Question about a cleaner shrimp

[SRT80]

Do these shed or molt or whatever the term is? I was looking in the tank just now and see a top half of a shrimp. It looks clear, but has all antennas and legs on, just the upper body. and you an tell where there is 2 stripes. At fist I thought my cleaner had died last night then I seen him and got all excited and was like, my peppermint never died, but it definatley looks like the cleaner shrimp molted or whatever. Do I need to remove this?

Thanks,
Steve

[EvilMel]

Yeah they molt. You can remove it or not. I usually do because it looks so wierd.

[SRT80]

ok, thanks for the info...

Steve

[kev-dog1]

It's freaky isn't it?
I'd like to be a fly on the wall, or maybe a snail on the glass :), when they molt. It's amazing how it comes off like a taking off a shirt...totally intact.

I usually leave it in the tank...the clean-up crew will take care of it usually in about 24 hours.

[RCS]

I leave mine in the tank as well; good source of Ca for them!

[SRT80]

well, I took it out. Next time, I'll just leave it in. It was freaky. When I didnt see the shrimp...I thought it died.

Steve

[Angela Short]

My sally lightfoot would take its shell off so perfectly intack you would swear it had died. Actually as a newbie I thought it had died and later saw it walking around and honestly thought I got a freebie on some live rock that was in the tank I got the crab and rock from. I almost called the store to tell them the mistake and that I had gotten 2 crabs by accident then it hit me what had happened.

[theop]

Mine molts every 3-4 weeks.

I didn't think about leaving the shell in the tank - I'll try that next time.

My hermits have fooled my twice making me think one was dead, when it was only a molt. They are easy to count since I only have 4 in the tank.

[SRT80]

When I seen it, then seen my cleaner.....I was like whoa, why have you been hiding all this time (because it was moving from the current) Then I could tell it was the remains from the cleaners shed.

Steve

[strelcevina]

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