Question about Atya gabonesis, hlth.    2/25/09
I had a vampire shrimp (Atya) about five weeks and he seemed fine until we moved him to a larger tank.
After a few days he started turning more orange/pink instead of bluish gray. and he seemed fine. The last few days he started turning more orange/pinky looking instead of bluish gray. He was seen out and about eating, etc, then started lying on his side. He appeared to be trying to molt (wriggling about, shell cracked open) but lie on his side twitching
for hours. We went to bed and in the morning, he had molted but was dead, his shell beside him. He seemed unmolested by the other fish in the tank.
Is this common when shrimp molt? Our LFS told us we needed "trace elements" in the water to help them and sold us a bottle of some magic solution we're supposed to put in every few days. I bought another the next day and substituted him (it was my son's shrimp and I didn't want him to be sad it died). This shrimp was slightly larger and bluer and more active. We've had him about 9 days now and yesterday he started looking a bit pink/orange but
this guy laid on his side only a minute wiggling about then shot out like a cannon, leaving his entire shell, feathers, feelers and all on the floor, he is pink and new now, with blue only around his head. He's been sitting in the back preening and waving his antennae around, occasionally venturing out. I'm quite happy he molting without dying, do you think it was the extra minerals we added to his water or do you think the other guy was traumatized from the move, or just had a "bad molt"? I'm anxious to avoid any bad molts in the future and I'm hoping this guy is fine from now on, we're really quite fond of him.
He lives in a 40 gallon planted shrimp and snail only tank with a bamboo shrimp, 10 cherry shrimp, 3 ghost shrimp and 3 mystery snails. The fish were moved out to another 20 gallon tank bare hospital tank to combat a case of ich, I found that easier to do that ruining my landscaping, plants and shrimp/snails. Which leads to my next question: how long to leave the tank fallow to ensure ich is completely gone before putting more fish in?
I've read anywhere from 1 to 6 weeks which is quite a range. I have no plans on doing anything other than routine water changes and gravel vacuums, I don't want to medicate it.
Melissa
<Hi Melissa. The "trace element" they need is Iodine. While it isn't clear that small (e.g., Cherry) shrimps need iodine added to the water, big shrimps as well as crayfish and crabs apparently do benefit. Normally the moulting process begins with the shrimp out of sight for a day or two in its cave as it puffs up its body with water. The moult itself takes a few hours, and then the shrimp stays hidden in its cave for another day or so while the shell hardens up. It should roll on its back or side, and shouldn't be twitching. Normally all it does is stand up as it usually does, but with the shell peeling off its body from head to tail. In any case, if your shrimp is fine now, then I wouldn't worry too much. As for
Whitespot/Ick; the length of time the tank should be fallow varies with temperature and whether you're taking about freshwater or marine Whitespot.
In theory freshwater Whitespot parasites can only survive about 24 hours without a host, but in practise it's better to leave a much more generous period than that. One week would probably work fine for tropical tanks. You will of course need to ensure Whitespot parasites can't get into the tank from anywhere else, so take care with nets, buckets, etc. Cheers, Neale.>

The King of Freshwater Shrimp
Someone on my message board was looking for info on these guys.  
<Would you mind sending along a link to the discussion?  I would be very, very interested in participating....>
I searched all over the web myself and can't find anything but a single picture.  I was wondering if you could help me out a bit here with some info on these really neat looking shrimp.  Their common name I guess is Vampire Shrimp and the scientific name is Attya gabonese.
<Ahh, Atya gabonensis!  Dear me, these are my ALL-TIME FAVORITE shrimp - and that's saying a lot, with my major shrimp addiction!!  I have never heard of them being called "vampire shrimp", though.  In fact, I do not believe there are *any* widely used common names for this animal.  Try a search under the accurate Latin name, this should yield some pics.  The only good, solid information available on the web is located at:  http://www.wirbellose.de/arten.cgi?action=show&artNo=030 .  This is in German, so it may or may not be of much help to you.  You can translate the page (somewhat) at Google, using their language tools.  Some basic info - they get about 6" long at their largest.  Juveniles are orange, females (and possibly sub-dominant males?) are grayish-brownish-bluish, and the big head honcho male will get lustrous black and blue.  They are a filter feeder, and are of absolutely no threat to even tiny fish or fry.  There are actually perhaps even three or four different animals that fall under this name somewhat loosely....  can be found in eastern South America with some variances from their central-western African cousins.  As with all filter-feeding shrimp, these MUST be fed in the aquarium; it is a common misconception that the animals will take what they need from the water - our tanks are simply too pristine for that to happen.  Sinking foods which break up into a fine dust, or frozen foods that can be mushed up (I like Ocean Nutrition's Formula One and Two for this) are great.  These shrimp are largely nocturnal and very shy.  Provide them with a lot of rocky places where they can hide - stressed shrimp are *not* long-lived shrimp.  To facilitate seeing them once in a while (again, VERY nocturnal), provide with subdued lighting, or lots of floating plants to block out some of the light.  They prefer to have areas of open substrate that are not planted, as well; they are quite clumsy.  Lastly, and perhaps most important with these and any other freshwater shrimp - please dose your tank with iodine. I use Kent's marine iodine at a rate of one drop per ten gallons every week (NOT the marine dose!).  This really, really, REALLY makes all the difference in the world.  Another tidbit - I got mine from Toyin at Rehoboth Aquatics ( http://www.rehobothaquatics.com/ ).  They were (still are) in EXCELLENT shape and great health.  They had poked holes in the nice, thick bag (double bagged) with their pointy legs and all but a couple tablespoons of water had leaked out, but they still did absolutely fine.  He is a wholesaler, and may possibly have a store near you that you can get these from, and if not, he may sell to you directly.  Another 'site you should check out:  http://www.franksaquarium.com/ - he has several species of not-very-common freshwater shrimp, and has been an invaluable source of info for me, too.>
Thank you in advance for any help you can give.  
<Ahh, no, thank YOU for giving me a chance to discuss my favorite critter!  As uncommon as they are in the US, it is WONDERFUL to hear of increasing interest in them.>
Regards,  Kristen
<Wishing you well,  -Sabrina>

The King of Freshwater Shrimp - II - 03/01/2004
Thank you soooo much for all the info on these really neat little critters.  
<You bet.  And again, thanks for mailing us.  I could talk the ears off of corn regarding these shrimp.>
Here's a link to the thread on my message board.  
http://www.aquatiqterrors.com/forums/index.php?s=248e4199c7eb812b3d38122b7b82f115&act=ST&f=46&t=15336&st=0&
<Excellent.  I've joined (am "vintage_fish") and hope to chat there!>
Thanks again, Kristen.
<And thank you for helping to increase interest in these awesome little beasties.  Wishing you well,  -Sabrina>