[dove]

Help!
I have a 35 gal brack. tank with an 18" violet Gobi, and a few guppies, some zebra nerites, and a japanese shrimp.
My shrimp is fairly new, and the first couple of weeks he hung out in the plants no prob. Then I noticed him on his side, thought he was dead, but wasn't, seems to not be able to stay upright. I put him in a nursery by himself so the Gobi wouldn't accidentally munch on him. This is what I am seeing..
When he is upright he does these...pushups? and hunches his back. I thought maybe he was trying to molt. I'm also thinking he may be having leg issues incase the Gobi got him by accident. When he does these push ups...he eventually falls over on his side and just lays there kicking his legs. Should I leave him be? or do I help him back up? I don't want to disturb him if he is molting, I am at a loss here. Going to keep him in the nursery until I know what he is doing or what is going on with him. Any advice appreciated.

 

[Sakura8]

Hi and welcome to the forum. Sorry for the late reply. I'm not a shrimp or invert expert but I'll try to help and at the very least bump this for you.

I'm guessing since your tank is brackish that your hardness is pretty high but do you know exactly how high? I know that some shrimp need a lot of calcium or they do experience trouble molting.

Are the japanese shrimp filter feeders, as in they fan food from the water column? If so . . . maybe there's not enough food? I know it can be hard sometimes to keep filter feeders alive without target feeding them.

 

[dove]

Thank you for replying, what I was told was that shrimp are like bottom feeders, algae, substrate, and left over foods. I don't know what you mean by "hardness" but I keep the specific gravity at 1.005-1.010. Though I appreciate your reply, the shrimp passed on the day after I posted my help message. Thanks anyway. I wont be doing shrimp again, though they were cool to have and watch.