my 2 shrimps sheded their skin last night

[Joshthenosh]

woke up to find my 2 shrimps had sheded their skins last night , for a split second i thought they where dead, then rembered they did this

question is do i leave the skins in the tank for the crabs to eat, or shall i pull them out?

 

[eckrynock]

You can leave them in, I do beleive it's best to do this anyways. Ingestion of the skeleton by the shrimp itself or other inverts provides necessary proteins to help rebuild their exoskeleton.

 

[Tate]

The shrimp will also hide for a day or two while it's new shell hardens.

 

[Infern0]

I'm not to sure of them eating the skins, but I suppose it's possible.

You should leave them in for at least a week because the shrimp use the skins as decoys for predators (even if there aren't any) while their new skins harden. After that, if there is nothing that actually eats them, feel free to scoop them out.

 

[eckrynock]

There won't be anything left of the molts in a week.

 

[BenH98]

I've heard that they will provide calcium for you tank - but I could be wrong

 

[Joshthenosh]

thank you for your answers

 

[Joshthenosh]

do sheeding skins produce amonia? my test is looking a bit greener than yesterday

 

[The0wn4g3]

I believe shrimp shells, like almost all exoskeletons, are made of calcium. But i could be wrong...
When my desert leopard molts, he if very tired for a day and then he eats his molted skin for the calcium. Not sure if marine shrimp are the same as desert geckos.... but who knows lol.

 

[supertech3]

I have seen the shrimp eat their own skeletons I leave mine be and see no evidence of water parameter changes

 

[piranhaking]

i dont think there would be enough tissue involved to produce a even slightly noticable amount of ammonia. They will eat the exoskeleton, or atleast mine did.

 

[tkeracer619]

lol mine molted last night also. I know what you were thinking as I was thinking the same for a few seconds.

 

[salt newbie01]

What about peppermint shrimp? I have had 2 for a couple months they have molted several times and seem to eat good but I found 1 dead last night. All water parameters are stable. Anyone have any ideas.

 

[RhodeIslandReef]

I've had coral banded for years and I still look for him when I see a skeleton in the tank. LOL

 

[IslandCrow]

It confused the hell out of me the first time one of my skunks shed. The tank lights had just gone out, and as I was looking in the tank, I counted 1, 2, 3 shrimp. . .wait, I only have two shrimp. . .oh, wait, that one's not moving. I can definitely see their shedded skin being used as a decoy. Certainly fooled me.

Anyway, I always take it out of the tank, but that's just because I'd never heard a reason to keep it in. It's all exoskeleton, so it does make sense that it wouldn't have any ill effects.