How do you know if it's dead? (cleaner shrimp)

[mixtimp]

I added a cleaner shrimp to my tank yesterday, and he has been hiding in the same exact spot ever since. He is in the back of the tank, behind a rock, and has not moved at all. How do I tell if it's time to take apart my rock work and get him out?

 

[wangotango]

wait until night-time. most shrimp are only active at night, so thats the only time that you will see him. how long did you acclimate him for?

 

[chipmaker]

I don't think taking the rock apart is gonna make it any easier, as if it is dead its probably consumed my bristle worms etc by now. Dead shrimp rarely last long once they reach ambient temp in a tank.

 

[mixtimp]

He was acclimated for over an hour using the drip method. He hasn't moved, at all. He is sitting in the same spot, facing the same way, etc. If he's dead, I want to get him out of there, and try and take him back to the store, so I can get another one.

 

[tonypal85]

Are you sure it is actually the shrimp behind the rock and not just his molt? I have had my cleaner shrimp do this before. Sometimes their molt will stay perfectly in tact and look like another shrimp just sitting there. It could look especially convincing if the molt is hidden behind rock work and stuck upside down. Usually when a shrimp molts it will be hidden for a few days while its outer skeleton hardens.

 

[rednekreef]

Originally Posted by tonypal85
Are you sure it is actually the shrimp behind the rock and not just his molt? I have had my cleaner shrimp do this before. Sometimes their molt will stay perfectly in tact and look like another shrimp just sitting there. It could look especially convincing if the molt is hidden behind rock work and stuck upside down. Usually when a shrimp molts it will be hidden for a few days while its outer skeleton hardens.
Very true....I felt like a totally dumbazz after my shrimp molted....I thought something ate his guts out.....then a few days later...he popped out of the rockwork . I feed it right out of my hand now. lol it sees me go for the food...and it swimms to the top of the tank and waits till i put my hand in the water...then sits on my finger and eats...Its so cool.

 

[susieq]

If you have any crabs in your tank, they will eat the dead cleaner shrimp. If they are leaving it alone, it's not dead.

 

[mixtimp]

Well, I broke down and moved the rock. He was dead as a nail. That is the first (and i'm sure not the last) thing to die in my tank. Pretty upsetting. I really want to get a cleaner shrimp too.