dwencel24
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Hi Everyone,
Something very interesting happened to me yesterday that I believe worth sharing with everyone. I went to one of the few LFS's in my area and bought 3 Amano shrimps, 5 ember tetras and 2 pygmy cories (three separated bags in total). Before I left the store, I checked them for any health issues (and I found one of the cories are not healthy - went back inside and got a replacement).
By the way, the three bags were inside a black plastic bag. I got into my car and decided to place that bag on the floor of the passenger seat. I drove as safe as I can as I travel straight to home. When I arrived home, I immediately took care of my new stocks. The first thing that I pulled out from the black bag was the bag that has the Amanos. And to my surprise, they were dead (that's what my first thought). If you have seen a dead shrimp (not moving, curled back, and hands wrapped together as if hugging something), then you know what I am talking about.
I was pissed - really pissed. I stared at the Amanos for few minutes, opened the bag, poked the Amanos inside, and set the bag aside. I acclimated the other bags for my 75 G tank. FYI, the Amanos were decided to go to my other tank (shrimp tank). After that, I took the bag with Amanos. I was thinking of tossing the "seem to be dead" Amanos in my 75 G tank (they would become food). But then, for some reason why, I decided to put them in my shrimp tank. FYI, the water in the bag and my shrimp tank has identical parameters.
For few minutes, I was staring at the Amanos. And turned out, they are actually alive. I noticed that their mandible and maxillae (part of the mouth) were moving. But, their bodies were still paralyzed. I was happy and kept observing. For few more minutes, they were able to move their back pleopods - sometimes they would swim backwards for one stroke. At this point, their front pleopods were still wrapped/paralyzed.
FYI, the times that I will be mentioning are not normalized. More than 30 minutes has passed and I have noticed that the largest Amano began to move some of its front pleopods (feet). For more than two hours, it was able to move completely - still looked like stumbling. The other Amano (the smallest one) began to move some of its front pleopods. For about five hours, the smallest Amano was able to move completely - still stumbling. At this point, the largest Amano has fully recovered. On the other hand, the medium size Amano was still paralyzed. I made sure that it was alive before I went to bed.
I woke up this morning and the first thing that I checked were my Amanos. They are now fully recovered from what seem looked like paralysis. My hypothesis, initially, was that they "died" because of the temperature. But I excluded this - proven false. The only thing that I have in mind was that some time during the transportation the Amano bag slammed and caused instantaneous vibration in the water inside the bag. This might have caused shock and concussion, if you may, to the shrimps. I still doubt this hypothesis due to my previous experience in transporting shrimps.
Anyways, my take home message is that - if this happens to you, don't immediately throw the shrimps out of frustration. The shrimps may still be alive.
Something very interesting happened to me yesterday that I believe worth sharing with everyone. I went to one of the few LFS's in my area and bought 3 Amano shrimps, 5 ember tetras and 2 pygmy cories (three separated bags in total). Before I left the store, I checked them for any health issues (and I found one of the cories are not healthy - went back inside and got a replacement).
By the way, the three bags were inside a black plastic bag. I got into my car and decided to place that bag on the floor of the passenger seat. I drove as safe as I can as I travel straight to home. When I arrived home, I immediately took care of my new stocks. The first thing that I pulled out from the black bag was the bag that has the Amanos. And to my surprise, they were dead (that's what my first thought). If you have seen a dead shrimp (not moving, curled back, and hands wrapped together as if hugging something), then you know what I am talking about.
I was pissed - really pissed. I stared at the Amanos for few minutes, opened the bag, poked the Amanos inside, and set the bag aside. I acclimated the other bags for my 75 G tank. FYI, the Amanos were decided to go to my other tank (shrimp tank). After that, I took the bag with Amanos. I was thinking of tossing the "seem to be dead" Amanos in my 75 G tank (they would become food). But then, for some reason why, I decided to put them in my shrimp tank. FYI, the water in the bag and my shrimp tank has identical parameters.
For few minutes, I was staring at the Amanos. And turned out, they are actually alive. I noticed that their mandible and maxillae (part of the mouth) were moving. But, their bodies were still paralyzed. I was happy and kept observing. For few more minutes, they were able to move their back pleopods - sometimes they would swim backwards for one stroke. At this point, their front pleopods were still wrapped/paralyzed.
FYI, the times that I will be mentioning are not normalized. More than 30 minutes has passed and I have noticed that the largest Amano began to move some of its front pleopods (feet). For more than two hours, it was able to move completely - still looked like stumbling. The other Amano (the smallest one) began to move some of its front pleopods. For about five hours, the smallest Amano was able to move completely - still stumbling. At this point, the largest Amano has fully recovered. On the other hand, the medium size Amano was still paralyzed. I made sure that it was alive before I went to bed.
I woke up this morning and the first thing that I checked were my Amanos. They are now fully recovered from what seem looked like paralysis. My hypothesis, initially, was that they "died" because of the temperature. But I excluded this - proven false. The only thing that I have in mind was that some time during the transportation the Amano bag slammed and caused instantaneous vibration in the water inside the bag. This might have caused shock and concussion, if you may, to the shrimps. I still doubt this hypothesis due to my previous experience in transporting shrimps.
Anyways, my take home message is that - if this happens to you, don't immediately throw the shrimps out of frustration. The shrimps may still be alive.
