Calcium for Clubs

[rwhhunt]

I noticed that My peacocks clubs seem to be chipped a bit. I haveheard him whacking away breaking rock, (quite succesfully) and am not sure that it is normal to sustain damage to his clubs.. I just got him a couple months ago, and he has molted once since then. I use oceanic natural sea salt that has calcium in it, but have not added any calcium directly. Also, at the time I was unaware than iodine should be used during molting... Could that have cause the softening of his clubs, or is this a normal thing????

[Wocka]

i dont think adding iodine is worth the outcome, u can crash ur tank so easily if u overdose it a little bit

[Neo-Fight]

Originally posted by Wocka
i dont think adding iodine is worth the outcome, u can crash ur tank so easily if u overdose it a little bit
I agree with Wocka. It is too easy to overdose iodine, and don't dose it unless you are testing for it. Most salts have trace iodine in it and in my experience it is just fine for supporting molts of mantids and other shrimp/crabs.

[Gonodactylus]

Calcium will have no impact on the dactyl except in the diet prior to the molt. The animals can store some calcium for deposition in their cuticle when they molt and for a few days there after.

I don't know where the iodine myth got started with respect to stomatopods, buy I know of no evidence that more iodine is required for molting than would be available in a normal seafood diet.

Chipping and other wear and tear is common for all smashers - particularly large ones that handle hard prey and molt infrequently. The dactyl will repair itself at the next molt. On rare occasions I have seen a dactly heel wear completely through. When this happens, repair is more difficult and the appendage is often lost at the molt and a new one regenerated over the next three or four molts.

Roy