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How often should cleaner shrimp molt?


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I got mine on 12/27, he molted the next day on 12/28, and just molted again today on 1/8, 11 days later. I've heard it's normal for molting to occur about 3 to 4 weeks apart. Is this right or what is normal? If this isn't normal then what can I do to stabilize his molting??

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supreme_spork

i'm going to give you the blunt response, but it's not a flame it's simply the truth: your tank is a complete mess, it's only a few weeks old and its filled with fish (including a tang in your 20g) -- your shrimp is molting from stress. they frequently molt when transported to a new tank, and if the chemistry isn't stable (and yours most certainly is not) they will continue to molt frequently (and likely die).

 

if you want to do the right thing, you'll remove everything from your tank (keep your snails and one small non-tang fish if you must), let the tank mature for another few weeks, and then read and ask for advice before doing anything else.

 

to quote from your earlier post:

 

"I've had a saltwater tank for a few weeks now, cycled, tested with damsels, levels checked etc.

 

Yesterday I added a small blue regal tang into the tank with it's other tankmates (clown, yellow tang, firefish, cardinal, cleaner shrimp). It seems to be doing fine, except that occasionally it repeatedly scrapes it's side against a rock over and over for a few minutes. I don't see any white spots are other markings on it the suggest a sickly symptom. I'm new to this so I don't know if this behavior is normal for this fish or if it's a sign of ICH or some other sickness. Any thoughts?"

 

this tank is 100% doomed if you don't take dramatic action and learn the basics of reef keeping.

Edited by supreme_spork
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i'm going to give you the blunt response, but it's not a flame it's simply the truth: your tank is a complete mess, it's only a few weeks old and its filled with fish (including a tang in your 20g) -- your shrimp is molting from stress. they frequently molt when transported to a new tank, and if the chemistry isn't stable (and yours most certainly is not) they will continue to molt frequently (and likely die).

 

if you want to do the right thing, you'll remove everything from your tank (keep your snails and one small non-tang fish if you must), let the tank mature for another few weeks, and then read and ask for advice before doing anything else.

 

to quote from your earlier post:

 

"I've had a saltwater tank for a few weeks now, cycled, tested with damsels, levels checked etc.

 

Yesterday I added a small blue regal tang into the tank with it's other tankmates (clown, yellow tang, firefish, cardinal, cleaner shrimp). It seems to be doing fine, except that occasionally it repeatedly scrapes it's side against a rock over and over for a few minutes. I don't see any white spots are other markings on it the suggest a sickly symptom. I'm new to this so I don't know if this behavior is normal for this fish or if it's a sign of ICH or some other sickness. Any thoughts?"

 

this tank is 100% doomed if you don't take dramatic action and learn the basics of reef keeping.

 

I've laid off until now, but this is absolutely ridiculous. You don't know ANYTHING about my tank except for the very little I've chosen to share on this forum. To judge and act so pretentious so quickly with so little information is the wrong way to go here. You don't know the half of the care I've put into my FISH, not REEF aquarium to date. And with all those words, you still couldn't seem to answer the basic question I inquired about in the first place, normal shrimp molting cycles. Don't bother answering though because I would never take any advice from someone like you. I don't even know if you have a tank or know the first thing about tanks. I've only seen you judge...

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supreme_spork
I've laid off until now, but this is absolutely ridiculous. You don't know ANYTHING about my tank except for the very little I've chosen to share on this forum. To judge and act so pretentious so quickly with so little information is the wrong way to go here. You don't know the half of the care I've put into my FISH, not REEF aquarium to date. And with all those words, you still couldn't seem to answer the basic question I inquired about in the first place, normal shrimp molting cycles. Don't bother answering though because I would never take any advice from someone like you. I don't even know if you have a tank or know the first thing about tanks. I've only seen you judge...

 

 

i answered your asinine question, reeftard: YOUR SHRIMP IS MOLTING FROM STRESS. your tank is a few weeks old AND YOU THREW 2 TANGS AND 2 OTHER FISH IN A 20 GALLON.

 

i am SO done with losers like you who kill sh** just for your own pleasure and then get self-righteous when someone tells you to slow the f*** down.

 

do us all a favor and tear down your tank, get out of the hobby and never attempt to keep fish again.

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i answered your asinine question, reeftard: YOUR SHRIMP IS MOLTING FROM STRESS. your tank is a few weeks old AND YOU THREW 2 TANGS AND 2 OTHER FISH IN A 20 GALLON.

 

i am SO done with losers like you who kill sh** just for your own pleasure and then get self-righteous when someone tells you to slow the f*** down.

 

do us all a favor and tear down your tank, get out of the hobby and never attempt to keep fish again.

 

you're funny.

 

and I'm guessing you really don't know just how often a cleaner shrimp is supposed to molt.

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supreme_spork
you're funny.

 

and I'm guessing you really don't know just how often a cleaner shrimp is supposed to molt.

 

 

JESUS REEFTARD, LOOK IT UP ON GOOGLE IT WILL TAKE 5 SECONDS.

 

if it's a small (read: young) cleaner shrimp it will molt more frequently, although the frequency you're seeing (a day after introduction and again 11 days later) is undoubtedly due to your very young tank and the high bioload you have in there screwing with your water chemistry.

Edited by supreme_spork
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JESUS REEFTARD, LOOK IT UP ON GOOGLE IT WILL TAKE 5 SECONDS.

 

if it's a small (read: young) cleaner shrimp it will molt more frequently, although the frequency you're seeing is undoubtedly due to your very young tank and the high bioload you have.

 

name-calling, huh? nice.

 

'undoubtedly'? wow, so damn pretentious and assuming. So you are so experienced that you don't even need to ask about other details of my tank before making your Dr. House Fish-M.D. diagnosis?? You really are that sure huh? No other info needed? Hmmm, so glad I don't take you seriously, otherwise my fish could be in REAL trouble.

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If it helps any I think your and uneducated idiot as well. That being said: Yes that is excessive molting, Yes it is stressed, Yes you have a high bioload and yes your tank is doomed. HTH

 

Poor, poor fishes. -_-

-pinner

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supreme_spork
name-calling, huh? nice.

 

'undoubtedly'? wow, so damn pretentious and assuming. So you are so experienced that you don't even need to ask about other details of my tank before making your Dr. House Fish-M.D. diagnosis?? You really are that sure huh? No other info needed? Hmmm, so glad I don't take you seriously, otherwise my fish could be in REAL trouble.

 

you're the worst kind of reeftard, and yes i'm calling you names because you totally deserve it, having shown not a single ounce of common sense or compassion for your fish. you're obviously not interested in doing the right thing, so i'm now done with you and will wish you and your fish the best of luck.

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you're the worst kind of reeftard, and yes i'm calling you names because you totally deserve it, having shown not a single ounce of common sense or compassion for your fish. you're obviously not interested in doing the right thing, so i'm now done with you and will wish you and your fish the best of luck.

 

'reeftard' ---- how many times have you used that one before? I'm so done with this forum. I'm 0/2 now in legitimate advice I've seeked here, in trying to gather as much info from as many sources to do the right thing. This is the ONLY forum/place where I've encountered people more interested in tearing someone down, then actually helping and educating in a positive way. Other forums and people I've talked to have been very helpful, even when suggesting that I may have made a mistake and always very polite in asking questions and getting more info from me before giving their opinion. Some people here are only interested in making themselves feel better about their own tanks by looking for new tank owners who just might not know what they are doing, just so they can tell them so. Well, that's it for me and this forum.

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supreme_spork

so all of the polite responses to your other question about your tang's health issues -- you know, the people who very gently and very politely suggested you remove the tangs from your tank, with you thanking them for being so kind -- weren't legitimate advice? because they didn't tell you what you wanted to hear?

 

"reeftard" is the nano-reef.com approved name for people like you, btw. i didn't coin that term.

 

please yes, be done with this forum. forever. you suck, and you're wasting people's time.

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HeyLookItsCaps

supreme_spork is right. shame on you for keeping all those fish and other live animals in a few week old tank.

 

have you even had a diatom bloom? waited 2 weeks after it bloomed before introducing a CUC? do you know what a diatom bloom is? and i feel sorry for that poor damsel you put thru your tanks holocaust

 

edit: my cleaner shrimp molts every 1-2 months. that is normal.

Edited by HeyLookItsCaps
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Edit:

 

Sorry I just found your other thread: Two peices of advice REASEARCH and LISTEN TO WHAT EXPERIENCE HAS TAUGHT THOSE HAVE ALREADY MADE THE MISTAKES YOUR MAKING!!!!!!!!

 

Good bye, good riddance.

 

-pinner

Edited by Pinner Reef
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hmm... this big discussion of when to add livestock has gotten me worried. I just started a new tank.. biocube 14 everything stock. I made the water the right conditions and then i got some live rock and live sand. I was told that the live rock is fully cured and that my new tank will not go through a cycling period and that i could add invertebrates right away. I havent added anything yet though because i wanted to wait and test the water (part of the reason i got into the hobby was because i find water chemistry interesting) anyways... why im worried now is there are some people telling me that i can add inverts right away and if this is false... what else could they be telling me thats erronous?

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HeyLookItsCaps

well your always gonna have a cycle. if the rock was ever out of water it had some "die off". which diatoms will bloom from the dead stuff ont he rock. at which point you should add a CUC. i added my CUC right away when i was a noob and i had about a 50/50 death/life rate. wish i wouldve waited till my whole tank was brown and nasty like everyone told me to. its when you starta dding fish, coral, and CUC right away that BIG problems occur

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they packaged the rock and i got it home and added it into the tank within an hour..i then added live sand right after. if the rock was "fully cured" then how long do you think before i start seeing diatomes?

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supreme_spork
hmm... this big discussion of when to add livestock has gotten me worried. I just started a new tank.. biocube 14 everything stock. I made the water the right conditions and then i got some live rock and live sand. I was told that the live rock is fully cured and that my new tank will not go through a cycling period and that i could add invertebrates right away. I havent added anything yet though because i wanted to wait and test the water (part of the reason i got into the hobby was because i find water chemistry interesting) anyways... why im worried now is there are some people telling me that i can add inverts right away and if this is false... what else could they be telling me thats erronous?

 

skp, many people who work at LFS's don't mean to steer you in the wrong direction, they just don't have a ton of direct experience and so don't really understand the things they've learned second-hand.

 

all things being equal, if you start a tank with fully-cured rock you'll have much *less* of a cycle than if you start with uncured rock -- uncured rock has lots of stuff that will die and decay and cause a large ammonia spike, whereas cured rock will have less stuff that dies and decays and will cause a smaller ammonia spike... the smaller ammonia spike the quicker bacterial populations can rise to meet the demand and break it down to nitrite and then nitrate.

 

the thing is that die-off on your rock can be triggered by lots of things, including temperature changes when you move the rock from the store to your tank, differences in water chemistry, exposure to air, the introduction of new live sand, etc... so you almost always have at least some degree of cycle when you set-up a new tank. plus, it's always just good husbandry to wait a few weeks to let everything settle-in, to let the bacterial populations stabilize and to give your tiny little critters the chance to multiply and establish a bit before they start getting eaten by other stuff. basically, you want to give your tank a few weeks to establish its full ecosystem, which means more than just testing a few levels.

Edited by supreme_spork
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HeyLookItsCaps

i had fully cured live rock that NEVER left water except from my 20 gal bucket to the display. were talking 20 secodns per piece. and i STILL had a bloom. guarantee not as bad as most, and your probably in the same position. but there will be a lil cycle trust me

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doctorhannibal

I'm also new to this reef hobby but veteran on a FW tank, IMO not only the nitrogen cycle is the matter of waiting, though the ammonia, nitrite, nitrate has gone to zero within a week... we still have to wait a couple more weeks for the nitrifying bacterias, pods, worms etc to multiply or TANK MATURITY. Those are very beneficial to all livestocks (fish, cuc, corals etc), that will create a good food chain cycle in your tank (different from nitrogen-cycle), so that your tank will not starve.

 

If Ammonia, NO2, NO3 (nitrogen cycle) has gone to zero within a week then you put fishes, corals etc in that tank... yes they will survive but only couple of days/week due to limited food.

 

I'll give you a clearer example.... If you were thrown in Island to live there forever. Which Island would you choose?

1st Island has virgin forest with 2 virgin hot ladies waiting for you & plenty of animals (unlimited food) :lol: or

2nd Island is crowded with people, few trees & animals.

 

As a friendly advice, If I were you.. hear the pro reefers advice, just ignore them If they answered your questions impolitely and ask them what is their best advice.

 

CHEERS!! ;)

Edited by doctorhannibal
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should i use normal lighting times while waiting for the tank to mature? what about water changes...? and does more oxygen by adding air stone help? thanks again for the info

Edited by skp
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supreme_spork
should i use normal lighting times while waiting for the tank to mature?

 

there are different schools of thought on this -- some people recommend no lighting to keep unwanted algae from getting out of control during the cycle, some people recommend a nearly full photoperiod to help keep as many photosynthetic creatures alive as possible during the cycle, and some people recommend a reduced photoperiod to help keep photosynthetic creatures alive but to reduce the chances of triggering a really nasty algae outbreak. i usually go for the middle-ground.

 

since you have cured rock and hopefully won't go through a super-toxic cycle, i'd suggest a reduced photoperiod while you're cycling instead of keeping everything totally dark... 6 hours is a good middle ground, but by all means read some of the beginners guides (including the guides here http://www.nano-reef.com/articles/) and get a diversity of views. as you learn more about the cycle you can figure out which approach is best for you.

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HeyLookItsCaps

i used a normal photoperiod. ive heardd of black out cycles full light cycles. i say just stick with a normal cycle

 

6 hours sounds good to me as well.....

Edited by HeyLookItsCaps
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i spent countless hours of research on the web and ive read different oppinions and reasonings.. but i guess some info is outdated and its better to ask someone whos "done it"

 

thanks again everyone

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doctorhannibal

A pro reefer advice me that normal lighting is fine, 4-6hours photoperiod per day to slow the growth of nasty algaes like any other plants, they rely on light to feed (photosythesis). Since you dont have yet corals or any livestocks that depends on light to survive, light is not much needed.

 

On water changes, you dont have to until your tank completed the cycle.

 

My 12g tank is now on 2nd week of cycle.. ammonia, nitrate dropped to zero on the 5th day and now even nitrite is now zero. But I want the pods & worms to increase their number, they will be the future live foods for my fishes & corals. Most of the reefers, waiting is the most boring part of this hobby.. but for me, I enjoy watching the tiny creatures in my tank like worms, pods, hitchhiker snails, shrimp, crabs etc and I do research what are they and if they are safe to keep.

 

And dont hesitate to ask question, you will see a lot of very helpful people here in the thread though some people are nuts hehehe.. just ignore them they are just forumtard :lol: All of us started from being a noob.. :)

 

Goodluck to both of us!! :happy:

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