Shrimp Owners: Do you dose any supplements to aid in molting?

Just curious if anyone doses Iodone/Iodide, solely for this purpose. Also, which salt mix do you use?

Being somewhat of purist (nobody doses the ocean), I want to stay away from supplements if I can. Therefore, I just switched to a different reef salt with elevated levels of calcium, magnesium, and strontium....hoping it will be enough to keep future shrimp living longer than my last shrimp.

Thanks in advance

 

No. Reef Crystals.

 

Instant Ocean I assume? What type of shrimp and how long have you had them?

 

I use Oceanic and I have a cleaner shrimp. Never dosed for molting.

 

I'm asking because I recently had a Peppermint die after molting. I have not recovered the body but haven't seen him in almost a week and I know his hiding spots.

 

I have a peppermint shrimp in the sump, since it was stealing food from my dendro. I dose Calcium, magnesium and alkalinity. No problems with him.

The only time I had shrimp die, was when my alkalinity went super high, due to pH buffer overdose.

Never again after that episode.

 

I keep a cleaner and harlequin shrimp currently, dose ALK/CA/MG, had a coral banded also in the past. Never had any issues with any of the shrimps and dosing those additives. If anything, my shrimp grow extremely fast and molt constantly.

 

Yeah I'm thinking that maybe he didn't like where my nitrates were sitting. I just did a WC yesterday but maybe it was a week too late for the little guy

When the end of a Peppermint's tail turns dark, does that signify illness? I noticed this a day or two before the molt that apparently killed him.

 

I know with mantis it can be difficult for them to molt. But for the smaller cleaner shrimp and peps etc. I think its less of an issue. I have had mine for a year and had no issues with molts.

 

Yeah I'm starting to think the molt was a result of stress from high nitrates.....and death was due to high nitrates as opposed to a bad molt being the cause of death. I learned my lesson. Don't ever be a week late performing a WC (3 weeks lapsed).