Vampire Shrimp (Atya gabonensis) lost filter arms. Advice please

[dragut]

Hi all. I am new to the forum. I have been a long time reader, and joined as a member because of some sad events, unfortunately.



I have 8 vampire shrimps in a community tank. It is heavily planted with a lot of rocks, a lot of hiding places for all. They have molted multiple times and have been living happily although I rarely had the chance to see them.



Yesterday, one of t hem came out. Happy news! But not this time. Today, upon careful inspection I realised that it is missing all it's filter/fanning arms! I picked it right away and put it in a breeder box with some caves -- opaque shot glasses -- .



I am very concerned about the little guy and for the rest of the gang.



What is giving me some hope is the place that it came out, is actually the place where I saw 3 of them a few weeks ago when they were molting. I am hoping that it is just molting, and my concerns are meaningles.



Could you please have a look at the photos below and advice?

[Autumnsky]

What are you water parameters?

Other tank mates?

I had a Bamboo shrimp which was over fed by the caretaker while I was on vacation.

The ammonia burned off nearly all the fans and through target feeding with a turkey baster and a super extra bunch of water changes, after the next and subsequent moltings, the fans returned like before after the 2nd molt. The first molt they were not well formed, but usable.

Not absolutely sure if it would be the same for the Atya Gabonensis or not.

[dragut]

@Autumnsky


I did not mention the water parameters as that is the first thing I checked and they are fine. I better mention them first thing in the message next time for clarity. Ammonia, Nitrites and Nitrates all 0. Yes, even the nitrates. I clearly need to dose for the plants, that will be a concern for the future though.



The tankmates are some neon tetras, 4 Peacock gobies, 8 amanos, 1 bamboo shrimp, 6 kuhli loaches, 3 bristlenose plecos, 8 pentazona barbs and 1 lipstick goby and 4 ottos.



I guess the barbs and the lipstick goby are the main culprits if we suspect a nipping situation here. The barbs have their school, so they show 0 aggression and have been living with all the shrimps for almost a year now. The lipstick goby was added about a month ago. It makes sudden moves to anythhing bite/daphnia size but not very good at it. I always target feed it.



Today is my usual water change day. I will check out the rest of the gang as well.



Glad to hear you could save your bamboo shrimp! I have never target fed a filter shrimp though. Just for clarification, do you bring the tip of the turkey baster to it's mouth and squeze gently ? Yesterday, when the shrimp was in the cave in the breeder box, I put the tip of the baster in the cave, then gently pumped a few times hoping that the powdered food floats and lands in it's mouth. Or is this how you do it?

[Autumnsky]

Sorry it took so long to get back here.

The Bamboo shrimp would get target fed right in front of him. So it would pick at the substrate where the food was. At first it was scared of the baster, so I went farther away and gave little puffs of food. It just took a few times for it to seemingly understand the baster had food. And wasn't as concerned.

So also was why additional water changes were necessary since there was extra food added to the tank. The Cories would eat lots of the food. I reduced regular feedings for the bottom feeders.

It stayed around the substrate most of the time then.

After the 1st molting the fans were just partially formed and not large but was better so that it tried feeding at the out flow of the filter perched on the DW branch like it had originally. I would shoot the food in the water column then, in tiny puffs.

Shrimp baby food like Glasgarten Shrimp Baby food. or maybe Even Hikari First Bites, or other brand name baby shrimp food would be most ideal as they have more minerals for building excellent shells. And that would be most beneficial for rebuilding the fans.

What size is the tank?

Is it the test kit strips or liquid?

[shellyx]

Hi I keep these, looking at your pictures to me it looks like she has just molted? Is her fans not closed up under her chin, mine do this till their shells harden up , and they also hide for around a week.
If her fans have gone it's either been a bad molt or someone has nipped them.
Sadly in my experience they don't grow back as I've had 1 of mine a few yrs ago lose its fans.
Definitely get a look under her chin as I think I can see them closed up.
I target feed mine dennerle atyopsis food I mix it with tank water in a tub then use a turkey baster and feed it in the water, mine like it in the flow so the can sit and filter the food.

[dragut]

@Autumnsky
Thanks for the detailed explanation. I think in my case I have to keep her in the breeder box to keep an eye on her. If I let her out, I will never be able to find her unless I move every rock in the tank. She seems to be doing fine, at least not starving, as I can see the poo. I guess I will have to keep her in the breeder box for some more time.

I also checked the rest of the gang. Could see only 3 of them and they started fanning when I gave them a puff of food. I will keep checking on them. Luckily, they have a favourite spot which I modified a bit for easier access. I will check for the shrimp foods that you mentioned. Currently, I am feeding the whole tank by crushing pellets and flake food.

The tank is 200 liters, approximately 53gals.

The test kit that I use is NTLabs, liquid test kits. I was never able to "decypher" the strip kits. I think they give you an idea of your water parameters, not the parameters. I read a lot of discussions on all hobbyist test kits actually being useless, yet I still do regular checks to be on the safer side. I think you ask this for the 0 Nitrate value in the tank. I guess it is because it is a Walstad (sand/gravel on top of top soil) tank. I never bother to siphon, I do not even collect the leaves from the surface. I do around 60% water changes every other week though. Also as I have 2 10lt containers to raise daphnia/blackworms and scuds, when they need water changes, I steal some water from the fishtank and top it up with new water.


@shellyx
Unfortunately, I am not %100 sure if it has just molted. And tbh, I never see them molting so I do not know what a newly molted/molting VS looks like. The closest I could see was an empty shell and 3 VS sitting nearby. I only see the empty shells in general. The VS are sometimes blue, sometimes pink and sometimes white/gray. So I hope she has just molted as you said. I will chec her out in the evening again and try to seeunder her chin.

[shellyx]

You can see what looks like 2 dark closed fans under her head, and the colour of her looks like she's recently molted, if it was me I would add her back to the tank after you've checked her, she will get stressed if kept in the breeder box.

[Autumnsky]

How is your shrimp doing?

[dragut]

@Autumnsky @shellyx


Sorry for the late update.



I kept her in the breeder box, with the caves and fed her with crushed food for about one more week. I could not let her loose as they are almost impossible to find in the tank.



The dark parts on the tip of her arms became bigger and darker. I checked on the rest of the gang again and when I was sure that they all looked similar, I let her loose. She hid right away, as expected and I think she is fine as I did not find any dead shrimp.

[Autumnsky]

We'll hope for the best.