# Dead shrimp help needed.



## Thea B (23 Oct 2022)

I've another noob shrimp keeper problem. I just came home to find one had died but I'm not sure why. I don't see anything really wrong with it. It has a tiny bit of a white line around the middle so all I can think is a failed molt. Water seems fine. I did an ammonia test too and it's normal. The tank only has the cherry shrimp some ramshorn snails and I've just added some lampeye killifish which are smaller than the shrimp at the minute so I don't think they've caused any trouble. Anyone any ideas? It's proving to be a steep learning curve with this tank and I want to do the best I can for the little critters.


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## palcente (23 Oct 2022)

Failed molt. It happens sometimes, if it repeats, then something is off with your water, perhaps it is too soft.


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## xZaiox (23 Oct 2022)

That ring is known as "the white ring of death". It can often have fairly high mortality rates, but it's not always a death sentence though, so don't assume any shrimp with it will die. They can sometimes get themselves out of it, but they're certainly more vulnerable while they have it.


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## MichaelJ (24 Oct 2022)

Hi @Thea B,  I am sorry about your shrimp. I am on the failed molt / "white ring of death" side of this as well... Do you know the Ca/Mg contents of your water? do you feed mineral sticks? ... another question: How big was this shrimp / how long did you have it?  keep in mind they only live for a couple of years (~3 under very ideal conditions), so if you got the shrimp fully grown you have to factor that in as well.

Cheers,
Michael


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## Thea B (25 Oct 2022)

palcente said:


> Failed molt. It happens sometimes, if it repeats, then something is off with your water, perhaps it is too soft.





xZaiox said:


> That ring is known as "the white ring of death". It can often have fairly high mortality rates, but it's not always a death sentence though, so don't assume any shrimp with it will die. They can sometimes get themselves out of it, but they're certainly more vulnerable while they have it.





MichaelJ said:


> Hi @Thea B,  I am sorry about your shrimp. I am on the failed molt / "white ring of death" side of this as well... Do you know the Ca/Mg contents of your water? do you feed mineral sticks? ... another question: How big was this shrimp / how long did you have it?  keep in mind they only live for a couple of years (~3 under very ideal conditions), so if you got the shrimp fully grown you have to factor that in as well.
> 
> Cheers,
> Michael


Thanks for the help guys. I wasn't sure if that's what it was. I do have very soft water and have been adding Equilibrium to bring it up to a higher level GH but obviously not high enough. They are fairly young I've only had them about 6 weeks and they weren't full grown when I got them so I don't think it's age related. I've had others molt successfully but I do think it is probably lack of calcium in the water as you suggested. I'm going to start raising it a bit higher. Maybe I should get some Shrimp Mineral instead of Equilibrium. I supplement with fresh veggies and Shrimp Dinner each week and they have cuttlefish in the tank if they want it so hopefully the diet should be OK. Fingers crossed I don't lose any more.


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## MichaelJ (26 Oct 2022)

Thea B said:


> it is probably lack of calcium in the water as you suggested. I'm going to start raising it a bit higher. Maybe I should get some Shrimp Mineral instead of Equilibrium. I supplement with fresh veggies and Shrimp Dinner each week and they have cuttlefish in the tank if they want it so hopefully the diet should be OK. Fingers crossed I don't lose any more.


Hi @Thea B, Equilibrium is fine.  If you can target around around 6 GH (around 25 ppm of Ca / 8 ppm of Mg) you should be fine on Calcium and water hardness.  Also start feeding some supplementary mineral sticks such as these that also contains quite a bit of protein which are essential for shrimps as well.

Cheers,
Michael


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## Thea B (27 Oct 2022)

MichaelJ said:


> Hi @Thea B, Equilibrium is fine.  If you can target around around 6 GH (around 25 ppm of Ca / 8 ppm of Mg) you should be fine on Calcium and water hardness.  Also start feeding some supplementary mineral sticks such as these that also contains quite a bit of protein which are essential for shrimps as well.
> 
> Cheers,
> Michael


Thanks Michael I'll get hold of some mineral sticks.


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## MichaelJ (27 Oct 2022)

Thea B said:


> I'll get hold of some mineral sticks.


Hi @Thea B  Sounds good. If you're not doing so already I recommend to use a feeding dish such as this especially for easily dissolvable food such as algae wafers, mineral and protein stick. Without a feeding dish the food can end up dissolving into the substrate/gravel and just end up as waste.  

Cheers,
Michael


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## Thea B (27 Oct 2022)

MichaelJ said:


> If you're not doing so already I recommend to use a feeding dish


I do have a glass dish for them as I saw that was the best idea when I was researching keeping them. Although it's usually full of snails eating whatever I feed the shrimps 🙄


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## MichaelJ (27 Oct 2022)

Thea B said:


> I do have a glass dish for them as I saw that was the best idea when I was researching keeping them. Although it's usually full of snails eating whatever I feed the shrimps 🙄


Ha! Yes, that happens. In my shrimp tank the order of appearance is usually the shrimps, Otos and eventually the snails.  My cardinals comes in for a treat as well... especially if a wafter somehow _escapes_ the feeding dish 





Cheers,
Michael


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