uh oh? Shrimp over molting?

[Jennai]

Hey guys- my cleaner shrimps have molted twice in the last 7 days- Tank parameters are all good, temp is 78F, polyps are all out and the cleaners are eating- are they just growing really fast?

I didn't know they could molt this quickly- any thoughts?

They eat like crazy- actually swim around to get the food- lemme know- eeeeeeek!!

They are full molts- not coming off in pieces or anything like that- Thanks!!

(there are two in the tank)

Jennai

[Mickadee]

as they eat and grow they will molt along with the right conditions in the tank.
my sally was molting every 3 days for a couple of weeks then he slowed down now its about once a month or less. I dont know why they do this but if its full molts then I wouldnt worry about it to much but thats just me.
Mike

[Geoff]

Originally posted by Jennai
They eat like crazy- actually swim around to get the food- lemme know- eeeeeeek!!

there is your answer. the more they eat the bigger they grow the sooner they need new threads.

you could probably feed the tank less. you do not want to overfeed a tank.

sounds like you are moving right along.

G~

[Jennai]

Well, I feed once a day- whatever can be eaten in 2 minutes- however I do put pellets in for the shrimp-

I don't have tons of nasty skimmate so I don't think I'm over feeding- Also, I'm not having a huge nasty brown algae bloom although with my new lights that may happen- I upped my lights to 4.3 watts per gallon. Will this cause a huge algea bloom?

[Prismaco]

6.4 watts per gallon for me...I just got through the bloom...


-Paul

[CAT]

I don't think twice in one week is a good thing. Takes energy for them to produce a new exoskeleton. I'd guess that they're getting used to your tank parameters if you added them recently. If you dose iodine it will also make them molt because it's a little toxic for them. Hopefully they'll settle down to molting maybe once every 2 or 3 weeks.

Good luck

[Jennai]

Well, I checked my parameters and the water is looking good- I did a 20% water change and am going to do that probably once a week just to keep nitrates in check- I checked my tap water (well water up in the mountains) and the parameters are good- 0 across the board- not even any nitrates- Basically (until I can get the RO/DI unit or whatever it's called) I'm setting water out and letting it sit for 2 days, and then slowly adding it to the tank- everything seems to be fine so far- We'll see

Also- What do shrimp do to procreate? What is their ritual? (Maybe I'll have free fish food soon! lol)

Thanks

Jennai

PS. I haven't added any iodine yet- I want to start adding calcium for the polyps, but havn't found a calcium test kit as of yet. Which do you reccomend and where do I get it? Thanks!!

[CAT]

Hi Jennai, no need to add any iodine, especially if you're doing water changes.

I like Seachem products so I use their test kits. I know alot of people like Salifert, and there are probably other good ones as well. MO is probably the cheapest way to go.

I never saw my cleaners 'court' but the female seemed to have eggs attached every few weeks.

[Prismaco]

Mine just molted last night!!!


-Paul

[Jennai]

Thje very first time I had a shrimp molt (when I had the tank before) it was a coral banded, and I woke up and looked in the tank and had 2! One was moving and one was floating- I thought he had a baby and it grew really fast and died or something! lol

Jennai

[Prismaco]

I thought mine died and got eatn up ...but I found him where he always chills at...


-Paul