Dead peppermint?

[Hely'sreef1]

So I found a peppermint shrimp skeleton complete with legs and antennae this morning. Did it just shred or did it die? Feeling pretty bad right now. My tank isn't very old, they came from my last tank....

 

[Texas Reefer]

The shed can look completely like the whole animal! The shrimp may hide for a day or two after molting. Can be very stressful!

 

[spiraling]

The shed can look completely like the whole animal! The shrimp may hide for a day or two after molting. Can be very stressful!

+1 probably just a molt

 

[tdileo]

My fire shrimp molted for the first time the other day and the shed also had legs and antennae. Don't worry

 

[Hely'sreef1]

Ok thanks! So should I take the shed out?

 

[Texas Reefer]

Ok thanks! So should I take the shed out?

I usually don't. Things eat it, and if it just decomposes it may add calcium back to your tank. How big is your tank? Would it upset the bioload?
And they disintegrate within a couple days.

 

[Hely'sreef1]

It's 80 gallon lightly stocked but relatively new. Just finished transferring my fish and corals from my 30 9 days ago....

 

[Robg719]

My coral banded shrimp molts every month like clockwork. The shed looks exactly like the shrimp, and every month I have a few second panic that it died.
Perfectly natural (and necessary)

 

[n21benson]

Ok thanks! So should I take the shed out?

If the bioload is OK, I would leave it in.

 

[Somuchflo99]

Molted for sure