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My dad sat me down over the weekend (long story, he has my tanks in NC and I go to school in NY... we were at my mom's house in FL) and told me there was a heater malfunction that took all three of my Zebras. They all died together around the same time, so that sounds like what it was to me, but how hot would that water have had to be? I kept them at about 86-88 for their entire lives and he said it was a little above 90 when he found them. Granted the temperature may have gone down, but still, all the shrimp I had in their survived. Does this sound like a plausible cause? I don't doubt my father, but still, it makes me wonder.

I still can't believe they're gone... I had them almost three years.

Sorry to hear about your loss.

It doesnt sound like that was the problem to me. Many people recomend keeping the tank at 90-91 degrees when fighting ich in the tank and I have done this myself with sucess. Once I had a heater problem and the heater got my water up to 96 degrees, I have no idea how long it was that hot for but they were all okay.

Do you have any airstones in there? If not, there could have been a lack of oxygen in the water because of the increased temperature.

There was a powerhead in there that supplied oxygen; the filter (intank Whisper) would further break up the bubbles and push them down in the water.

I'd had them on that setup for two and half years with no problems. Maybe it really did get REALLY hot.

When I first got my colony I had them in 90/91 dg water for the first week or so they were in the tank. After that the temp was lowered to 85/86. They spawned almost immediately.

I would also find it odd that the shrimp survived but not the zebras. However, I don't keep shrimp so I have no idea what temps they can handle for how long.

Dang that sucks!!!! Sorry to hear of your loss.
I've had my fair share of heater accidents.