Pistol shrimp dead or molt?!

[KonradTO]

Hi all,
This morning I found this:

Either my pistol shrimp is molting, is dead or what I see it's the molt.
I am going to test everything within 1h.
How do I proceed? If it's molting I probably should not touch it. If it's dead I don't want to have an ammonia spike because of it.
I have been battling with red algae film (cyano I believe) so I was suggested to increase N and P, so I dosed those in the past week. My pod population seems also slightly smaller than usual

 

[HeyLookItsCaps]

If it’s a molt it should be separated from the animal. If it still looks like the full shrimp I would try to grab it with something and take a closer look

 

[KonradTO]

Nope it's definitely dead.

pH is 7.5-8.0 (more 8)
Ammonia 0-0.5 (more 0)
Salinity is as usual (33-34)
Tank is 2 months old

dang. Now I NEED to find out what the problem is before something else happens. I will start with a water change.

 

[HeyLookItsCaps]

Nope it's definitely dead.

pH is 7.5-8.0 (more 8)
Ammonia 0-0.5 (more 0)
Salinity is as usual (33-34)
Tank is 2 months old

dang. Now I NEED to find out what the problem is before something else happens. I will start with a water change.

Yea, RIP little guy.

 

[KonradTO]

Yes this sucks. First pair ever added to my tank, and I already messed up.

 

[KonradTO]

Any suggestions on what to do to avoid a cascade effect, apart from a water change? (I can do roughly 30% every 6-7 hours)

 

[KonradTO]

Is this thing that nitrates can kill pistol shrimps actually true?
My nitrates spiked in the last week (on purpose). I had problems with growth with my macro and since I had 0 NO3 and 0 PO4 I dosed those. My tank looks much worse since then, pod population is much smaller and now this. dang!

 

[ariellemermaid]

I personally still can’t say from that picture for sure that it’s not a molt. I’ve been fooled by molts many many times and have had molts that look exactly like the shrimp; antennas, everything. Even after taking it out of the tank, still looks like the shrimp. Is there white “meat” inside of there?

 

[KonradTO]

I personally still can’t say from that picture for sure that it’s not a molt. I’ve been fooled by molts many many times and have had molts that look exactly like the shrimp; antennas, everything. Even after taking it out of the tank, still looks like the shrimp. Is there white “meat” inside of there?

It's as dead as it could be. No molt. The smell speaks clearly

 

[HeyLookItsCaps]

I personally still can’t say from that picture for sure that it’s not a molt. I’ve been fooled by molts many many times and have had molts that look exactly like the shrimp; antennas, everything. Even after taking it out of the tank, still looks like the shrimp. Is there white “meat” inside of there?

in fairness I thought I lost my super old pistol shrimp in a big nationwide move. Once set up in Texas and running for a few weeks I heard the distinct click of Ol’ Dozer. She could be correct

 

[ariellemermaid]

Is this thing that nitrates can kill pistol shrimps actually true?
My nitrates spiked in the last week (on purpose). I had problems with growth with my macro and since I had 0 NO3 and 0 PO4 I dosed those. My tank looks much worse since then, pod population is much smaller and now this. dang!

No; many people run their tanks to up to 50 with no problems. My pistols have lived for more than a year in the 20’s in different tanks. I’m more concerned that your ammonia test is slightly positive on a young tank. Ammonia even in small amounts can do it.

However I also had a 1 year old cleaner that just up and died one day. Found him floating around in half after a day trip. Maybe a bad molt, maybe it was just his time. Things do just die sometimes too.

 

[KonradTO]

No; many people run their tanks to up to 50 with no problems. My pistols have lived for more than a year in the 20’s in different tanks. I’m more concerned that your ammonia test is slightly positive on a young tank. Ammonia even in small amounts can do it.

However I also had a 1 year old cleaner that just up and died one day. Found him floating around in half after a day trip. Maybe a bad molt, maybe it was just his time. Things do just die sometimes too.

As far as ammonia, I mean it could be, 3 days ago I moved some lr pebble from my filter for some maintenance, maybe that could have caused an ammonia spike. On the other hand I have tons of biofiltration and tons of macro. The only thing that changed in the last week was nitrates which I raised from 0 to X, 2 ppm each day. Now I read around 20 ppm and a tiny bit of ammonia, but the shrimp was stinking for good, probably its because of that.
Ye I really hope it died for age and not for me messing up with water chemistry. For now I am not getting another one until I don't have stable N and P in the tank

 

[Lasse]

I have been tricked many times too. If possible cut it up and see if there is any meat. Even shells can smell. If it is dead - I do not think that it is the nitrate that killed him - I have run nitrate levels up to 50 with that species. What did you measure ammonia with - API or similar colour kit? If so 0.5 is not a problem because it measure total ammonia. The toxic form of ammonia ( normally named free ammonia, ammoniac or NH3) is 5 % of the total ammonia at pH 8. It means around 0.025 ppm NH3 - not of concern. These colour test often also give false high measurements when total ammonia is 0.

Sincerely Lasse

 

[ariellemermaid]

As far as ammonia, I mean it could be, 3 days ago I moved some lr pebble from my filter for some maintenance, maybe that could have caused an ammonia spike. On the other hand I have tons of biofiltration and tons of macro. The only thing that changed in the last week was nitrates which I raised from 0 to X, 2 ppm each day. Now I read around 20 ppm and a tiny bit of ammonia, but the shrimp was stinking for good, probably its because of that.
Ye I really hope it died for age and not for me messing up with water chemistry. For now I am not getting another one until I don't have stable N and P in the tank

Hmmm. No, moving some rocks around wouldn’t do it. In a well cycled tank with rock and media you should really never see measurable ammonia. Unless something crazy happens. It should be pretty difficult to overwhelm an established bio filter. A pistol shrimp dying shouldn’t do it.

Something doesn’t seem quite right. What size tank is this? What nitrates were you adding and were you aiming for 20?

 

[KonradTO]

I have been tricked many times too. If possible cut it up and see if there is any meat. Even shells can smell. If it is dead - I do not think that it is the nitrate that killed him - I have run nitrate levels up to 50 with that species. What did you measure ammonia with - API or similar colour kit? If so 0.5 is not a problem because it measure total ammonia. The toxic form of ammonia ( normally named free ammonia, ammoniac or NH3) is 5 % of the total ammonia at pH 8. It means around 0.025 ppm NH3 - not of concern. These colour test often also give false high measurements when total ammonia is 0.

Sincerely Lasse

The shrimp smelled like trash. I opened it now just for the sake of it and it is not a molt definitely.
I use sera kits,but I am pretty sure that the ammonia I have now was not the problem. Maybe was higher and I did not notice. My goby seems fine though.

 

[KonradTO]

Something doesn’t seem quite right. What size tank is this? What nitrates were you adding and were you aiming for 20?

It's a 32.5 gallons long. I probably have 25g water considering rock and sand. I added KNO3, 2pp every day for a total of probably 5-6 times. Also I dosed micronutrients (half of suggested amount), iron and PO4 (I dosed 0.1 ppm but it's still undetectable). What it's clear is that I have some problem with bacteria&nutrients. The whole rockwork is red and the sand is covered by some red algae, much less pods as well. I can't really understand if everything started because of N/P being so low or when I actually started to feed more/dose.