molting Q

[Conductive]

Is it ok to do a water change and a bit of tank cleaning while my mantis has sealed himself up and is probably moulting? I'm just worried a that the change in water paramenters might affect the process.

 

[justinl]

its ok to do tank maintenance and/or water changes during a molt, just doi your best not to let the params swing too much. like premix and heat up the water to go in. make sure pH and salinity match, etc. i would not do maintenance and water change at the same time.

 

[Gonodactylus]

The animal will be sealed up for one to two weeks and during most of that time, routine maintenance is no problem. However, during the actual molt - +/- a few hours, the animal is very vulnerable to changes in water parameters. The problem is that you don't know when it is actually molting. Therefore, I would not recommend maintenance until after you are sure the molt has occurred.

Roy

 

[Thurge]

While this isn't the greatest time to do water changes for the reasons Dr. Roy pointed out, this is a perfect time to do some other maintanince. This is my favorite time to harvest Hair Algae because I know Squirtle isn't going to hunt my hand like he normally does.

 

[DanInSD]

My peacock is actually scared of my hand, which is a good thing. I can reach in any time. Hopefully this will not change suddenly...

 

[Conductive]

Thanks for all the advice! I think I'll hold off on the water change until i see my mantis roaming around again. I don't think it will be a problem to put it off since I recently upgraded my filtration and the tank looks as though it will stay clean for a while longer. Hurray for good timing!