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Why are my shrimp dying and breeding at the same time.


Sleepybear88
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So I have had some cherry chrimp and some blue shrimp about 4 of each, they are in a 16 gallon planted tank with a betta and some otto and 2 guppies. Water parameters are good 7ph 0ammonia 0nitrite 0nitrate the co2 I have is the fluval set up from petsmart and I have a fluval indicator to make sure no excess co2 is present. And so far I have lost about 5 shrimp the last one was a red one whom still had some red, usually I just find the white dead body.. and I noticed also that there's baby red shrimp in the tank now.. the only thing that has changed is that there's some algae in the wood but that algae has a while of being there, it's the brown type. Wood has been there since the beginning though so not a new addition. I just don't know why they are dying. Fertilizer is seachem flourish safe for shrimp and water changes i use prime. At this point I am lost. Any help is appreciated 

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10 minutes ago, Sleepybear88 said:

And so far I have lost about 5 shrimp the last one was a red one whom still had some red, usually I just find the white dead body.. and I noticed also that there's baby red shrimp in the tank now.. the only thing that has changed is that there's some algae in the wood but that algae has a while of being there, it's the brown type. Wood has been there since the beginning though so not a new addition. I just don't know why they are dying. Fertilizer is seachem flourish safe for shrimp and water changes i use prime. At this point I am lost. Any help is appreciated 

In my experience all dead shrimp are red. White is probably not dead, but a molted shell? Even amanos who die become red/pink like a cooked shrimp color, but the molts are white. This is a molt:

cherry_shrimp_molt_in_moss.jpg.92cb859291c07aa5278cbc3b4c6e1354.jpg

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They molt every couple weeks or so when younger, less often when adults. They also only live for 1-2 years, so they reproduce quickly. Fish get some, maybe a lot, but hopefully you'll still see a whole lot of new shrimp in a few months. 

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27 minutes ago, Sleepybear88 said:

Ok yes I have seen them like that. So does that mean it just "shed its skin" then?

Yep, molting is how they grow. Their shells don't stretch to get bigger, they shed the old one and make a whole new one. Many times they hide during this process, and also if they are carrying eggs (called "berried" because the egg cluster looks like they have a yellow raspberry attched to them kinda). They are incredibly good at hiding despite their bright colors, and babies hide for a few weeks once hatched, before you can really even see them very well. If you are seeing babies you have happy shrimp!

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