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will shrimp kill each other if hungry enough?

Lindy

Lindy

Member
Joined
29 Jun 2012
Messages
2,824
Location
Ayrshire, Scotland
My shrimp always seem hungry and when I put some food in they fight alot over it. This morn I put a small quantity of white pellet in which the shrimp fought over, all were present and apparently well. A couple of hours later I catch one of the larger shrimp eating a smaller shrimp. Could the larger have killed the smaller? I have been trying to feed the shrimp less but they always seem to be starving!
Tank has been rescaped 4 weeks ago with existing wood/plants and some new(tropica). The shrimp went back in 1wk ago and have been very active. Tank temp 24degrees.
The other shrimp seem fine, espescially the one eating the other...
 
I've seen amano shrimp actively chase down and eat CRS in my tank. Happened twice and the second time was enough evidence for me!!

I've never experienced same species of shrimp doing this, but it wouldn't surprise me though. Primarily veg / algae eaters, but who knows what they may do if they want a protein fix!!
 
Should I squish a snail for them? You are a shrimp expert so please give me your honest opinion: My tap water is gh3, tds 44. With a gh booster(more recently mosura mineral+) I've been keeping these parameters:gh5, tds 130. I've also been feeding white pellet. Some of my crs have been showing loss of the white pigment despite this. The ph in the tank is around 6, the test water goes yellow. The substrate is ada amazonia so no doubt responsible for low ph. After my last post I lost another shrimp, a cbs, that had lost nearly all its white pigment so maybe the other had pegged it too. The other shrimp have good colour. I've also been using genchem Biozyme.
The rest of the shrimp are really active, feeding like fury. Surely they should find enough biofilm in the tank as there is less than 10 shrimp left? Questions: should I try feeding daily? Should I feed at all? How can some shrimp look great while others die? It is sooo fecking frustrating to try so hard and fail so miserably! If these guys die I won't get more...
The tank is on the journal 54l 'the nook'
 
I'll post up later, but stop feeding for now. There will be plenty of food in there. Dose another 2ml of mosura. Mix with a little tank water first and pour into tank. Your tds is a touch low and could be causing moulting problems. It would also maybe explain the white loss. Try to get to bout 150 tds.
 
Its done. will test tds in wee while to see where its at.
 
Oh, and dont squish any snails - might lead to water quality issues.
 
Drop the temp a tad too. For crs I try to maintain 21-22 degrees.
 
Couple of questions for you:-

Exactly how often do you feed and with what?

What's your water change regime? How much, how often?

Have you got any catappa leaves or banana leaves that you could add?

Have you had the shrimp for long?
 
Feed every 2-3 days, genchem white pellet, genchen biozyme, hikari shrimp cuisine.
Wc weekly 10%. Make up replacement water to gh 5 and dechlorinator then add water through airline tubing. Cappata leaves in.
Had these shrimp 5-6 mths I think. At hairdressers so can't check diary!
 
What's the purpose of banana leaves basil? I know catappa leaves for tannins, but haven't encountered people using banana leaves before. Cheers!
 
LancsRick said:
What's the purpose of banana leaves basil? I know catappa leaves for tannins, but haven't encountered people using banana leaves before. Cheers!
Click to expand...

Dried banana leaves have fantastic antibacterial properties. A good preventative product to have in your tanks. Also a great food source that won't load tank with nasties like protein based dried feeds can.
 
Dropped temp to 23 but that is as low as I can go for the lampeyes that share the tank.
 
Just checked tds, @135 should I just add 2ml a day until it is @150?
 
ldcgroomer said:
Feed every 2-3 days, genchem white pellet, genchen biozyme, hikari shrimp cuisine.
Wc weekly 10%. Make up replacement water to gh 5 and dechlorinator then add water through airline tubing. Cappata leaves in.
Had these shrimp 5-6 mths I think. At hairdressers so can't check diary!
Click to expand...

Sounds like your feeding regime is not over the top and should be acceptable for the shrimp. 10% weekly change in my experience is good and maintains stability, so i wouldnt change. So feeding and water changes both sound ok. If I was being picky, I might suggest feeding less dried feed and try offering nettle, spinach or cattapa or banana etc in place of a pellet. I've been playing around myself with a tank that gets hardly any pellet, I just give them leaf instead. I've not had any deaths [yet!!] compared to a tank that gets regular [2/3 times a week] feed of dried pellet feed. I cant be sure and I'm certainly no biologist, but like you I've also experienced shrimp deaths after pellet feeding. Maybe the shrimp are eating pellet too quickly after being introduced to the tank, which causes the feed to swell inside the shrimp and making it hard to digest? Who knows.....

pH, gh etc all sound pretty much on the money. Must be something else.

Do you dose co2 or ferts?
 
Basil I have pressurised CO2 at a low level and have done for some time, dc at green but not lime green. I had been dosing a low level of EI but when I rescaped I used ADA Amazonia so have not dosed since. The lampeyes don't show any signs of distress and I did decrease the amount(co2) a couple of days ago anyway. There is surface agitation via a full length spray bar causing a surface ripple. I have stopped with the pellet food and have added another cappata leaf, a banana leaf and a handfull of beech leaves. Tds is at 145 and I'll add another 2ml of mosura plus tomorrow. Will check gh too.

Tim, I waited 3 weeks after the rescape, 1.5 weeks after planting. Did the required amount of water changes, was mature filter. Left some of the old substrate and mulm under the Amazonia. Didn't get any plant melt or surface scum.

I'm glad you both think my tank is ok, I do feel I've done everything I can which is why I've decided if this lot die then thats it, no more shrimp.
 
I think it's probably the Ada leaching ammonia as Tim flagged already. Have you tested ammonia levels? If you can, run off your tank change water and let it stand for a few days in the house in buckets, adding the usual tap safe products. Keep regular 30% changes using the standing water to help dilute the ammonia. Hold off the pellet etc and keep the leaves in.

I matured a few tanks from scratch a few years back with ADA. I tested every day to better understand maturation process and I know ammonia levels went through the roof at about day 20 on 3 different tanks. Your shrimp deaths could be related, in which case you need to dilute.
 
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