← Glossary · 🦐 Inverts & cleanup

Moulting

Also called: molting

Moulting is when a shrimp, crab or other invertebrate sheds its old exoskeleton to grow a larger one — the discarded empty shell is a healthy sign, not a death.

New keepers often panic at what looks like a dead shrimp on the sand; it's usually just the cast-off shell. Inverts are vulnerable and hide while their new shell hardens, and they need stable calcium and magnesium to moult properly.

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