# Shrimp turning white on the inside?



## stlfishlover (Mar 26, 2008)

These were the best pictures I could get... hope they're enough. I have 2 cherries that this is happening to. Looks like their innards are turning white. Can someone please tell me what this is? Is it normal?


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## southerndesert (Sep 9, 2007)

Hi Michelle,

I recommend you check your water parameters right away and unfortunately most times when any shrimp gets milky colored on the inside they are very ill and will likely die. I hope I am wrong, but this has been my experience and I have seen it in different shrimp. Sometimes you will find the water is off or has Ammonia, Nitrites, or excessive Nitrates, and other times all is well and it happens.

Sometimes old shrimp will do this as they die as well....

If you can't find any obvious problems perhaps isolate the affected shrimp it may be a good idea because there is actually a disease that will cause these symptoms, but it is rare I think. It was discussed in a thread about milky colored Blue Tiger Shrimp sometime back.

Good luck with them, Bill


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## kennkh (May 25, 2007)

My Amano shrimp have turned white like that in the past, and they seem to start dying after it happens. 

In my case, I think it was because there wasn't enough in the tank for them to eat. After I started supplemental feeding with some Hikari sinking wafers, most of them regained their normal color, though it was too late for a few of them.

Try what Bill recommends first. If everything looks good, maybe you can also try dropping some extra food in the tank for them, and see if that helps. Again, it could also just be due to old age, in which case there isn't a lot you can do.

I hope you're able to get them back in good shape.


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## stlfishlover (Mar 26, 2008)

Well I checked params again, although I did yesterday evening... same readings .... 0's across the board, even Nitrates. Tested Nitrates on the 125 to check the test like I do at times, and as usual for that tank I got a reading of 10, so I'm sure the test is accurate. I do put food in there daily, a few bites of Hikari Crab Cuisine, although I notice the Amanos ususally make sure they get first dibs. The shrimp that are white are still eating, but not as active as the other shrimp that are ok. I don't think it's old age, they sure don't look full grown but perhaps I'm wrong about that. They're about 3/4 inch long, but I've only had them a few weeks and they were not quite that big when I got them. It's just with the other 2 that I lost a couple days ago and now this, I'm wondering what is happening. The shrimp that died were not white inside though.

I will do a search for the other thread and see what all is discussed there. I have a 5 gallon I can put up to isolate them if needed, just didn't want to have to go that route... but if it is a disease or sickness of some sort I don't want to lose all of them because of it.


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## stlfishlover (Mar 26, 2008)

Ok, well I've got them isolated, along with a couple amanos that weren't looking quite perfect, just in case. I noticed as I was trying to get the cherries out of the tank one of the amanos looked as if it may have been starting to get the same thing.. looking a little white on the inside from under his head all the way to the tail, and another amano's outer shell looked chalky blue in spots. So, all 4 of them are now in the 5 gallon with some moss to hide in.... I do hope they all make it, but whatever it is, maybe it's just these 4. Keep your fingers crossed that the rest of the shrimp make it.

Just wondering, would contaminated food do this? I would think the whole tank to be infected if it was... I am pretty sure all the shrimp manage to snack on the cuisine, even a tiny bit.


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## pealow (May 11, 2008)

stlfishlover said:


> Ok, well I've got them isolated, along with a couple amanos that weren't looking quite perfect, just in case. I noticed as I was trying to get the cherries out of the tank one of the amanos looked as if it may have been starting to get the same thing.. looking a little white on the inside from under his head all the way to the tail, and another amano's outer shell looked chalky blue in spots. So, all 4 of them are now in the 5 gallon with some moss to hide in.... I do hope they all make it, but whatever it is, maybe it's just these 4. Keep your fingers crossed that the rest of the shrimp make it.
> 
> Just wondering, would contaminated food do this? I would think the whole tank to be infected if it was... I am pretty sure all the shrimp manage to snack on the cuisine, even a tiny bit.


I'm interested in this thread because I have several large cherries that look solid inside instead of clear.They are also not very active. I feed that shrimp food from Japan and all eat it except the fleshy looking ones. One of mine is also yellow with no red at all. I'm confused.

Paula


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## stlfishlover (Mar 26, 2008)

pealow said:


> I'm interested in this thread because I have several large cherries that look solid inside instead of clear.They are also not very active. I feed that shrimp food from Japan and all eat it except the fleshy looking ones. One of mine is also yellow with no red at all. I'm confused.
> 
> Paula


 I'm sorry to hear you're dealing with the same thing. Did you notice if this happened all at once to your shrimp or was it gradually? I was looking into the 10g and saw yet another little one starting to fill in down his middle. 

I am just clueless now. I put him in isolation with the others. They are all eating off the moss, seem to be doing fine in there like they were in the bigger tank. We'll see how it goes I guess. 

If you notice anything else, let me know? I'll update here too as well.


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## pealow (May 11, 2008)

I'm not sure, maybe it is my tank. I think when they arrived they were all normal but once again, I did not look that closely. All of my fleshy looking ones are big.

Paula


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## Manda99 (Apr 30, 2008)

I noticed the exact same thing with one of my RCS today.


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## stlfishlover (Mar 26, 2008)

Well I have come to the conclusion that it was the more than likely the treatment of fenbendazole that did these shrimp in. It's the only explanation that makes sense. I lost one of the shrimp that was in isolation, and an adult female that wasn't. She was such a solid red that I did not notice the white on the inside until last night... her shell seem to split from the back and tail area, separated about a millimeter, and it was then I noticed she was a solid white inside. I found her dead this morning. I have replaced the carbon and also added a bit more, done several water changes to try to get all the residual medication out of the water. I stopped the co2 as well, just in case. I am going to limit my ferts to just NPK, and even those at a minimum. I will probably lose plants, but eventually I think I will end up putting only plants that can do well without the co2, just excel. I'll see how this goes. There are still 3-4 that look white on the inside so I guess I will lose those too eventually.

We're going on vacation in a week, out of the country for 2 weeks, so I will wait until I get back, and then hopefully snag some more cherries from the SnS to get my population back up a bit. 

Lesson learned.... even if someone has successfully medicated their invert tank with no loss of shrimp life, don't take their word for it. Go with the majority that says NO, don't ever put meds in with your shrimp.


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## aquagirl (Aug 15, 2007)

Sorry for the loss of your shrimp. We have all learned lessons the hard way with keeping shrimp. Best of luck to you with the rest of your population.


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## mr.sandman (Nov 7, 2006)

Also this condition happens when the temperature is too low. It happend to mine once when I forgot to turn on the heater.


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## stlfishlover (Mar 26, 2008)

aquagirl said:


> Sorry for the loss of your shrimp. We have all learned lessons the hard way with keeping shrimp. Best of luck to you with the rest of your population.


Thank you. I'm learning alot, both from the forum and my own experiences. Eventually I'll get it right. :thumbsup: 



mr.sandman said:


> Also this condition happens when the temperature is too low. It happend to mine once when I forgot to turn on the heater.


The temp stays 76-78 and the water I add during a wc is the same temp. The white color started gradually after I used the medicine and so far only a handful of shrimp were affected, and it seems to be the larger of the cherries that turn white. The tiny ones are fine, still transparent under their red.


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## pealow (May 11, 2008)

It could be the meds in your tank but I have never used anything in this tank and the water temperature is 80 most of the time. I also have a rcs with a bright yellow saddle and she is fleshy white on the inside. I just dont know what is causing it.

Paula


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## stlfishlover (Mar 26, 2008)

pealow said:


> It could be the meds in your tank but I have never used anything in this tank and the water temperature is 80 most of the time. I also have a rcs with a bright yellow saddle and she is fleshy white on the inside. I just dont know what is causing it.
> 
> Paula


Just out of curiosity, do you dose ferts or use co2? What all have you fed them? Any frozen foods, like blood worms or brine shrimp? (Still trying to eliminate possiblities, that is why I ask.)


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## Manda99 (Apr 30, 2008)

I've got this white shrimp and I've never put any meds in the tank. It runs about 76 to 78 degrees. The only thing I dose is Excel and Flourish and I dechlorinate with Prime. I feed them Hikari sinking wafers and Tetra Mine flake food. However, I've only had the shrimp for maybe 3 weeks... I don't know what it's lifestyle was before that. It didn't turn white until after I received it though.


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## pealow (May 11, 2008)

No ferts no co2. I feed them Shirakura shrimp wafers, and hikari crab cuisine.
Have never fed anything frozen. The plants are growing beautifully and until I got nerite snails, I had a lot of algae on the glass.

Paula


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## stlfishlover (Mar 26, 2008)

I was using ferts (macros, micros, and additional iron) and DIY co2, have fed them frozen spirulina brine, frozen blood worms, and Hikari Crab Cuisine. I took out the co2, and for now I am only dosing the Nitrate, Potassium, and Phosphate, and Flourish Excel. If I don't dose Nitrate it goes to 0. 

I have not fed them anything other than a few pieces of Crab Cuisine this morning since it had been almost a week since I had put any supplimental food in there. The amano shrimp have all been removed... I put them in our 125 because they are all huge now and I believe they will hold their own against the rams and discus.... this also now gives the cherries a fair fight for the crab cuisine. I still have 2-3 shrimp that are white inside, inactive, but I see them eating occasionally.

I did notice this morning one of my females is newly saddled so with any luck she will be berried when I get home from vacation mid-July.


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## dthb4438 (Nov 12, 2007)

I don't mean to thread jack this, but being as I am new to all this, what is the difference between saddled and berried?


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## stlfishlover (Mar 26, 2008)

dthb4438 said:


> I don't mean to thread jack this, but being as I am new to all this, what is the difference between saddled and berried?


Shrimp experts, please correct me if I am wrong... but...

From what I understand, the "saddle", which is a yellow marking shaped similar to a saddle that will appear on a female's upper back when she is sexually mature, is the sign of eggs developing in her ovaries. "Berried" means she is holding eggs (pregnant).


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## dthb4438 (Nov 12, 2007)

Great, thanks for that info.


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## southerndesert (Sep 9, 2007)

stlfishlover said:


> Shrimp experts, please correct me if I am wrong... but...
> 
> From what I understand, the "saddle", which is a yellow marking shaped similar to a saddle that will appear on a female's upper back when she is sexually mature, is the sign of eggs developing in her ovaries. "Berried" means she is holding eggs (pregnant).


Correct you are :smile:


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## honor (Apr 8, 2008)

so you're telling me this guy in my tank is gona die?


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## pealow (May 11, 2008)

All of mine are still alive. One is completely yellow without a trace of red...all sold as RCS.

Paula


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## southerndesert (Sep 9, 2007)

honor said:


> so you're telling me this guy in my tank is gona die?


Looks like a healthy saddled female to me....

The "milky" color being talked about will turn all the shrimps inside "meat" from clear to a opaque white and the shrimp will begin to act listless and die within a week usually. 

nice shrimp!

Bill


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