Fire shrimp turning black. What's up?

[BornHandy]

I have a pair of fire shrimp, one began "darkening" a few weeks ago, while the other looks just as red as it was the da ugh it came home.

The darkening one is carrying a bunch of eggs, so I am thinking it may be related to that.

It wasn't easy to get them both in one shot, so this is as good as it gonna get for now.

Anyone ever experience this before?

 

[Mykawl]

I was reading into this for my freshwater tank ghost shrimp and people were suggesting diet i.e. turning color of w/e they eat and excess nitrate. But following to see what others say.

 

[Bret Brinkmann]

I remember reading about a fungus in cleaner shrimp that made them turn black. Most usually didn't make it. It was contagious. Sometimes it would go away with a molt. I recommend doing some research on it. Perhaps there is a course of treatment. Hope they will be okay.

 

[BornHandy]

What I have been able to find so far:

Nitrates. I test almost zero, so I doubt it.

Other water quality problems (you name it). I would think both shrimp would be impacted, but one is bright red, the other is darkening.

Mineral deficiency. Again, that should impact both shrimp.

This is the first I've heard of a fungus, but in that regard, I have a second fire shrimp that was introduced within a few days of the first, and they are almost always in contact with each other, so I would think it would have made the transfer by now. I'm gonna look into this a little further.

I am so perplexed because in the same display, I have a skunk cleaner, a sexy shrimp and a pair of fire shrimp. Other than the one shrimp's color change, all are behaving normally - eating (aggressively), exhibiting a "cleaning" behavior, moving from ledge to ledge, and all of the behaviors we have come to expect from shrimp. The dark one is even carrying a bunch of eggs!

I am tempted to believe the color is related to the eggs, but if that were the case, I would expect to find a whole bunch of similar reports.