# My green shrimp are turning orange, and then dying



## Bananariot (Feb 28, 2012)

AquaPipes said:


> Hi, about 2 months back I bought a large number of Babaulti Green shrimp from someone who was moving. Not sure of the water parameters for them, I put them in a couple different tanks. I also got some Babaulti striped shrimp mixed in with them.
> 
> However, a month after getting them they started turning from green to Orange in one of my tanks. They still fed and were active. But starting about 2 weeks after turning Orange, they turn up dead.
> 
> ...


That is a weird observation....I've never heard of them turning orange before. Perhaps it's an internal parasite. Maybe they're just old and finally reached their time? shrimp tend to change color when reaching old age and before kicking the bucket. However, it could mean a number of things. 

Maybe the nitrates and tds is too high? I doubt it though as they are very very durable shrimp. 
I would say try and go another route and get antibiotics for the tank in case it is paraguard resistant. 

Sorry that I can't help much, never heard of this case before.


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## AquaPipes (Jun 4, 2012)

Anyone else have any ideas?


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## plamski (Sep 25, 2009)

Is the substrate sand or large size gravel?


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## AquaPipes (Jun 4, 2012)

Smaller sized gravel.


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## ThatGuyWithTheFish (Apr 29, 2012)

I noticed that after my Amanos died, they turned orange as they decomposed. Maybe they were dying from the inside or something.


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## AquaPipes (Jun 4, 2012)

Yup, they turn orange a few weeks before they die.


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## diwu13 (Sep 20, 2011)

All shrimp will turn into a mini cocktail shrimp when they die. They didn't walk around while they were orange colored right?

Your parameters seem fine. Do you use CO2?


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## AquaPipes (Jun 4, 2012)

No CO2. The only plants in the tank are some java fern and some moss on a piece of wood.


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## diwu13 (Sep 20, 2011)

My only guess would be old age then. Were these babaulti's ~1inch in size?


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## AquaPipes (Jun 4, 2012)

This affected all ages. Juvies, peewees's and adults.

Again, it only affected my greens. Neos and Tigers are still fine.


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## AquaPipes (Jun 4, 2012)

Here's photos I just took.

Photo #1 - Two of my last Green shrimp that are still green.









Photo #2 - A formerly green shrimp, actively looking for food in the moss.









Same tank. Same stock. I started with 50, and I'm probably down to around 10~15 still alive.


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## mordalphus (Jun 23, 2010)

That's what color they turn when stressed. When I get a big bag full of them from the airport, I open it up and half of them are brown or orange, they usually go back to green within a few hours though.


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## AquaPipes (Jun 4, 2012)

Any idea what could be stressing them but not the Neos or Tigers? Should I hit the tank with some Melafix?


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## acitydweller (Dec 28, 2011)

Temp was not mentioned.


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## AquaPipes (Jun 4, 2012)

Approx 74F. May get as high as 76F during the day.


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## RandomMan (May 31, 2011)

deleted


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## AquaPipes (Jun 4, 2012)

Ok, I *think* I found the problem with my tank. Phosphates are >10ppm. From what I've read, Neos are fine with this, but CRS are not. I'm guessing Green's share the CRS sensitivity to phosphates. 

That would fit them slowly getting stressed (turning orange) and then dying


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## joon (Jul 17, 2004)

my green turns orange , same thing here ... 
i bought 6 greens they bred fast 
after 6months, i counted 80 nice green color young adults, i sold 40 of them and about 40 left 
recently i added 10 red rilli this tank. after that i started to see my greens losing color - > white ->yellow -> orange - > dead - > eaten by big tigers
im not sure, but i will move rilli from this tank , and gonna see whats gonna happen


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## ricleyle (May 21, 2014)

Hi, I'm having the same problem.they turned pink and after a few days, they die. Started after an amonia spike (issues with filter). Now there's 0 amonia, 0 nitrites and 5 nitrates. They keep dying. It looks like males only males are dying and they are not even adults.<br />
<br />
Bump: Hi, I'm having the sa problem.they turned pink and after a few days, they die. Started after an amonia spike (issues with filter). Now there's amonia, nitrites and 5 nitrates. They keep dying. It looks like males only males are dying and they are not even adults.


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