smallreef Posted July 27, 2003 Share Posted July 27, 2003 I've had two cleaner shrimp in my tank for at least 6 months now if not more. They have gotten much larger and molt every couple of weeks. Last night I came home after the lights in the tank went off and saw that one of the cleaner shrimp had given birth. They are always carrying eggs but never witnessed them hatch. This morning I look in the tank and the shrimp that released the eggs was dead in the back of the tank! I know these shrimp are pretty hardy so I quickly tested the water as I haven't done this in quite some time. The tank is 29 gallons attached to a 7 gallon refugium and I never ran a skimmer. The tests were fine ph was 8.1 which it always has been, no traces of ammonia, nitrates, or nitrites at all. I do a 3 1/2 gallon water change every other week and dose a couple of drops of iodine once a month but mostly rely on the water changes to put the traces back into the tank. The only thing I dose is every other day is dt's phyto. Has anyone ever had a cleaner shrimp die for no apparent reason or is there something else im missing or not looking at as a cause? Link to comment
Masoch Posted July 27, 2003 Share Posted July 27, 2003 Hiya, Molting's hard on shrimp. According to the guru of all things creepy-crawly, Dr. Ron at ReefCentral, there's a chance with every molt that a shrimp will die. Probably not what you wanted to hear, but ... Link to comment
smallreef Posted July 27, 2003 Author Share Posted July 27, 2003 but the shrimp didn't molt? Link to comment
thecassels Posted July 31, 2003 Share Posted July 31, 2003 How big was the shrimp? (I think I started this conversation on RC - am I crazy?) Erika Link to comment
smallreef Posted July 31, 2003 Author Share Posted July 31, 2003 no you aren't crazy lol I posted this on RC the day before I posted it here. The shrimp was rather large but when i got it 6 months ago it was farely small Link to comment
thecassels Posted July 31, 2003 Share Posted July 31, 2003 Hmmm. The problem with the larger ones that you can get is you have no idea how old they are when they come to you so if they die mysteriously and water checks out ...you almost have to assume it is old age. But yours couldn't be very old if they were small 6 months ago...I am stumped.X) Stress related to releaseing the eggs???? Erika Link to comment
thecassels Posted July 31, 2003 Share Posted July 31, 2003 I was reading on www.wetwebmedia.com and found this Fire shrimp adults naturally release the larvae into the water and then go on to molt I know this is about a fire shrimp, but they are in the same genus. It may have been molting stress after all. Here's the LINK to the Cleaner Shrimp FAQ where I found this info. Erika Link to comment
Metznreef Posted July 31, 2003 Share Posted July 31, 2003 you said you dose a few drops of iodine. could it be possible that you put more in then usual? too much iodine can affect the molting cycle in invertabrates, which can cause death. just a thought. Link to comment
smallreef Posted July 31, 2003 Author Share Posted July 31, 2003 def not too much iodine. I add maybe 5 drops a month if even that to around 34-35 gallons of water Link to comment
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