one of my shrimp have molted

wow i wake up this morning and the feeler mantle from one of my shrimp is just floating around in the current.. the shrimp hanging upside down watching it and sometimes chasing it around the tank ...lol (they are great to watch)

I did a quick bit of research and found that calcium and iodine are important for these critters to reproduce their shell (my ca = 480ppms )

Is there anything else i should know ???


Cheeers
matt

 

If its molting, you're pretty much doing the right thing!

Congrats!

 

easy on that calcium my friend... anything over 425 ppm is truly not necessary and moreover handicaps your ability in closed aquarium systems to easily maintain a high alkalinity which is commonly neglected, necessary for high pH (many benefits over 8.3) and better for calcification (and molting )

 

ive always had out there levels of calcuim , i do use kent marine buffer when the alk is low and i have had a constant ph of 8.3 for ages

cheers

 

Iodine is the key component to the successful molt of inverts!
AnthonyCalfo hit the nail on the head and took the words right out of my mouth!! If you have a higher than normal calcium level, other problems will ultimately result. High calcium levels will cause you alkalinity level to plummet and vice versa! Then you will have problems with ph and too much calcium above the saturation point will cause a precipitation of calcium carbonate to adhere to pumps, powerheads, and substrate(different from that of biofilm which you can tell by placing some in bleach-if the hardenedmaterial breaks down it is the biofilm and NOT an abundance of calcium carbonate deposits adherring this causing your gravel to solidify and fuse together!!!

 

crikeys , so thats what high calcium does .

i just looked through all my supplements and everyone of them has, or something to do with calcium .including marine buffer (still a newbie to this supplement thing) i havent added it only put a bit of trace element in my 10% weekly water change once a month , so every 3 weeks i dose kent essential element..

(this all came about with the bta troubles(dosing trace elements ) ive had in the past im now building a canopy to extend my tank vertically so i can put some mh lights on the tank) im always fighting hair algae on my rocks . anything to do with what were talking about here?

its quite bizzare really because ca is always the high reading everytime .

 

Your hair algae(microalgae) problem is a result of too many nutrients in your pelagic area of your tank! Phosphates, DOM etc. all play a part in the growth of your algae as well as lighting.
You might want to start a refugium and place Macroalgae in their to combat the less desireable micro outbreak, as Macroalgae will compete with the same nutrients that microalgae requires!

 

okay a refugium .. do you remember the post that your brother in law posted during mid last week on what sort of skimmer he should go for ? and i posted in the thread of the hang on skimmer/fuge for a nano style cube..

anyways that has a fuge on it and it has this silly sponge wheel inside do you think that i could grow some macro in there or should i get a new skimmer say a prisim and setup a spare 65ltr tank that i have in the shed and turn that into a fuge ?

 

I would go the second route!!! The amount of space in the nano skimmer will not enable you the proper set-up and functionality IMO, to have a good representation and have the best desired results!

 

Im taking your word for it ..as its been on my mind for a while that the refuguim is the best idea .... looks like its time to read some 3reef artcles on this subject .... cheers cr +1