Cherry Shrimp - Discoloration

[OptimusPrime]

Hi,
 
i noticed tonight that 2 of my RCS have what appears like a orange\brown line running the length of there spine.  The others that i've seen tonight appear 'normal'.  I'll try and get a photo if i can but anyone know what this discoloration might be?
 
thanks. 

 

[OptimusPrime]

Hi,
 
i noticed tonight that 2 of my RCS have what appears like a orange\brown line running the length of there spine.  The others that i've seen tonight appear 'normal'.  I'll try and get a photo if i can but anyone know what this discoloration might be?
 
thanks. 

 

 
I noticed one my assassins had a discolored shell also, wondered if the two were linked.
 

 

 

[This Old Spouse]

The cherry shrimp are females. The assassin snail just might be older. I have both.

 

[Baccus]

The stripe down the back of the cherry shrimp is competely natural, not all of them develop the stripe.
 
As for the Assissin it looks as though the shell is deteriating as if the water is too accidic for it or its lacking calcium.

 

[This Old Spouse]

The stripe indicates a mature female. 

 

[OptimusPrime]

Thanks for the feedback.  happy that the shrimps are ok.  My water is pretty steady at ph7.6 so wonder if its a calcium issue.
 
I just measured my KH\GH and it came out at:
 
KH - 85ppm
GH - 40ppm
 
Looking at the chart that comes with the API kit this should suit the fish i have but it doesnt mention shrimps and snails, does anyone know what this level of KH\GH would mean for them? Its the 1st time i've used the API kit for this test.
 
cheers

 

[Baccus]

Cherry shrimp are very forgiving with regards to hardness of water, but other breeds of shrimp are pretty specific in what ranges they will tolerate, the same can be said for certain snails. I did find one site that says KH of 71 and GH of 125 is too soft for snails. And another site that says that the water needs to be greater than 100ppm for both KH and GH for good snail production.

 

[OptimusPrime]

ok i done some digging also and it looks like my shrimps\snails and fish could all do with harder water so i may look to add some crushed coral into the filter stack.