malayan shrimp keep suiciding...why?

**alph** · 26th Oct 2014, 06:09

anyone has issues with their malayan shimps always crawling up outside of the tank? i bought 100 pieces(split into 4 tanks) last sunday and have so far lost 21 shrimp due to crawling out!! i dont see any dead bodies in the tanks(so i think the shrimps have adjusted ok) but there are always new dried shrimps outside the tanks whenever i go to check in the mornings

why do they keep crawling out of the tanks? i have cherries and amano shrimps in the same tanks which have never crawled out, and small fishes(endlers/pearl danio/ember tetra/p.furcatus) which should not be able to bother the shimps which are large sized. the tanks are all gex slim 600 so shouldent be overcrowded either i think. the top of the tanks can only be covered 2/3 of the way...so anyone knows why my malayan shrimp keeps suiciding????

**Suzerolt** · 26th Oct 2014, 08:17

I'm thinking there are 2 possibilities :
1) Not used to the water parameters vs their original. Were they acclimatized properly?

2) Water parameters not in control (which they are not used to). For example : I've ever overdosed on KN03 fertilizer (80ppm instead of the usual 15-30ppm) before. All my shrimps & snails made its way to the top of the tank. Shrimps climbed & clung on to anything above the water line (but could not get out of the tank)

**alph** · 26th Oct 2014, 09:55

thanks!

when i seperated the shimps into 4 containers i did scoop tank water continually to mix with the shrimp water and let them sit for about 20mins before i netted them into the tank..does that count as acclimitazation? haha

i dont know about the water parameters because i never tested,i think its on the higher ph,hard water side because i put coral chips in the filters and the tank substrate is sand and soil. i do have 2 nerite snails in each of the tanks and they never crawled out of the water before, my other shrimps in the tanks before i added the malayans also have never crawled out before.

i have one of the tanks on the floor and that one has the most jumpers compared to the other 3 on the table..i dont know if vibrations scare them into jumping or what..

**Urban Aquaria** · 26th Oct 2014, 15:01

Your other shrimps and snails have probably fully adapted to their tank environment over time, so they have no problems with it and no reason to escape.

Most likely it due to the difference in water parameters from what the malayan shrimps are used too that cause them to escape from the tank... your method of scooping tank water into their container is okay, but perhaps a better way is to do drip acclimation. Its basically similar to what you did but instead using a length of air line tubing and flow control valve to slowly drip in the tank water over a longer period of 1-2 hours, it allows for a more gradual change in water parameters and better transition process.

I find that when i do drip acclimation on new livestock (especially shrimps), they adapt alot better to the tank environment and i get much higher survival rates.

Another reason could also be the fishes are chasing or snapping at the newly added shrimps (could be because they are new introductions, not the same as the existing shrimps), sometimes that might happen and if the new shrimps are not used to fishes doing that (most of these shrimps are bred in shrimp-only tanks and probably never seen fishes in their lives), they could be stressed enough to want to escape and jump out of the tank.

Do your tanks have alot of plants or hiding places for the new shrimps to take cover in? That could also help in stopping them from escaping, at least they can hide in the tank instead while still getting used to it.

**Suzerolt** · 26th Oct 2014, 15:02

Acclimatization should be at least a 1-2hr process. Best with a drip acclimatization method (google it), that uses 1-2x original water volume.

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**alph** · 26th Oct 2014, 21:54

thanks for the suggestions guys.

i will use the drip method next time when i buy new shrimps haha. my tanks are quite sparsely planted with patches of plants and moss in between bare areas maybe i will buy more javafern to fill in the gaps and provide more hiding places.

was thinking of buying plastic sheets to cut and fit over the gaps the glass cover dosent cover but it looks ugly and i think it will increase the tank temperature?

**Urban Aquaria** · 26th Oct 2014, 22:04

Originally Posted by alph

thanks for the suggestions guys.

i will use the drip method next time when i buy new shrimps haha. my tanks are quite sparsely planted with patches of plants and moss in between bare areas maybe i will buy more javafern to fill in the gaps and provide more hiding places.

was thinking of buying plastic sheets to cut and fit over the gaps the glass cover dosent cover but it looks ugly and i think it will increase the tank temperature?

Yeah, newly added shrimps in sparsely planted or bare tanks do tend to get much more stressed as they have few places to hide so naturally try to escape. You could try putting some of those ceramic shrimp tubes into the tank, they make great hideouts for the shrimps.

Using plastic sheets to cover the gaps in the tank cover can help but it will tend to trap in heat and prevent air circulation, maybe consider using those plastic mesh or fine mosquito netting instead (can buy from neighborhood shops or daiso), those would work much better with less heat build-up issues.

**alph** · 28th Oct 2014, 00:33

Thanks! bought new plants and mesh to cover. hope no more jumpers haha

**georgelam** · 21st Jan 2015, 20:09

Hi. Sorry to intrude your thread. Im looking for Malayan shrimps too. May I know where you got yours?

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**alph** · 21st Jan 2015, 23:06

Originally Posted by georgelam

Hi. Sorry to intrude your thread. Im looking for Malayan shrimps too. May I know where you got yours?

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i bought them from seaview. big bag of 100 pieces located at the inside area, at the lower tanks right behind where the workers will pack the fish u catch into bags.