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 Topic: shrimp dying
Posted: January 11 2006 at 12:14am |
I've had 2 shrimp die in the past 3 weeks. One was a cleaner shrimp and tonight a peppermint shrimp died. Any ideas or suggestions would be great.
I have the following in my tank, 2 perculas, a blue tang, an angelfish, an emerald crab, only 1 peppermint shrimp left now, 2 anemone crabs, a dragonet, a large brittlestar, 3 featherdusters, snails, hermit crabs, lots of softies and lps'. I made a 10 percent water change today, lowering the salinity a little because it was a little high (from 1.023 to 1.022). I'm not sure if the shrimp was dead before the water change or not, I just noticed him tonight and he's already 1/3 eaten by bristleworms (gotta love 'em).
One thing that I thought was strange, but I've never seen a dead peppermint shrimp before, is that it looks cooked. I mean, it's not transparent anymore. Is that normal? (Temp is 80)
I will check parameters in the morning, but they were all okay a few days ago.
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Shane H
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Posted: January 11 2006 at 12:41am |
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Amie,
Sorry to hear about the problems. I don't think your salinity is high at all. In fact, I think you could raise it some. (1.025) I'm not thinking this is the cause of the shrimp deaths, but 1.023 is not high at all.
Good luck.
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tileman
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Posted: January 11 2006 at 12:48am |
I agree with Shane, I keep mine at 1.024-25, and I try to keep my temp between 77-78 degrees.
Are you sure it was not just the shed skin of the peppermint?
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jfinch
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Posted: January 11 2006 at 9:01am |
I doubt it's you salinity either. But, IMO 1.023 is on the low side. I keep mine at 1.026. The "average" for the tropical ocean is closer to 1.027. You're sure they didn't just molt? Shrimp need iodine for to molt, you might try adding a little to your tank.
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Posted: January 11 2006 at 2:09pm |
It definitely was dead. I could see the inside 'meat' of the shrimp. That's why I said it looked cooked inside - it was really white.
Thanks for the advice about the salinity. I'll stop worrying about it so much.
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Gilmore
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Posted: January 13 2006 at 7:22pm |
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I think iodine is important for shrimp
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Mark Peterson
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Posted: January 13 2006 at 9:10pm |
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If I remember correctly, Andy Rhyne, the shrimp expert that spoke to us last summer, may have told us that the life expectency of a shrimp is not even 2 years. My experience has been that shrimp last about 6 - 18 months.
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Posted: January 14 2006 at 12:23am |
 Mark Peterson wrote:
If I remember correctly, Andy Rhyne, the shrimp expert that spoke to us last summer, may have told us that the life expectency of a shrimp is not even 2 years. My experience has been that shrimp last about 6 - 18 months. |
Huh, I thought they lived for years and years. The peppermint that just died was really big, maybe he was old? I had him for a year and bought him big. Maybe when I bought a new peppermint shrimp to keep him company, he decided that his work was complete. 
Gilmore wrote:
I think iodine is important for shrimp |
I actually just heard about this today and I know that my iodine has been on the low side.
I'm also starting to wonder if my clownfish could have killed both of my shrimp. She's getting so mean that she tries to pull hermit crabs out of their shells. She can draw blood on your hands if you aren't careful. She won't let anything within about a 6 inches diameter of her housing area.
BTW: I shouldn't worry that my bristleworms can cleanup a full grown peppermint shrimp in one night, right?
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Suzy
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Posted: January 14 2006 at 8:02am |
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I have got to start a fish journal! I swear I've had some shrimps for years!
Have you had any alkalinity issues lately?
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Seaul8r
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Posted: January 14 2006 at 8:20am |
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I was going to ask the same thing that Suzy did. When I first started out I had a problem losing snails to die off. Once I began paying closer attention to my alkalinity I stopped losing snails. As one would expect, many corals began doing better also.
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Posted: January 14 2006 at 10:33am |
Suzy wrote:
I have got to start a fish journal! I swear I've had some shrimps for years!
Have you had any alkalinity issues lately? |
It's been a little low, ie. 8ish. I've been working on it.
A fish journal ... I should do that.
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