sleeping emeralds

[hall]

I've had my tank up and running for about 1 year now and everything has been doing great. All the corals are growing and I haven't lost a fish since February. Everything seems happy and comfortable. My emerald crabs look to be a little too comfortable. I've had 3 in the past month fall asleep on their back and never woke up. The hermit crabs seem to still be alive and all the snails are doing fine. The temp. has stayed between 78 and 80 and I also have a grounding probe. I've had those emeralds from the very beginning right after the cycle. Any ideas?

[spw4949]

What are your readings?

[Rae C.]

Are they old shells? Their molting shells look very alive, they might be hiding in the rockwork until their new shells harden.

[tthnow]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13599848#post13599848 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by out
Are they old shells? Their molting shells look very alive, they might be hiding in the rockwork until their new shells harden.

WOW! I never knew that. Good info.

[matt 76]

maybe they didn't have enough food?

[Flightpipe]

Molts

[tangov559]

i have the same problem..mines never last more then a year....

[tthnow]

Perhaps it starve to death?

[stricknine]

from my experience, invertabrates are the first to go if you have water problems. Very sensitive to nitrates, or is it nitrites? One or the other. Hermits are like roaches, they can survive anything if they have a shell and some food.

Any shrimp in the tank? They can be pretty sensitive too.

[Saltcity]

I bet its the molt..... First time I saw one I was freakin out, Why did it die???:lol:

Best way to tell is get in there and pick it up and see if its a dead crab or just his spare clothes!!

[Rae C.]

Don't even need to reach in, just see if there is any clean up crew in the shell. If it's empty, it's molt. If there's a worm, it's dead.

[hall]

Now that was some weird stuff right there. When I got home and checked the area where I saw the crab last, he was still there on his back. He's been like that for a couple days. When I went to pull him out with my hand, he started twitching and grabbing on to rocks. That crab has been on his back for 2-3 days and still alive. Anyway, I put him down in my fuge and he is still alive this morning. Of coarse he is once again laying down for nap but trying to wake up and roll over. I think he got sick and had some type of brain issue. I have 2 shrimp in the tank and they are normal. I haven't been feeding very much mysis lately (mostly seaweed) so maybe they are starving. There is no algae on any of the rockwork for the crabs and all the snails are doing great so I ruled out stray voltage. There is plenty of nasty junk down in that refugium to eat so if he gets his head right again, maybe he can have some breakfast when he gets up.

[spw4949]

What are you readings? Ammonia,nitrate,nitrite,ph,salinity,phosphate,etc.....?????

[Saltcity]

OHhhhh, your crab has Ataxia Telangiectasia. Its really common in Emerald crabs and is caused by eating too much sand.........



:worried: Anyone wanna back me up.....:lol: