legless coral banded shrimp?

[phat742]

i just noticed the other day that my coral banded shrimp has lost his legs, claws and antennae. he just kind of kicks himself around with those little flipper thingys underneath his back section. Is this molting or is something else occurring? i've had him for about six months.

ammonia is 0 /
nitrite is 0/
nitrate is 20-40/
sg is 1.025/
temp is 80.5F

 

[quarryshark]

Could have been a bad molt or maybe you got a predator with some LR. Try and target feed him and if you can get those nitrates down a bit, your inverts would appreciate it. Fish can tolerate higher nitrate, but inverts are less tolerant.
BTW, welcome to AA!!!

 

[phat742]

Thanks for the help. I didn't realize that shrimp were considered inverts. That would explain the nitrate issue with him. From the looks of it right now, it looks as though he's in the middle of a molt and maybe a bad one due to the nitrates.

 

[fishfirst]

have you used copper in the tank ever?

 

[phat742]

actually yes. only one dose about three months ago (rid ich). after i treated the tank i realized it wasn't ich that was my problem on my heni butterfly it was some white chunky looking virus that my goby took care of in no time. about two days after i treated the tank i got some kind of copper remover stuff and got rid of it.

also the nitrate issue that i've had a problem with was probably due to the tubing for my ultra violet sterilizer was all nasty with some kind of stringy fibery looking algea all in it. i replaced it this afternoon so i'll see what kind of a difference that makes. i now know to check that stuff every week.

and the protein skimmer is only about four days old so hopefully i'll get some good results here pretty soon.

 

[quarryshark]

If you have live rock and sand you may still have some copper in the system. These items are like sponges for copper. Any med should be used in a qt setting. To much damage can/will be done to a display tank with meds like that.
Keep doing water changes and hope for the best, but you may have an invert problem for a while..sorry to say. :|
I would also run GAG for a good while to help remove any traces.

 

[phat742]

actually i dont have any live sand or live rock. i have some kind of fake crushed coral looking stuff. i ran a copper test this afternoon showed no traces of copper in there. the shrimp is smack dab in the middle of a molt so i will keep you informed of his condition.

 

[phishead]

I didn't think that Rid-ich had Copper???? just formaldehyde and malachite Blue (sp?) Are you adding any trace elements or Iodine?

 

[phat742]

i add Sea-Lab No. 28 Automatic Replenisher. it says it maintains calcium, strontium and all trace elements at the same levels found in the sea. i would think that iodine might be a part of that.

 

[phat742]

ok, here's the latest. he finished molting late last night and this morning was hanging out underneath a fake plant i have like he always did. then this afternoon my wife and son watched my damsel attack him and kill him. without his claws to protect himself i guess he was easy prey. the damsel probably got to him in the first place and took off his claws and maybe legs as well. oh well, he was a trooper until i put that damsel in there a few weeks ago. and here i thought i had a nice peaceful tank. i think the damsel might be finding himself returned to the fish store.

 

[quarryshark]

Might be a good Idea.
Sorry for your loss.

 

[phishead]

Sorry
I can't find the list of trace elements that are in sea lab 28. I do not use it but always supplement iodine for the sake of shrimp, and crabs. good luck in the future.