I got seriously scared today.

deaniscool · Jan 4, 2017

Reposting my story from reddit:

So I wake up today and as usual first thing I do is go to the tank to feed the little guys and just watch while drinking coffee.

I walk into the room and take off the tank top and have a look around. First thing I see is my coral banded shrimps antennae sticking out of my button coral.

I'm like god dangit!! I see him waving his arms around a bit so I think, okay maybe I can save him if I pull him out slowly, I get the tweezers and barely pull at one of his claws, and his arm rips off, ****.

Well, I guess that's ok, shrimp can live with only one claw. I go to slowly pull the other one, and that one tears off too.

HOW CAN I SAVE YOU?!
I then go to pinch the tweezers on his head just enough to get a grip and pull, and his danged head falls off.

So now I have a shrimp head + connected antennaes flying around my tank and I can't see anymore of the shrimp, previously known as Pierre.

Pretty devastated to say the least. Then I look on the other side of my tank after having tunnel vision on this right hand corner, and I see the antennae over there, thinking that his head that I had just torn off floated that way, I thought not much of it. But, after closer inspection, there Pierre was just shrimping around.

I hadn't even thought of him to have molted.. I mean, I know that lobsters and shrimp molt, but I really didn't expect to see it today as I've only had him about a week so far.

So Pierre is good and healthy and I had a roller coaster of emotions for no reason :)

Diesel · Jan 4, 2017

Great story.

deaniscool · Jan 4, 2017

Diesel said:
Great story.

Thanks!

Griff · Jan 4, 2017

I had a similar experience the first time my fire shrimp molted. I was so relieved when I realized what happened.

Bronc · Jan 4, 2017

LOL. I thought the same thing the first time my Coral Banded Shrimp molted.

twpilot · Jan 4, 2017

glad he is doing well...good stuff...caught me off guard the first time too

rock_lobster · Jan 4, 2017

Lol yep mine molts probably once a month.

Bunnee911 · Jan 4, 2017

Me too

Frop · Jan 4, 2017

It's not the same but some guy in the parking lot under the influence of something tried to get in my car. He was trying to open the driver door where I was sitting and didn't say anything. Well I guess he was rapping about drugs before it trying to get me to give him a dollar. Yup...

lion king · Jan 4, 2017

When you say button coral, which coral are you actually talking about. If it's the Acanthophyllia deshayesiana, also known as the meat coral; these guys will eat shrimp and small fish. I've had disappearing fish and found one that I had munching down. It's the green one on the left.

SaltySue · Jan 5, 2017

Yep, had that molt heart attack too!

prsnlty · Jan 5, 2017

Hahaha! [emoji23]

deaniscool · Jan 5, 2017

lion king said:
When you say button coral, which coral are you actually talking about. If it's the Acanthophyllia deshayesiana, also known as the meat coral; these guys will eat shrimp and small fish. I've had disappearing fish and found one that I had munching down. It's the green one on the left.

Mine is a cynarina button coral kind of like one of these: http://m.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=597+321+460&pcatid=460

deaniscool · Jan 5, 2017

SaltySue said:
Yep, had that molt heart attack too!

Haha, the molt scared me a bit but the worst part was that my coral was devouring it and I thought it was the shrimp!

deaniscool · Jan 5, 2017

Frop said:
It's not the same but some guy in the parking lot under the influence of something tried to get in my car. He was trying to open the driver door where I was sitting and didn't say anything. Well I guess he was rapping about drugs before it trying to get me to give him a dollar. Yup...

Strangely enough my buddy got drunk the other night, we were leaving Buffalo Wild Wings and he decided this would be a good idea .. I'm just going to copy the text I sent to my friends:

Oh so get this. There was this old butt car parked next to us that was running, and bens like omg that's a xxx car! And he goes and peers in the window and yells it's still running! And goes over to the drivers side, opens the door, gets in the car, revs the engine for a sec and turns it off and then he's like I just saved that guy so much gas and ran back into my car.

What a nut.

Frop · Jan 5, 2017

deaniscool said:
Strangely enough my buddy got drunk the other night, we were leaving Buffalo Wild Wings and he decided this would be a good idea .. I'm just going to copy the text I sent to my friends:

Oh so get this. There was this old *** car parked next to us that was running, and bens like omg that's a xxx car! And he goes and peers in the window and yells it's still running! And goes over to the drivers side, opens the door, gets in the car, revs the engine for a sec and turns it off and then he's like I just saved that guy so much gas and ran back into my car.

What a nut.

Hahaha nice.

Breadman03 · Jan 5, 2017

I once had a similar experience with a tarantula. I was maybe 10 at the time. I woke up and looked into its cage, where it was curled up and non-responsive on the ground. I lifted the lid to inspect the corpse when something scurried up my arm. I swear I would have lived into my 100's, but that single experience is sure to keep me from hitting 80!

Tautog · Jan 5, 2017

deaniscool said:
Reposting my story from reddit:

So I wake up today and as usual first thing I do is go to the tank to feed the little guys and just watch while drinking coffee.

I walk into the room and take off the tank top and have a look around. First thing I see is my coral banded shrimps antennae sticking out of my button coral.

I'm like god dangit!! I see him waving his arms around a bit so I think, okay maybe I can save him if I pull him out slowly, I get the tweezers and barely pull at one of his claws, and his arm rips off, ****.

Well, I guess that's ok, shrimp can live with only one claw. I go to slowly pull the other one, and that one tears off too.

HOW CAN I SAVE YOU?!
I then go to pinch the tweezers on his head just enough to get a grip and pull, and his danged head falls off.

So now I have a shrimp head + connected antennaes flying around my tank and I can't see anymore of the shrimp, previously known as Pierre.

Pretty devastated to say the least. Then I look on the other side of my tank after having tunnel vision on this right hand corner, and I see the antennae over there, thinking that his head that I had just torn off floated that way, I thought not much of it. But, after closer inspection, there Pierre was just shrimping around.

I hadn't even thought of him to have molted.. I mean, I know that lobsters and shrimp molt, but I really didn't expect to see it today as I've only had him about a week so far.

So Pierre is good and healthy and I had a roller coaster of emotions for no reason :)

Great story! Basically had the same thing happen. Just bought 2 Cleaner Shrimp, next day gone. I had a Calico crab that I cut his top part of each claw. When he molted the tops grew back. In one night that crab ate $60.00 worth of shrimp. I took the crab fishing. And the crab gave me a 32 lb. Striped Bass.

deaniscool · Jan 5, 2017

Tautog said:
Great story! Basically had the same thing happen. Just bought 2 Cleaner Shrimp, next day gone. I had a Calico crab that I cut his top part of each claw. When he molted the tops grew back. In one night that crab ate $60.00 worth of shrimp. I took the crab fishing. And the crab gave me a 32 lb. Striped Bass.

Wow! That's an awesome catch! Little bugger hopefully had the best last meal he could ask for!

lion king · Jan 5, 2017

deaniscool said:
Mine is a cynarina button coral kind of like one of these: http://m.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=597+321+460&pcatid=460

Those do like to eat but they aren't predators like the meat corals, they will take mysis, krill, pellet coral food.
Here are 2 of mine, seems like they call at least 3 different corals "button corals", I call these modern corals.