inari

Here is the deal: I have a 10 gallon tank 5 cories, 1 betta (who is out sick), an oto, an ablino bristlenose pleco, ghost shrimp (they keep dying on me), and a bamboo shrimp (whom i cannot find)

i've been had this tank since about july, the thing is i have my ghost shrimp droping dead and idk y...my water specs are coming up pretty good my NH4 was a bit high today due to the recent death of yet ANOTHER ghost shrimp, the little snots are ing me off 'cause they keep dying, this is my 4th out of 6 orignals, I noticed a pattern that, when they die they have no shell at all what is up with that, they get dark opaque spots on their exoskeleton and then they die in about a month or less. should i be adding some kind of suppliment for their shells?? let me know asap pls

also I have a bamboo shrimp who is missing now!!! He isn't in the filter on the bio filter or anywhere in the tank. any ideas y and how i can keep him in my tank??

thanx

~inari

Stradius011

I think ghost shrimps molt their shells and are fragile while they have no shell. So could it be that a fish attacked it while they were weak?

inari

what is going to attack a ghost shrimp in my tank currently, Inari (my betta) is out on sick leave....well treatment anyway, i have 5 cories, 1 pleco (bristlenose), 1 oto, had a bamboo shrimp that is playing Hudni, and a couple of other ghost shrimps.....any ideas?

~inari

Butterfly

They are also more suseptible to disease and water quality when molting. The Pleco also is not above eating any tempting morsal laying helpless on the substrate.
Carol

inari

Carol,

What do you mean? Sticky sometimes eats off the glass along side of Spasy (oto), but for the most part, he sleeps under an algea covered plastic "rock" he might be munching on this little vulnerable guys....I'm really not sure if Sticky is munching on a 39 cent meal every so often. Should I be worried about my bamboo shrimp when (and if he molts, I've yet to see one molt tho) anyway should i remove them when they molt and maybe keep them away from everyone else?

Thanx

~Inari

chickadee

Plecos and Otos as well as other types of catfish do most of their eating at night. (after lights out) I am sure that even if you think that they do nothing but stay under a rock, they are quite active at night. I am not saying that they eat the shrimp but they do eat at night and it is possible that if the shrimp died on its own that they do what comes naturally and become scavengers and clean up the mess. You also may want to test your water with your Master test kit for GH (general hardness) to see if you need to give the shrimp a supplement with some calcium in it for their shells.

Rose

Butterfly

Thank you chickadee that was exactly what I was saying
Carol

inari

I've had my water tested and found that my GH is a bit low, so I got a suppliment for my LFS its freaking huge all get out supposed to last abou 2 yrs...I've been adding it to my water to keep the hardness slightly harder than usual. Especially since my water is so flipping soft. anway that is what I have been doing and they are STILL dropping like flies. any other ideas?

~Inari

Phonemonkey

Do any of the things you're adding to the water contain copper? These guys are rumoredly extremely sensitive to copper in the water and if so it may be killing them... just a thought...

inari

no i have not added anything to my water that contain any heavy metals like Cu, Pb, ect nothing like that.