Blue Diamond Shrimp "Berried" Listlessly Sitting On Bottom (Neocaridina sp)

[Uberhoust]

I am new to keeping shrimp. I have 11 shrimp in a 10 gallon tank. The tank only contains shrimp, plants, and some copepods. Parameters as follows:

• pH 6.6
• NH3 0 ppm
• NO2 0 ppm
• NO3 <5.0 ppm (not zero but not 5 either)
• gH 60 ppm
• kH 0 ppm
• 23 degrees Celsius

I have had the shrimp for about 2 weeks, all the shrimp swim about "normally" and seem to always be eating, I have had several molt successfully, and no mortalities. I have added a recently added shell to get more calcium into the water.

This afternoon I noted that the berried one, came from the store that way, is just sitting on the bottom of the tank and not moving much. The eggs seem quite large, but I have nothing to gage that with. She is not eating and has her abdomen arched upwards so that she is like a shallow check mark. All the other shrimp are still acting normal, again I don't really know what normal is but they swim to a leaf, pick some algae off it for a while, then move to another. I feed them tetra flakes, cucumber, algae, of those algae is the most popular. There is visibly algae on the plants, the tank has been running for about 4 months.

I don't know if the female's behavior is normal or not, she might be molting, or the eggs might be close to hatching, maybe she is old and the carrying of the eggs is too much. I am hoping her behavior is normal but I cannot find any reference to how a berried shrimp is supposed to behave. I am already attached to these little creatures and would like to see her survive.

Tried to take photos but they did not turn out because of the lower light.

I am just looking for suggestions as to what I should be watching for, or things I might do.

 

[Colin_T]

The pH might be too low.

They don't moult while carrying eggs. They shed their skin and then breed while their shell is soft.

Do a water change if you haven't done one in the last few days.

Need pictures and video. Use a camera flash or turn the tank and room lights on.

See if the shrimp has a cream or opaque appearance to the muscle in the tail

 

[Uberhoust]

Thanks @Colin_T. The last water change was last just two days ago. Unfortunately she died last night, found her under the heater where she was last. I removed her from the tank to examine the eggs thinking that the eggs might survive even if she did not.

When I put her under the microscope it became apparent that she did not have eggs, but instead it looks like she had fungal infection, the "eggs" looked like sporangia, connected by hyphae to the underside of her abdomen.

Has anyone encountered a similar growth on their shrimp. Should I be worried, or this an endemic issue.

 

[Uberhoust]

Looks like the growth is Cladogonium ogishimae or Ellobiopsidae, likely the first. Not great start as a first foray into invertebrates.

 

[Colin_T]

treat the tank with salt.

2 heaped tablespoons of rock salt for every 20 litres of water. Keep the salt in there for 4 weeks.

 

[Uberhoust]

2 heaped tablespoons of rock salt for every 20 litres of water. Keep the salt in there for 4 weeks.

Thanks @Colin_T, I like your solution, I researched and came up with a lot of different ideas, but many are particularly harsh. The remaining shrimp seem to be OK without visible signs of infection but from what I read they could be infected but not showing the infection yet. I am glad I quarantined them.