tiny molts??

i wish i could snap a picture of this but i havent had a camera on hand and its probably too small...

i keep noticing every now and then i will find a tiny shedding the size of a BB floating about the tank, all that i can make out is two antenna.

 

pods molt just like shrimp. most likely you are seeing amphipod molts.

 

aaah, that guy must be huge then.

 

amphipods are shrimp

 

Agreed -- I see amphipod molts with antennae on a regular basis, though usually when basting the rocks. They get larger than I first imagined, and I don't know their maximum size, though I'm sure some peeps around here have seen some huge ones. Time for me to do some searching! Biggest in any of my 14g BioCubes was ~0.5-0.75" and living deep in a bundle of chaeto, I only saw it come out once.

As long as I keep resources available in the water for crustaceans to utilize via water changes or supplementation, I always see molts as a good indication and an eventual benefit as it deteriorates.

I think I got left out of a joke.

 

I never knew that. I occasionally see a dead pod floating around my tank. The fish swim up to it quickly but leave it alone. Must've been a molt.