Ghost shrimp diseased??

[supersudo]

so i noticed something about one of the shrimp i got today...

i usually find the ones that take a considerable amount of time grooming themselves to be sick or infected with something.. am i right? should i take this one out immediately?

since i put him in the tank at 9pm.. he's stayed in the same spot.. grooming himself for the past 3-4hrs..

 

[supersudo]

wasn't gonna take a chance.. i removed him immediately after i posted this

 

[platytudes]

Did it look milky? Those are usually the ones I find to be sick. I just leave it in there since it's impossible to tear down a tank for one shrimp. Never seems to hurt anything, the shrimp disappears - I assume it dies and gets eaten.

Do you ever feed your shrimp any foods containing calcium? Ken's veggie sticks are recommended by everyone here, but there's also hermit crab food. And cuttlebone for birds might work too.

I'm sure the pet store you got them from sells them as feeders - they probably don't put any thought into what they feed them and keep their tank pretty dirty, so the shrimp that may seem sick are perhaps just having trouble molting from inadequate nutrition/poor water quality.

 

[BioHazard]

I wonder if he is going to molt soon. I would think that the loosening exoskeleton could be irritating. I know reptiles usually get 'itchy' before a molt.

 

[Kuhlifan]

They ususally turn white when sick or about to die. Thats what you look for.

 

[lake_tuna]

They ususally turn white when sick or about to die. Thats what you look for.

This true. I had a ghost shrimp that turned white or semi-opaque. A few days later it died.

 

[Nue]

They seem to get a little dazed and just sit there when they have ate to much. If you bought him from a pet store and not a breeder, they are meant for feeders, and very unhealthy. Of course you could rescue them, but you are bound to loose some. There diet is mostly from cannibalism, which isn't very healthy.