my shrimp died!

[frank_zappa]

ive had this shrimp for a couple months and i really liked it a lot. the guy at the fish store gave it to me no charge, too. anyway, this morning i found it dead on the bottom directly next to its shell that it molted. im not sure what could have happened to it because it was very active all the time and eating etc and appeared fine last night.

is it possible that it died while it was molting, like maybe it couldnt get free from the old shell? nothing has been eating it and none of my fish were ever aggressive towards it.

[Chrisinator]

It is possible that it died while moliting because that's when they are most vulnerable. What other types of fish do you have and what type of shrimp is it? Sometimes it could be old age, but that's unlikely.

[frank_zappa]

the guy at the store just threw it in for free and told me to see if i liked keeping it...i believe it was a ghost shrimp, and probably 2" in length.

it was ina 29-gallon and the only tankmates it has are some corys, a platy fry, a pair of golden eye cichlids, and a L387 pleco.


i just realized there is a whole shrimp section so i probably should have posted this there, but oh well.

[Chrisinator]

The only thing I would have though of would be your Golden Eye Cichlids would have bit it, but I'm wondering how it survived that long.

[frank_zappa]

the golden eyes never paid it any attention for the past 2 months, but they are getting ready now for a spawn so it is possible, i guess. it just happened suddenly. i suppose seeing the shrimp molting and in a vulnerable state could trigger an attack? or maybe it got too close to where they are planning to spawn...

[annageckos]

Ghost shrimp don't live real long. At two inches it was full grown.

[frank_zappa]

well, then maybe it was really old and molting again was just too much for it to handle? i really enjoyed keeping it; that was a first for me, and i think i will want another.

[annageckos]

I like ghost shrimp alot. I alway try to have at least two dozen in my 55. And around a dozen or so in my 30. With a quick glance I can see seven of them right now.

[frank_zappa]

is it bad to have just one? i mean, is it better for them to have others with them? i had this one by itself only because it was a throw-in freebie with some fish i bought.

[annageckos]

I wouldn't say it is bad, but they do seem to interact with eachother some. What size is your tank, they don't add much to the bio load.

[frank_zappa]

i had it in a 29 gallon planted

[annageckos]

You could easily do a dozen or so IMO.