molting

[TommyP]

This may be a dumb question so I am sorry in advance. When my peppermint shrimp molts (twice so far) I remove the old skin and toss it out. Now that I have my peppermint acclimated in my 55 gallon tank instead of a smaller 10gallon tank it's going to be harder to see the clear molt and probably even harder to remove it. I am going to be getting another as well as a cleaner shrimp this weekend when I purchase or hopefully adopt a pair of clowns. What should or what do you guys do when your shrimp molt?

 

[nightryder1405]

All shrimps usually leave their exoskeleton in the open as a diversion while their new shell hardens. I leave it in the tank, the CUC usually eats it.

 

[Beengirl]

Most I remove, just cuz I don't like the looks of them. Lol. There have been a couple that I couldn't get to, though. The CUC has taken care of those. It's just a matter of choice, really. There's no right or wrong.

 

[TommyP]

I just wanted to make sure the CUC would take care of it. Is it better to order off reefs2go or just head over to petco and grab some snails and emeral crabs?

 

[Beengirl]

I just wanted to make sure the CUC would take care of it. Is it better to order off reefs2go or just head over to petco and grab some snails and emeral crabs?

I guess that would depend on how many you're getting at once. Personally, I only add 8-10 at a time, and that wouldn't be worth paying shipping. I like to make sure i have enough algae so that a big group of them all at once didn't starve. I also just don't like what's in the pre packaged bundles, so I just go to Petco or other LFS around me. It's probably cheaper to buy the big bundle when they're on sale, though. But I really only use astrea, banded trochus, conch and Nassarius snails. And I prefer scarlet reef hermits, although a couple red-legged ones somehow got mixed in there too. In my daughters tank, there are a few bumble bee snails cuz she thought they were cute. I have a ruby crab, wish I didn't have him now, but don't have the heart to catch him and take him back.

 

[MacDracor]

Going with the "whole ecosystem" approach, I leave the moults in. It's an extra source of calcium for the critters.
Unrelated, why emerald crabs? If you have corals or anemones, I would pass on the emeralds.

 

[TommyP]

Thanks so ill only get 10 snails for now maybe 5 snails 5 hermits?

The reason I said emerald crab was only because I had one in my nano tank and that's the only one I've had. What is another good crab to get?

 

[MacDracor]

The age old reef safe crab question... Short version is that there is no such thing as a 100% reef safe crab. I've even had porcelain crabs attack snails. But they are the safest bet. Small hermits are usually safe as long as well fed.

 

[TommyP]

i had an emerald crab in my 10g tank when i first set it up with 1 turbo snail and two margarita snails and they never bothered eachother. the crab died though like 2-3 months down the line. i am unsure why.

 

[MacDracor]

For every story of an emerald crab behaving itself, there are several of the crab killing things. If you have no corals, might be ok. I just can't stand the little murderous buggers. Lol

 

[Jaketit]

Yea I'm pretty sure an emerald crab beat up my Fox face while it was sleeping. Poor guys tail was all chewed up one morning. He ended up perishing.

 

[Reefpete]

Yea I'm pretty sure an emerald crab beat up my Fox face while it was sleeping. Poor guys tail was all chewed up one morning. He ended up perishing.

Happened to my scopas tang too the emerald ripped his tail in Half those guys are vicious sometimes got rid of the crab problem solved

 

[Beengirl]

For every story of an emerald crab behaving itself, there are several of the crab killing things. If you have no corals, might be ok. I just can't stand the little murderous buggers. Lol

Yep. I'm pretty sure my ruby crab killed my yellow coris wrasse while it slept laying in the sand. Wish I didn't have the ruby.

 

[Nu-Nu the eel]

Yep. I'm pretty sure my ruby crab killed my yellow coris wrasse while it slept laying in the sand. Wish I didn't have the ruby.

A yellow coris wrasse is a pretty large and compared to a crab, very strong. I find it hard to believe that a crab could kill a fish like that quick enough so the fish couldnt escape....

 

[nightryder1405]

Yea. I had an emerald crab kill my flame angel. Needless to say he went back to the lfs.

 

[Nu-Nu the eel]

Yea. I had an emerald crab kill my flame angel. Needless to say he went back to the lfs.

Like i said before, did you watch the crab reach up and kill your fish or did you find the fish dead on the sand bed with a crab on top of it? 2 very differant situations

 

[nightryder1405]

Didnt physically see it. But he was eating well and the only other fish in the tank at the time was a pair of clowns and a wrasse.

 

[TommyP]

Looks like I'm going to skip on a crab and stick to some hermits. Is there a beneficial difference between blue or red leg?

 

[Nu-Nu the eel]

Didnt physically see it. But he was eating well and the only other fish in the tank at the time was a pair of clowns and a wrasse.

How do you know it didnt get framed? The clowns could have killed it, or it could have just died. You never know

 

[Beengirl]

A yellow coris wrasse is a pretty large and compared to a crab, very strong. I find it hard to believe that a crab could kill a fish like that quick enough so the fish couldnt escape....

It was a very small coris wrasse. The crab is not small. And the fish slept on the sand. Believe it or not.