Cardinia cartonensis 'Blue Tiger' constant pleopod beating

[Golden_Eyes]

Hi all,

I have a mixture of 7 different but beautiful Cardinia cartonensis sp 'Blue Tiger' with golden eyes.

Beautiful creatures. They are all feeding and moutling well.

They are in a 10litre Nano Cube designed specifically for Shrimps and vegetation has spread throughout the set up complete with some lumps of moss balls (each torn in half, curved side up). The water is stable, and I change 10% each week and condition new water complete with Nano brand fertiliser and vital stuff. The temp is 23 degrees C, PH is slightly more acidic than neutral, water is soft, and no impurities present. The filter has an established culture of bacterium to remove nitrates and ammonia. I don't overfeed them and remove rotting matter. There is some algae growing in tank.

I intend to breed them if I can. The set up has a light and the Nano Filter at operating capacity now.

One thing I notice is that they all constantly beat their pleopods or wash themselves while eating. Is this normal? I've seen videos of other Cardinia cartonensis sp 'Blue Tiger' and they don't do that.

Thanks if you can help or provide tips.

Kindest regards,

Golden_Eyes.

[Mustafa]

Is this your first experience with dwarf shrimp? If so, you have chosen some quite expensive subjects for your experiment. Anyway, they should be picking around constantly even if you don't specifically feed them...that's what healthy shrimp do. There are various reasons why your shrimp may not be feeling all that well, but what it comes down to in most cases is overfeeding and bad water because of it. Shrimp are extremely sensitive to bacterial blooms caused by too many nutrients in the water. Perform a few water changes over the next few days and stop feeding. Unless the shrimp are too far gone things should improve.

[Golden_Eyes]

Hi Mustafa, yes it is. They are all fine still picking at things but still flapping the pleopods a lot and cleaning them alot, while still picking at things and quoting you the water condition is not quite satisfactory for them. They were swimming a lot this morning as somehow my filter became disconnected and stopped working overnight. I rectified the situation and replaced some water with fresh treated water (10%). They have settled down and I still have all 7 alive and well. I will follow your instructions and not feed them for a while and make sure there is nothing decaying or causing bacterial blooms. The moss balls are green and healthy and I have two healthy dwarf plants taking root and spreading. They are all still fine and I intend to keep them that way. Thanks for your answer, I should improve the situation pretty quickly.

[Golden_Eyes]

I have been to experienced shrimp keepers and they told me this is normal behaviour. If they are all still alive, well and feeding then there's nothing to worry about. The pleopod beating is simply to generate water currents as part of the feeding process whilst crawling over the floor, and to keep them clean. They are are well rested and swim very occasionally.