Hi everyone!
I just recently got my tank going around the middle of February and everything has been going great! There's been no issues but a couple of my shrimp did die in the beginning (R.I.P little guys ). I've been busy as of late and would barely look at my tank because everyone seemed healthy and were molting just fine. Then, yesterday I noticed that one of my shrimpies had berries! (Huzzah! ) Berried Mama!
I looked thoroughly throughout my tank and made sure there weren't any other shrimpies with berries. Alas, just one. But then I noticed something strange in my tank. (I should have looked everyday... bad shrimpie mom ) If you look at the photos below, you'll noticed a weird swarm. I thought they looked like little shrimpies but I did some research and they don't look like baby shrimpies at all. They don't have characteristic big eyes, they're WAY too small and there's at least a couple hundred swimming around in there. Also the berried mama is still berried. They seem to be swarming near my LED light and have the shape of a mini-shrimp. Can anyone tell me what these are? I did look up a couple of things online, but none of them look like what I'm seeing. They also don't seem to be bothering any of the shrimpies so I'm not too worried. Just super curious. If anyone could help me out, that'd be great! If not, thanks for trying! Weird Swarm Picture Weird Swarm?
iMia88 wrote: ↑Sun May 06, 2018 5:08 am
Hi everyone!
I just recently got my tank going around the middle of February and everything has been going great! There's been no issues but a couple of my shrimp did die in the beginning (R.I.P little guys ). I've been busy as of late and would barely look at my tank because everyone seemed healthy and were molting just fine. Then, yesterday I noticed that one of my shrimpies had berries! (Huzzah! ) Berried Mama!
I looked thoroughly throughout my tank and made sure there weren't any other shrimpies with berries. Alas, just one. But then I noticed something strange in my tank. (I should have looked everyday... bad shrimpie mom ) If you look at the photos below, you'll noticed a weird swarm. I thought they looked like little shrimpies but I did some research and they don't look like baby shrimpies at all. They don't have characteristic big eyes, they're WAY too small and there's at least a couple hundred swimming around in there. Also the berried mama is still berried. They seem to be swarming near my LED light and have the shape of a mini-shrimp. Can anyone tell me what these are? I did look up a couple of things online, but none of them look like what I'm seeing. They also don't seem to be bothering any of the shrimpies so I'm not too worried. Just super curious. If anyone could help me out, that'd be great! If not, thanks for trying! Weird Swarm Picture Weird Swarm?
It may be some sort of amphipod, I'm not certain... Have you introduced any non-Mustfasa plants? Sometimes little critters hitch rides on those. I'm not sure if Opae Ulas consume these critters, someone else can probably weigh in on that.
Flippers wrote: ↑Sun May 06, 2018 10:38 amIt may be some sort of amphipod, I'm not certain... Have you introduced any non-Mustfasa plants? Sometimes little critters hitch rides on those. I'm not sure if Opae Ulas consume these critters, someone else can probably weigh in on that.
I haven't which is the weird thing. I only placed Mustafa's algae ball and the shrimp. That was all. I did add some broken bits of coral like Mustafa had said in his step-by-step instructions to keep the water from being too acidic. Hm... so weird!
Super Jess wrote: ↑Sun May 06, 2018 12:43 pm
They move sort of like these amphipods. Yours appear to be a slightly different shape, but there are tons of different kinds.
I saw this video when I was looking these little guys up and thought they were from the same family. I didn't know if they were or not lol...
I started doing some extra research and maybe they're not amphipods but copepods? (Seem the same to me...) It says that amphipods live mostly in salt-water based ecosystems and copepods live in different types of ecosystems. So who knows...? I'm not quite sure how they got there either but I guess they're in for the long run. Amphipods, copepods, etc
Mustafa wrote: ↑Sun Dec 11, 2016 5:47 pm
What's the salinity in your tank? Also, depending on the species the amphipods/isopods may actually bother the shrimp by climbing all over them.
I found this quote from Mustafa from a 2016 thread in the forum. Based on further research throughout the forum, I found many people discussing salinity and amphipods. These are old threads, so I'm not sure if salinity was the true factor, but it's worth a read... Just search "amphipods" in the forum.
Some more quotes of advice!
yoster wrote: ↑Sun Sep 22, 2013 2:15 pm
I had a pretty bad infestation with my smaller tank. I stopped feeding for about 2-3 months. Like Mustafa stated, they will starve to death.
Are they harmful?
Mustafa wrote: ↑Thu Oct 17, 2013 11:05 pm
Not directly, but they can multiply faster and crow out the shrimp as the first post here already said. They may also directly bother the shrimp by climbing on them if there are tons of them in the tank.
jeffrey.wyman wrote:
Mustafa, is this why you have many small tanks as opposed to few large ones?
I wouldn't say they are small tanks (mostly 20 gallon, some 10 gallon), but they aren't huge vats for sure. It just happened this way given the space I had at the time I put up the tanks. As for the amphipods...don't go full freshwater. Just go to one third to half ocean salinity. That appears to be closer to the ideal for these guys anyway. Depending on the species, the amphipods may adjust, though. The best thing to do is to just stop feeding. The amphipods will starve...the shrimp won't, even after months of no feeding.
In short; reduce food. Check the forum. Let me know how it goes!!
I read this and will try to get rid of some of the stuff on top of the water. My shrimp rarely go up there but these guys are always up there in the same area. Maybe that will help get rid of them.
Also I just noticed my berried shrimp lost about half her eggs. Could the copepods be bothering her to the point where she releases/"loses" some of her eggs? Her color doesn't seem as good either. I'm worried that the eggs might not hatch I guess I'll have to wait and see. Hopefully they'll be hardy enough to survive without mama.
If you’re not sure what to do, waiting it out is probably the best idea. Do you have filter? The “swarm” video almost shows like water stream coming out of a filter.
iMia88 wrote: ↑Thu May 10, 2018 6:56 pmAlso I just noticed my berried shrimp lost about half her eggs. Could the copepods be bothering her to the point where she releases/"loses" some of her eggs? Her color doesn't seem as good either. I'm worried that the eggs might not hatch I guess I'll have to wait and see. Hopefully they'll be hardy enough to survive without mama.
Its probably unrelated, first time shrimp moms often drop some or even all their eggs. On that note I'm sorry to tell you but as far as we know dropped eggs never hatch. They need the mother fanning them with her swimmerets to get oxygen and keep them clean.
iMia88 wrote: ↑Thu May 10, 2018 6:56 pmAlso I just noticed my berried shrimp lost about half her eggs. Could the copepods be bothering her to the point where she releases/"loses" some of her eggs? Her color doesn't seem as good either. I'm worried that the eggs might not hatch I guess I'll have to wait and see. Hopefully they'll be hardy enough to survive without mama.
Its probably unrelated, first time shrimp moms often drop some or even all their eggs. On that note I'm sorry to tell you but as far as we know dropped eggs never hatch. They need the mother fanning them with her swimmerets to get oxygen and keep them clean.
I never thought about HOW the eggs live on momma! That’s pretty cool to hat she gives them oxygen and cleans them.
Those aren't amphipods so all the posts about amphipods linked and quoted here don't apply. I don't know what they are but they are harmless. Just don't worry about them.
). I've been busy as of late and would barely look at my tank because everyone seemed healthy and were molting just fine. Then, yesterday I noticed that one of my shrimpies had berries! (Huzzah! 
)
) If you look at the photos below, you'll noticed a weird swarm. I thought they looked like little shrimpies but I did some research and they don't look like baby shrimpies at all. They don't have characteristic big eyes, they're WAY too small and there's at least a couple hundred swimming around in there. Also the berried mama is still berried. They seem to be swarming near my LED light and have the shape of a mini-shrimp. Can anyone tell me what these are? I did look up a couple of things online, but none of them look like what I'm seeing. They also don't seem to be bothering any of the shrimpies so I'm not too worried. Just super curious. If anyone could help me out, that'd be great! If not, thanks for trying!
The thing is... I don't feed. I've kept my tank going for about 2-3 months without having to feed them at all... another mystery...
