Help, Questions about bamboo shrimp

[DrMandM]

I just have a couple of questions about these guys i couldn't really find what i was looking for online, so any answer to help rest my mind is greatly appreciated.
Yesterday i added one of these guys in a 20G long blue pearl shrimp tank with the only fish being ottos. Ever since its been hiding in a large hollow cholla log that all the blue pearl shrimplets would occupy. My first question is when they molt is it best to remove the shell or leave it in? Would it be best to try to get him out of the log? Would he have any effect on the population growth towards all the baby pearls? I feel like he might be trying to catch the really tiny ones in the log. Does he belong in this tank or is it not suitable? I also heard they are filter feeders, i have a sponge filter powered by a whisper 40 air pump, is that the outlet hes suppose to be feeding from?
Thanks guys

 

[jcolon]

Bamboo shrimp are harmless to other tank inhabitants. They are strictly filter feeders.
Hiding in the log could be it adjusting to it's new home for now. If you see it sifting the bottom of the log / substrate, it's looking for food. As filter feeders, bamboo shrimp will eventually actively search out for water flow which carry the microbes / organisms they feed on. It may be in the process of molting and when it does, do not remove the molt as it's a source of lost nutrients. Give it another day or two, it should move about the tank searching for a water current.

Sponge filters by themselves may not be the best for bamboo shrimp unless you have a current washing over it an into the tank like from a powerhead. HOB and or canister filters are good filters for Bamboo ... they'll eventually try and perch themselves close to the output.

 

[DrMandM]

Ok thanks for all the info! So ill leave the molt in but after a certain amount of time can i take it out when if i clean the tank? Or does it like dissolve?

 

[jcolon]

Ok thanks for all the info! So ill leave the molt in but after a certain amount of time can i take it out when if i clean the tank? Or does it like dissolve?

Funny enough ... not sure if molts completely dissolves or not, but I'd guess eventually they do. In my shrimp tank, molts last a day at most ... besides, the other shrimp in your tank will almost certainly also eat the molt.