Dead Crab question..

[Doan]

Well here is kinda the situation.. We have an emerald crab in the tank (Timm--ay) cause he is handicaped only 2 legs on his left side. Any chance those will grow back? Anyway I went to put in a new emerald crab on Thurs night and it was a disaster.. He just never quite seemed right ya know.. Timm--ay is super cool I put him on a rock he backed up 2 steps stuck his claw out and started eating and he is the coolest thing in my tank (Its just him and a dozen snails).. Well Oscar (who died today) just never quite made the adjustment.. It may have been my fault.. when I was putting him in he pinched me and instinct has it I opened my hand and he fell to the sand almost 14 inches..when he got there he kinda moved back 2 steps under this algae covered rock and looked at me .. I felt bad but at that point what was I to do.. Well he haden't moved in 2 solid days not even put a claw out since and his little mouth had stopped moving and all... I am a total newb so my real question is they are not like boxfish right..they will not put any toxins in the water that will harm Timm--ay will he.. I mean I called the pull out when Timm-ay was standing on him eating the algae and there was no movement.. he was dead ...Ok just in case you haven't read a post from me before yes the tank is cycled and the water tests are all where they are supposed to be I just dont' have fish cause the QT tank just went up last night and the filter is sitting in my Show tank hopefully getting some bacteria on it for a fish after christmas..

 

[Smonkey15]

nah, they aren't like boxfish, no worries. also, the drop from the top of the tank would not have hurt him at all. water slows down the fall and no doubt they make that fall all the time in the wild. i'm not sure but can't emerald crabs turn into fish-eaters? i think so but someone else might know better. just something to think about.

 

[Doan]

I have never heard of a algae eating crab eaitng a fish in all my research but that does not mean it can't happen.. I am gonna just stick with Timm=ay as my crab and add no more.. I heard he can be a problem with coarl but there is so much algae I just can't see him getting that hungry ..however if he does back to the store he goes.....Thank you for your quick response.. do you think the legs will grow back??

 

[jamal-188]

I've never heard of emeralds becomming fish eaters but that's not to say it has never happened. I think there main diet is bubble aglae and when there is a lack of that they will look for other sources of food but are "generally" reef safe.

I also agree that the fall did not kill the crab. How did you acclimate the crab? Inverts are especially sensitive to water changes.

 

[Smonkey15]

no idea on the legs, how did they come off?

 

[jamal-188]

BTW, the legs should grow back. Most shrimp/crabs have the ability to regenerate missing body parts. It may take a couple molts but crabs and shrimp often loose legs/claws and regrow them with no problems.

 

[Doan]

Cool thank you so much for your help... I just kinda did the same thing I die with Timm-ay. I put him in the water for 30 minutes then I put in 1 cup of my tank water for 30 minutes. Then I put him in..perhaps that was a bit harsh for him and maybe Timm-ay was just a survivior.. Hmmm I don't have the sump thing but I need to do something a little less harsh and take more time like perhaps a 1/4 of a cup every 30 min or something..The other question I have is how do you know if htey are dead or just molting?? Timm-ay has yet to do it and I don't wanna pull him out for no good reason ..

Thank you

Doan

 

[jamal-188]

The best way to acclimate anything is by setting up a drip line but it's helpful to have a sump to do so. What you would do is float the bag for 20 minutes or so and then dump the contents into a bucket. Start a siphon with a long piece of air tube that drips in the bucket and tie a know in the hose so it drips very slow at first maybe 1 drip a second and increase the drip rate gradually. The amont of acclimation will largely depend on what you are acclimating but I generally spend about 1-2 hours on fish, 2+ hours on inverts and corals, and some people even spend 4-8 hours on sensitive starfish and such.

You will be able to tell when he molts if you look closley at the molt, it will be hollow inside, most leave the molt in the tank, it's high in protein and good for the other critters to eat it.