I got a "Blue Mole Shrimp" today. Any help advice?

captmicha

captmicha

Le tired.
Dec 6, 2006
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Maryland, USA
I did as much research on my phone as I could at the fish store. Then I came home and did some more. Besides the obvious and easy to find information (which varies quite a bit), does anyone has any further bits of info for me on this shrimp? Can they be bred in captivity? Are they widely available? (They only had one.)
 
They are not widely available and are one of the least-stocked filter-feeding shrimp species. They will breed in captivity, but the larvae go through several planktonic stages requiring brackish to saltwater; I'm sure you've heard about the difficulty people have breeding amano shrimp successfully. ;)

Water parameters aren't very important if you avoid extremes. They'll acclimate to any tank if the water quality is good. It's a shame you can't pick up a few more! Just out of interest, what are you keeping him/she with?


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He's such a cute little guy. Not full grown. He (or she)'s so chubby looking! And a nice blue too. I'll try to get a picture. Weird that they're not more readily available.

He's in my 5 gallon quarantine right now (he was kept with fish) with a female peacock gudgeon and two endler/guppy mix fry (I wouldn't mix the species, I bought them).

The water current isn't super strong or anything but it's decent and I have an air stone in there for added oxygen and water movement. I took the heater out. I wonder if I should put it back in...

I've got lots of food for him. I think the basis of his diet's going to be New Life Spectrum Reef Micro-Feed, New Life Spectum Fry Starter and Kent's Zooplex. Infusoria, of course. Nematodes (vinegar, walter, micro, banana). Golden pearls. Decapped artemia eggs and BBS. And whatever else I have crushed. I hope he flourishes. I wonder if I can eventually stick him in my main tank. Seems kind of big for zebra loaches to bother. I'm thinking they'd eventually leave him alone after they catch on that they can't eat him.
 
What temperature does the room stay at? If it's low I would definitely stick the heater back in as they prefer tropical temperatures. Do you need to heat your other tanks or not?

The food sounds good. If you put him/her in your main tank make sure not to over feed because he/she will definitely filter a lot from the water without your feeding, and you of course don't want to pollute the tank with such fine food.

These shrimp grow to 12-15 cm so your main tank would be good, although despite their fairly large size they are a shy species and can be easily bothered by boisterous fish - just something to think about with the zebra loaches. Definitely try to get a picture! Would love to see it.


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So a couple of days ago he molted and I thought it was a good sign but it wasn't. He died shortly after. Poor little guy. I added a couple of drops of Kent's calcium for his new exo. Could that have done it? It was only a couple of drops. I'm thinking maybe he molted from stress? He camped out in a pvc pipe and hasn't come out the entire time I've had him. I didn't see him waving his fans either.
 
I'm sorry about your shrimp... Sometimes shrimp molt from stress and an unsucessful molt can kill them. Probably nothing you did wrong--you gave him a nice hiding spot and provided microfoods, so it may just be "one of those things."
 
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