Bamboo Shrimp HELP!!!

AnneRiceBowl · Post by **AnneRiceBowl** » Sun Apr 16, 2006 9:51 pm

Frist, hello everyone. I am new to the forum and new to shrimp.

I have four bamboo shrimp. I was housing them tempararily in a 10 gallon tank until I could get my 30 gallon long set up and cycled.

About a week ago, all 4 molted in the ten gallon. I was able to move them into the 30 gallon long today. After acclimating them and adding them to the tank, I noticed that they all had a strange "ghosting" (strange fuzzy layer) all over their bodies and especially on their heads.

The 30 gallon long that they are now in has Eco-Complete for substrate. I performed a water change and moved plants and driftwood and cleaned the filter sponge (rinsed in old tank water to keep the "good" bacteria).

Do shrimp have a slime coat or something similar as in fish? If they do, could fine sediments be stuck into that layer? What could the "ghosting" be?

Post by **Mustafa** » Mon Apr 17, 2006 8:23 am

Welcome Anne,

Do you have any pictures of the shrimp? From your description it sounds like a fungus infection. That usually occurs when there is a very high organic load and your shrimp's immune system is weakened. And, no, shrimp don't have a slime coat.

demented_lullaby · Post by **demented_lullaby** » Mon Apr 17, 2006 8:57 am

Hey ARB glad you found your way over here

AnneRiceBowl · Post by **AnneRiceBowl** » Mon Apr 17, 2006 10:25 am

Mustafa wrote:Welcome Anne,

Do you have any pictures of the shrimp? From your description it sounds like a fungus infection. That usually occurs when there is a very high organic load and your shrimp's immune system is weakened. And, no, shrimp don't have a slime coat.

Mustafa, I do not have pics. I am still stuck in the 20th century and do not have a digital--I only have a 35mm. I can take some pics, but it will be several days before I can post them.

What can I treat the shrimp with in the meantime? I would hate to lose them.

Will this harm the other fish in the aquarium? I have 8 female bettas in the tank with them.

*EDIT* I saw this in the crayfish section. This is IDENTICAL: viewtopic.php?t=1322

AnneRiceBowl · Post by **AnneRiceBowl** » Mon Apr 17, 2006 10:26 am

demented_lullaby wrote:Hey ARB glad you found your way over here

Hey moose!!!!! I am already loving this site! It's so full of information and great facts! There is so much more to shrimp that I imagined! lol

Oh, and Styx joined last night just after I did. We were looking for red cherry shrimp, and I was looking for help with my bamboo shrimp.

Post by **Mustafa** » Mon Apr 17, 2006 11:41 am

AnneRiceBowl wrote: What can I treat the shrimp with in the meantime? I would hate to lose them.

*EDIT* I saw this in the crayfish section. This is IDENTICAL: viewtopic.php?t=1322

If it's exactly like what the crayfish and the crystal red had in that link then it usually means that you have an accumulation of too much organic waste in your tank. Clean your filter, vacuum your gravel, perform a 50% water change and cut down on feeding. Perform approximately 20-40 percent water changes thereafter. At the latest by the next molt the fungus should be gone if the shrimp survive by then. Sometimes the fungus is too advanced and nothing can really cure it, but do what I told you and keep your fingers crossed. Don't use any medication that treats the symptoms, such as formalin. You want to get rid of the cause of the problem, not just the symptoms. As long as the cause is there, the symptoms will keep reappearing.

AnneRiceBowl · Post by **AnneRiceBowl** » Mon Apr 17, 2006 12:44 pm

Mustafa wrote:
AnneRiceBowl wrote: What can I treat the shrimp with in the meantime? I would hate to lose them.

*EDIT* I saw this in the crayfish section. This is IDENTICAL: viewtopic.php?t=1322
If it's exactly like what the crayfish and the crystal red had in that link then it usually means that you have an accumulation of too much organic waste in your tank. Clean your filter, vacuum your gravel, perform a 50% water change and cut down on feeding. Perform approximately 20-40 percent water changes thereafter. At the latest by the next molt the fungus should be gone if the shrimp survive by then. Sometimes the fungus is too advanced and nothing can really cure it, but do what I told you and keep your fingers crossed. Don't use any medication that treats the symptoms, such as formalin. You want to get rid of the cause of the problem, not just the symptoms. As long as the cause is there, the symptoms will keep reappearing.

They were taken out of the dirty tank that they were in and put into a tank that I had just performed a water change. I will continue with the water change recommendation. Will this fungus affect my bettas? Also, there is rarely any overfeeding or excess fod in that tank that the shrimp are in now, because the girls are fed pellet food and if there are any pellets left, I clean them out.

There are only bamboo shrimp, bettas, a two Malaysian trumpet snails in the tank.

AnneRiceBowl · Post by **AnneRiceBowl** » Tue May 09, 2006 12:58 am

So, here's an update.

Out of the 4 bamboo shrimp, two are completely cleared of the fungus before they molted, one is almost cleared after a molt (just a little bit left one the legs by the body), and the fourth one that had it the worst still has a little left on the body and legs, but no where near as badly as when I first saw the fungus.

I have been making sure that I don't overfeed and have been performing the recommened water changes. They have remained active and not doing anything "strange" since i first noticed the fungus, except around molting time.

I have also been adding Indian Almond Leaves (IALs) so that the water is more like their homeland's. All the inhabitants of the tank that they are in are from the same region.

I just looked into the tank. They have now started to take on a more orange coloring, rather than the dull tan or brown color when I first brought them home.

Is it okay to house them in IAL water?

Post by **Mustafa** » Tue May 09, 2006 8:17 am

AnneRiceBowl wrote:
Is it okay to house them in IAL water?

I'm not a big fan of adding additional organic compounds to the water (which the leaves do by releasing tons of tannic and humic acid..at least the first week or so), but if you have to add a it, then just add a very small piece. Remember that their natural habitats are *open* (flowing rivers) systems, where organics do not accumlate, whereas your tank is a closed system, where organics accumulate.