My bamboo shrimp molted today, and there isn't anything unusual about the timing as I've had him for a few months and he molted once after I first got him. But something very weird happened.
His front legs (the six that have the fans on them) didn't grow back...the rest of his body molted fine, but the front legs are gone, except for two very thin legs with very tiny fans. It looks like they should still be growing. I can see the six places where the legs should be.
I'm afraid this is my fault. First, a history:
Water parameters are fine, ammonia and nitrite are 0, nitrate is below 20.
But I introduced a fish to the tank a while ago, and it had some sort of fungus- either columnaris or true fungus, I'm not sure which. (So I've officially learned the value of quarantine). Anyway, he died very soon, and two other fish in the tank were affected.
I'm medicating with maracyn & maroxy, per instructions on meds. Neither has copper and said they were safe for inverts, so I didn't worry too much about the shrimp.
The fish that was affected by the fungus is healing (another died in early stages of treatment). But I'm afraid either the meds themselves or the dramatic change in water chemistry caused a problem with my shrimp.
He is normally pretty active, and doesn't seem to be afraid of the fish. He generally sits on a rock by the filter during the day with his fans open to eat. Now he is swimming wildly around the tank.
Other than the lack of front legs, he appears to be okay. But that's how he eats, so I don't think he will remain okay unless I figure out what to do.
Does anyone know exactly what happened, or has a good guess?
And can you hand feed a shrimp? I really feel awful about this, especially if it was my fault by not taking him out while medicating. He was my first shrimp.
What can I do?
Pi
Help! Legless shrimp, incomplete molt?
Moderator: Mustafa
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GunmetalBlue
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Hi Pi, sorry about what happened 
. I really wish I could help but this seems to require someone much more experienced than I.
I just wanted to make a couple comments though. The legs that have fans on them, for practical purposes, I'll call them arms. What I witness with my shrimp is that they have two pairs of arms, meaning a total of four arms that have the fans. Each of those arms have a pair of fans, thus I witness four arms with eight fans total.
There *might be hope that he/she can get by for now with one pair of arms, though frail and tiny. Do you witness his/her ability to fold up the fan and put/reach into its mouth to intake food particles?
Another concern is the "swimming wildly around the tank." My experience with Bamboo shrimp is they rarely swim around, except to hop from one plant/area to another. So if I saw my shrimp doing that, I would be very worried things are wrong. I don't know much about fish medication, but I know shrimp are very sensitive to such things, regardless of what the package claims. So I would personally do some water changes OR, if the tank is still being used as a hospital tank, I would try and remove the Bamboo shrimp to a medication-free environment. Of course that change could pose its own set of problems. An advantage might be that if put in a fishless tank, your shrimp may better compete for food while in a handi-capped state.
Good luck with your shrimp; hope he/she can get through this!
-GB
PS: Now that I think about it, I recall Mustafa saying shrimp molt for a couple reason; one being for growth, but he also said it can happen in order to try to rid itself of toxins. So there *might be a chance it happened for that reason. It would be speculation on my part, but wonder if perhaps that's what caused what might have been an early/partially unsuccessful molt?
. I really wish I could help but this seems to require someone much more experienced than I.I just wanted to make a couple comments though. The legs that have fans on them, for practical purposes, I'll call them arms. What I witness with my shrimp is that they have two pairs of arms, meaning a total of four arms that have the fans. Each of those arms have a pair of fans, thus I witness four arms with eight fans total.
There *might be hope that he/she can get by for now with one pair of arms, though frail and tiny. Do you witness his/her ability to fold up the fan and put/reach into its mouth to intake food particles?
Another concern is the "swimming wildly around the tank." My experience with Bamboo shrimp is they rarely swim around, except to hop from one plant/area to another. So if I saw my shrimp doing that, I would be very worried things are wrong. I don't know much about fish medication, but I know shrimp are very sensitive to such things, regardless of what the package claims. So I would personally do some water changes OR, if the tank is still being used as a hospital tank, I would try and remove the Bamboo shrimp to a medication-free environment. Of course that change could pose its own set of problems. An advantage might be that if put in a fishless tank, your shrimp may better compete for food while in a handi-capped state.
Good luck with your shrimp; hope he/she can get through this!
-GB
PS: Now that I think about it, I recall Mustafa saying shrimp molt for a couple reason; one being for growth, but he also said it can happen in order to try to rid itself of toxins. So there *might be a chance it happened for that reason. It would be speculation on my part, but wonder if perhaps that's what caused what might have been an early/partially unsuccessful molt?
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chlorophyll
- Shrimp
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Any possibility or indication the shrimp was attacked post-moult?
I don't know about bamboo shrimp, but some filter feeding shrimp can have trouble getting enough food in an aquarium, especially one with more active feeders. I'd guess it could be a result of insufficient nutrition. When shrimp moult, it may not always be an indication of growth ... some may downsize with moults due to insufficient nourishment.
I don't know about bamboo shrimp, but some filter feeding shrimp can have trouble getting enough food in an aquarium, especially one with more active feeders. I'd guess it could be a result of insufficient nutrition. When shrimp moult, it may not always be an indication of growth ... some may downsize with moults due to insufficient nourishment.
Hey guys, I'm afraid he didn't make it. I found him dead later that same day.
I'm nearly positive this was because of the medication.
I know that shrimp have a hard time getting food with fish in a tank, so I fed him separately at least every other day by putting small particles of food lowered on a straw in the water around him. He usually hung out on or around the filter, and I watched to make sure he was eating the food I gave him. Generally during this time I would distract the fish by feeding them something as well. It worked, and I don't think that malnutrition was the culprit.
As I've said, I'm 99% sure it was because I medicated the tank with the shrimp still in it. I'm kicking myself for it right now, because in hindsight it was a pretty stupid thing to do. But there isn't anything I can do about it now except make sure it never happens again.
The legs thing is a mystery to me. My first assumption would be someone attacked him after his molt, but the presence of legs that were obviously only partially formed makes me wonder. He has plenty of hiding places. I've used rocks to make some caverns-type areas, where he can go but the fish can't (except for the tetras, I suppose they could fit). But that doesn't mean they didn't attack him. I also didn't see any leftovers. The legs simply weren't there in the holes where there should have been legs. The swimmerets were fine. It would have been a pretty surgical attack. Though again, that doesn't mean it didn't happen.
I'm waiting a couple of weeks to make sure the medication is completely out of the tank before I try and introduce any more inverts in there. I've done some substantial water changes already, but I'm still trying to err on the side of caution. Thanks for the help.
Pi
I'm nearly positive this was because of the medication.
I know that shrimp have a hard time getting food with fish in a tank, so I fed him separately at least every other day by putting small particles of food lowered on a straw in the water around him. He usually hung out on or around the filter, and I watched to make sure he was eating the food I gave him. Generally during this time I would distract the fish by feeding them something as well. It worked, and I don't think that malnutrition was the culprit.
As I've said, I'm 99% sure it was because I medicated the tank with the shrimp still in it. I'm kicking myself for it right now, because in hindsight it was a pretty stupid thing to do. But there isn't anything I can do about it now except make sure it never happens again.
The legs thing is a mystery to me. My first assumption would be someone attacked him after his molt, but the presence of legs that were obviously only partially formed makes me wonder. He has plenty of hiding places. I've used rocks to make some caverns-type areas, where he can go but the fish can't (except for the tetras, I suppose they could fit). But that doesn't mean they didn't attack him. I also didn't see any leftovers. The legs simply weren't there in the holes where there should have been legs. The swimmerets were fine. It would have been a pretty surgical attack. Though again, that doesn't mean it didn't happen.
I'm waiting a couple of weeks to make sure the medication is completely out of the tank before I try and introduce any more inverts in there. I've done some substantial water changes already, but I'm still trying to err on the side of caution. Thanks for the help.
Pi
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chlorophyll
- Shrimp
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GunmetalBlue
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Thanks guys. No one I know understood why I was so worried about my shrimp. They thought it was funny 
Anyway, I'm pretty sure the meds need water changes to be removed, which is why I'm going to wait some time (and after many water changes) before introducing any inverts. I'm also thinking about finally setting up a shrimp only tank, though I don't know if I will be able to fit one large enough for bamboo shrimp-- I've got four tanks already(5,10,29,125) and I certainly don't need any more to maintain. But...well, I'm sure you all know how that goes.
Pi
Anyway, I'm pretty sure the meds need water changes to be removed, which is why I'm going to wait some time (and after many water changes) before introducing any inverts. I'm also thinking about finally setting up a shrimp only tank, though I don't know if I will be able to fit one large enough for bamboo shrimp-- I've got four tanks already(5,10,29,125) and I certainly don't need any more to maintain. But...well, I'm sure you all know how that goes.
Pi