Don't Underestimate Shrimp Stress! Here's How to Overcome It

Farmers must know the causes and ways to deal with stress shrimp. Because when shrimp experience stress it will cause increased mortality, loss of appetite, cannibalism, and susceptibility to disease.

Shrimp stress is caused by several things. One of them is a sudden change in water salinity (salinity pressure). Salinity pressure is caused by high rainfall, which decreases the amount of ions (eg calcium, magnesium) per liter of water and affects water hardness (alkalinity). 

To prevent stress on shrimp, you must know the causes of easily stressed shrimp and how to deal with stressed shrimp in order to optimize shrimp cultivation until harvest occurs. Come on, let's understand how to deal with stress shrimp in this article!

Causes of Easy Shrimp Stress

Shrimp have a natural mechanism to deal with changes in water quality. Most of these mechanisms work well in the case of long-term, slow changes in salinity.

However, shrimp are easily overwhelmed by short-term changes in salinity that may occur within hours or even minutes. Once the salinity of water drops below a certain level, osmotic pressure causes water to enter into the tissues and results in cell dysfunction and cell death.

Stress in shrimp farming can have a significant impact on shrimp production. When stressed, shrimp often expend additional energy and nutrients to fight the stressor (factors that cause stress in shrimp). This will result in less nutrients and lower energy levels available for shrimp growth and performance, ultimately resulting in lower shrimp weight.

One of the common causes of stress in shrimp farming is high stocking densities. High stocking densities increase the likelihood that the shrimp will experience cuts or skin injuries, which can cause bacterial or pathogenic infections that cause disease. Stress can also be caused by environmental changes such as poor water quality or drastic changes in water temperature and/or salinity.

Characteristics of Stressed Shrimp

Some of the characteristics of stressed shrimp that farmers must pay attention to are:

1. Shrimp movement is sluggish
2. Pale shrimp body color
3. Lack of appetite
4. Decreased growth
5. Molting problem

As you can read above, there are many signs of stress in shrimp and some of them are hard to detect right away. But what's worse, the reason for the signs of stress is hard to pinpoint

How to Overcome Stress Shrimp

Here are ways to deal with stressed shrimp that you can do:

1. Give probiotics to pond water regularly
2. Maintain optimal water quality parameters, such as salinity, temperature, pH, ammonia, and brightness.
3. Maintain the amount of feed given and prevent it overfeeding
4. Do a partial harvest if the shrimp biomass in the plot is too high
5. Provide supplements to maintain the shrimp immune system

It is important to remember that stress can weaken a shrimp's immune system and make it more susceptible to disease. Chronic stress can inhibit the immune response and ability of shrimp to fight disease. Therefore, you must pay attention to the condition of the shrimp pond so that it remains optimal, so that the shrimp avoid stress. 

Diskusi Seputar Udang Stres dengan Ahli Budidaya di eFarm