I have a banded coral shrimp that I have had for the past 2 years. Today he started acting very strange... he seemed to "square off" against and attack non-existent opponents. He would repeatedly flick his tail and shoot backwards across the aquarium, like they do when they molt, but he molted two days ago... since then he has been hiding behind a rock, which is unusual for him. He usually spends most of his time hanging out on the back wall, or upside down on the crappy UV sterilizer floating in the tank. I checked the water, and everything is ok. Not perfect, but no worse than usual. The fish in the tank seem ok (they avoid him like the plague!) and the hermit crab and blood shrimp are still doing fine. I have never seen him act like this before. It is almost like something is messing with his instinctive behavior. I semi-jokingly suggested that he was going senile. After all he is pretty big, and how long can glorified cockroaches really live? I'm not sure what to make of all this. I changed out about 8 gallons of water. Its a 50 gal tank. At "press time" he is still hiding in a dark corner, and may be missing a claw (it is hard to see). He may be physically damaging himself. Has anybody ever experienced something like this? His behavior was always very predictable before, but he has been acting weird for the past day. Any ideas?
strange behavior in coral shrimp.
- Thread starter huttokr
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The shrimp is still alive, but does not seem to be responding appropriately to stimuli. today he got stuck in a clump of algae in the corner, and it took him hours to get out of it. he is now sitting in the other corner, but is almost unresponsive. he also did lose a claw when he was thrashing about yesterday. I swear it is like he has "mad shrimp disease." he is still capable of moving, walking etc, but not in any normal way. I'm going to test for copper, just in case. I would test for chlorine, but for some reason these tests do not appear to exist. why is this??? I mean, it is such an essential thing, but whenever I ask people at aquarium shops if they sell chlorine tests they say no, and seem to think this is a perfectly reasonable answer. I was thinking maybe my RODI filter wasnt functioning properly...
mr_X
Aquarium Advice Addict
maybe it's got a parasite that is taking it's time killing it. does it have anything strange that might look like a part of it but be in an odd place? i have seen isopods attach themselves to shrimp and grow large until it starts causing noticeable problems...here, check this out-
Isopods Cause Reproductive Death in Shrimp
Isopods Cause Reproductive Death in Shrimp
rancidpetals
Aquarium Advice Regular
I have a coral banded shrimp, too, and the bigger she got, the more aggressive she got towards her tankmates. She has been lunging towards our fish and I am almost positive she has killed my lionfish, and cut the lips off of my coral beauty angel (which I THINK recently has died, because I haven't seen him).
still alive, although at first glance you would think it was dead. very limited mobility. Barely moving at all, but if you watch the antenna and legs, they are still very slightly responsive. I tested for copper, and it was zero, as expected. I read the article about the isopod infections, but his gill chambers are not enlarged, and if you look closely you can still clearly see those appendages beating through his exoskeleton. I have not added any new fish to this tank for at least 6 months, so if it is a parasite it is moving very slowly (which some parasites do). at this point im just hoping the thing dies soon. I know its ridiculous, especially considering that I ate a half dozen fried shrimp yesterday, but people do get attached to things like this. I remember reading a story by Carl Sagan about some tiny shrimp he had in one of those enclosed "biosphere" balls with the algae and stuff...Anyway, everybody crack open a cold one for Doctor Zoidberg... **** happens.
The shrimp is actually still alive, but probably will be dead by morning. As I have mentioned before, he was losing his limbs, starting with his large claws (the 3rd appendage, for those of you who are counting)
Now he is missing all but one of his legs on the right side, and is pretty much completely immobile. The hermit crab in the tank was actually trying to eat him, and I separated them, but he will probably get the job done by morning. You live by the sword....
As for why he lost his limbs, I have said before that the shrimp almost seemed to be going "senile". These shrimp are fairly delicate things if you think about it. It seems to me that there is nothing physically wrong with the shrimp. But he has lost some amount of his instinct. He is incapable of solving simple problems, like crawling over a rock or plant in a coherent way. He seems to get stuck in things very easily, and can't find his way out. I think the losing limbs thing is simply a lack of self preservation instinct. He is physically damaging himself. He does not know that he is doing it. Oh well. any comments or advice would be appreciated.
Now he is missing all but one of his legs on the right side, and is pretty much completely immobile. The hermit crab in the tank was actually trying to eat him, and I separated them, but he will probably get the job done by morning. You live by the sword....
As for why he lost his limbs, I have said before that the shrimp almost seemed to be going "senile". These shrimp are fairly delicate things if you think about it. It seems to me that there is nothing physically wrong with the shrimp. But he has lost some amount of his instinct. He is incapable of solving simple problems, like crawling over a rock or plant in a coherent way. He seems to get stuck in things very easily, and can't find his way out. I think the losing limbs thing is simply a lack of self preservation instinct. He is physically damaging himself. He does not know that he is doing it. Oh well. any comments or advice would be appreciated.
rancidpetals
Aquarium Advice Regular
I'm sorry to hear that. Oddly enough, I can't think of any reason why your shrimp is doing that to himself. Maybe is it some kind of parasite.
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