Mysterious Decorator Crab Death

[JJP161]

I have a new 75 gallon reef tank. My tank went through the initial cycle and after it completed I added part 2 of the package, including the inverts. Well the tank has been up and running with the inverts for about a week. The tank has 150lbs live rock and 75 lbs live sand. One of my favorites so far has been my very active decorator crab. This morning when I got home from the fire station I found one of his legs on one side of the tank and him lying upside down on the bottom of the tank on the other side. Other than the missing leg there was no other obvious injury. He has shown no signs of any distress prior to this. I've had no other losses at this point and as a final note I am brand new to all this, so please feel free to offer any suggestions. Any ideas as to what happened and why? Thank-you very much.

Water
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 20
Specific Gravity 1.022
Temp. 75 - 76
PH 8.4

Inverts
38 small blue leg hermits
40 astrea snails
1 very small porcelin crab
3 Brittle Stars
3 peppermint shrimp
4 Tiger Tail Cucumber
1 Anemone - Condylacitis, I think
1 small slipper lobster

 

[wooglin]

You sure he did not molt? They do this frequently.

 

[JJP161]

I'm not sure. I am really new to this and I don't know how to tell? The shell looked in tact and I didn't see any holes in the shell or cracks that looked like the crab could have climed through. Thank-you.

Joe

 

[wooglin]

Often when they molt you cant tell. I have quite a few molt shells that look like the animal. Perhaps you got lucky. When they molt they often hide, because they are soft for a little while, and must feel unsafe.

 

[signal_4]

DEC CRABS ARE PRETTY HARDY.... PULL THE SHELL OUT AND FEEL IT..... IF THERE IS NO MEAT INSIDE AND IT FEELS EMPTY.... THEN HE MOLTED

 

[JJP161]

Thank-you so much for the help, I'm still pretty lost. Unfortunately I have already disposed of the shell. I was afraid it would foul the water quickly. I sure hope he is still around, he is so cool looking and entertaining. He would climb to the highest rock on one side of the tank and jump into the current, flying across the tank and grabbing the red tree sponge on the far side. Thank-you again.

Joe

 

[SpiderCrab2]

Look out for the dreaded MANTIS ShRIMP...... Do you hear any clicking in the tank?

 

[JJP161]

I haven't seen any Mantis yet? When I first received the live rock I went through it as thoroughly as possible and did not see any. I'm sure they could still be there. But I have had all of the critters in for over a week and have not had any other deaths, the hermits and snails are fine. I did hear 2 clicks from the other room a few nights ago, but that has been all and I'm not sure that they even came from the tank.

Joe

 

[JJP161]

I still haven't seen any further signs of my decorator crab, if he is molting how long before he reappears?

 

[JJP161]

AMAZING! My decorator crab is still ALIVE. Yesterday as I was watching the tank I kept seeing and odd little creature down in a hole. So I got a flashlight and there was my crab. That is so cool. I feel kind of silly for not realizing what happened but I guess that is a rookie mistake. Thank-you everyone and I'll post pics if I can get them.

Joe

 

[divemonster]

that's good news!

that's good news!

Joe, you are new to the hobby and your questions are not silly. As a matter of fact, they are very helpful to those of us who are also on the learning curve.

Your crab should soon be playing in the current again once his shell hardens. It's alot of fun reading your posts and hearing about the personalities of the critters in your tank, but it is also educational.

 

[liverock]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12024124#post12024124 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by JJP161
AMAZING! My decorator crab is still ALIVE. Yesterday as I was watching the tank I kept seeing and odd little creature down in a hole. So I got a flashlight and there was my crab. That is so cool. I feel kind of silly for not realizing what happened but I guess that is a rookie mistake. Thank-you everyone and I'll post pics if I can get them.

Joe

And remember, this is the ocean, everything eats everything else.....you will loose many fish/critters over the life of the tank...the strong survive, the weak get eaten......is just the way the ocean works!

Richard TBS:rollface: :rollface: :rollface:

 

[JJP161]

Hi Teri & Richard,

Thank-you both very much for all of your help and one thing is for sure is that the reef tank is absolutely beautiful and completely fascinating. Every single time I look I see something new in there. Which I'm sure this one thing where you will never stop learning. By the way TBS is absolutely the best.

Joe