Funny Shrimp Story

California Roll

AC Members
Feb 6, 2008
105
0
0
I recently acquired a Bamboo Shrimp from my LFS. Less than a week later I found the remains of the shrimp floating at the bottom of the tank. The other fish in the tank appeared to have had quite a feast on him since there wasnt much left. I sadly fished out the remains and cursed my luck. This morning I saw some movement at the back of the tank and noticed a long whisker. My shrimp had miraculaously reappeared from the dead. Of course he had molted and I had mistaken his shell for his remains. I didnt realize how complete the shell remained after molting. He also hid all that day so I assumed it was him. I am very happy he is still among the living.
 
Glad he survived. I had a similar reaction the first time one of mine molted. :)
 
lmao!!! you wouldnt believe how many ppl make that mistake..glad hes ok tho..
 
I had read about it and expected that there would be pieces of shrimp shell kind of like a frog. I wasnt expecting a fully intact exoskeleton. I was surprised by how light it was when I fished it out and suspected that it might just be his shell but when he didnt come out for breakfast like he had the days before I figured that the other fish had just done a major number on him after he expired.
 
Have you ever seen a shrimp actually in the process of molting

I have seen my snowball shrimp molt. They pull their body into a very tight "C" shape and then POOF, the moult flies off and they swim away. Its pretty creepy.
 
Have you ever seen a shrimp actually in the process of molting?

Yes I have and it's freaky! I bought 12 ghosties for my boyfriends 20 gallon and a little while after I put them in there I just sat and watched them. Then I noticed one in the corner was acting strange and then all the sudden his skin just popped off and I screamed which is really unusual for me.It looked crazy, then the shrimp proceeded to eat his skin.
 
Boy am I glad I read this post. I'm planning an invert only tank (Mystery Snails and Shrimp). I don't have any shrimp yet, and I am familiar with molting but I had no clue the shrimp actually leave a "shrimp suit" behind. Glad I know about this in advance. :eek:
 
AquariaCentral.com