tanktop74 Posted August 20, 2009 Share Posted August 20, 2009 Ok... I find this weird.... My peppermint shrimp which I rarely see, has been out all day, not in his normal territory... and is now swimming all over frantically throughout the tank. I have never seen any of my shrimp near the surface of the water before. Is he getting ready to molt? Preparing for death??? I have been watching it for over an hour and it is very strange behavior. Water parameters fine, temp is perfect at 78 degrees, salinity fine... I have kept on on my iodine supplementing. Thanks for any info! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoss Posted August 20, 2009 Share Posted August 20, 2009 Mine always comes out and runs around like nuts when I feed my fish. Could he be smelling a food source? Could a fish or invert be trying to eat him? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CCR Posted August 20, 2009 Share Posted August 20, 2009 Wanting to mate? Looking for butter? You already covered iodide. Have you seen your shrimp molt before???? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tanktop74 Posted August 20, 2009 Author Share Posted August 20, 2009 I only have 1 peppermint...could it really be wanting to mate with a fire shrimp?? Dont think it really wants the butter!!! LOL And no... I have never seen any of my shrimp molt before Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Posted August 20, 2009 Share Posted August 20, 2009 How long have you had it? How is the calcium level? (They need both calcium and iodine for molting) Hmm... Check your water temperature. This sounds a bit like what some of my creatures do when the temp rises a bit in the tank. (When it gets around 85 all of the stuff on/in the sand comes out and moves toward the top) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Posted August 20, 2009 Share Posted August 20, 2009 Never mind on the temp, I see you covered that already. How about oxygen? Do you have plenty of water movement at the top of the tank to create gas exchange? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tanktop74 Posted August 20, 2009 Author Share Posted August 20, 2009 Update.... Well he is still alive... can't see well as the lights are off... but I did see him moving around! Wierd! Rick, calcium was fine yesterday, I will retest today to see what I get. And yes... I do have good oxygen exchange, lots of water movement at the surface... any other ideas?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Posted August 20, 2009 Share Posted August 20, 2009 Update.... Well he is still alive... can't see well as the lights are off... but I did see him moving around! Wierd! Rick, calcium was fine yesterday, I will retest today to see what I get. And yes... I do have good oxygen exchange, lots of water movement at the surface... any other ideas?? Have you verified the temp is accurate? A lot of the digital thermometers don't always read accurately so check against a glass thermometer if yours is digital. Are the snails, etc. coming out of the sand (assuming you have some nassarius or other sand dwelling creatures)? If not then it probably isn't a temperature problem. Also is it eating? Might be looking for food. At night mine sometimes swims around to move between rocks but generally it stays on or near rocks. Maybe toss a little nori in that is rubber banded to a rock. (I tried using clips but they seem to like it better if it's attached to a rock instead) Have you added anything new to the tank? I've found that the behavior of some of the creatures can change just by adding something. For instance my red fire shrimp never came out in the open until I added a second one. Now they both come out in the open regularly. Or if there is something under the rocks trying to attack it then it may be coming out to try to find a new place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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