[jacksonlui]

I'd like for some experience reefers out there to explain how and why a cleaner shrimp can just one day die without apparent cause? I've dosed seachem iodine every other day as per the recommended instructions (3ml for 30gallons). All corals and fish are fine in my 29g. I've tested for ph, nitrates, ammonia, alk, calc, and all seems within norm. There was no damage, it just fell on it's back and died. I've been told because it couldn't molt? That seems like a good reason but it's been molting fine every 2 weeks or so. I've had it for 3 months, it eats flakes, and has gotten bigger with no signs of infection. The only thing new is my new addition of a smaller cleaner shrimp (in the attempt to pair it up). After the big one died, the newer smaller cleaner started cannabalizing it, first by ripping the h ead off and eating the inside. Any ideas?
Thanks,
Jack

[waterboy]

Could've been stressed. One time I had a pregnant cleaner that was about to give birth - I wanted to catch him and put him in the refugium so the babies wouldn't get eaten so fast. I couldn't catch him, and haven't seen him since.

[Ninong]

Originally posted by jacksonlui:
I've dosed seachem iodine every other day as per the recommended instructions (3ml for 30gallons).

Jack ~

My first thought would be to cut back on the addition of iodine to your tank. Cut WAY back!

Iodine can be very toxic at concentrations greater than natural seawater levels and there is no reliable way to measure it. Besides, if you are feeding the tank, the food contains sufficient iodine.

Adding iodine every other day could very well cause problems.

Ninong

[jacksonlui]

Are you saying that there aren't any reliable test kits out there which will tell me the level of iodide in my tank? I was going to get the Salifert kit but if it's not going to give me an accurate reading of the toxicity levels of iodide then it's not worth that $30.

[Rin]

The use of Iodine is a hotly debated topic. Some folks don't bother with it unless they have a lot of soft corals.

According to Dr. Shimek, shrimp and crabs have a lot of iodine in their exoskeleton. He surmises that this is because these animals are very sensitive to iodine levels and use this as a method to rid their bodies of the toxin. I imagine that if their bodies are taking in more iodine than they can get rid of through molting, they end up dying.


BTW. Welcome to Reefland.

[jacksonlui]

thanks for the reply and welcome.
I'll go ahead and spring for a Salifert test kit sometime tomorrow to ascertain the iodide level in my system. I do feed a lot and does as per recommended by seachem. If i can obtain the iodide level accurately, then I can dose accordingly. It's just hard to justify $22 on an iodide test kit. I guess after losing a shrimp, it's justifiable right there. I guess I'm does happy and my shrimp OD'd. I also dose the bionic system religiously, i hope there's no danger of overdosing there. My PH is on consistently 8.2 and calcium 425. I don't do kalk, yet.