# Ghost Shrimp not so ghostly. What's wrong?



## cjp999 (Nov 18, 2008)

A week or two ago, one of my ghost shrimp was no longer translucent. See pics below. Sorry about the quality. I still haven't figured out how to get the focus right for tank shots. The top half of her abdomen and tail are now whitish yellow, kind of what you'd expect a dead or cooked shrimp to look like, although no pink hue.

I've had her and 4 others for 3 or 4 months. Originally there were 10, but half were lost the first week. The remaining 5 have always done great. They are very active at feeding time, swimming to the top for food. 4 have berried at least once. The shrimp in question currently has eggs and seems healthy.

Any idea what's going on?

thanks,

Chris


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## connordude27 (Jun 14, 2008)

the white tails thing happened to 2 of mine but they didn't turn yellow they died later


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## fishsandwitch (Apr 20, 2008)

That means they are sick and will most likely die. From bad water conditions, most likely


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## cjp999 (Nov 18, 2008)

fishsandwitch said:


> That means they are sick and will most likely die. From bad water conditions, most likely


I know nitrites and ammonia have been 0. Nitrates have been 10-20 (40+ out of the tap, but I lower it with nitra-zorb pads). pH is 8.0. Water is hard well water. I've done 25% water changes every couple of weeks. I have a 46g bow. The tank has always been understocked, even more so lately as I prepared for teardown (finally just did that today as my Aquasoil Amazonia has arrived). So the only changes have been fewer fish. The past week, just 3 ghosts, a 3" Pleco, and a Silvertip tetra. The sick ghost just moved to a 10gal today with a couple of new amanos and 5 baby mollies. That's were he'll stay until the Aquasoil stabilizes.

What is it that is actually going on inside him that is making him white? Is it something like a bacteria or fungus growing inside? Could antibiotics help?

Chris


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## DarrylR (Oct 9, 2007)

I agree when ghosties become like milky white they usually die. I am unsure of the causes though.


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## fishsandwitch (Apr 20, 2008)

cjp999 said:


> I know nitrites and ammonia have been 0. Nitrates have been 10-20 (40+ out of the tap, but I lower it with nitra-zorb pads). pH is 8.0. Water is hard well water. I've done 25% water changes every couple of weeks. I have a 46g bow. The tank has always been understocked, even more so lately as I prepared for teardown (finally just did that today as my Aquasoil Amazonia has arrived). So the only changes have been fewer fish. The past week, just 3 ghosts, a 3" Pleco, and a Silvertip tetra. The sick ghost just moved to a 10gal today with a couple of new amanos and 5 baby mollies. That's were he'll stay until the Aquasoil stabilizes.
> 
> What is it that is actually going on inside him that is making him white? Is it something like a bacteria or fungus growing inside? Could antibiotics help?
> 
> Chris


nothing can help.


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## southerndesert (Sep 9, 2007)

fishsandwitch said:


> nothing can help.


Yes sadly once they turn milky white in the body they will most always die within days or possibly longer, but end result is the same.


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## indovinavi (Jul 29, 2008)

southerndesert said:


> Yes sadly once they turn milky white in the body they will most always die within days or possibly longer, but end result is the same.


 
Nice. I have had 3 of these for about 2 months now and they have all turned milky too! I have noticed that they have all molted recently, and my water conditions have been PERFECT lately, besides the green water I had a month ago, no chemicals added though.. just a UVS
:icon_frow


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## mahoro (Dec 18, 2007)

mine was milky white with green spots, one even had tiger stripes.. and i had it for over a year... it also has to do with what you feed to them...


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## Dwarfpufferfish (May 29, 2004)

Okay first things first! 

The term “Ghost Shrimp” is a generic name given to many similar appearing shrimp species. The range of shrimp that are labeled “Ghost Shrimp” is vast and ranges from Neocaridina to Macrobrachium species of shrimp. The most common “Ghost Shrimp” in North America is the American Glass Shrimp (Palaemonetes paludosus), and it looks like that is what you have.

Now on to the problem:

As has been mentioned above, the milky white tail is a grave sign. That attribute is frequently if followed with death. 

So what causes it?

Most “Ghost Shrimp”, including American Glass Shrimp, are sold as feeders and are treated as such. They are collected using careless techniques; they are shipped in horrid conditions, and they are housed in horrid conditions at the retailer. This causes the vast group of “Ghost Shrimp” to be venerable to many infections and often die because of stress related conditions.

So is it bad water conditions that caused this with your shrimp? Probably, but doesn’t sound like it was in your aquarium, you seem to take care of your water! It probably happened prior to you owning the shrimp!


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## Dwarfpufferfish (May 29, 2004)

Maharo,
Those traits you are speaking of are consistent with Macrobrachium sp. shrimp.


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## cjp999 (Nov 18, 2008)

Dwarfpufferfish said:


> Okay first things first!
> 
> The term “Ghost Shrimp” is a generic name given to many similar appearing shrimp species. The range of shrimp that are labeled “Ghost Shrimp” is vast and ranges from Neocaridina to Macrobrachium species of shrimp. The most common “Ghost Shrimp” in North America is the American Glass Shrimp (Palaemonetes paludosus), and it looks like that is what you have.


Yep, looks like an American Glass Shrimp is what I have. She's doing awfully well for a sick shrimp. Going on two weeks now, and no signs of problems other than the coloring. She's even holding onto her egss

Chris


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## mahoro (Dec 18, 2007)

Dwarfpufferfish said:


> Maharo,
> Those traits you are speaking of are consistent with Macrobrachium sp. shrimp.


thats what i was thinking too, but mine never grew bigger then an inch and half... and the arm isn't that long as well... most of mine looks like this http://www.petshrimp.com/glassshrimp.html with 2 red dots on the tail... and few has the tiger marking... which i'll try to upload as soon as i install PS7 again... 
















and this is how it looks when i first got it


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## cjp999 (Nov 18, 2008)

The ghost shrimp finally died today. She lasted a 4 weeks with the whitish yellow stuff. Yesterday it turned milky white.

I also had two new amano's in this tank. Both disappeared over the past couple of weeks. There's no place for them to hide and I never saw a carcass. Do amanos turn pinkish like other shrimp do when they die? If so, I don't wee why I never found the dead ones, unless the molly fry ate them real fast. I doubt that is the case, cause there were only 3 two-week old fry in there at the time.


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## danakin (Jun 8, 2007)

You mentioned you had a pleco. I'm guessing the shrimp is hiding in the pleco's belly.

[edit: didnt read thoroughly to see you only had fry in there. Never mind]


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## cjp999 (Nov 18, 2008)

danakin said:


> You mentioned you had a pleco. I'm guessing the shrimp is hiding in the pleco's belly.
> 
> [edit: didnt read thoroughly to see you only had fry in there. Never mind]


Yep, only fry. The pleco and all the other fish and snails are spread out over 3 small tanks right now. Still waiting from my 46g to be ready for them.


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## cjp999 (Nov 18, 2008)

cjp999 said:


> The ghost shrimp finally died today. She lasted a 4 weeks with the whitish yellow stuff. Yesterday it turned milky white.
> 
> I also had two new amano's in this tank. Both disappeared over the past couple of weeks. There's no place for them to hide and I never saw a carcass. Do amanos turn pinkish like other shrimp do when they die? If so, I don't wee why I never found the dead ones, unless the molly fry ate them real fast. I doubt that is the case, cause there were only 3 two-week old fry in there at the time.


Ok, I was wrong. There was a place for them to hide. In the HOB filter! I guess they crawled in when I turned it off, which I normally do while feeding the fry. One has been in there for two weeks and the other for a week. The both seem fine.

So, I guess you could say I'm +1 in my shrimp count today rather than -1.


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