be sharing everything I’ve learned over the years with anyone who’s as passionate about the topic as I am.