mxpro32 Posted January 1, 2003 Share Posted January 1, 2003 i got a beautiful fire shrimp last night and when i woke up this morning he was dead. what the heck happened. the tank is an established year and a half old 7 gallon bowfront with a small ocellaris clown. the clown has been aggressive toward me lately. do you think he killed the shrimp? when i put the shrimp in the clown left him alone all night. he didnt mess with him at all. that sucks so bad. i loved my little red friend. i think im gonna have to take my clown back even though i hate to after having him from the beggining but im getting tired of being bitten everytime i stick my hand in the tank. Link to comment
SoS Posted January 1, 2003 Share Posted January 1, 2003 I don't think the clown would bother a fire shrimp. Sometimes its just aclimation shock. Most LFS say they have good water but I've seen some bad LFS tanks in my time. Link to comment
NaNO ReeFiN Posted January 1, 2003 Share Posted January 1, 2003 Did you acclimate him correctly? And I wouldn't return the clown, it's just defending it's territory.. both my clowns nip at me when I have my hand in the tank so it's nothing. Link to comment
technoshaman Posted January 1, 2003 Share Posted January 1, 2003 Offhand I'd say osmotic shock. Even though shrimp are hardy as a rule I have had more than a few buy it from dumping them in too soon and having them 'look ok' only to die soon after. If possible check the salinity of the shipping/lfs water the shrimp is in and what I usually do is open the bag and place the shipping water and animal into a rigid specimen container (you can use all sorts of things for this I use the little mini plastic animal keepers they sell at deathco/petsmart etc). I then set that below the tank and use a narrow piece of pvc tubing with a fairly tight knot in it to very slowly drip water into the specimen container with your new crusty pal. I usually let the drip run for at least 2 hours on shrimp and usually 3-4 on echinoderms. Since I have gone the super slow drop route I don't think I have had any short term invertebrate mortalities in any of my tanks. Yes it's boring but remember these are living things and if you are going to take them out of their natural environment spend the extra time to make them happy and healthy and hopefully live a long time. Cheers Link to comment
newreefers Posted January 1, 2003 Share Posted January 1, 2003 shrimp need to be acclimated slowly. maybe that was the problem, as far as being nipped by the clown, mine did this too, just put a net in the tank when you have to reach in and they will stay away. seems they remember what nets are, and don't like them. Link to comment
mxpro32 Posted January 1, 2003 Author Share Posted January 1, 2003 maybe it was acclimation shock. i acclimated him over a half hour period by scooping a little of his water out and scooping some tank water in several times. thats how i usually do it and i havent had this problem but next time ill definately try a slower acclimation. as for the clown i have been using the net method and it does work so im gonna keep him. thanks for the replies Link to comment
reefan Posted January 1, 2003 Share Posted January 1, 2003 I recomend taking a airline tube tieing a knot in it then start a syphon. It works great for me. BTW my 7" three spot domino damsel reciently started biting me like crazy. Link to comment
newreefers Posted January 2, 2003 Share Posted January 2, 2003 acclimation of shrimp should be over an hour. not just slowly but really s l o w l y. I have never lost a shrimp and have7 of them now. I always take about an hour to an hour and a half to acclimate these guys. they are also hyper sensative to any ph swing. check that out as well. Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.