Coral Banded Shrimp - Molting

[UncleMike]

Hi,

I have a Coral Banded Shrimp in my 36gal front bow. I did a water change over the weekend. It just so happened the water change coincided with a full moon. This morning I woke up to discover he had molted.

I was nervous at first because all I saw was a claw laying on the substrate. I then found the exoskeleton along with the other claw (attached) laying in-between some live rock.

I was just curious on people's opinions as to whether the molting took place due to the water change or due to the full moon, or both?

Also, should I leave the exoskeleton in the tank or remove it? I have read that the shrimp as well as the hermit crabs will benefit from consuming the exoskeleton, however I didn't want it to spike the levels in my tank.

 

[BILBO913]

mine molted 2 nights ago so it might have something to do with the moon.but never gave it much thought. i leave the skeleton in the tank, i see my hermits picking at it, so i figure it isnt hurting anything

 

[mqur1963]

i always see it in my both 150 and 90 gal but did not know about full mone or water change

 

[KathyC]

It could have been due to those things or even the iodine in the salt..and yes, you can leave it in the tank, it won't foul your parameters and will be gone in short order

 

[SnarfCat]

i would go with the iodine in the salt from the water change