# seed shrimp-eating roots



## Laki (Aug 24, 2011)

I had them before and they annoyed me. Then somehow they were only in the shrimp tank and would devour the roots of salvinia. So I was growing it in my lighted tanks and putting it in for the shrimp. To die basically, since I knew the seed shrimp were there. I let all the salvinia die in there and the seed shrimp seemed to go away. 

Then I bought anacharis. 

There were no seed shrimp until about 2-3 weeks ago. After the quarentine on the anacharis (nothing seemed to be alive on it) I planted them in both my 5 and 3 gallon tanks. Now seed shrimp are rampant in my 5g again. Not in the 3g oddly enough. I never mix tank things (except moving plants from 5g to the 2.5 shrimp tank but never back again.) Osha's 3g is completely bug free. 

Seed shrimp are currently eating the java fern roots and killing it. When you go to suck them up in a baster they close their shells and drop to the gravel. They're impossible to eliminate manually. 


Does anyone have any suggestions on how to get rid of them?? I'd be willing to remove Milly and Lude for a time but the tank is heavily planted so methods need to be plant safe.


----------



## MattsBettas (Dec 18, 2012)

I did a little bit of research, and apparently your case is abnormal in that they are actually eating your live plants. One person on another forum found that when bettas are fasted for a couple of days (He/she went away for the weekend) they would eat them. Another person said that the only way to permanently get rid of them is to cook your substrate and treat your plants (How you would treat the plants was not specified).


----------



## Laki (Aug 24, 2011)

Hmm. Well I guess they're eating the plants because I don't feed my tank, I feed Lude one-three pellets at a time. There's never any excess food in the tank. Milly the nerite eats algae exclusively so I never have to feed her. 

Ludendorff is also quite old, do you think it would shock him if I tore the tank down entirely? And my plants. If I started new wouldn't they have to go through the whole melt thing again?


----------



## ao (Feb 29, 2012)

seed shrimps or scuds? seed shrimps are harmless and eating plants would be an impossible feat for them if the plant was not already rotting. 

scuds on the other hands can over graze and tear through stuff like moss.... but I've never seen those eat roots either. lol...


----------



## Laki (Aug 24, 2011)

blek, scuds are freaking me out right now. No I'm pretty sure I have seed shrimp. The behavior from my research before matches seed shrimp (ostracods) 

Well, they always eat the roots of the salvinia (I'm currently catching them manually, but it's tedious) and they're easy to catch off the roots but they have been all over the roots of my java fern. And the fern's largest leaf is not rotted and fallen off. Granted, it wasn't doing too good before the seed shrimp so I guess they could be eating the dead parts but I don't like that now they're crawling on its roots, I'm worried it'll die.


----------



## darkangel (Jun 11, 2013)

Why don't you dose the tank with coppersafe? I seen people recommend treating copper to kill unwanted hitchhikers, I think it kills crustacean and snails?


----------



## Laki (Aug 24, 2011)

I'll look into that, thanks! Is it safe for plants? I'll take Milly out and Ludendorff too once I find it.


----------



## darkangel (Jun 11, 2013)

I think so, I got my first plants from a guy who soak his plants in coppersafe to get rid of hitchhiking snails/parasites. My 2.5 gallon as a result is snail free as far as I know 

do you want me to email him and ask about the amount he used?


----------



## Laki (Aug 24, 2011)

If it's not going out of your way! I would love to know how to get rid of these pests. Or at least keep them in manageable numbers :/

I actually just spent about an hour manually getting them with a turkey baster.


----------



## darkangel (Jun 11, 2013)

Okay so I emailed him and he got back!



> _Hi Amelia,
> 
> If your friend is intending to treat her main tank than I suggest she use Cupramine instead of Coppersafe. Cupramine is more tolerable for the biological filter and live plants than Coppersafe and can later double as an effective external anti-parasite.
> 
> ...


----------



## Laki (Aug 24, 2011)

oh my goodness, thanks so much!! This is extremely helpful and I even found Seachem's sheet on it http://www.seachem.com/support/FAQs/Cupramine.html for myself and future people with seed shrimp. 

I got my initial population with I kept assassin snails. There must have been dormant eggs in the sand that hatched when the assassin's food rotted. I know about their hinge to close the shell which is why they're so hard to catch!! They close it and drop to the gravel when you're cleaning the tank. 

I'll see about picking this stuff up for my main tank. In the meantime I'll up my water changes. Like I said, I don't feed my tank- only my betta so they must be thriving on the plant matter (dead or alive) and gravel dirt (caused by my stinky snails)


Again, thanks so much! And thank your friend for sharing his expertise


----------



## RobertTheFish (Jun 6, 2011)

You may want to research salinity tolerances. If your shrimp don't tolerate salt (big IF), you may be able to bathe your plants in brine, drain the tank, dry everything out, I don't know, cook your substrate, bake it or something.

Sounds like a hassle.

Good luck.


----------



## Laki (Aug 24, 2011)

Thanks Robert! My pet shrimp are kept in a separate tank and I allow whatever tank bugs that want to thrive in there (seed shrimp, planaria, cyclops) but I just don't like the seed shrimp in my 5g. 

Looks like I knocked the numbers down some yesterday. Maybe before I jump into chemicals, I'll just keep my eye on them with water changes!


----------

