Mr. F Posted February 26, 2016 Report Share Posted February 26, 2016 Tonight I was watching my blue rilis during feeding and noticed a fem looking like she was gonna molt, and very soon. Well, about 2.5 seconds later, she did! So cool to watch. But then I noticed her head and carapace as well as most of her legs free from the molt, but the back half of her abdomen, tail, and maybe the final 2-3 pleopods were still not free of the molt. Having witnessed molts before, most of which were rapid, it seemed to me that she was struggling. Not sure how to help, I gently grabbed the end of the molt farthest from her with forceps and held on. She tugged a little and seemed to free herself a bit more, but still not all the way. I was afraid of doing more harm then good, so I stopped and watched. She tried 5 or 6 more times to pop herself out, each time I was unable to tell if it was actually working or if it was my optimism. She was very mobile when I last saw her, and probably about 80% molted (only her last couple swimmerettes and tail still trapped) before she crawled away over some driftwood/moss and hid. I was wondering if I should be concerned? Can I do anything more? My GH and TDS are fine and all other shrimps are molting fine. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DETAquarium Posted February 26, 2016 Report Share Posted February 26, 2016 Mr. F I actually noticed something similar in my Red Taiwan Bee tank. A shrimp molted entire shell except the top of the carapace. I wouldn't recommend helping the shrimp as you may peel off to premature to the shrimp being ready. If all your shrimp are molting, water parameters in check, then the shrimp will be fine. It will eventually fall off. Do you feed any mineral based foods? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. F Posted February 27, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2016 Mr. F I actually noticed something similar in my Red Taiwan Bee tank. A shrimp molted entire shell except the top of the carapace. I wouldn't recommend helping the shrimp as you may peel off to premature to the shrimp being ready. If all your shrimp are molting, water parameters in check, then the shrimp will be fine. It will eventually fall off. Do you feed any mineral based foods? The shrimp is still not fully molted, but she's moved around a bit and is grazing. I also added some minerals to the water column. I use food with a bit of minerals regularly, but I should probably add a mineral based supplemental food. Any suggestions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. F Posted February 27, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2016 The top part of her abdomen still hasn't gone either. (Sorry, poor quality iPhone zoomed picture) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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