Cleaner shrimp died during drip acclimation... rubber bands toxic?

[dasianguy]

Something strange happened. Yesterday I bought a cleaner shrimp from an LFS, went straight home, and set him up drip acclimating. When I saw that the container was almost full, I went over to check him out and he was laying on his side twitching a little, then eventually died.

The tank I setup the drip from is a mature mixed reef tank (since Jan 2015), so it couldn't be ammonia or copper in my water. Also, just last Saturday, I bought a cleaner shrimp (from the same LFS), and he's been doing fine.

The one weird thing about this shrimp purchase is that the guy who bagged the shrimp put 4 rubber bands inside the bag with the shrimp. I don't know why. I didn't see it until I was at the checkout counter. When I asked the guy at the counter about it he just said "it gives him something to hold onto".

I've never seen anyone one put rubber bands inside the bag.. so I'm wondering if that did it? Are rubber bands (in a small enclosed bag) toxic?

Luckily, this LFS has a 24hr guarantee on livestock so I will go back later this afternoon.

 

[mikedawg]

Some believe that shrimp may experience "vertigo" when put into a bag and need rubber bands, plant parts, etc. to provide them a hold fast. Never heard of commonly used LFS rubber bands being toxic

 

[schwaggs]

I've seen rubber bands used this way for lots of inverts. I never had a problem with it killing the inhabitants.

 

[Adam]

Of the 4 shrimp I've recently got they all had rubber bands in the bag. 2 fire and 2 cleaners from different stores. 1 cleaner died in the tank over night after acclimation. It was replaced by the lfs and had a couple bands in there too and is doing fine.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk

 

[dasianguy]

Ok, I guess maybe it was just the shrimp and not the rubber bands' fault. In total over the course of my reefkeeping, I've bought 4 cleaner shrimp and 5 or 6 peppermints, and this is the only mysterious death and the only time I've seen rubber bands in the bag.. so I had to assume a connection.

The vertigo thing makes sense though. I've bought freshwater shrimp a few times in the past and they usually put pieces of plants in the bag.

 

[dawgface]

Seems anytime Cleaners, fire or Harlequin are bagged so are rubber bands. I've also never had a problem specific to their use.

 

[myreefclub0070]

what happened was the shrimps had a heart attack when he saw that he won the new home jackpot.
most of us, even the pros can only speculate on what happens to most of our little creatures that don't make it outside of chemistry.

 

[dasianguy]

MYREEFCLUB0070;1097066 wrote: what happened was the shrimps had a heart attack when he saw that he won the new home jackpot.
most of us, even the pros can only speculate on what happens to most of our little creatures that don't make it outside of chemistry.

haha.. thanks for the compliment Marlon!

Actually, if the shrimp had a heart attack, it might have been because he caught a glimpse of my dwarf fuzzy lionfish, lol. The reason I bought the cleaner shrimp yesterday is because the one I bought on Saturday is still doing fine (uneaten). I figure cleaner shrimp stand the best chance of co-existing with a dwarf fuzzy.

 

[dasianguy]

BTW, I went back to the LFS a couple hours ago and got store credit no problem, which was really nice of them. I was told that cleaner shrimp are some of the worst when it comes to acclimating and that they tend to lose a good many on shipments. He said their supplier doesn't give them any guarantee on them.. which really sucks.

 

[jennm]

I've used rubber bands in fish bags for everything from floating a coral on a piece of styrofoam, to holdfasts for seahorses, shrimp and other critters.

Chances are your shrimp that perished had molted recently and its new shell hadn't completely hardened. They are vulnerable during that time.

The other thing is it could have been a big specific gravity change - did you check the bag water's SG before acclimating? It's always a good idea to compare your SG with the bag water SG when acclimating anything, it gives you a better idea of how big the change is, if any.

Jenn

 

[axio]

Yup it is standard procedure at my store to use rubber bands. We have never had any issues that we could link to using them. I'm sure over very long periods of time they could degrade in the saltwater and possibly cause some minor issues... but for shipping purposes they are perfectly safe in my experience.

 

[Adam]

JennM;1097195 wrote: Chances are your shrimp that perished had molted recently and its new shell hadn't completely hardened. They are vulnerable during that time.

Jenn

I hadn't thought of that but it makes perfect sense now. I'd seen empty molted shells before but the one that died was pretty shredded and there was still tissue in the head. I assumed it was post mortem but in a new tank without a safe spot it would've been easy pickings for the crabs.