# Help Bamboo Shrimp Acting Strangely



## AshleyMac (Jun 22, 2011)

I am sorry I keep asking what must seem like dumb questions...I'm still learning. 

Tank info: 10gal - 6 CPDs, 2 cherries, 1 amano, 1 bamboo
Plants: java fern, marimo moss ball, some sort of grass (like val but totally straight blades) 

So I had posted awhile back about my Bamboo shrimp coloring funny. She was very light in comparison to most photos I saw online, and she wasn't red, she was blue with a very light belly. Now she is red, and her stripe is orangey. I understand that they change colors, but in combination with other things I think something is wrong. Especially since she is red even in her plants. In between her stripes it's white and opaque, but then again those sections have been opaque since I got her. 

When I came into the room today she was sitting on her perch with fans closed. Now she has done nothing but eat for DAYS and pooped a lot, so maybe she is full and tired. Usually when she rests she goes under one of my rock formations, but she's not. After crawling around the plants and seeming restless. At one point she went to the surface and stuck her nose out for a few minutes(pic below.) She has gone to the rock and crawled all over it. She is now kind of pacing the tank like she is having a hard time figuring out where she wants to be. Other fish/shrimp are acting normal. 

These pictures were taken earlier this morning, she has since gotten more red. And I know there is a plastic plant in the middle of her plant section, the grass didn't seem sturdy enough to hold her steady in the output, so I added it for her. 

Any idea what's wrong and how to help? I currently have the tank light and overhead room light off to make it as dark as possible to help if she is stressed.


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## brian18gallon (Sep 12, 2010)

Mine did this, just stopped trying to eat, and died a couPle of days later. Never could figure it out. Sorry. Hope it turns out better for you.


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## Karackle (Dec 11, 2007)

She looks pretty normal to me, sometimes animals just like to explore, but I wonder if she's just looking for a place to molt?


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## AshleyMac (Jun 22, 2011)

Maybe I should add a coconut cave for her tomorrow in case she doesn't feel like she can find anywhere quiet and safe enough to molt. It's been seven hours since I got to work (where her tank is) and she still hasn't fanned at all.


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## zachary908 (Feb 12, 2011)

She looks normal to me as well. They can vary their color quite a bit, and they don't always try to blend in we have one where I work that is almost always bright red, it usually sits on the airline above the sponge filter and catches the bubbles with it's fans, ha! 

She could be looking for a place to molt, as the previous poster suggested.


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## Karackle (Dec 11, 2007)

Maybe a cave or piece of DW to hide under would help, Also I'll add that maybe it would be worth it to do a bit of research on molting behavior, see if it matches up? My bamboo shrimp were pretty active when I had them, but not always feeding, so maybe it's just that she's used to the tank now and you're getting to see her personality more? roud: as long as she IS eating and IS exploring, I probably wouldn't worry too much just yet


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## mordalphus (Jun 23, 2010)

if she ate a whole bunch the past few days, she could be looking for a comfortable place to molt. Be careful not to feed them too much, don't want obese shrimp


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## Dave-H (Jul 29, 2010)

In the pic she looks ok to me. I agree that they need to hide out from time to time - maybe a nice cave?


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## AshleyMac (Jun 22, 2011)

Since the CPDs are so active now I think they make her uncomfortable in her rock. She has molted once, she hid for two days and came out all pretty and proverbially shiny. Unlike my Amano who molts in open water and continues scavenging.

I think I am going to build a coconut condo for the tank tonight. I was going to wait until I could get my hands on some java moss, but she seems in need of it. She was exploring, she has now wedged herself under the filter output lip out of the way of the flow....but still no eating. 

I'll post pics of the condo tomorrow though


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## jasonpatterson (Apr 15, 2011)

Though it doesn't look like it to me, when my bamboo shrimp have gotten any sort of reddish tinge, they died within a week. Lost the last of them recently.

ETA: Oh, and eating and pooping a ton is pretty much always a good thing in aquatic pets, in my experience.


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## AshleyMac (Jun 22, 2011)

Well I lost her overnight  I tested the water and it's good, temp is good, all other fish are good. The bamboo was fine and then she wasn't. It literally happened that fast. I am going to do some re-scaping today. I have coconut huts I prepared last night ready to go. Any insight into why this happened would be great, I don't want to get another one if I'm just going to kill it again :icon_cry:


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## Karackle (Dec 11, 2007)

I'm so sorry to hear that! 

How well established is this tank? and are you feeding any fry powder or similar to supplement the shrimp? Because I wonder if there was enough food for her in a 10g, especially if the tank is newer?


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## AshleyMac (Jun 22, 2011)

The tank was 2 years established, 10% water changes weekly, gravel vacuum once a month. I had been powdering algae tabs and bloodworms for her and fed through a dropper. I feed my CPDs Tetra Color Tropical Granules that have to be crushed or they are too big - so the bamboo would get the powder residue that stayed on the surface and pushed to her via filter output. It seemed she was getting plenty of food. She never scraped gravel or plants, never moved from her fanning spot except to rest overnight, and she was pooping constantly.


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## AshleyMac (Jun 22, 2011)

By the way, looking through my old posts it looks like I brought my bamboo shrimp home on 6/25 or 6/26 if knowing how long I had her makes any difference. Goodness time flies, I really thought it had only been two-ish weeks!


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## AirstoND (Jun 17, 2011)

*Some more info*

Please provide some honest info on your daily regimen. Sharing honest dialogue is how we'll all learn.

What has been your tank's dGH/dKH?
Do you dose with liquid fertlizers?
Do you add calcium carbonate, aquarium salt alongside monthly water changes?
Pwrhead?

After molting they're very sensitive to water parameters since they have a new softer membrane. Mine recently molted, and I noticed a 2-3inch string of poo!


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## AshleyMac (Jun 22, 2011)

GH is coming in at 150
KH between 180 -300 
PH between 7.8-8.4

(using Jungle five in one test strip)

No ferts, no salts, no calcium carbonate.

Filter is HOB Aqueon Power Filter 5-20 gallon

Fish and shrimp fed once a day around 5pm. 

As far as I saw she molted once a few days after I got her and hadn't done it again before she died.


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

Completely out of subject, but test strips are notoriously inaccurate. It is better to spend the money and get the liquid test kits available.


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