Why the eff do all my hermit crabs keep dying?

[dtitus1]

So in multiple tanks now every time after I add hermit crabs they seem to die after a fews days. This is in multiple tanks, with multiple species, and after the last two (blue legs I added in the 20 long) and a scarlet in the evolve 4 I've dripped acclimated them and everything.

 

I'm just now seeing the new scarlet hermits shell tipped over on the sand and it wasn't moving yesterday, so I guess it could be molting, but this is what all the others did and they just never came out of their shells, but I will wait a few days to see if it ever comes out or not.

 

What am I doing wrong?

 

Corals are alive and thriving in both my tanks but hermit crabs can't live. Just doesnt make any sense to me...

[joel sandoman]

Snails are fine though?

[Deleted User 3]

Iodine deficiency maybe, or a predator in the tank.

[dtitus1]

Nah both tanks snails and literally every other lifeform are ok, and in the new tank there is a zero percent chance of a predator. Am I not drip acclimating them the right way?

 

I acclimate them to temperature, then put them in a cup and slowly over the course of like an hour and a half pour in little bits of water to match the salinity, and the lfs near me only keeps their salinity at 1.025 while I keep mine at 1.026.

 

I'm hoping I did it right it this time and the scarlet is just molting, how long do they usually take to molt? I forget.

[hypostatic]

+1 on iodine. What salt do you use? Also what types of hermit?

 

I wouldn't say it has to do with acclimation. I basically grab my hermits out of the bag and just throw them into the tank straight.

 

Do they have food in the tank?

[BulkRate]

That's really strange... dwarf hermits usually can take a 0.001 salinity change in stride without even drip acclimation, provided the temp's matched to within 10-15 degrees or so (not saying this is a good idea, but we DO pick them up . I usually just float to temp match and toss 'em in as the two places I usually get livestock from are similarly close in most parameters to my tank.

 

I've also not seen then keel over due to wayward trace element levels... I suspect that were I to have something out of whack enough to kill the other critters in my tank, the hermits would be still be dancing on top of the pile and having a feast. Are you getting them from the same place each time? Maybe the issue's not yours.

 

As hypostatic suggests, make sure you feed them a small pinch of something (if you haven't been) if there aren't fish in the tank. Some hermit species may prefer algae, but all of them are opportunistic feeders.

[dtitus1]

Yeah I put a rock with hair algae in there just for it to munch on and it still has some left. I've also thrown in a few pellets to help produce some waste for my bacteria to colonize the dry rock I have in there.

 

I use kent marine with a bit of instant ocean mixed in, and I do huge water changes every week. The hermit is in a new tank though that hasn't had a water change yet. There was no cycle however so spiking isn't the issue before anyone asks.

 

I'm confused too as to why they keep dying, I've gotten them from several sources and its the same thing every time. They're fine for like 3-4 days then they just go in their shells and never come out.

[jacketherington]

I have the same problem. I can't keep any hermits, or shrimp alive for more then a few days. Parameters are spot on, and all fish and corals are thriving. I eventually gave up on them. My snails and micro brittle stars make a great cuc though.

[dtitus1]

Yeah I gave up on them too but my girlfriend wants invertebrates for her tank, I just don't know if they'll be able to survive at this point.

[Seamonkey84]

Double check your magnesesium level, high Mg will make keeping crusteaceans harder if they don't get acclimated slowly. going up about 100 ppm per day is about the upper safe limts for them.

[dtitus1]

That is an interesting idea, but I don't have a test kit for it. I have seen other peoples test results for Kent Marine salt at my specific gravity and it looked fine but maybe I have a bad batch or something?

[Voodoodol]

I don't know why yours keep dying....but if I read the above right I believe you are mixing red and blue hermits. Is that right? The reason I ask is because I recently purchased some adorable scarlet reef hermits and put them in my 30 long. It already had one blue leg hermit in that tank. Well, the blue leg hermit has killed three of the four scarlet hermits that I added and stolen their shells. I had no idea that the two species shouldn't be mixed. Or maybe mixing is ok and I just have a mean azz blue hermit crab. But, it would suck to figure out why yours are dying and correct the problem only to have the blue ones start killing the red ones.

 

Anyone else had this issue?

[dtitus1]

I added them in separate batches, first scarlets that all died, then blues that all died, then another scarlet that died. But yeah I think blues are more aggressive then scarlets.

 

The one in the new tank is alive though! He's out and moving so maybe he's gonna be ok. IDK why he decided to stay in his shell for like 2 days cause he wasn't molting. W/e we'll see if he lives long term.