Red Claw Crabs DEAD?

[syhko]

It’s been awhile since I posted, I have been living the breeding life with my freshwater shrimp and bettas.

This is a different issue. My red claw crabs.

A few days before what is happening now, one of the crabs was found dead while the other two crabs were eating off some of its limbs. This was already weird behavior, so it’s been a few days since we removed him and 2 days ago I noticed the last 2 crabs are NOT moving. One is above water and one is under. I don’t like to disturb them in case of molting but the one above is not moving at all, I gently poked her and she isn’t moving. I wanted to leave her alone though. I did the same with the other under water and they aren’t moving either.

Both crabs can be seen with their legs sprawled out and although it doesn’t smell yet, I wonder if they are dead. They don’t typically look like that when they have molted before. I did add an ammonia lock to the water when the first one died so it isn’t that, or the water parameters or temperature.

I did notice they are a bit gray.

Help me out. Are they dead or molting?

 

[Colin_T]

If they don't move when you touch them, they are probably dead.

Check the water quality for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH.

If your unsure about their health, do a big (75%) water change and see how they look tomorrow.

 

[syhko]

Hi Colin,

Yes so I did a water change. They still aren’t moving today. It could be because of the crab that passed. It’s unfortunate, if they don’t move by tonight I am going to have to bury them.

 

[Andy Sager]

Hi Colin,

Yes so I did a water change. They still aren’t moving today. It could be because of the crab that passed. It’s unfortunate, if they don’t move by tonight I am going to have to bury them.

Did you check your water parameters before they died or when you suspected they died? It sounds like there was some deterioration of water quality that it effected more than just the one crab.

 

[syhko]

Yes it’s unfortunate and I can confirm that they passed. It was probably due to the crab dying and causing an ammonia spike even if i water changed and ammo locked. Rip crabs.

 

[Andy Sager]

Yes it’s unfortunate and I can confirm that they passed. It was probably due to the crab dying and causing an ammonia spike even if i water changed and ammo locked. Rip crabs.

Unfortunately, products that "lock" ammonia have a short time they they work for so it's better to do major water changes rather than "locking" ammonia.