Petshrimp.com Discussion Forum

Hello to everyone here. I am having a problem that I am hoping someone can help with. I am totally new to this hobby but have been an avid tropical fish enthusiast for many years. Anyhow, I stumbled upon some bamboo shrimp at my local Petco and became immediately enthralled and after some research with this site being my primary source for info took the dive.
I started with only 2 in case of any disaster and everything has been going great or so I thought. I have had my two shrimp for two months now and they are filter feeding voraciously and moving about just fine. As stated on this site, when bought from the store they were brown but within two weeks or so their white stripes appeared which also made me feel everything was good. Now my shrimp appear listless and do not appear to be eating. I am very distraught. Stripe is there but more on the reddish side. About a week ago one did shed (if that helps any) I have not made any major changes to the tank i.e. plants, decorations that sort of thing and so I am not sure what is wrong. Do they need bottom dweller food? I have done this from time to time. There are some plants in the water which is where they would rest on to feed from the filter and eat its deadened leaves . Now they no longer go on there. Found one about an hour ago on its side but its up now. Lent out my digital cam so I cannot take pics. I want to continue this hobby but I also want to respect life and do not want to continue if I am not ready yet. Thanks in advance to all. Feel free to e-mail me as well.[/b]

These shrimp do best if they have some vertical hard structure with significant flowing water in that area of the tank. For the average aquarium, a large tall piece of driftwood placed directly in the main outlet of the filter works well.

If your shrimp are crawling around scraping on surfaces to feed, then they are very hungry. They should be sitting still in the water flow actively feeding most of the time.

Thanks for the driftwood tip. No, shrimp are not scurrying for food so that is out. Thanks for the input.

Hi avatar2012 and welcome,

Have you been able to visit the shrimp varieties section and read about bamboo filter shrimp? It has important details about recomended parameters that have work best for these shrimp in the past. If you have yet to read them, the articles on shrimp keeping will help you to understand how to begin raising shrimp. I hope you are able to help your shrimp and enjoy raising them as much as I enjoy raising mine

Unless something has gone wrong with the water parameters, they may just be getting ready to molt. Make sure you have caves set up for them to hide in or they will leave the tank, no matter how tight your lid is.

Check to be sure the water is good. You should be doing a 50% weekly water change using a good dechorinator like amquel+ or seachem prime.

What are you feeding them and what other animals are in the tank with them? Crushed flakes in the water is what they need with good water flow to keep it suspended. A perch near the outfall of an HOB filter is best.

These shrimp won't scurry for food.