# Strange molt?



## Atom (Sep 17, 2014)

I got a few new neo shrimp lately and placed them in my 5.5g tank. This tank has had some mysterious deaths surrounding it in the past so it's been torn down and I've since decided to try again, but keep a more watchful eye on how the shrimp do.

I noticed one died 2 days ago. Hard to tell if there were any molting problems involved because its middle section had been eaten by the other shrimp.

Today I've noticed what seems to be a molt in the tank, but It has an orange tint to it. Does this happen often at all? Could it be due to some algae growth on the shell or leftover pigment from the cherry shrimp's shell? There wasn't any opaque/white flesh inside the shell so I don't think it wasn't a death, but I'm not 100% certain.

I'm ok with leaving the shrimp in the tank as long as there aren't anymore deaths and that this isn't a sign of something wrong.

Thanks!


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## Splak (May 1, 2013)

Have you tested your GH and KH? Could be a sign they are quite high/low for what your shrimps need. Are they molting frequently or not often?


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## Atom (Sep 17, 2014)

Thanks for the response.

I just re-tested the water and the GH is 2 (low), KH is 5 (high-ish). I've been trying to fix this by combining different water sources I have (tap, RO, etc), but it's probably easiest to just use a remineralizer as suggested by someone on the forum. 

I haven't been able to get a remineralizer just yet so in the mean time I'm planning to take 10-20% of the water out of the tank every few days and replace it with water with a higher GH and lower KH to see if it evens out. It probably won't work  , but I've at least managed to get my pH down to 7.6 from 8.2 so hopefully I'm making progress in the right direction.

It's hard to tell with the molts because most of the new shrimp have molted simply due to different water parameters. Other than that, the shrimp I've had rarely seem to molt unless I move them from one tank to another.


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## Splak (May 1, 2013)

I'd say it's for sure dude to your GH being so low, KH is high but in a manageable range, neos would be fine. Yeah I suggest getting a mineralizer for sure, I had so many problems till I recently changed to 100% RODI with SaltyShrimp GH/KH+. 

I hope it works out for you, hopefully you have no more losses, good luck!


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## Atom (Sep 17, 2014)

Thanks!

I haven't really had much of a problem with my shrimp in the larger tank; they just never bred.

If the smaller tank shrimp start dying off again then I might just have to keep a smaller amount of shrimp in there because they do fine when that happens.


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