Help! My Fire Shrimp Is Dying!

[wflash3]

i just found my fire shrimp laying on its side on the sand =[

and i can see him move his book gills and arms very slowly. also there is a black blotch on his back that i havint seen before!
i dont think its anything in the water temperature or anything like that because everything else in the tank is fine...
is there anything i can do to possibly save him??

thanks

 

[Lynden]

Sadly, your animal may be too far gone. The disease he/she has is called "the invasion of the chitin eaters". There is no known treatments. Recovery can only be had when the crustacean sheds it's skin. Larger, faster growing animals are more likely to recover; but generally the disease is terminal.

I'm sorry to have to tell you.

-Lynden

 

[SkiFletch]

Beat me to it . Sorry wflash3, prolly too late

 

[wflash3]

invasion of the chitin eaters?

is that for real? what is it?

 

[Lynden]

Well it is for real all right, as your shrimp has/had it. I made the name up as I can't remember any other common name (or the scientific one) and "invasion of the chitin eaters" seemed fitting because the infestation is just that for the crustacean that gets it.

The disease is basically an invasion of tiny black chitin eaters. They are a bacteria, and live by consuming the chitin (hard exoskeleton) of a crustacean, and in doing so leave the crustacean without it's skin. As you know, an animal cannot live without something to prevent it's fluids, et cetera from getting away from it's body, and the bacteria's waste products are also toxic, I would imagine, like those of most disease causing bacteria. The crustacean can recover if the skin is shed, but as the animal ages, it sheds less frequently, and the damage can progress unchecked until the crustacean succumbs. Larger, stronger animals will usually survive longer for obvious reasons, but very old crustaceans are the most vulnerable.

Don't worry; it is not your fault. The disease was completely natural.

-Lynden

 

[wflash3]

I see, i talked it over with my LFS and they said it was lack of Iodine

 

[scorphonic]

I see, i talked it over with my LFS and they said it was lack of Iodine

Did that get you to buy some?

Sorry to hear about the shrimp

 

[wflash3]

I see, i talked it over with my LFS and they said it was lack of Iodine

Did that get you to buy some?

Sorry to hear about the shrimp

well i do know that xenia use up alot of iodine and i do have two of them, so i did buy it and have been putting it in for 3 days, and i did notice a difference in my xenia, its alot bigger and moving around alot more =] wish i had it before my shrimp died, it could have been the problem.

 

[Lynden]

While Xenia can benefit from iodine supplements, a lack of it almost certainly did not cause the death of your shrimp.

Remember also to not dose anything that you can't test for.

 

[wflash3]

While Xenia can benefit from iodine supplements, a lack of it almost certainly did not cause the death of your shrimp.

Remember also to not dose anything that you can't test for.

well it wasint only my LFS who said this was the problem, my professor said the same, also i went to 2 other LFS and they said the same. I have friends who work there and i know they wouldint just try to sell me something

 

[BlondeBrutality]

Do the shrimp get black spots when the molt? How can you tell the difference? Mine had dark brown/black spots and has been acting funny, I just assumed he was molting.

 

[wflash3]

see, thats the problem i was facing, i heard it was bacteria eating its chitin, then i heard it was lack of iodine, what i would do is add iodine to your tank as recomended by my LFS. since u cant do nothing about the bacteria, try adding iodine, if that works then i know what happened to my shrimp. And no its not a part of molting as far as i know.

 

[Lynden]

Iodine supposedly helps molting. However I have never dosed iodine and my shrimp have tripled in size since I got them a few months ago. My system is approaching the two year mark in age.

If any supplement helped a crustacean recover from chitin eaters, then it would probably be calcium. Honestly, I don't know where your friends got your facts... your professor's word I would hold in higher regard, but even still... does he specialize in arthropod biology?

I will stress my point that your chitin eater invasion was a completely random event. No amount of costly or "proffesional" supplements will help to prevent another outbreak (which is immensely unlikely) or heal an animal that is already affected. Your unlucky shrimp probably picked them up back in the ocean.

-Lynden

 

[BlondeBrutality]

A couple weeks ago when I made the post about my cleaner shrimp having black spots I assumed it was the molting process because I brought it up with 2 different lfs' and they said that's what would happen when they molt. Well, he did molt a couple weeks ago and the spots dissapeared. I came home tonight and found my cleaner on his side, breathing shalowly (is that a word?) with the black spots again. This has been a horrible week for me as you already know if you've read my other posts. I really don't want to lose him, but I know I'm going to wake up to another dead pet what should I do? Is my other cleaner at risk?

I just went to check on him, I was sure he was dead, flipped on his back, but when I reached in to get him he moved. I noticed food in his stomach that I've never noticed before. Did he eat too much? The black spots are clearly indented like something is eating him.

 

[SkiFletch]

Could be what's just known as "shell disease". to the best of my knowledge, nobody knows how to treat it . Your other cleaner should not be at risk