Ghost Shrimp s...

Question
QUESTION: My wife and I are new to freshwater aquariums, but everything seems to be going well in our tank after three months.  It is a 10 gallon tank with two albino coury catfish, three rasbora XLs, three bloodfin tetras, and one gourami.  Our tank's water content seems fine, as the nitrites and ammonia and PH all check out....We had a run with high nitrites for awhile, but with a reduction in feeding and an increase in water changes (with a suction tube "vacuum") all levels are in line.  All of our fish are healthy and happy....  Our mystery is why our ghost shrimp all died within a 24 hour span.  We had five of them in the tank, and they seemed fine until all of a sudden, we noticed, one, two, three, four, five bodies laying on the bottom of our tank!  We've had shrimp in the tank since the beginning, and it is fun to watch them scour the gravel and swim around.  I examined the body of one of the shrimp before throwing them away and noticed something that startled me:  two thick, rubber-band like worms inside a larger shrimp!  We noticed this while it was alive, but passed it off as wierd intestinal color until I looked closer at it after it had died.  What could this be, and why would they all die so suddenly?

ANSWER: Hi Dustin,
I know this may seem like a really weird answer but are you for certain the little shrimps are actually gone? Shrimp molt their outer shell I believe about once a month and the empty shells look exactly like a once living shrimp. I've been tricked many times before with ghost shrimp, thinking I've found one that had died and actually it was just his outershell he shed. When Shrimp molt they go into hiding until their new shells harden so be sure to check every nook and cranny and all hiding places very thoroughly before you are sure the little things are actually gone.
I'm hoping this is all that has happened, just a mistake. but if it does turn out they are really gone it may have something due to their age or the water quality.
Ghost shrimp are very sensitive to chemicals other than water conditioner. And any kind of water quality issue could be very harmful to them such as the presence of ammonia or nitrites or high nitrate levels.
Ghost shrimp also have a short lifespan as well and that may have contributed to the loss.

So did you notice the worms inside the ghost shrimp when he was alive or when he died in the tank? If the shrimp was already gone then the worms may have been scavenging off of the shrimp.

I hope we can figure this out soon,
Best wishes,
Karen~

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I am certain that the shrimp were dead, as I scooped out all five bodies and took a look at them in detail on a paper towel.  I was hopeful, too, that they were just shells, but found out otherwise.  The worm stuff was noticeable while the shrimp was alive, and we thought they were just odd colored intestines.  I looked really close at that one in particular, and noticed that there were two, one near the tail, and one in the main abdomen region.  None of the other bodies had this.  Our nitrite and ammonia levels are really good, and chlorine is absent.....could the salt level been too low for them to survive?  I can't test for that with my test strips.....

Answer
I'm Sorry Dustin, I was hoping maybe it was just the shrimps molted shell and not the 'real' thing.

I've honestly never heard of the worms you described. I guess its possible that the ghost shrimp could have gotten some sort of internal parasites. Ghost shrimp have been found to have intestinal worms before but I've unfortunately never had any experience with that. I have found a thread on another website of a discussion on ghost shrimp with worms-
{Highlight the link, right click to copy, then paste it into your search box}

http://www.plantgeek.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5749&highlight=

Also, you might want to check with Petshrimp.com the forum might be a better place to ask. I'm sure the shrimp people there have dealt with this problem plenty.

I don't think there is much you can do for the ghost shrimp. Some sources may have recommended a medication but unfortunately shrimp are very sensitive to chemicals in their water and it may have been pointless. The bad thing about Ghost shrimp is they often get off to a terrible start at the petstore, where they are not cared for properly, mainly because they are mostly regarded as "feeders". I hope you don't have to deal with this again.

I don't think Ghost shrimp really require that much regular salt to do well. Just keeping their water as clean as possible is usually the best thing for them.

I really hope this helps!
Best wishes,
Karen~