Dead Zebra/Blue leg Crabs out of shell

[KimPossible]

I have noticed 3 dead hermits in the tank out of their shell.
I believe these deaths occured in a 2 day span.
Is it the life span of the hermit or possibly something else???

Currently in tank:

Majestic, anthias, clowns, chromis, fire shrimp

zebra and blue leg hermits, turbo snails, stag horned hermit

polyps

whatcha think?

 

[leon]

Are you sure they havent just shed theyre skin, the do this regulary, sometimes you see bits, sometimes you see the whole crab, and it looks asthough its died, i still think this now!. They do it as needed, or ir they are newly added, or a water change might make them aswell.

 

[KimPossible]

Yeah, that was my first thought as the soft part of the body looked like a skeletal shell....but the legs, they looked just like the ones on the live ones, striped and all.
I do have multiple sized empty shells in the tank that these critters can change out if needed.

its hard to get a count. lots of nooks and crannies.

 

[blout]

dont be fooled some do actually keep there exoskeleton colour dont take them out leave them in a row were you can see them and wait it could take 3 days it could take a week theres a chance they still could be alive

 

[KimPossible]

they are still in there, i wasn't sure if there was nutritional value in the exoseleton for the other crabs to munch on...who knows! (probably someone on this forum, just watch!)

 

[blout]

sorry i ment keep the shells in there in a row, ) i personally would leave them inthere

 

[Navarre]

I leave all shells from shrimps and crabs in the tank. Many time i see other crabs or shrimps feeding on the shells as it is a good source of nutrition for the creature.

 

[jflowers]

I thought I had lost two of my LH hermits, I could clearly see whole dead bodies on the sand and could not see them in the tank. Three days later, there they were clambering about I also often see the odd leg laying around. My three LH hermits were the first in and are now on thier 3rd shell upgrade and the tank has only been running 6-7 weeks. I have yet to have this happen with my 6 RL hermits, but have only had them a couple of weeks.

Jon

 

[KimPossible]

WoW ! Thats amazing. I never would have thought they would shed so often.

Does anyone have any experience with the Stag Horned Hermit???
It lives in a piece of live coral which makes it look like it has antlers. Real cool crab.

How often does it molt? Where would I get an extra coral for it.
I'll talk to my lfs about it tonight.

kim

 

[J-Money]

How often does it molt? Where would I get an extra coral for it.

let us know what you find out. I saw one of those at PetsInc last weekend and i'm still thinkin' about it lol

 

[Navarre]

They seem to be on the stock lists at the moment because my local shop asked me if they should try and get some in. I advised them against it as i felt the issue with them needing larger corals might be a problem. I dont know alot about them but i would imagine in a confined space such as a tank they would raidly outgrow their antlers and needs larger corals etc. this would be a problem in an enclosed space and if you do not provide them with the larger corals then will they break off bits for themselves? If so them my acros would be in real danger.

I find them fascinating but im not sure on their long term effects on a tank.

 

[KimPossible]

J-Money, here's the scoop.
Our LFS stated that these crabs burrow out the coral as they grow, he doesn't seem to think that there will be a need for larger pieces of coral, however, he would keep an eye out and call if he came across a larger one for me if it made me feel comfortable.... it does. Good guys there.

 

[J-Money]

Heads up kim, I went up to PetsInc (got a colt coral) and they still only had smaller staghorned hermits. Did they ever get you a big one?

 

[KimPossible]

Not yet, fish guy said he'd keep an eye out for an extra shell, if they had a death in the tank. My stag was one of the larger ones there. So the coral shell i'd be looking for needs to be pretty big...relatively speaking.