Help! Is this rust?

[becky]

Just got an already setup tank someone was selling, stated there was "a" blue shrimp in it, turns out there were five adults and 4 babies. One blue guy bit it this morning, I'm trying to make sure the others make it. 3g tank, plants and sand sub. Water temp was hovering around 66° yesterday, we keep it cold in our house, so i added a second tiny heater, spiked to 78° but stabilized at 74°. Then the blue bit it. So i was inspecting the shrimps and the amano has gotten redder/pinker and what i thought was a gold line down one if the shrimps backs kind of neocardinia-like may be rust?? Velvet?? I just want to be a good shrimp mama but im new to this 😬 its possible i overfed them for a hot second and that could have been what killed the blue. Also i don't have any tests at the moment, please dont yell at me for not knowing water parameters 😅

Added pics of possibly infected mama. 

 

 

Edited November 27, 2022 by becky

[jayc]

That's not rust disease. 

It has a unique colouration, but that's all it is.

I'd keep the new shrimp at that colder temp of 66F, rather than heat the tank. Shrimp prefer the cold.

Has the tank been cycled? 

 

[sdlTBfanUK]

As per JayC, that is part of its colour, some call it a 'go faster stripe' and it looks really great and I don't see anything to worry about. The shrimp that died may have been the increase in temperature from 66 to 78 as I imagine that happened quite quickly in such a small tank (although they would usually be ok at 78), so may have stressed that shrimp too much! Hopefully the other shrimp will be ok but keep an eye on them. Also as per JayC, the shrimp should be fine at 66 degrees.

Foodwise, you really shouldn't need much, maybe none, with so few shrimps, so if you are feeding bear that in mind, you should just probably feed very little every now and then AS A TREAT as there should be enough biofilm in the tank. You need to revisit this when the colony grows of course. Often shrimp will make a bee line for added food IF they are hungry but show little interest in added food if they aren't hungry as there is enough biofilm.

Welcome to the forum by the way!

[becky]

Great! That's what i initially thought about the color but i was afraid that the shrimp would get sick and then everyone would go. "Of course it's an infection, its gold stripe disease, rare and fatal if left untreated! Why did you wait!!" haha. i did read jayc's very thorough post and i appreciate him, i guess i just wanted confirmation. Idk how well they were taken care of before the weekend. Let's hope the gold strike carries through to the shrimplets 

 

Thanks again! 

[becky]

Oh and yes the tank was cycled when i got it but im not sure to what degree it was maintained, the woman had young kids and it was being sold cause of upkeep difficulty. I also unfortunately had to do a massive water change bc they dropped 50% of the water out for transport and i read small changes are better