shrimp molting confusion...

[El Langostino]

I know my cleaner shrimp sheds the exoskeleton from time to time and I'll usually see the remains floating around...Today I couldn't find the shrimp and saw him hiding under a rock appearing to be totally lifeless, however, this wasn't just an empty husk of an exoskeleton, it was a a full boodied, thick shrimp. I picked it up and it is motionless...dropped it to the bottom of the tank and it just lies on its side and gently bobs with the current as a dead organsim would. Is this just a dead shrimp or do they go into a frozen like state when re growing the outer shelll?

 

[angelsj247]

ew lol

 

[mcgyver74]

I'm no expert, but it sounds like he went to the great tank in the sky


Of course I couild be wrong, as I said I'm no expert

 

[El Langostino]

Well, I realize this may be a poor question, but I mean, at the risk of sounding uninformed here, I had to ask as I would hate to flush a living creature down the toilet =( In any event I hardy find it a reason to laugh.

 

[El Langostino]

Thanks mcgyver,

~sigh~ Might as well remove it before it fouls up the tank I suppose.

 

[x-sub]

One of my shrimps did that, I left it for a few hours just in case but it was definatly dead. Never new why, it had moulted several times previously without any problems. But my nano tank was quite newly cycled so I put it down to lack of calcium or water quality at the time.