Cobalt Blue Lobster Dies. Why?

[zerodegreec]

90 Gal tank that is very well established, 5 years old. Mostly African Cichlids and Loaches. I keep the tank at 79.1f and it has been at this level for over 3 years.

Lobster (I know its actually a Crayfish) has been in the tank for about a month and a half. Feed it almost every day (miss the odd day here and there) of a diet of Hikari sinking wafers. Loved them, usto come up to me when feeding her.

Anyway last night I noticed she had a dark underbelly and was acting strange. I came home from work today and she was dead. Bits all over the tank. What really has me worried is that I had a dead fish this morning as well, A Rainbow cichlid (blue face, orange body) that has been around for a few years.

I tested the water for Ammonia and Nitrates and all okay. I added some NoIch and some Cycle to the tank for safe measure. Its been 2 weeks since my last water change/filter service (For the last year I have been doing it every 3 weeks)

Something I should look for? Is this common?

ANY help would be nice. I really dont want to get a sick tank, or have one spiral out of control.

 

[moray]

It could well be that your crayfish was shedding and got attacked and killed - crayfish should be in species only tanks - if the fish is too small the crayfish might well eat it, if to large or aggressive the crayfish is at risk (especially through shedding periods) - the cichlid might just be a coincidence or maybe there is something else wrong, but my best guess is he was shedding - very sad, I'm sorry you lost him.

 

[zerodegreec]

Yah Today everyone in the tank looks good, I dont have any fear of a sick tank anymore. I agree that the cichlid was most likely coincidence.

After posting here I was rooting around this site and others and found that the molting theory of yours moray is the most likely scenario. I did see the molted shell in the plants later last night when I was looking around. So I think that she came out of he shelter and got jumped. Its funny how vulnerable they are when molting. She us-to hold her own, very rare that one of the other fish came at her, and when they did she stood her ground and was left alone. Anyway, it sucks. but that's life.

 

[Redbled]

After a crayfish moults, they can barely move for quite sometime. They will really just lay there, legs limp for an hour or two. Even with other crayfish only in the tank, this can be dangerous, though not nearly as much so as with large cichlids.