Like Puberty to Adolescents, play reviews to gamblers, oil leaks to gear heads, bar exams to law students, Judge Judy to shady car salesman, and BBA to Planted Tankers....the Dreaded White Line of Death (WLOD) is one of the biggest stress a Shrimper will come across.
Ok, so after reading so many comments and new threads about the dreaded White Line of Death I suggest an Ultimate Thread where we can discuss our experiences and help each other diagnose, treat, and defeat this dreaded problem.
I'm a rookie when it comes to keeping Shrimp alive and am slightly embarrassed to say I spend more time researching and reading forums than actually keeping shrimp, but it's all fun to me.
Let's get down to business.
WHO: WLOD occurs in shrimps of all kind, all gender, all size, sexual orientation, etc. May also occur in nightmare of shrimp keepers who have repeatedly loss money, time, and relationships due to WLOD
WHAT: WLOD is self explanatory but if you don't know it's the WHITE LINE OF DEATH in shrimps.
WHERE: Usually seen between the Carapace and the Abdomen of the shrimp. Basically the divide where most chefs separate when making shrimp cocktails. (between the head and the body)
HOW: Develops usually when shrimps tries to molt and it cant. Molting is a harder process than we think. Some says this is just a "racing stripe, or a unique trait," well jolly that's nice for them however we won't be discussing this due to WLOD not WLOLife.
WHEN: Any time of day however usually seen after water changes or when introducing shrimps to new tanks.
WHY: Many different thoughts and opinions but here are a few suggestions from fellow shrimpers from multiple forums
-Lack of Calcium
-Poor Diet
-GH too high (hard shell)
-GH too low (soft shell)
-Poor Water parameters (Usually GH related)
-Inconsistent Water Temps
-Stress
-Too many water changes
-Un-established Tank
-Ammonia or high level of Nitrites / Nitrates
-Too much protein in food
-Low magnesium
-Old Age
-Poison
-Fear of being culled due to poor color
SOOOO, what can we do about the deaths? To answer this question one has to randomly pick out of the list of WHY's and try to solve that issue. If not then I would suggest a couple of ideas first:
1. Make sure your tank is fully cycled. (also I use RO water and remineralize with SALTY GH/KH)
1. Check your GH and make sure it's higher than 3 and lower than 9. Any thing higher or lower can still be OK as I have read from some people with bazaar parameters however in my opinion 4-10GH is the sweet spot.
2. Add Calcium through food, egg shells, or Cuttle Bone. Personally I use Cuttle Bone in all my tanks, and have used calcium enriched food. In my experience I don't get enough Calcium from Salty GH/KH)
3. Feed regular Flake food until shrimp is stable.
These couple of suggestions have personally allowed my 3rd attempt of 10 starter shrimps to populate to over thousands in my 10 gallon, 7 gallon, and 20 tanks within a couple of years. Good luck and add on as you wish. No one's perfect, we all learn through mistakes.
Ok, so after reading so many comments and new threads about the dreaded White Line of Death I suggest an Ultimate Thread where we can discuss our experiences and help each other diagnose, treat, and defeat this dreaded problem.
I'm a rookie when it comes to keeping Shrimp alive and am slightly embarrassed to say I spend more time researching and reading forums than actually keeping shrimp, but it's all fun to me.
Let's get down to business.
WHO: WLOD occurs in shrimps of all kind, all gender, all size, sexual orientation, etc. May also occur in nightmare of shrimp keepers who have repeatedly loss money, time, and relationships due to WLOD
WHAT: WLOD is self explanatory but if you don't know it's the WHITE LINE OF DEATH in shrimps.
WHERE: Usually seen between the Carapace and the Abdomen of the shrimp. Basically the divide where most chefs separate when making shrimp cocktails. (between the head and the body)
HOW: Develops usually when shrimps tries to molt and it cant. Molting is a harder process than we think. Some says this is just a "racing stripe, or a unique trait," well jolly that's nice for them however we won't be discussing this due to WLOD not WLOLife.
WHEN: Any time of day however usually seen after water changes or when introducing shrimps to new tanks.
WHY: Many different thoughts and opinions but here are a few suggestions from fellow shrimpers from multiple forums
-Lack of Calcium
-Poor Diet
-GH too high (hard shell)
-GH too low (soft shell)
-Poor Water parameters (Usually GH related)
-Inconsistent Water Temps
-Stress
-Too many water changes
-Un-established Tank
-Ammonia or high level of Nitrites / Nitrates
-Too much protein in food
-Low magnesium
-Old Age
-Poison
-Fear of being culled due to poor color
SOOOO, what can we do about the deaths? To answer this question one has to randomly pick out of the list of WHY's and try to solve that issue. If not then I would suggest a couple of ideas first:
1. Make sure your tank is fully cycled. (also I use RO water and remineralize with SALTY GH/KH)
1. Check your GH and make sure it's higher than 3 and lower than 9. Any thing higher or lower can still be OK as I have read from some people with bazaar parameters however in my opinion 4-10GH is the sweet spot.
2. Add Calcium through food, egg shells, or Cuttle Bone. Personally I use Cuttle Bone in all my tanks, and have used calcium enriched food. In my experience I don't get enough Calcium from Salty GH/KH)
3. Feed regular Flake food until shrimp is stable.
These couple of suggestions have personally allowed my 3rd attempt of 10 starter shrimps to populate to over thousands in my 10 gallon, 7 gallon, and 20 tanks within a couple of years. Good luck and add on as you wish. No one's perfect, we all learn through mistakes.
