I just had my first death, poor aero crab :(

[morgensmind]

Hello!

I'm new to saltwater aquarium keeping. I've had the tank for about 4 months now. I got some snails and hermit crabs a few months ago and about 3 weeks ago I added an aero crab and 2 clown fish. I'm feeding them frozen phytoplankton and shrimp pellets and doing the pwc and checking the levels. I purchase my RO and saltwater from my local fish store.

This morning I looked and my aero crab was dead. It had been moving around the tank and then recently found a cranny to hang in and hadn't moved around other areas of the tank since. It was alive, so I just assummed it was eating at night. I checked the levels and the pH was normal at 8.2, nitrite/nitrates were normal at 0 and the ammonia was .5 (probably because of the death, I'm suspecting). I did a ~4 gallon water change and the clowns seem fine.

What do you think killed it? I really want to make sure I don't kill any other inhabitants!

Thanks!

Morgen

[austinsdad]

What sized tank is this? Wondering how an arrow crab could make ammonia go up overnight - unless we're talking small tank.

Describe the tank. Rock, filtration, etc. Also, unless you're heavy on reef, I'd cut out the phytoplankton. That's not much for your critters to eat. Need meat and vegetable matter IMO.

[captivereefs]

Arrow crabs have a pretty short natural life span to begin with so you could have gotten one that was already close to a natural death!

Why an ammonia spike, how old is the test kit. To me a 4 month old tank should be able to handle a crab death with little to no problems. Could the test be old and now inaccurate?

[morgensmind]

My tank is 29 gallon and I just got the test kit when I started the tank. The guy at the fish store told me to feed the phytoplankton.... what should I be feeding them and about how much. I have about 52 lbs of live rock, a penguin filter.

[Innovator]

Phytoplankton? lol, sorry not laughing at you but rather the lfs you received this advice from. Anyways, arrow crabs are carnivorous so it will readily accept meaty items such as shrimp, fish, etc. along with eating your benthic fauna (bottom dwelling invertebrates).

[morgensmind]

I've also been feeding shrimp pellets and the guy at the fish tank store also told my that the aero crab would eat the bristle worms that are poking around as well.

Are shrimp pellets and phytoplankton enough for my remaining clown fish? or should I look into feeding something else also/instead??