ps2cho Posted August 29, 2013 Share Posted August 29, 2013 I have had one single emerald crab for 5 days now...I came back today and he was upside down in the tank and the snails were on him. There was definitely some leftover flakes he could have gotten. Ammonia: 0 Nitrite 0 Nitrate 4 Salinity 1.024...temp 79f. Any ideas why he could have died? One of his arms was severed off, but that could have been from the snails after-the-fact... I have 2 clowns, snails, 4 tiny hermits and a sand sifting starfish. RIP Quote Link to comment
Rollermonkey Posted August 29, 2013 Share Posted August 29, 2013 Keep an eye on the tank. I had two 'dead' emeralds this week. Both were molts. 1 Quote Link to comment
ps2cho Posted August 29, 2013 Author Share Posted August 29, 2013 Definitely was not a molt. I mean...I've never seen a molt -- but it wasn't a shell. Definitely dead 1 Quote Link to comment
Gkftw22 Posted August 29, 2013 Share Posted August 29, 2013 Emeralds eat algae, not flakes... They will also eat left over meaty food (mysis/brine shrimp) but not flakes or pellets typically... Quote Link to comment
AFellowReefer Posted August 29, 2013 Share Posted August 29, 2013 Emerald crabs can be susceptible to salinity/water parameter swings. How new were your crabs, did you just add them? They may not have been acclimated correctly to the tank. Quote Link to comment
Chadf Posted August 29, 2013 Share Posted August 29, 2013 Definitely was not a molt. I mean...I've never seen a molt -- but it wasn't a shell. Definitely dead Molts look exactly like the crab, not at all shell looking. 90% of these crab death threads end up being molts. 4 Quote Link to comment
Acielot Posted August 29, 2013 Share Posted August 29, 2013 I agree with Chad on this one. I have had several false death reports myself only to see the crab a few days later. 1 Quote Link to comment
Gkftw22 Posted August 29, 2013 Share Posted August 29, 2013 Learn to read OP Fellow Emerald crabs can be susceptible to salinity/water parameter swings. How new were your crabs, did you just add them? They may not have been acclimated correctly to the tank. I have had one single emerald crab for 5 days now... Quote Link to comment
AFellowReefer Posted August 29, 2013 Share Posted August 29, 2013 Learn to read OP Fellow LOL... did not see that part... Quote Link to comment
albertthiel Posted August 29, 2013 Share Posted August 29, 2013 Definitely was not a molt. I mean...I've never seen a molt -- but it wasn't a shell. Definitely dead Check your tank at night with a RED LED and see whether you can locate him as indeed what you see could just be the exoskeleton or carapace ... Check my sig for the Red LED that really works well for checking your tank at night seeing what "really" is in there ... and you may find your crab but maybe other life forms a s well FWIW Quote Link to comment
llama roadkill Posted August 29, 2013 Share Posted August 29, 2013 I had thought mine was just molting, but two months later, no sign of him. I guess time will tell for the both of us, but I bet mine is dead. Quote Link to comment
peasofme Posted August 29, 2013 Share Posted August 29, 2013 pick up the molt and take it apart. then you will know. emeralds go crazy over pellets. they will eat any food. when my emerald dies, i replace him. they're they coolest crab. most emeralds won't make it to 6 months in a tank. 1 Quote Link to comment
ghatter Posted August 29, 2013 Share Posted August 29, 2013 most emeralds won't make it to 6 months in a tank. Any idea why? This has been my experience also, but I'd really like to know why and make sure that it's not something that I could correct. What's their normal lifespan in the wild? 1 Quote Link to comment
albertthiel Posted August 29, 2013 Share Posted August 29, 2013 Any idea why? This has been my experience also, but I'd really like to know why and make sure that it's not something that I could correct. What's their normal lifespan in the wild? It is said that in captivity they will live up to 3 years + . Mine is over a year old . ... but you have to make sure that they do not run out of food and are not getting harassed or attacked by aggressive fish you may have in the tank. I do not see mine during the day, or rarely, but when I use my Red LED light (see my signature) I can find the Emerald during the night crawling on the rocks and picking off algae bits .... Quote Link to comment
peasofme Posted August 29, 2013 Share Posted August 29, 2013 i would guess it has to do with how hard it is to keep a reef tank stable. 1 Quote Link to comment
ward827 Posted August 30, 2013 Share Posted August 30, 2013 I've had 3 crabs. 2 emeralds and a sally lightfoot. The emeralds died within 2-3 weeks. I'm thinking fluctuations did them in. Sally Lightfoot has been going strong for 2+ months now.Even molted. I took the molt out and made sure it was a molt. You can definitely tell the difference. 2 cents. W- Quote Link to comment
peasofme Posted August 30, 2013 Share Posted August 30, 2013 i really like sally's, they're so fast and hyper. but they also chase other animals away from food. Quote Link to comment
ghatter Posted August 30, 2013 Share Posted August 30, 2013 It is said that in captivity they will live up to 3 years + . Mine is over a year old . ... but you have to make sure that they do not run out of food and are not getting harassed or attacked by aggressive fish you may have in the tank. I do not see mine during the day, or rarely, but when I use my Red LED light (see my signature) I can find the Emerald during the night crawling on the rocks and picking off algae bits .... I believe that my first one probably ran out of food. I had him for close to 6 months, but when I was gone the tank sitter was just feeding flake food and not the frozen I had been using. His replacement only lived a few days. I'm thinking (and hoping) that was just bad luck and he just didn't handle the stress of shipping to the LFS and then to my tank. EverytHing else in the tank has been healthy. Only 2 fish: a clown and a yellow watchman goby paired with a pistol shrimp. Snails, hermits, and corals are all good. 1 Quote Link to comment
albertthiel Posted August 30, 2013 Share Posted August 30, 2013 I believe that my first one probably ran out of food. I had him for close to 6 months, but when I was gone the tank sitter was just feeding flake food and not the frozen I had been using. His replacement only lived a few days. I'm thinking (and hoping) that was just bad luck and he just didn't handle the stress of shipping to the LFS and then to my tank. EverytHing else in the tank has been healthy. Only 2 fish: a clown and a yellow watchman goby paired with a pistol shrimp. Snails, hermits, and corals are all good. Yes that could be ... good luck with your reef Quote Link to comment
ps2cho Posted August 31, 2013 Author Share Posted August 31, 2013 I'll be damned...it was a molt. I was convinced too. I come to the tank today and there he is, bigger than before, sitting on a rock just hanging out LOL. 3 Quote Link to comment
Chadf Posted August 31, 2013 Share Posted August 31, 2013 I'll be damned...it was a molt. I was convinced too. I come to the tank today and there he is, bigger than before, sitting on a rock just hanging out LOL. Make that 91% 1 Quote Link to comment
RickyMcG Posted September 16, 2018 Share Posted September 16, 2018 Make that 92%. This morning I discovered my five-day old crab belly up on the rocks. Pulled it out. Quite dead. Tossed the carcass. Held a small silent funeral. Stared longingly at the tank, remembering the good times with the deceased. And there he was, staring out at me from a gap in the rock work. 2 1 Quote Link to comment
Wyatt45 Posted October 20, 2018 Share Posted October 20, 2018 On 9/16/2018 at 7:06 AM, RickyMcG said: Make that 92%. This morning I discovered my five-day old crab belly up on the rocks. Pulled it out. Quite dead. Tossed the carcass. Held a small silent funeral. Stared longingly at the tank, remembering the good times with the deceased. And there he was, staring out at me from a gap in the rock work. That made me actually LOL Quote Link to comment
mndfreeze Posted October 21, 2018 Share Posted October 21, 2018 bwahaha. I think every reefer has had this happen at some point. Some of our critters have molts that are damn convincing. Hermit molts have fooled me more than once and my porcelain crab got me once too. 1 Quote Link to comment
Firefish15 Posted October 22, 2018 Share Posted October 22, 2018 My emerald just died too. Pretty sure it was actually dead though. Nassarius snail was all over it. I pulled it out of the water and it was pretty rank. That's pretty definitive, right? I think I had a salinity swing. Water level in 10g had fallen by maybe 3/8 inch. Of course, I had just added him to the tank the day before. He was hanging out under a rock, and happily ate some frozen food. Quote Link to comment
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