Lost 1/3 of my Opae overnight

[MrsDebLo]

Last night I lost 20 shrimp

Yesterday evening I noticed the surface of the water was covered in green algae. I thought, “I should get that off so the light can penetrate to the bottom of the tank!” So, I used several paper towels to get it off.

If I could go back in time, and not be stupid. I guess there must be bleach on the paper towels?

I did a 2/3 water change (over the course of a few hours), and the survivors are doing much better. And I’m noticing more shrimp appearing. My snails seems fine.

Is there anything I can do to help them anymore than a water change? Is my biofilter jacked up too?

Feeling like a total idiot,
Deb

[Varanus]

The water change I think would be enough, though you could always add some conditioner like Prime as it won't hurt anything. That you somehow had enough algae on the surface to block appreciable light indicates to me that your tank may have been out of balance already so the paper towels may not have been directly to blame. Instead, they may have just removed the algae that was absorbing the excess nutrients in the tank, which in turn caused those excess nutrients to increase to a toxic level, which in turn returned to non-toxic levels thanks to the water change. Just a theory though.

[Dch48]

I have been circulating the water in my tank about once a week or 10 days. Either by stirring, dipping some out and slowly pouring it back in, or gently blowing air through a piece of airline tubing. I do it to break up any film on the surface and to make sure the water stays oxygenated and does not stratify. No losses so far. The shrimp, (16 of them now) and the little Horned Nerite are all doing well.

[MrsDebLo]

Thanks for the replies.

I don’t know what happened. But, I did something wrong. It’s a learning process. Too bad those little babes had to suffer. I think

Question: Should all my shrimp be red? Some are so pale. Is that a sign something is off?

Thanks!

Deb

[Dch48]

Of the ones I got from Mustafa, 2 are red, the others are various paler shades and one is pure white with kind of a deformed head. It has a bulge sort of like an Oranda Goldfish. I have seen 5 or 6 discarded shells from molting so far. Their color is constantly changing being more red at times, especially in the afternoon. Except for the white one, he never changes. I haven't lost any yet so that's good.

[MrsDebLo]

I’m glad yours are all doing good!! Thank you for your feedback! Mine seem to change color too, and I have 2 that basically stay clear. I guess that’s normal.

Thanks again!

Debbie

[Mustafa]

Sorry to hear about your loss. Yes, the paper towels were probably the culprit. As for shrimp coloration, even though there will be variations in coloration depending on individual and, especially, diet (species of algae/micro-organisms), all shrimp turn various shades of red. True white/pale shrimp are very rare. In my attempt to separate out true white Supershrimp for selective breeding I have had almost all shrimp turn a dark red after weeks or months in their new tanks, even though they had no color in the beginning.

How is your tank doing now? Hope things have stabilized.

[MrsDebLo]

Out of the 31 original shrimp, I went down to 7 in one day. I did 1/4 water changes every other day 4 times, and then left them alone. Their color rebounded very, very slowly, and 1 or 2 are still pretty light.

However, today I checked on them and I have a berried female!! So, happy they are happy! I’ve been wondering everyday if they were happy or just surviving. EXHALE!

Thank you for your reply, and help!

[Dch48]

She's heavily berried too. She should carry most of them to term hopefully.

I have noticed that my shrimp get more red after I have given them a bit of Spirulina powder. I'm going to do that once a week now. I assume that the red coloration will be strengthened by Iodine in the diet. Spirulina and seaweed both contain a good amount of Iodine and are a natural food for these shrimp I would think.