# Amano Shrimp Playing Dead?



## Robert F Porter (12 Jun 2021)

Hello there. This might be quite a frequent query, but I fear I may just have inadvertently committed an act of "Shrimpicide". One of my Amano shrimp had just moulted in broad open (they usually do this in hiding) and it was lying motionless on its side. I prodded it with my tweezers and it made no movement so I presumed it was dead and, seeking to avoid an ammonia spike in this hot weather, I immediately removed it from the tank and disposed of it. I subsequently read online that Amano shrimp can "play dead" for quite a while after moulting. Can anyone give me any advice about this from experience? Do I just have to accept that I unwittingly killed one of my shrimp? If so, I will learn from the experience and certainly won't do it again.

Many thanks


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## MirandaB (12 Jun 2021)

I've never come across an Amano playing dead after moulting so I'd say you didn't kill it and can rest easy


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## X3NiTH (12 Jun 2021)

An indicator for certain death would be if the tissue started to go opaque, this happens rather quickly in warm water.


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## Robert F Porter (13 Jun 2021)

Thanks everyone. I shall rest easy, but next time I'll wait for the tissue to go opaque before removing.


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## zozo (13 Jun 2021)

And life shrimp feed on dead shrimp or even not yet dead but dying... This also goes for dying fish, I've seen them doing it...  They are not very picky cleaners and also eat meat... Nature is cruel especially shrimps, if something is too weak to defend itself the shrimps help it die by eating it alive.

Enough shrimps strip a fish triple its size to the bone in a few hours' time.


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