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Help Shrimp Can't Molt!

frothhelmet

frothhelmet

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Joined
1 Mar 2010
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443
Location
USA / London
Ok so I have 2 pretty rare and expensive Macrobrachium Kulsiense, and one them has been trying to molt for over 36 hours, and is still half-in and half-out of its carapace (mostly in). It's face is covered by the carapace, and I am pretty sure it can't feed properly like this. I highly doubt this is normal since I have never even seen a shrimp molting before, let alone for a day and a half. Is there anything I can do to help it? Or will I just have to hope things get better?
 
I wouldn’t know what to suggest, a moult should take seconds, they usually take a minute or so from start to finish, dwarf shrimp and large amanos do it this way, large fan shrimp can take up to two minutes. To moult properly the old shell should be separated from the body before the actual moult so that it is easy to get out. If the old shell looks like it is not stuck to the shrimp I might try giving the front part a tiny tug with a planting tweezers, that is if you can see the separated shell on the antennae, it may be better to leave it, I wouldn’t have too much hope for the shrimp either way. Too bad they are cool looking shrimp.
Peter
 
i would say this problem is a symptom of something else.... I have up with shrimp :(
 
Gerard, send a PM to the sponsors freshwatershrimp and they may be able to help you. Have you checked the tank temp against what the shrimp would be used to normally ? I did read somewhere about temp affecting the moult and upping it a degree or two if there are difficulties I seem to recall, but beyond that I cannot remember a lot about it. It would have been in the husbandry section on one of the shrimp forums, but again I cannot recall where. Sorry to be so vague. Also, you could call Darren at Living Waters.. he's pretty hot on his knowledge in this area. Good luck.
 
Thanks for all the suggestions. Interestingly, the half molt eventually seem to slough off, and now the shrimp seems fine, but it took many many days. Really strange.
 
Little updae. Interestingly the shrimp was fine carrying his carapace around for a week or so. Then he just appeared normal. So even though he had a hard time molting, still alive. Whew. Water was quite hard gh around 8.
 
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