Do I buy a shrimp or two?

[Scougie]

I bought a shrimp (can't remember if he said it was a moonlight or midnight shrimp??) from my Lfs put it in my community tank and went away for the week when I got back he was dead. Don't know why or how he met his maker but there was only a shell left. He was about an inch big when he went in. What did I do wrong? There was a feeding block in the tank and no one else died! You can see from my sig what else I have in there. The shrimp cost me £9 so if I replace him I don't want the same thing to happen. Also what is the best kind to buy and how many should I get assuming I do of course? Do they have any special needs that I may have overlooked? My Ph is generally between 6.4-7.0 if that matters.

 

[SarahBravo]

From reading other posts on here if you only found the shell there's a good chance he is not dead but just moulted. After they moult they do hide away for a while as they are very vulnerable until their new shell hardens. Hopefully he may appear in a few days. I think Narayan feeds his crayfish on crab pellets, they contain the calcium and stuff that shrimps etc need to make new shells.

I do hope he is okay, let us know.

Sarah

 

[Kelso]

I thought the same thing, but sure enough 4 days later my shrimp came swimming out of the cave all happy and hungry. (4 days earlier i found the shell that he moulted and also thought he was dead). So you have a very good chance that he is still alive

 

[Scougie]

Really! Wow fingers crossed then! I'll start me tankside vigil again! It took me ages to find his shell!! Thanks.

 

[Scougie]

More worrying developments!! I've now been told that Pictus Catfish love to eat shrimps!! Does anyone have any knowledge on this? I have two Pictus in my tank could they be responsible for the murder of Shrimpy??

 

[Paul_MTS]

I belive the pictus cats eat just about anything they can fit in there gob so it may well of eaten your shrimp, but if you only found a shell then it most likely has moulted.

putting some egg shell in the tank will help it's new shell, crab cuisine and shrimp pellets are also developed to help there shells.

I feed my crabs and lobsters on crab cuisine.

 

[Scougie]

Wouldn't Shrimpy look a bit daft dressed in an egg shell?

 

[robgurr]

if you don't find shrimpy, and want to get another shrimp, i would suggest ghost shrimp b/c they're easy to look after but my only concern is that the other fish in your tank would probably eat it..hope your other shrimp is still alive!

 

[Scougie]

Shrimpy is dead RIP..... found little bits of him today...... However!! i replaced him with a blue Lobster instead. He looks cool and no piddling Pictus is gonna mess wiv those claws. One question though how do I feed him without the other fish getting in first? I know he'll scavenge on the bottom but I want to make sure he gets first dibs on the bloodworms!

 

[Teelie]

One way commonly used to feed dwarf frogs is stick their food in a cup or something similar (closed top open to the side) and sink it down. The fish won't find it but the lobster will. One thing on the lobster, they might try to eat your fish once they grow large enough, and you should probably get at least one more pictus if not two as they're schoolers.

 

[robgurr]

awww thats too bad about shrimpy... are those lobsters expensive??? in dollars?

 

[Teelie]

Depends on the species. Anywhere from $7 to $20 for juveniles and about $50 for a full sized adult on the high end.

 

[robgurr]

thnx

 

[Paul_MTS]

I hope you know the risks of that lobster, being in the UK it's going to be the cherax quad and will grow to around 1ft.

You have quite a few nice bottom dwellers which might also make a good snack for the lobster.

and when it's molting it's going to be in danger by the tiger barbs and red tailed shark.

you can still add egg shell which inverts will eat to give them calcium.

 

[Scougie]

He's gone couldn't risk it swapped him for two stunning blue rainbows instead! Cheers for the advive everyone.