Thelma dies, and new tricks figured @Tank 2
botia
weekend, and I have not a clue why. The signs (stopped feeding, an
enduring reddish color and arched back) indicated trouble, but testing
the water and a water change is about the limit of my trouble
prescription actions. I just don't know alot about the Atyopsis
moluccensis (aka the wood shrimp, aka, the bamboo shrimp) -- obviously.
Something interesting happened to College and I supect it happened
because of Thelma. Thelma was caught as an adult, and this creature
employed a third feeding technique, which I wasn't aware of but had the
sense to film. The three feeding modes are as follows: The most used
feeding technique College employed is to sit 'downstream' from the pump
outlet and hold up 'feathered' claws in order to catch infusioria and
diatoms coming out of the K'an filtration house via pump, then close
the claws while bringing the catch into its mouth. While depositing
the closed feather into its mouth, it reverses the hand direction --
thus the current now enters the cupped feathered claw from the 'wrist'
direction which forces water in a now tube-like area, removing the
catch and pumping this catch into the mouth, the whole process from
start to finish operated in about half a second. College would sit
there almost all day doing this, and as well I would help this feature
out by not only suppling the housing (designed specificlly for the
buggers) with grown infusioria suspended algae batch yeilds (terrace
sunlight a must), but also using an eye dropper and directly injecting
the batch into the stream just in front of her feathers -- yes quite
labor intensive for a pet shrimp. The second feeding method, is when
the shrimp don't get the catch of the day, and then just meanders along
the wood using the feathers much like an advanced (dust pan not
required) broom. Then Thelma showed up. Now there is maybe the chance
that the behavoir I saw wasn't learned, but instinctual, but the timing
of change has me doubting this. Thelma didn't like waitng with net,
nor sweeping around her method preference. Instead, she employed a
much more focused effort of feeding. She would find an algae patch,
crawl atop 'straddling' it, and with the first pair of walking legs and
the underside of the thorax, she would shake repeatedly the algae
clump, and not a slight shake, quite a sudden and forceful shake
session -- her feathers, all four (eight if counting halves) while
doing this, are pressed spread out and flat down onto the algae
shaking, thus similar to putting a net under a berry bush and shaking,
except the catch rather than fall down, would dust up and become caught
up in the feathers. In no time Thelma was done feeding. The day
after Thelma died, College seemlingly adopted this same method and
regularly feeds this way presently, and while she still feeds from the
outlet, it's only a fraction of the time now -- about half the day
spent under side wood 2, fanning her swimmeretts (and I have no idea
what that indicates). I have contacted a retail (holds breathe)
supplier and I am expecting this supplier to acquire an adult male, as
I understand this time of year the window for an adult male.
Present parameters; Tank Two is a 30 gallon tank holding about 25
gallons of fresh water, pH 7.8 and stable. No drops of Iodine added for
more than three weeks. 20% water change one week ago. Carbonate
hardness of 2.2 and, water temp 26C during the day dropping to 20.5C
during night. Low levels of nitrate, stable. Daphnia population
exhausted. Blood worms population exhausted. Hydra population
exhausted. Common water Snails small and now growing faster. Cyclops
population small and stable. Java ferns (2) stopped growing. Java
moss (four bunches) stable and stopped growing. Amazon swords (2)
flora stable and growing. Lotus (1) flora stable and rapidly growing.
Sagittaria subulata, nineteen plants, spreading stopped. UnID "I"
worms population small and stable. The Atyopsis moluccensis (College)
about is about 5.75 centimeters in length.
"That is all."