Cleaner shrimp dead??

gustavviklund

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This is what I woke up to this morning... He have been hiding and not eating for a couple of days so I thought he was doing a molt but this doesn't look good. Is he dead?
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gustavviklund

gustavviklund

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After shrimp molt they are easy prey, so they hide themselves very well.

I'm pretty sure he's just hiding.
Yea most likely just hiding. Mine just went thru this.they hide for a couple days
The thing is that I feel like I should be able to see his antennae at least, cause it's only a 25 gallon tank. There are caves though but the only cave I can't see into is where my pistol shrimp lives. Would the pistol eat him if that's where he's hiding?
 

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The thing is that I feel like I should be able to see his antennae at least, cause it's only a 25 gallon tank. There are caves though but the only cave I can't see into is where my pistol shrimp lives. Would the pistol eat him if that's where he's hiding?
I believe he certainly could. Just give a couple days, if you don’t see by end of tomorrow, I would be concerned.
 
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gustavviklund

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I still haven't seen him :( I'm still worried that what I found was not just an exoskeleton but the actual shrimp. There was no flesh inside from what I saw. How long can they hide for?
 

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In this aquriam size , it's a very tough environment to control, from the pictures I would guess it's a dead shrimp. A molt is generally growth... (So hard to explain) From your picture it's a death... Sorry for your loss.

head, shoulders knees and toes knees and toes
 
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gustavviklund

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In this aquriam size , it's a very tough environment to control, from the pictures I would guess it's a dead shrimp. A molt is generally growth... (So hard to explain) From your picture it's a death... Sorry for your loss.

head, shoulders knees and toes knees and toes
Ok, that's what I thought. What could the cause of death be? All my parameters have been stable except for nitrate which have been between 10-30 for the last couple of weeks
 

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In this aquriam size , it's a very tough environment to control, from the pictures I would guess it's a dead shrimp. A molt is generally growth... (So hard to explain) From your picture it's a death... Sorry for your loss.

head, shoulders knees and toes knees and toes
Ok, that's what I thought. What could the cause of death be? All my parameters have been stable except for nitrate which have been between 10-30 for the last couple of weeks
So many reasons/ starvation is main cause, yes it's a cleaner shrimp so you think it's appetite is full... As it's eating/ Cleaning.
What if your fish are pest free as we all want?
Cleaner shrimp is starving now, nothing to eat.
Either or? In my opinion. cleaner shrimp should be additional in a established aquarium

Just my thoughts
 

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The cleaner shrimp may have also decided to molt (hiding and not feeding are signs that a molt is imminent) and died during the molting process (which is stressful for crustaceans as far as I am concerned). Maybe inadequate levels of the aforementioned iodine acted as additional stressors, but I do not know very much about molting specifics.
 
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gustavviklund

gustavviklund

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So many reasons/ starvation is main cause, yes it's a cleaner shrimp so you think it's appetite is full... As it's eating/ Cleaning.
What if your fish are pest free as we all want?
Cleaner shrimp is starving now, nothing to eat.
Either or? In my opinion. cleaner shrimp should be additional in a established aquarium

Just my thoughts
+1. I have never seen the eyes left intact on a molt, which are visible on a dead shrimp.
The days before the death/molt he didn't eat so I thought he was about to molt. The only thing I can think of regarding pests/disease is that he looked a little dirty and had some gray/black patches which I thought was because the exoskeleton was old and that a molt was about to happen.

Is it a good idea to do a water change to raise iodine levels if he is still alive and hiding? Or do you think it's 100% dead?
 
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gustavviklund

gustavviklund

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After shrimp molt they are easy prey, so they hide themselves very well.

I'm pretty sure he's just hiding.
The thing is that I feel like I should be able to see his antennae at least, cause it's only a 25 gallon tank. There are caves though but the only cave I can't see into is where my pistol shrimp lives. Would the pistol eat him if that's where he's hiding?
As the others, looks to b a molt. It’s a good thing.
In this aquriam size , it's a very tough environment to control, from the pictures I would guess it's a dead shrimp. A molt is generally growth... (So hard to explain) From your picture it's a death... Sorry for your loss.

head, shoulders knees and toes knees and toes
What do you guys think, if you look at the previous post regarding the eyes?
 

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