When to remove the "MOLT"?

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Nadia0201

New Member
Ok - my crab is either dead or molted. His body/molt is lying in a crevice that I would have to dismantle part of my rocks to get to . . . should I remove it now or wait for my 2 shrimp to eat it?

I have my fingers crossed that it's a molt since he seemed really healthy yesterday and the "body" doesn't have the pom pom's on it (that I can see). Can I just leave it in the tank if it's a molt (and have the shrimp, etc. deal with it)?
 
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Nadia0201

New Member
YEAH! :lol3: My crab is not dead!! I finally found the dang thing . . . so the molt is what is laying in the crevice.

Do I have to remove the molt or can I let my tank take care of it??


Thanks!
 
djconn

djconn

New Member
Yeah, either way. I usually just leave the molts in my tank but not really sure what the real rule is. Just seemed like a more natural thing to do. :)
 
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TWINYTWIN

New Member
Ok I have the same thing going on. I found what looks like a dead crab but I dont know if its the molt. When a crab has motled does it molt the claw as well.

Thank You
 
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sadielynn

New Member
Yep they will look exactly the same as the crab or shrimp it is a defence mechanism (SP) as they are very vulnerable at that time and could be killed since their new shell hasn't hardened yet just wait you are likely to see the "dead" or "missing" crab/shrimp in a few days.
 
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Abarnswell

New Member
Every time my cleaner shrimp molts, I see his "skin" in the morning and automatically think, "OH NO! He died." And then I see that the skin is see-through and realize it's a molt. I always take the molt skin out because 1) it looks creepy, and 2) I'm afraid it will foul up the water. But mostly because it just looks creepy, like a corpse or something. Yuck!
 
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sadielynn

New Member
Naw dont think , so just easier to do I generally remove mine if it is where I can readly get to it but if not just let it go
 
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dragon79

New Member
Abarnswell said:
Why leave it in? Is it a food source for something?
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the molts become real brittle and start breaking up. Some things in there may tear at it and eat some parts, but as I've seen it, I just see the molt one day, then the next day it's almost gone. As for crabs, with their shells, it' just breaks all apart, and gets crushed into smaller pieces and mixes with the sand.

I've seen no ill effects, as I feel that's just nature doing it's thing.
 
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