my shrimp are getting smaller...

[shrimpahoy]

Everytime my shrimp molt they seem to get smaller. Does this mean they aren't getting enough food?

[Jackie]

In a nutshell - shrimp, like other crustaceans, grow after molting. Their bodies absorb water and stop as soon as their exoskeletons get hard enough.

I've never heard of shrimp getting smaller. They do stop significantly growing when they reach a certain age. Proper feeding is important, but if a shrimp doesn't get enough food it dies long before it has a chance to molt

[shrimpahoy]

I swear my shrimp is shrinking. They are filter shrimp and they seem to be getting smaller and thinner. One of them looks like he/she is in trouble. Sometimes he/she lies on it's side or doesn't move for a long time as if he/she doesn't have any energy to move. But, they still molt... I've had them for about 6 months and they've molted several times. Seems to be getting worse though.

[Jackie]

Filter shrimp? OK, what do you feed them?

I'm sorry about your shrimp, it doesn't sound too good

[Neonshrimp]

Please discribe thr shrimps' tank conditions and how they are being fed.

[shrimpahoy]

My tank is a 10 gallon tank and I have 3 filter shrimp, 1 guppy and 2 other shrimp that are not filter shrimp. I think they are amano shrimp. They are perfectly fine and are actually pretty big now.

I use a filter that sucks up water through a pipe and makes it go through fiber, carbon and a sponge before being poured back into the tank... sorry I don't know what kind of filter that is.

I feed the shrimp something called HBH crab and lobster bites. The non filter shrimp gobble those up fast. Sometimes the filter shrimp go around those and start fanning their arms around like they are eating but I know that's not a good food for them. I feed the guppy a little guppy food. I also started trying some powdered newborn fish food hoping the filter shrimp might like that. I read they like something called cyclops??? So, I'm going to try that one time if I can find it.

I change about 20% of the water every two weeks.

One of my filter shrimp is lying on it's side right now like it's dead or sleeping. but I can see something inside it moving so I know it's alive still.

[Neonshrimp]

Sorry for the late reply. The shrimp may not be getting enough food with the other inhabitants readily eating the food before they receive it. I would also try crushing some of your food into fine powder and then feeding the shrimp. Try to check you water parameters so that it fits those in the shrimp variety section. This may be different since you have other inhabitants in the tank.

Although this might be a tough option for you, you might want to set up a tank just for the shrimp. Finally, I hope your shrimp will recover after you try the above.

[Jackie]

I feed the shrimp something called HBH crab and lobster bites. The non filter shrimp gobble those up fast. Sometimes the filter shrimp go around those and start fanning their arms around like they are eating but I know that's not a good food for them. I feed the guppy a little guppy food. I also started trying some powdered newborn fish food hoping the filter shrimp might like that. I read they like something called cyclops??? So, I'm going to try that one time if I can find it.

Usually, filter shrimp don't need any special feeding if they don't live alone in the tank. But in your case, it may be needed. The first sign that filter shrimp don't have enough to eat is when they pick up food from the bottom of the tank - I assume this it what you described. You should have reacted earlier. Right now it seems they are really in bad shape

We give our shrimp powdered spirulina flakes, cyclops larvae, freshly hatched artemia, coral food for reef tanks. Try not to overfeed - it is better to feed the shrimp very small portions a couple of times a day or once every two days. You might need to make more frequent water changes until you figure out the amounts of food that will satisfy the shrimp but not pollute the water.

Anyway, the shrimp getting smaller is still a mystery to me. I've heard of shrimp starve and die, but they didn't get smaller during the process.

[YuccaPatrol]

A couple of suggestions:

1) increase your water change schedule to something like 30% every week

2) make sure that your filter shrimp have a place to perch in the area of the tank with the highest flow so that they can efficiently filter the water for food.

3) feed them a suitable diet. They are not all that picky, but they do need food items small enough to be caught in their fans. I make a simple mix that is nothing but fish flake dust collected from the bottom of various cans of shrim-safe foods. Right now I am using a combination of freeze dried brine shrimp and Omega-1 flakes. I just grind this into a fine powder and add a small pinch every other day or so.

[shrimpahoy]

Thanks all for your help and suggestions. I'm going to try them all.

Unfortunately one of my filter shrimp died today. Strangley it was one that didn't look like it was getting smaller and was actually pretty active until a couple of days ago. I thought maybe it was going to molt but instead it died. I have no idea why it died. One of the others just molted and the one that always lies on it's side and stays motionless is still alive. It sometimes comes out of it's cave and fans it's filter hands around.

I started feeding them finely powdered food and they seem to be eating more. I'll keep at it and hopefully get to a point where I'm taking care of them correctly because they are so cool...