I had my peppermint shrimp for about two weeks and then it died. It is the second one that has died. I have a aquapod 12. Water parameters ph 8.1, temp 80F, salinity 1.022, 54 watts of lighting, live rock, no ammonia no nitrite, and nitrate around 20. Not sure what is going on... i "feed the tank" to ensure he gets enough. Could he be starving? I have one clown, one firefish, and one condy anenome, and two red scallops. Bunker
Peppermint shrimp dying
- Thread starter bunkerboy
- Start date
Nano Chris
Active member
I would also raise the sg to 1.025-1.026
Shagsbeard
New member
They're not starving... they could last months on just what they could pick off your live rock. Probably overfeeding if not some other cause.
Question though... are you sure they're dead? Crustaceans molt their shells quite frequently and are mistaken for "dead". Their cast off shells look a lot like a dead shrimp would look like. That would be my first guess.
Second guess would be a preditor crab taking out the competition.
Question though... are you sure they're dead? Crustaceans molt their shells quite frequently and are mistaken for "dead". Their cast off shells look a lot like a dead shrimp would look like. That would be my first guess.
Second guess would be a preditor crab taking out the competition.
MAGDRL Mom
New member
I would guess molting too. It looks like a dead shrimp for sure. First time my Fire shrimp molted I thought he was dead and I even knew they molted.
RE predator crabs.... I got a mystery crab in with my live rock about the size of half a baby pea. I put it in a tank I had set up to cycle rock and sand. I pulled out rock yesterday and came across the crab and it had grown to the size of a dime in less than 2 months. Even if you didn't notice a crab when you added live rock or sand, it may be there. If you are sure your shrimp are dead, I would set a trap for the culprit.
RE predator crabs.... I got a mystery crab in with my live rock about the size of half a baby pea. I put it in a tank I had set up to cycle rock and sand. I pulled out rock yesterday and came across the crab and it had grown to the size of a dime in less than 2 months. Even if you didn't notice a crab when you added live rock or sand, it may be there. If you are sure your shrimp are dead, I would set a trap for the culprit.
sunfish11
Premium Member
If they are weak they will die during or soon after a molt. Molting is hard on them and they have a soft shell when they are done which makes them sensitive to tank conditions that wouldn't have bothered them before. They do need to eat a lot but I wouldn't think they starved if you have been feeding the tank. They certainly wouldn't die of overfeeding. I wouldn't think that 20ppm of nitrate would bother them to much, but some lack of cal or iodine could be an issue.
Lisa
Lisa
I do have a couple of blue legged hermits and a couple of red legged hermits, along with a few turbo snails to take care of algae and the such, but i am sure that it was not a molt. I have freshwater shrimps in my freshwater community tanks and i have seen the molts. I think that my reef kit might contain cal test, but am unsure of iodine... it is the Red Sea Reef kit.... i dont want to put any more shrimp in if i am not sure why they are dying. Bunker
