A Few Questions...

[kendan]

Just a few questions here, first I had 7 ghost shrimp in my tank, and they seem to be dying, 3 of them for sure in the last 3-4 weeks. At this point I can only see 3 of them, so I might have lost another. I thought that they were hardy little creatures. I do weekly water changes, and have two live plants in the 10G, so I think the water quality is ok, no other fish are having problems, so is there something in particular that ghost shrimp cannot tolerate?
Second, I watched my little oto, latch himself onto the back of one of the ghost shrimp. The shrimp didn't seem to like it, and after a bit of movement he got away from the oto. Was this just an honest mistake by the oto??
Lastly, do fish yawn? heheh. I was watching one of my dwarf gouramis, and it looked like it yawned. He did look kind of bored.

 

[Luke_e]

EDIT: sorry, i posted wrong info, ignore me.

 

[SkiFletch]

I guess fish can yawn, although its probably more a stretching of their jaws than a human yawn

As for the Oto/shrimp, it was probably an honest mistake by the otto just looking for some algae growing on the shrimp. Ottos are purely algae and vegetable eaters so he prolly wasnt after your shrimp. As for your shrimp dying, are you POSITIVE you have fewer shrimp now? I know my Amano shrimp which is almoast identical to your ghosts can hide REALLY well. You might just be having trouble finding all your ghosts.

If you're sure you cant find them all, I'd imagine your problem might stem from a lack of food. Ghost shrimp are algae eaters and scavengers. I'd imagine your Otto is competing for the algae and pretty much leaving just scavenged detritus for your Ghost Shrimp. Depending on your tank size, feeding levels, fish capacity, etc you may not have enough food for all those shrimp.

Also, from what I've read, ghost shrimp are not long-lived species. Most articles I've read say only a couple years tops, so the ones that have gone missing might have just been their time...

 

[kendan]

So ghost shrimp eat algae as well?

My little otto just died, and i have 3 or 4 ghost shrimp left. 3 for sure. I have a 10g US, and two averaged sized plants. Sorry, don't know what they are. One has been in there for about 3-4 weeks, one about 2. Should I replace the otto or would the ghost shrimp be sufficient to deal with any algae. The tank has slight below average natural lighting, and I do have a hood with incandesents (the lady at the pet store suggested the plants to buy that would be ok with incandescent), that stay on a few hours a day.

 

[dthoffsett]

Quick question. In your first post you said you think your water quality is ok. Have you been testing it? If you have what are your current stats: ammonia, nitrite, nitrate. The reason I'm concerned is because you said your otto just died as well. It very well could be due to your water quality. How did you cycle? How long since you cycled, as ottos and other plecos do better in a mature tank. If we know your water stats, perhaps we can help you avoid other losses.

 

[SkiFletch]

Quick question. In your first post you said you think your water quality is ok. Have you been testing it? If you have what are your current stats: ammonia, nitrite, nitrate. The reason I'm concerned is because you said your otto just died as well. It very well could be due to your water quality. How did you cycle? How long since you cycled, as ottos and other plecos do better in a mature tank. If we know your water stats, perhaps we can help you avoid other losses.

I agree with that, accurate knowledge of water stats is imperative to keeping healthy fish

As for replacing the Otto... I wouldnt do it unless you start getting lots of growth on your glass. Ottos are tough to get acclimated in the tank and you might be wasting your time. With some decent living plants in there you might defeat the algae naturally and may not even need the Otto.

 

[kendan]

Unfortunately I don't have any means to test the water. The water gets a 12% weekly change. The last time I had the water tested was at least a few weeks ago at the pet store, and at that time the water was perfect according to the sales lady. She seemed quite knowledgable, but of course things can change quite a bit since then. The tank has been running since August 3, with 2 zebra danio's for a month before any plants or other fish added. If the ghost shrimp eat algae as well as scraps, then maybe I will avoid adding another oto, unless it gets pretty green in there.