New cleaner shrimp not moving.

MrSalty

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So I purchased a new skunk cleaner shrimp this afternoon. It was in the car, in a cooler for about 2.5 hours with some other corals. When I got home it the front legs were moving, but when I turn the bag over to open it he flipped over and would not turn back over. Water in the bag was 78 degrees when I got home, not sure what it started at. I placed him in a container with the water from the bag to acclimate. Slowly added water from the tank over the coarse of an hour. It did not seem to improve. Afraid the water was going to get cold, I placed it in the tank on the rock. It's been a few hours and I've seen the back leg move a few times. I have the pumps off currently, so I know it wasn't just water movement. Pretty sure it's a goner. Confused as to what could have gone wrong. Really confused as to what happened I had watched it for a bit at the store and seemed perfectly fine.
 

vetteguy53081

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Acclimation may be an issue. Should be . . . . . 20 mins floating and in a clean pail or bucket- empty bag and shrimp. Add a cup of water every 15 mins 6-7 X and test salinity in pail compared to take to assure they are equal and release shrimp slowly into tank
 

Vwluv10338

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Sounds pretty bad. I just bought two cleaner shrimp last week and they rode for an hour in Tupperware in my hand on the ride back. They were moving the whole time. No issue with acclimation. Not sure what could have happened to yours.
 
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MrSalty

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Acclimation may be an issue. Should be . . . . . 20 mins floating and in a clean pail or bucket- empty bag and shrimp. Add a cup of water every 15 mins 6-7 X and test salinity in pail compared to take to assure they are equal and release shrimp slowly into tank

Tank temp vs right out of the cooler was the same, 78* so didn't bother to float it after I noticed it's condition, I was concerned about either oxygen or ammonia. I'm quite certain it was a goner before I even started acclimating it.
 
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MrSalty

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I've noticed some small critters crawling all over it. Probably 1/4mm long, I can barely see them. One of my hermits knocked it off the rock onto the sand. Now the tiny critters are crawling/hopping all over the sandbed. Quite certain that is what my fish are going crazy eating now.
 

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I had two die on me at different times during a slow acclimation recently. When my third purchase looked like it was dying during acclimation I popped it in the tank after 20 minutes. It looked dead, but after a good 15 minutes got up and found a cave in the back of the tank. If I lean around the side I can see it swaying back and forth.
I never had problems acclimating shrimp before, but now I’m in the quicker Is better acclimation camp. It was very costly to stock my tank with a cleaner shrimp.
 
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MrSalty

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I had two die on me at different times during a slow acclimation recently. When my third purchase looked like it was dying during acclimation I popped it in the tank after 20 minutes. It looked dead, but after a good 15 minutes got up and found a cave in the back of the tank. If I lean around the side I can see it swaying back and forth.
I never had problems acclimating shrimp before, but now I’m in the quicker Is better acclimation camp. It was very costly to stock my tank with a cleaner shrimp.

I was pretty excited about getting a cleaner since I had been looking for one for a while. I was just about to place an order from LiveAquaria for one and some gobies but found this one. Having second thoughts now. Not sure how one could handle being shipped if it couldn't handle the ride home.
 
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MrSalty

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He did end up being a goner. First fish I've ever lost that soon. I'm going to chalk it up to something at the store.
 

Chessmanmark

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Was it a chain or a LFS? My first two were from a national chain. You have to check the salinity of the water in the bag which can be low to save money on salt. If so, the shock can be deadly to inverts.
 
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MrSalty

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Was it a chain or a LFS? My first two were from a national chain. You have to check the salinity of the water in the bag which can be low to save money on salt. If so, the shock can be deadly to inverts.
It was my first saltwater purchase from PetCo unfortunately. I have only purchased from local stores but none of them had any cleaners, PetCo had one. Might be the last purchase from there. I didn't measure the salinity just the temp.
 

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It was my first saltwater purchase from PetCo unfortunately. I have only purchased from local stores but none of them had any cleaners, PetCo had one. Might be the last purchase from there. I didn't measure the salinity just the temp.

I got a cleaner shrimp that started to look like he was going to die as well when I got him from petco, they sold it to me for $12 I got lucky I thought, it took them almost 30 mins to get him out of the store tank. When I was temp floating his bag in the tank to match my 80.2f he started to stand still with no movement. It looked like he was stressing so much he was going to die. I didn't bother drip acclimating him cause it probably would have killed him. My tank is 1.0245 and petcos was 1.0240 so I dropped him in. He flipped over like he was dead for about 10 mins then flipped back over after I started feeding my other fish and he ate. He's been somewhat active since then so I think he's just recovering from stress of being caught. His legs seem to spaz randomly and he sits in one spot for a while before he moves, not sure if that's normal behavior for a cleaner shrimp. He seems to be okay now. I know they usually cost anywhere between 50 and 85 dollars. I have also 3 other peppermint shrimp in there and he hasn't been bothered by them but they definitely steer clear of him lol.
 
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