Having issues with some of my red cherry females

[Pedro Lopes]

Hi guys,

i am fairly new to shrimps but have some experience with planted aquaria and terraria. Got a small colony of red cherries and some of my females are acting strange, namely some lethargy, hiding...assumed that it was because of being berried and some extra stress but got 3 deaths in a period of a week or so. Tested my water, ph is 7,5, kH - 4º, 0 amonia, 0 nitrite and 10 mg/L nitrate (fertilized by me), temp 27ºC, coming down as we speak (checked your basic care sheets) to 23ºC mark.

the females all appeared to be on ecdysis (just assuming) because their carapace was swollen like this image that i took today of one of them.

Anyone can give me any advice?

Edited January 6, 2017 by Pedro Lopes

[KeenShrimp]

Hi @Pedro Lopes, I am sorry to hear of your troubles.

I am looking forward to other members responses and will share my experiences below.

The female in the above photo will unfortunately not survive and I would highly recommend humane euthanasia as the tissue is exposed on the top part of the carapace, even if she makes it a few more days, she will probably succumb to infection. This happens when the shrimp is forced to molt when they are not yet ready as they have recently molted, thus the healthy shell is lifting with just the exposed tissue underneath. This is not a parameter issue over time, this is caused by human actions unfortunately.

I have seen this occur in these circumstances: Adding too large an amount of shrimp minerals to the tank at once, too frequent water change/too large a water change, or if a clear line forms behind the head slowly over time, it is usually due to over feeding with too much protein and the shrimp outgrows it's shell faster than it is evolved to do. 

You have mentioned the other shrimp are hiding. The water is either changed or they are not feeling well due to feeding.

I would recommend NOT doing a water change at all and to stop feeding for 2-3 days. When you refeed, you want to ensure it is plant leaf based food, not protein or shrimp snow. Are you perhaps over feeding?

While you are not doing water changes, I would highly recommend adding Seachem Purigen or API nitrazorb to ensure all your levels stay in check.

Your shrimp will come out of hiding when they feel better, and the best thing to save as many as possible is to offer them extremely stable water, thus by not changing or adding anything. Medication is not an option. As frustrating as it may be, by not changing the water, your shrimp might be fine in a few days.

If more shrimp partially molt, euthanasia is the only option as shrimp are unfortunately not going to recover well. Some shrimp with deformed shells that are not too bad might recover, but you might find that they do not survive the molt after the next one for some reason.

I hope this helps your trouble shooting.

[Pedro Lopes]

Thank you for your advice.

The feed that i was giving is protein based yes. The feeding is stopped and i added moss to the tank. Will continue to let them graze on the plants that are available. I will control how the N cycle develops and check its parameters and stop fertilization at once. There are about 10 adult shrimp and some very very recent young (seen 3 of them not bigger than 2 mm at the same time, so probably there's more). Thinking of feeding maybe a 1 cm blanched spinach leaf square every 3 days? or other vegetable... will check the list on suitable veggies. Do you think its ok? too much?

 

Thank you for your help.

[KeenShrimp]

You are welcome @Pedro Lopes, the spinach sounds like a good idea as a weekly meal option. You are essentially only feeding 10 adult shrimp as the babies do not count. Usually, depending on the manufacturer, a 7mm square food pad for shrimp feeds 30 shrimp. Shrimp have a 4-6 hour digestion, so it is ideal to feed twice a day by dividing their daily ration in two parts. Any green- based shrimp food will do like EbitaBreedQuattro or EbitaBreed Spinach tab, Dennerle Shrimp King food etc to offer them variety in nutrition in their captive environment. Spinach is a great food, but does not contain enough variation in nutrients long term as an only food source if your colony expands. Shrimp are mineral intensive and need organically complexed mineral sources from a wide variety of foods.

Happy shrimping??

[ageofaquariums]

Quote

Shrimp are mineral intensive and need organically complexed mineral sources from a wide variety of foods.

 

That is my sort of poetry!