Fresh seafood anyone?!

[kool_sk8a]

Some of you may know that i recently moved the contents of my 15gal and 25gal aquariums, I recently noticed that my shrimps were turning from a translucent green colour to a brown colour. I guessed that maybe they were adjusting to the new environment and trying to blend in.

Since the old aquarium that they were in was a juwel, it had a covered heater inside the built in filter area, however the new tank had an exposed heater.

The next day i saw all of my shrimp on the heater and thought they they must like the heat, i didnt think that the heat is the reason they were turning brown.

Over the last few days the shrimp havent been on the heater at all, i found one of the shrimp on the bottom of the tank, pink in colour, like what you buy too eat.

Turns out, my shrimp liked they heater so much, they decided to cook themselves on it!

They are fascinating creatures and i hope the remaining 2-3 (one i cant find) survive.

How can i stop this from happening? Has it ever happened to anyone else?

 

[Matt Kelley]

I think some brands make heater-guards, although I will admit I've never heard of that problem before. Anyways, they make little plastic tubes that it over the heater that allow water flow towards the heating coils but makes it almost impossible to get in contact with it.

Although I've had shrimp that have died, and when they passed away, they turned pink too. But I've never suspected the heater to be the cause of death -- I would think that the heater couldn't possibly get hot enough to effectively "boil" the shrimp.

Shrimp is very easily cooked -- for example -- you can use lemon juice or anything with a high pH to "cook" shrimp, and I wonder if, when a shrimp dies and starts decaying, it cooks itself from the inside.

Anyone else know if my little theory might be correct?

 

[TurbineSurgeon]

I also don't think the shrimp managed to cook themselves. I understand that shrimp and other invertebrates are very sensitive to ammonia or nitrite poisoning. When you moved them into their new home, there was probably a spike or mini-cycle that occured.


Matt: Lemon juice is acidic and thus has a low pH. Not only can shrimp be cooked this way, but also fish. That is pretty much how you make ceviche.

 

[Matt Kelley]

Erm... yeah... low pH. My chemistry is a little rusty