crabs dying?

[professorbadnews]

my fish are doing/eating very well. i noticed a dead emerald crab yesterday and now i see a dead hermit crab. any suggestions??

thanks

 

[onefish2fish]

molts? they look very similiar to deaths?

if not high copper possibly, do you have any other inverts in the tank and how are they doing? high nitrates maybe? a fish picking on them?

 

[professorbadnews]

do the molts keep the color? if so, then possible, i guess. i dont see anything bothering them. i have a cleaner shrimp. no problems with him. no copper in tank. nitrates are fine, as in 0-5.

 

[onefish2fish]

if you can pick out the shell or net it, see if its actually an empty shell. molts look so close to the real thing as they will molt in the open and leave it and go hide while their new shell "hardens" the molt will be the decoy.
hope that helps

 

[professorbadnews]

thank you. what would cause(s) a sudden death to inverts?

 

[onefish2fish]

well the obvious, which would be a fish eating it in a gulp ;D
but also high levels of copper, ammonia, nitrites or nitrates are big ones. inverts are sensitive little buggers. i know after water changes and being freshly introduced into a tank is usually when they will molt(besides like a monthly molt or two or whatever it is )

 

[NJ_ychung1]

maybe some sort of shock. salinity or ph or alkalinity change.

just a guess.
jay

 

[tbone212371]

A change in temp could do it also....even a few degrees...
But it still might be a molt...
After a molt they might hide because they are vunerable to prey..
So they only thing you would see is a dead carcass..
But in few days they come back out to show thier new threads.. LOL...