help with shrimp

aquadonkey

aquadonkey

New member
So I've had some problems with shrimp.

Here's my situation:

I had a pair of blood red cleaner shrimp. One for sure is dead, and one has been MIA for a week.
I think the one that I know is dead died because of the tank over-heat (85) I experienced last week. The MIA one, I have no idea....

First of all, I'm bummed to have lost these beautiful animals. As far as the MIA shrimp goes, I'm relatively sure it's dead as well and I don't know what went wrong.

Second, a friend bought the shrimp for me as a gift. She keeps asking how they are, and I don't have the heart to tell her that they didn't make it.

I want to buy another pair because a) they're gorgeous in my tank and b) that way I can finally have my friend over to see them again...

But..... since I don't know what exactly went wrong, I don't want to bring two more home to an inhospitable environment.

Any ideas???
 
first off....be honest. It broke my heart when Drew's fish did the olympic leap of death...but i had to tell him. Likewise, when i lost one of my rescue birds in February...i called the previous owner to tell them. It's hard...but in the long run, it helps displace any guilt later on. As far as the shrimp go...were they fighting? or do you think the heat spike did them both in?
 
One had been missing already before the temp spike.
They weren't fighting as far as I could tell. I bought them on two consecutive days rather than at the same time, and when I put the second one in, there was a small fight (which I worried over..... as usual), but then nothing else after that. They just kind of each stayed away from the other.
I would normally go with the honesty is the best policy thing, but... she's kind of fragile right now - been going through a lot......
 
I did some testing today...

temp 78.7
PH 8.0
Alk 7.4
Ca 430
SG 1.025 (w/ refractometer)
Nitrates 0

that's all I test for.....
I know alk is a touch low, and ph could be higher as well, but I think the numbers look okay.
 
What fish do you have in the tank? crabs? other shrimp? I have a blood shrimp also and he hides all day comes out at night when my wrasse is sleeping,eventhough he is way too big to b eaten by my wrasse he is still cautious.
 
I have a juvi occ. clown pair (about an inch long each), yellow watchman goby, neon cleaner goby, pistol shrimp, and peppermint shrimp. That's it.
The red shrimp were actually the largest animals (besides coral) in the tank....
I was worried about the pistol before I added them, but he didn't even notice them - couldn't care less (dig, dig, build, build, build.....)
 
you know it could just be in hiding. i have peps in my tank that i havent seen in months until the other day when my son can screaming the peps are still in there... and i was amazed i seen 2 of the 4 so im hopeful the other 2 are still in there somewhere..
 
my blood shrimp has been in tanks for about 1 year he rarly comes out only really when feeding or hes going for a ride on the side of a fish.
 
That's sort of what I thought. I'm guessing a cleaner shrimp not to have been seen at all for almost two weeks is bad news....

How long should I wait before replacing the pair?
Is there any issue I've missed here? Any reason I won't be successful if I try again?
 
I've been reading mixed reviews on them being in with pistol shrimp. Many say no problem while others said they had issues. I know the peppermint is doing fine but that one seemed to stay up and out of the way while the Fire shrimp were all over the sand bed. Was that the typical behavior all the time? If you do replace them, maybe try just one first in case the disappearance is somehow related to the pistol? Not sure what else to suggest. Good luck :)
 
Thanks Mel.
Wouldn't I be able to see some sign of aggression though?
I too was worried about the pistol, but it shows NO interest in anything besides..... dig dig dig bury bury bury build build dig dig dig bury bury bury build build build
On several occasions I even saw the cleaners going directly in the vicinity of the burrow and the pistol didn't notice/care...... - and the watchman actually gets along well with all the shrimp
I just don't know......
Don't want to tell my friend they're gone, but don't want to kill any more beautiful animals.
 
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