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mysterious shrimp disease... *PICS*

Squared

By Squared,
in Pest and Disease Treatments

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Squared

Squared

Posted
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Yesterday I found that on both claws of both my harlequin shrimp they seem to be rotting right above the pincer :huh: . I honestley have no Idea what I could be, or if it is really anything at all, but I don't want to sit around waiting for it to go away or progress to something deadly...

 

other than this the shrimp are fine, moving around, reacting when I come close, and take and eat seastars.

 

I need some one to tell if this is cause for concern, or something that will go away their next molt:

 

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reeftankguy

reeftankguy

Posted
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What are they eating in your tank?

 

 

He said Sea Stars?

 

 

How long have you had it? How established is your tank?

 

 

Has it molted yet?

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Squared

Squared

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They have been in my tank about 7 months, and the tank is almost a year old. I feed them chocolate chip seastars. I havn't seen a molt in more than a month.

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ToXIc

ToXIc

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They have been in my tank about 7 months, and the tank is almost a year old. I feed them chocolate chip seastars. I havn't seen a molt in more than a month.

 

low iodine?

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reeftankguy

reeftankguy

Posted
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Is this something that just started happening to its claw tips...? He may be trying to molt and nipped at his own claws to start the progression of the molt...

 

From ChucksAddiction on Harley's...

 

"They will constantly pick at themselves as if trying to speed up the process by making the exoskeleton more loose by their tugging at it."

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Squared

Squared

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I checked out chucks addiction. So I found out that the exoskeleton will start to look rugged, but my shrimp's exoskeleton do not. And if the are picking at themselves, why just their claws? And they are really big now, so if the are closer to maximum size, would they molt less?

 

help

 

and they are eating a seastar like they normally would as of now

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Squared

Squared

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now both harlequins are eating. maybe they just have eating breaks?

 

but if I did get a different sea star, what would be one close to being as hardy and inexpensive as the chocolate chip?

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Carloslekak

Carloslekak

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now both harlequins are eating. maybe they just have eating breaks?

 

but if I did get a different sea star, what would be one close to being as hardy and inexpensive as the chocolate chip?

 

Mine love the cheap sand sifter stars. But IMO no molt in more than a month is kinda weird...

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19jeffro83

19jeffro83

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After looking at this thread I noised the same thing on the male. He is missing some pieces o his outer part on his claw. Ihavent been feeding as much lately and wonder if him and the female may be fighting over star fish legs. I've been having trouble finding starsfish lately. So I've been feeding slowly and trying to conserve. My harlys eat a two inch star in like 3-4 days and want more rite away.

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Squared

Squared

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So your harlequin male has the same problem? On both claws, or just one? Is it brown, like it is cover in some sort of bacteria?

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Carloslekak

Carloslekak

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Harleys are pigs, I feed my pair 1 3-4inch sand sifter every other week. I doubt they fight over stars unless you're grossly underfeeding them, IME pairs always share with no issues if both are healthy.

 

Quick questions and I'm not trying to be mean by any chance... 1. Did you buy them as a mated pair?

2. Did you introduce them seperately? 3. Are you absolutely sure they are male and female?

 

I ask because I had a buddy who once bought a "pair" turned out both were male and although they did not kill each other miraculously, they did fight constantly over food causing gashes in their defensive paddle/claws.

 

From the pics it looks like one Harley is a H. Picta and the other an H. Elegans. My pair is just like that but I'm 100% sure my Elegans is a female. Did you pick them yourself? Or did someone else pair them up for you?

 

*edit*. As per one of your original questions once the cause is resolved, the gashes should heal up very well when they molt.

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19jeffro83

19jeffro83

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I purchased as a pair and they're usualy always together and I've had them for a while now. Recently though they've been spending much more Tim apart. I'm surely not underfeeding give them at least one whole star a week. But I just purchased a group and I'm trying to conserves and I've seen my female deny the male of food. I think it's posable they're fighting for some reason.

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Carloslekak

Carloslekak

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I purchased as a pair and they're usualy always together and I've had them for a while now. Recently though they've been spending much more Tim apart. I'm surely not underfeeding give them at least one whole star a week. But I just purchased a group and I'm trying to conserves and I've seen my female deny the male of food. I think it's posable they're fighting for some reason.

 

1.Are you 100% sure they are a male/female pair?

2. Have you noticed the female carrying eggs? Maybe she's about to spawn and having some pre-partum depression.

 

*edit* one more thing, have you ruled out external causes? E.g Evil mithrax crab or fish picking on them?

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19jeffro83

19jeffro83

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Haven noticed a spawn but I'd asume with the time they spent together for the 6 months. They should have their differences settled. I can see a physical difference in the two. As far as their tails and the thickness/shape.

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Carloslekak

Carloslekak

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Haven noticed a spawn but I'd asume with the time they spent together for the 6 months. They should have their differences settled. I can see a physical difference in the two. As far as their tails and the thickness/shape.

 

Thickness and shape are not that important except that in fully mature Harleys, the female tends to be noticeably larger than the male. The only true way to tell as far as I know is the spots the females have under their tails which the male does not.

 

What about the external causes I asked before?

 

Sorry I'm harassing you with questions I recently deeply fell in love with Harleys and I'm actuallywaiting for my second pair to arrive... I might even delve into breeding if time and money allows and that why I wanna get to the bottom of this!

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  • 2 weeks later...
Squared

Squared

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Sorry for no updates, but now I have some. The harlequins are sharing their seastar, and I did see one molt with both of the shrimps' claws healed over pretty well. My harlequins are about the same size, but I can tell they are a pair because they share, they don't fight, and the female has the blue marks on her swimmerettes and she is usually carrying eggs. I don't think it is any crabs because this is rather new.

 

But I think they'll be fine in a couple of molts.

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BLoCkCliMbeR

BLoCkCliMbeR

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no answer for you, but ive seen a couple types of exoskeleton "rot" in shrimp that ive cleaned in a restaurant i worked in, i wanna say its bacterial. didnt scream fungal to me. the shrimp were decent sized adults, so im not sure if its fatal.

 

they tasted fine....the meat wasnt discolored, just the exoskeleton...

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