what's killing my hermit crabs?

[jayjay5531]

i've found a lot of hermit crabs dead recently. the dwarf blue ones, the larger red ones, and now the largest electric blue one.

other potential culprits: sand sifting starfish, brittle star, 2 emerald crabs, 1 porcelain crab, and 1 CBS. I also have a midas blenny that's new, but I doubt it's him right?

it's a 60 gal fowlr and i spot feed the shrimp and stars.

 

[Sk8r]

Eliminate the starfish and blenny as suspects. The coral-banded is a threat to the blenny as well as the hermits. The emeralds, possibly to the crabs, also to the blenny, at least as far as fin-nipping. But the CBS is a deadly threat.

 

[MuShu]

What are your parameters? Dead inverts can be a sign of a nitirate or ammonia spike.

 

[PsychoticBeauty]

Are you just finding a lot of empty shells throughout the tank or are you seeing the bodies themselves? I don't really know what's killing your hermit crabs, but starvation is definitely a possibility.

 

[OrQidz]

If they really are dead and not molts, I would suspect the CBS. Mine is quite capable of killing good sized snails and ripping them out of their shells. I wouldn't put it past him to kill a hermit.

 

[Dkuhlmann]

You could also have a hitchhiker in your LR that you don't want. Mantis shrimp and Eunice/Bobit worm come to mind. Do a look in your tank after lights out with a red lens over a flashlight and see if you can find your culprit. Red keeps the critters from hiding.

 

[SeaCucumberFan]

Bodies or shells? Params? How big is your cbs?

 

[NS Mike D]

Are you just finding a lot of empty shells throughout the tank or are you seeing the bodies themselves? I don't really know what's killing your hermit crabs, but starvation is definitely a possibility.

+1 How old is the tank? You may not have enough waste food for a full CUC. CUC that are sold in packages based on tank size, IMO, are just too many for a new tank.