Did I do something wrong ???

[hypn]

I added some shrimp pellets (very small green) to my super shrimp tank and they went crazy eating most if not all of the pellets they could find. I have just returned to the tank to find that they are acting strange, swimming to the top then floating down to the bottom as if they are dead.

Some hold on to each other while repeating this behavior. 90% of them have now settled into the Green algae grass I purchased from the Shrimpstore but those still moving have continued repeating the behavior - have I done something wrong or can I do anything to help the situation

Andre

[Mustafa]

Hi Andre,

As long as your shrimp are not dying, everything is probably fine. However, if they ate "most of the pellets...if not, all of them", that means that you are already overfeeding. After an hour or two there should be no food left in the tank at all. The only thing you can really do is just wait and see what happens. Usually, if you do absolutely nothing, everything turns out for the best.

[LeShrimp]

What Mustafa said, but if there is any food left I would remove it.

[hypn]

Morning all

Sadly I lost a number of the shrimp last night. The rest were transferred into new water this morning and I am happy to report has reverted to old behaviour.

A test of the water this morning gave me several indications of possible problems - my salinity was WAY to high, We are currently experiencing Heat wave conditions and the over feeding (being human) was probably the one thing the water need to deplete oxygen levels.

In essence a water change last night might have been the solution, then again so would be FEEDING way less food

Thanks for the help

Andre

[KenCotigirl]

Sorry for your lost shrimp Andre. A few questions. Tank size, number of shrimp, pictures and how long have you had the Opae. You talk of 'pellets'. And 'very small' is relative. Think flakes and pea size. When feeding try a pea size flake. If they finish it in ten minutes try 3-pea sized flakes in two weeks. They will not starve and you prevent over feeding. If you had the shrimp for only a short time wait a few weeks before feeding and that goes especially after this incident. Let the shrimp settle in. Not to insult you but you top off with fresh water, correct. Normal evaporation will increase salinity but not to dangerous levels. Also these shrimp can take low oxygen. Too much food = ammonia which results in losses.

[hypn]

Sorry for your lost shrimp Andre. A few questions. Tank size, number of shrimp, pictures and how long have you had the Opae. You talk of 'pellets'. And 'very small' is relative. Think flakes and pea size. When feeding try a pea size flake. If they finish it in ten minutes try 3-pea sized flakes in two weeks. They will not starve and you prevent over feeding. If you had the shrimp for only a short time wait a few weeks before feeding and that goes especially after this incident. Let the shrimp settle in. Not to insult you but you top off with fresh water, correct. Normal evaporation will increase salinity but not to dangerous levels. Also these shrimp can take low oxygen. Too much food = ammonia which results in losses.

What a lovely reply - Thank You

I have kept up to 500 shrimp on display at a Seahorse Sanctuary I run and sadly lost them after a fumigation service decided to deliver more than what they asked for. Because of my active involvement in seahorse breeding I am relatively cautious in all aspects of tank maintenance and SADLY the only change introduced to the tank yesterday was OVER FEEDING.

The Shrimp went on a feeding frenzy, something I have never seen them do before and being "human" I added more food thinking that I might have underfed them (although I fed them last week). I am convinced that Ammonia killed them - those which survived and was moved into new matured low salinity brackish water seems to be completely unaffected.

Out of interest what is the recommended shrimp per flake. Would 10 shrimp need 10 flake versus possibly 5 flakes for 50 shrimp or is it purely a feed and watch scenario.

Andre

[LeShrimp]

Sorry for your lost shrimp Andre. A few questions. Tank size, number of shrimp, pictures and how long have you had the Opae. You talk of 'pellets'. And 'very small' is relative. Think flakes and pea size. When feeding try a pea size flake. If they finish it in ten minutes try 3-pea sized flakes in two weeks. They will not starve and you prevent over feeding. If you had the shrimp for only a short time wait a few weeks before feeding and that goes especially after this incident. Let the shrimp settle in. Not to insult you but you top off with fresh water, correct. Normal evaporation will increase salinity but not to dangerous levels. Also these shrimp can take low oxygen. Too much food = ammonia which results in losses.

What a lovely reply - Thank You

I have kept up to 500 shrimp on display at a Seahorse Sanctuary I run and sadly lost them after a fumigation service decided to deliver more than what they asked for. Because of my active involvement in seahorse breeding I am relatively cautious in all aspects of tank maintenance and SADLY the only change introduced to the tank yesterday was OVER FEEDING.

The Shrimp went on a feeding frenzy, something I have never seen them do before and being "human" I added more food thinking that I might have underfed them (although I fed them last week). I am convinced that Ammonia killed them - those which survived and was moved into new matured low salinity brackish water seems to be completely unaffected.

Out of interest what is the recommended shrimp per flake. Would 10 shrimp need 10 flake versus possibly 5 flakes for 50 shrimp or is it purely a feed and watch scenario.

Andre

Try not too worry so much about feeding, natural algae can support them for a while. If your shrimp become inactive and loose color then you know to possibly feed them more.

[KenCotigirl]

Good question. I do not know that answer. I never liked the 'whatever they can eat in ten minutes' when you feed fish. Never seemed like a real answer. However only feed what they can finish in two hours seems more reasonable for shrimp. If anything I underfeed. A nickel sized flake per 50-100 shrimp. It is usually gone within 1/2 hour. Some additional questions. What was your salinity? Also were your Opae breeding?

[hypn]

Good question. I do not know that answer. I never liked the 'whatever they can eat in ten minutes' when you feed fish. Never seemed like a real answer. However only feed what they can finish in two hours seems more reasonable for shrimp. If anything I underfeed. A nickel sized flake per 50-100 shrimp. It is usually gone within 1/2 hour. Some additional questions. What was your salinity? Also were your Opae breeding?

The salinity was at 1.016 but no these guys were not breeding - they have been with me for approx a month. From approx 30, 15 survived in 25L of water. So many things could have brought about the problems. Several years ago one of my neighbors decided to fumigate his house and these guys were using chemicals as if the man was miles away from society - needless to say within hours several fish started showing severe breathing stress.

Happy to report that all is still well with the remaining young

Andre