I had gotten a skunk cleaner because my royal grama turned up with white spots without any explaination. About two hours after introduction into the tank, the fish started getting cleaned and all was well. I'd had the shrimp since late Nov. and it was doing great, eating well, happily cleaning everything, etc. The acclimation was a good 3hrs driplined at a stable temp, so I know nothing went wrong there. However, it started getting ready to shed this week, and as soon as it did try to shed I could see something wasn't right. The old exoskeleton was very thick compared to what I remember my old CBS having with each molt. I tried to help the poor guy out a bit by getting him into a safe place (my Nassarius had detected the unusual behavior and came running to the scene), but couldn't do anything else without risking hurting the shrimp. The old skin wouldn't open enough, and he got entombed. 
I havn't lost a shrimp or any other marine invert to this before. I've seen limbs get stuck in exoskeletons, but never the whole animal.
I checked the water, I've got ammonia/nitrite/nitrate=0, pH=8.2, kH=~12, and 1.025sg. I don't have calc or phosphate readings on the tank as of recently, but calc not so long ago was around 400ppm and has been that way for a long time. I've never seen any molting issues from the large-ish hermit I have in the tank. I've read that too much iodine will cause the thickening of the exoskeleton, but I don't add iodine. There's also likely so much macro in the tank that my phosphate won't be an issue either - there was none detectable last time I had it tested.
Given that I only had this shrimp for a short time, is there likely to be something up with the water that is making it unsuitable for shrimp, or is this more likely to be a problem that the shrimp had when I got it? I'm not sure how long it takes for the exoskeleton to get too thick like that, since I've never seen it happen before.
I havn't lost a shrimp or any other marine invert to this before. I've seen limbs get stuck in exoskeletons, but never the whole animal.I checked the water, I've got ammonia/nitrite/nitrate=0, pH=8.2, kH=~12, and 1.025sg. I don't have calc or phosphate readings on the tank as of recently, but calc not so long ago was around 400ppm and has been that way for a long time. I've never seen any molting issues from the large-ish hermit I have in the tank. I've read that too much iodine will cause the thickening of the exoskeleton, but I don't add iodine. There's also likely so much macro in the tank that my phosphate won't be an issue either - there was none detectable last time I had it tested.
Given that I only had this shrimp for a short time, is there likely to be something up with the water that is making it unsuitable for shrimp, or is this more likely to be a problem that the shrimp had when I got it? I'm not sure how long it takes for the exoskeleton to get too thick like that, since I've never seen it happen before.
. My guess is that it was a condition that existed before you got the shrimp
). I know for certain that another skunk cleaner would do the job, but I'm also looking at fire shrimp, since those are always around over here. Are the two pretty much the same efficiency-wise? I'd like to wait until another skunk cleaner comes along, but since fire shrimp seem more common in my area, I'd like to have a backup option if my fish turns up spotty again before skunk cleaners are available.
