# Killing Seed Shrimp



## Asphalt Art (Apr 18, 2013)

The problem you are going to have to face is not the ones you see, but the eggs.

Seriously, the eggs are pretty much indestructible. Sub-zero temperatures, impervious to just about any pesticide, UV, even irradiation. Cranking up the CO2 will not kill them, you get the idea. 

There are a few natural methods, aka certain fish and removing their food source of infusoria (which shrimplets also eat). You can continue to constantly vacuum the little buggers out, but it will take a bit and a lot of diligence on your part. You will basically have to vacuum until there are no more adults to lay more eggs, and the last of the eggs have hatched. I would recommend vac'ing them to prevent the end-game option (which still may not be 100% effective)

Or you could completely tear down the tank. The eggs will be all up in your substrate, the silicone in your tank, and pretty much anywhere else water touched.


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## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

You won't be able to house shrimp after using copper. Don't do that.

How long has the tank been up and running?

And why the panic over seed shrimp? Their populations should level out with time. They're a sign that you've got a healthy tank - just like snails.


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## marksch (Jan 9, 2012)

Dang I was afraid it was the eggs that caused them to come back in the first place. Any idea how long it takes for their eggs to hatch? I wonder if I can keep the CO2 high and wait until the eggs hatch and kill the babies as well.

The panic over them is that there are thousands of them in my Mini-L CRS tank. They just look horrible and out of place. The tank has been up for 2 years, I bought some high grade crs a few months ago and some must have come along for the ride.


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## briscoe (Mar 29, 2013)

I have a similar issue with my 55 gallon getting overrun with scuds. I'm in the midst of a little experiment of sorts where I first removed all of the shrimp. Than I took out all of the rocks and cholla wood I had as decorations/hiding places. I also removed some of the plants, but not all of them. So the tank was pretty barren. Finally, I added a few fish that I felt would do the best job of eating the scuds (red tailed shark, synodontis catfish, etc.). I didn't feed the fish at first in the hopes that they would eat the scuds. I also did regular maintenance on the canister filter and sponge intake I'm using as they like to hide in there. It's been about a month, and I haven't seen a scud in a long time. I'm going to switch out the fish and put shrimp back in soon, but will do a thorough check beforehand to see if I can find any scuds. There's no guarantee the scuds are completely eliminated, as I understand that they're pretty resilient. I'm hoping they're all gone as the fish went a few weeks without being fed, so they had to find their own food. Not sure if the same thing would work for seed shrimp. But it may be worth a try.


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## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

Since this is a shrimp tank, I think your best bet is to introduce some hungry fish to chow down on them while your shrimp are out of the tank. Do you ahve access to any?

There are a couple traps you can buy for them, as well. Think one is manufactured by Gush.

You won't be able to rid your tank of them completely, I don't think.



marksch said:


> Dang I was afraid it was the eggs that caused them to come back in the first place. Any idea how long it takes for their eggs to hatch? I wonder if I can keep the CO2 high and wait until the eggs hatch and kill the babies as well.
> 
> The panic over them is that there are thousands of them in my Mini-L CRS tank. They just look horrible and out of place. The tank has been up for 2 years, I bought some high grade crs a few months ago and some must have come along for the ride.


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## Asphalt Art (Apr 18, 2013)

Ostracods in general are one of the "perfectly designed" creatures we know of, in the sense that they have never changed in millions of years, literally. The oldest fossil record is almost 500 million years old.

Here are a few fun facts:

They can survive being eaten by a fish if it is incapable of crushing the shell. They just come out the other end unharmed.

The eggs can survive being completely dried out... for many _years_.

Adults can trap a small amount of water inside their shell and live off of it for a very long time.

So, you can either start vacuuming like a pro for the next week or two, let them level off like Somewhatshocked has recommended (they will eventually), or ???. No you will never fully eradicate them unless you start with a new tank, new substrate, etc. The same chemicals corrosive enough to kill the eggs will also eat aquarium silicone, and shrimp are really not an option after that unless you know how to rebuild an aquarium with new silicone (which is actually pretty easy when you do a few).

For what it is worth they show a healthy tank suitable for shrimplets, due to the fact they share the same food.


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## marksch (Jan 9, 2012)

Wow.. thats all really depressing news! lol 

Alright well, I guess its off to the fish store.

One question, how long to the eggs take to hatch? If cranking the CO2 kills the adults, wouldnt keeping the CO2 on for a month end up killing all the babies when they hatch, eventually eliminating the problem? OR since I just read the eggs are stupidly resilient does it mean they hatch whenever they feel like it, like years later?

Thanks for the help, most appreciated.


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## Asphalt Art (Apr 18, 2013)

marksch said:


> OR since I just read the eggs are stupidly resilient does it mean they hatch whenever they feel like it, like years later?


Just like flea eggs, they will hatch whenever conditions are perfect. That is why people with fleas in their house usually have them again, and again, and again at seemingly random intervals. They only hatch at a certain humidity level.

I almost forgot to ask, what kind of substrate are you using?


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## acitydweller (Dec 28, 2011)

seed shrimp, just like daphnia and other types of cultures overpopulate then tend to have their colonies crash. If you do not overfeed, their numbers will naturally diminish over time.


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## BigTom (Sep 16, 2011)

Yeah, feed less. I've got ostracods at low densities in all my tanks, but they never hit large numbers and I rather like them.


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## jasb (Apr 25, 2013)

too much co2 will kill all the good bacteria in your filter and substrate, i learnt that the hard way a while back. I made my tank pretty much sterile trying to kill snails, and some eggs survived so it was all a waste of time. I would try what a few others have mentioned in introduce some fish for a while to eat them and whedn done drop them back off to your lfs, any way good luck


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## marksch (Jan 9, 2012)

I feel my CRS a combination of Zoo Med Aquatic Shrimp pellets and Zucchini. I have several other CRS foods that I bought but the shrimp really seem to like the Zoo Med the best. The Seed Shrimp definitely enjoy Zucchini though. What do you recommend I feed the shirmp with that wont feet the seeds?

The substrate I have is ADA Amazonia.


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## thelub (Jan 4, 2013)

I think hydra eat seed shrimp. The eat scuds. I wonder if a freshwater clam would eat them. There has to be a natural predator of seed shrimp that will actually help eradicate them. Sounds like most fish won't do the trick.


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## blacksheep998 (Jan 16, 2011)

I had pretty good luck getting rid of the ones in my tank by introducing a few newborn guppy fry. Some of them might survive passage through the fish's gut, but not most.


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## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

Most fish that can eat them will definitely do the trick. 

While they can survive a journey through a fish, most don't, I agree.


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