What to do when shrimps molt

[1knight164]

When shrimps molt, what do you do with their...skins?...shells?...whatever you call it? Do you just leave it in the tank, or should you remove it? :notsure: My CBS molted in one big piece. When I saw it stuck in the CLS intake, I thought my CBS had kicked the bucket.

 

[bkh_sd]

Yeah in water with plenty of nutrients they molt about every 2 weeks... at least mine did. I usually remove it, however if its in a spot that I can't get to my inverts usually eat it up really quick... I never noticed a water quality change, like when a fish dies...

 

[ninjamini]

The molt can be misleading. I had a hermit molt just last week and I was fooled. Heck I almost pulled out the shell. I usually remove them. No need to leave decaying matter there. Its not like a snake that is attached to the molt. Heck on a reef they would walk away and not return.
If you do decide to leave it your hermits and worms will take care of it.

 

[miaheatlvr]

Originally Posted by 1knight164
When shrimps molt, what do you do with their...skins?...shells?...whatever you call it? Do you just leave it in the tank, or should you remove it? :notsure: My CBS molted in one big piece. When I saw it stuck in the CLS intake, I thought my CBS had kicked the bucket.
I leave mine in,, EVEN the lobster one, it disapears in a few days and no spike in water quality.

 

[psusocr1]

i leave all of mine in,, someone always eats them

 

[rbrockm1]

yeah i leave mine in too. food for crabs and whatever else. water is always fine

 

[1knight164]

Okay. I guess no harm no foul to leave them in. Just wasn't sure if they would actually get eaten or just fall apart and decay. I would think it would be like an "animal bone", not very edible nor tastey. Thanks everyone!

 

[30-xtra high]

lol, my cbs hangs upside down from a certain piece of liverock, and i came in to see his first molt a week ago, and his shell/skin was sitting on the ground upside down, i was so freaked out, i thought he died to, but then i saw his antena come out from behind another piece of liverock., and i just had ich, so i removed his skin cuz there were no fish to eat his shell/skin

 

[doglvr]

I've seen 2 molts from my Peppermints & both times, watched the bristle worms take them back into the rock before I could get the net out.

 

[bonebrake]

I usually try to take mine out since I don't have a protein skimmer; a molt is nearly all protein. When they are in areas I can't reach or if they disintegrate when I try to pull it out I just leave them in there. The clean-up crew takes care of them.
:joy:

 

[1knight164]

Originally Posted by 30-xtra high
lol, my cbs hangs upside down from a certain piece of liverock, and i came in to see his first molt a week ago, and his shell/skin was sitting on the ground upside down, i was so freaked out, i thought he died to, but then i saw his antena come out from behind another piece of liverock., and i just had ich, so i removed his skin cuz there were no fish to eat his shell/skin

LOL. So you know what i'm talking about. Man, it's hard to explain that feeling to see those lifeless arms and claws flailing in the current. Same thing, I was relieved when I saw those huge antennas coming our from the LR. The cleaners molt in pieces, but the CBS seem to unzip and walk out of theirs.

 

[1knight164]

Originally Posted by Bonebrake
I usually try to take mine out since I don't have a protein skimmer; a molt is nearly all protein. When they are in areas I can't reach or if they disintegrate when I try to pull it out I just leave them in there. The clean-up crew takes care of them.
:joy:
I think i'll take out what I can and leave the rest of the smaller stuff. Not very appealing seeing body parts all over the place!

 

[samiam4663]

I actually bought another emerald crab 'cause I thought mine died... then two months later, we thought the one we had bought died. A few weeks after I had sworn off emerald crabs, we saw one crawling around the tank!

No idea where it had been hiding the whole time, but hey... who's complaining right?

 

[stephish]

:notsure: my shrimp is going to lose it's shell? not to sound completely stupid but does it hide until another one grows? does it walk around

[hr]
?

 

[ninjamini]

It grows another shell under the hard one. When it drops the old shell the new one is soft and the shrimp goes into hiding.

 

[reefkprz]

I have pictures of my serpenbt star eating half a cleaner shed it was so cool to watch