geyser Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 Hello all, I having a very difficult time keeping emerald crabs alive in my tank (24g AP). My tank is about five years old and my water parameters are all in check. Sometimes they last 3 days and sometimes they last about a month. The most recent death was kind of odd, the crab turned kind of white and was at the very top of my LR when the lights were on, which was unusual because he/she mostly hides out when the light are on. The next day he/she was dead at the bottom of the tank. I know that this was not molting because all of the crab was in one peace and was not empty, as were the others. Link to comment
jnelson Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 Any other issues with your other inverts (other snails, crabs, etc.)? Invertebrates tend to be more sensitive to big swings in parameters (like salinity/temperature). Are these stable in your tank? Link to comment
mmcguffi Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 Do you have any other kinds of crab/shrimp in your tank? Perhaps something is out of whack somewhere and is too stressful for inverts like that? Link to comment
geyser Posted May 23, 2011 Author Share Posted May 23, 2011 Yes I have three hermit crabs and two turbo snails (no shrimp) and they appear to be doing just fine. Actually everything in my tank is doing great. Link to comment
mmcguffi Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 Are you getting the emeralds from the same LFS every time? Perhaps the crabs are caught using cyanide (I dunno if inverts are caught this way) or something else screwy is going on at that LFS Link to comment
jnelson Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 Are you getting the emeralds from the same LFS every time? Perhaps the crabs are caught using cyanide (I dunno if inverts are caught this way) or something else screwy is going on at that LFS +1. Try it from somewhere else. I had this one LFS that I went to and got a bunch of inverts at. Two cleaner shrimp, one emerald crab and some snails, over the course of a few months, all died. Went to other LFSes from that point on. I even ended up getting my current two emerald crabs from a Petco and they couldn't be happier/more active. Link to comment
geyser Posted May 23, 2011 Author Share Posted May 23, 2011 I have been trying to keep emeralds crabs for about two months or so and I have gotten them for two different fish stores, with the same results. The last one that died lasted for about five weeks. I didn't see very much of him/her. Just figured the crab didn't have to go very far for a meal because a have a really bad out break of green bubble algae. But usually when I put the crabs in the tank they start eating right away. Hmmm not sure what else.... I put a refugium on my tank about three weeks ago. Link to comment
mmcguffi Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 Maybe try getting another one and feed it nori (dried seaweed) or something similar? Perhaps you have a strain of bubble algae the crabs dont eat or something Kind of defeats the point though if you are buying them to keep the algae under control... Link to comment
Zoafreak Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 yeah they may be dying from starvation,but it doesn't make sense if they die after two days... Link to comment
geyser Posted May 23, 2011 Author Share Posted May 23, 2011 Good point(s). Yeah I see them eating about five minutes after I put them in but then later, like the next day or thereafter, nothing (though I'm not always watching the tank). So what else could you guys recommend to get rid of my green bubble problem? Also, here are my water parameters, if it helps. Mag= 1360 Cal = 450 Alk= 8.3 Ph = 8.2 Salinity = 1.024 Phosphates/nitrates/ammonia = 0 Temp 78 day time, and about 76/75 night time. Link to comment
Zoafreak Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 lol pick them off, but be careful. Link to comment
geyser Posted May 23, 2011 Author Share Posted May 23, 2011 Yeah I tried that in the begining, didn't pop any, but no luck Link to comment
StevieT Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 I just flushed my Emerald, caught him eating zoas. Maybe a good thing yours keep dying. Link to comment
geyser Posted May 23, 2011 Author Share Posted May 23, 2011 Really you have emerald crabs that eats what its not suposed to and I have (had) emerald crabs that eat nothing. WOW!! LOL Link to comment
Zoafreak Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 I usually pick them off when they are small because they are very hard and it is easy to do/ fun because afterwards you can pop them, lol. otherwise i don't think they are too much of a problem cause they just absorb nit's. Link to comment
geyser Posted May 23, 2011 Author Share Posted May 23, 2011 Anybody else have any suggestion on what I could do. Please.... Link to comment
mmcguffi Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 Honestly Id probably try an other emerald one more time. Around here theyre only like $8 (I dunno how much they are around you) and if it dies in a few days take the corpse back and get your money back Link to comment
geyser Posted May 23, 2011 Author Share Posted May 23, 2011 Ok I will try it another one. They are about $8 here too. I was also thinking of trying a sally lightfoot crab. Link to comment
mmcguffi Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 careful with the sally lightfoot... Ive heard horror stories Link to comment
paratiddies Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 Hmm, strange that only the emeralds are dying. I've got the same thing going on in my tank but with nerites instead. I started with 3 of them after my tank cycled in mid February and the last one died about a week ago, everything else including the other snails have been fine. My only thought was that I never really had much hair algae (aside from bryopsis) and that they just didn't have enough to eat, maybe the same thing's going on with your emeralds? I'm actually kind of glad that the nerites died off, they were a little too noticeable in my 8g. It was weird though, the last one seemed fine and was pretty active until I reached my hand in the tank to flip over a frag and accidentally knocked him off the lip of the tank - he never moved after that lol Link to comment
shadowninja Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 I just flushed my Emerald, caught him eating zoas. Maybe a good thing yours keep dying. Like Stevie I banished mine to the back chambers. Kept stealing food from coral. Actually when I had emerald crabs, my two crabs actually mated . Link to comment
Grendel0501 Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 I always keep one in my tank to handle bubble algae, but they take care of what little bubble algae I have within afew days and after that die from lack of food. So I started hand feeding my emerald whenever there isn't any bubble algae in the tank. I cut a peice off of a algae sheet and hand it to him with some tongs. Took awhile to get him comfortable with eating from the tongs, but now he sits at the front of the tank and as soon as I pass by he raises his claws and starts motioning for me to feed him. He even grabs onto the tongs and makes sure he gets every last peice of food before letting go. Most would die within a week or two at the most, this one has been with me for atleast 4 months. Link to comment
Spry Posted June 15, 2011 Share Posted June 15, 2011 Mine eats formula one flakes. I just shoot the flakes at him with a turkey baster and he goes crazy grabbing them all. I'm not sure how big the ones you have been buying are. Maybe they are more vulnerable because they are young? Mine is kind of a beast. Are there good hiding spots? Link to comment
tk3445 Posted June 18, 2011 Share Posted June 18, 2011 when i started in salt water i was having problems my shrimp and crabs would die off because my salt didnt provide enough if any Iodine. I supplment my 12g NC DX with 4 drops of Iodion from brightwell aquatics once a week and switched to reef crytals and have had 2 hermits alive for 6-7 months and a gold banded coral shrimp alive 4 months and all looking healthy, the reason i understood this helped was because Iodine helps inverts Molt and if they are unable to molt they die. so i would possibly check your iodine levels and go from there. Tom Link to comment
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