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Mysterious White stuff on shrimp nose


Lilmayo

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Hi all, first post here. I have been researching this and haven't found anything that matches whats going on with my shrimp. Everything i have found is parasites on the shrimps head and body, but nothing looks like this, looks like white specks on the tip of the shrimp's nose. It is affecting about 4 of my shrimp. Seems to be the older ones. If you can tell me what you think it is and how to get rid of it, would be greatly appreciated.

 

Tank is about 2.5 months established So I left for vacation, was gone for 6 days. Right before I left I did a 30% water change and fed them the normal amount of food. There is some algae buildup, due to the lack of CO2 I am assuming. Light is on a timer for 7 hours of light. 10 Gallon tank. When I got back, I had lost 2 shrimp and found that some had white spots on their "noses".

Started with about 10 shrimp, there has been some breeding so now there are about 10 or so juveniles and more on the way. Cherry reds, Blue Velvets and 1 CRS are currently in this tank. I typically change my water 1-2 times a week 20-30% and dose Excel and API Leaf Zone twice a week. CO2 every day, sometimes every other day. 

Let me know if you need any other info. Tried to get decent pictures, but they move around so much it was tough. Can get better photos if needed. 

 

I am pretty new to keeping shrimp, so feel free to tell me if I am doing something wrong. I welcome advice.

 

Also, you can see the stringy algae on some of my HC and substrate that I have been battling for what seems like forever in both my tanks. The shrimp don't eat it. If any tips on that also, would be appreciated. May just drop the light cycle if thats it, but i was trying to grow my HC which has been a very slow process.

Thanks in advance!

 

Thanks!

 

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My guess is that you're dealing with scutariella although it could also be vorticella. Both are (relatively) easily treatable parasites, a couple days of salt dips (of all shrimp, not just the visibly affected) will likely clear things up.

 

From super close up, scutariella will look like little worms waving on the shrimp's head/nose. They're a little creepy because they move independently of the current.
While sort of unsettling, scutariella may not be the cause of your shrimps' deaths. While it is parasitic, my impression is that it's not a guaranteed death sentence. 
Dunno about vorticella, unfortunately.

Where did you get your shrimp?

 

Concerning your algae, neos will not eat hair algae. They feed off of biofilm, which you won't really have any problems with (having too much of it, I mean). Unfortunately, you'll have to solve the algae problems independently (cutting light, changing fert regimen, etc...)

Also, shrimp and CO2 is really hard to pull off. Getting into the hobby, I also thought I could get a really lush, high-tech tank with happy breeding shrimp in it. Turns out that, while not impossible, it's quite challenging to do a high-tech breeder tank and you are very likely to just slowly kill your shrimp over a couple months. My suggestion would be to focus on one thing at first: plant growth or shrimp breeding. 

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ditto what aotf said. 

 

same on the co2.  if you want to keep shrimp, you should first become a pro at keeping shrimp.  then in a seperate tank become a pro at using co2.  once you are successful with both, then try to combine the 2 if you so desire.  I do not use co2 because of the stress it can put on the shrimp.

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  • 2 weeks later...
2 hours ago, Lilmayo said:

Thank you to both of you! The salt dip worked very well. New c02 system which is giving me less issues should also help.

THANKS!


Glad to hear that helped!
Be very conservative with your CO2 and acclimate them to it slowly over a couple weeks if they're not already used to it.
I would likely start with 1 bubble every 5 seconds and decrease it by a second every week or two until you hit 1-2 seconds depending on the size of your tank.

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14 hours ago, Lilmayo said:

This is great advice, I will do that. Thank you!

 

. I am also just curious, Does everyone turn the CO2 on in the morning and off in the evening, or are there (affordable) systems that will turn it on in the morning, off in the evening, and regulate the amount??

 

I can't speak for everyone but I think the way you would automate it is to have a solenoid valve on the outflow and just plug that into a timer (like what your lights are plugged into).
My CO2 regulator already has one but a little digging suggests you could pick one up for ~$40? CO2 systems aren't cheap...

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