cause of death. Blue leg Hermit

[Travis]

Hi all,
Sorry to say that I found a dead blue leg hermit in my tank today. I am trying to narrow down what the causes could be/determine life expectancy/hear from others that have lost them to try to make sense of it.
The tank is a 75 gallon, with DSB, LR, remora pro skimmer, plenty of water movement. The hermits were QT'd and acclimated and have been in the tank for 4 days. All others are looking good, moving around and keepin busy. My levels are ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 0, PH 8.4, SG 1.024. I have had great luck with keeping my levels right on with very little maintenance as far as water quality is concerned. The tank has been cycled properly but is obviously new so I would not consider it mature. Any info would be great. Unfortunately I think it was probably just a poor specimen, but I would still like to investigate. thanks
Travis

 

[Travis]

Not sure how this post got submitted twice...could a moderator blow away the other one?? thanks all.

 

[steve-s]

It can happen during transit or as you said, just a poor specimen and not that healthy in the first place. You should also keep in mind that many crustaceans will moult fairly soon after being placed in a new environment. Hermit moults can be quite deceiving and look very much like the original owner. If you have not placed any extra empty shells in the tank it will be easy enough to confirm that but I wouldn't rule out the possibility.

Was it drip acclimated?

Cheers
Steve

 

[Travis]

Everything else in the system just seems to be doing great, so I am gonna assume that it was a poor specimen. All levels look good. The hermits were acclimated by adding very small amounts of system water to the LFS water. Pretty much the same rate as a drip would be. I am confident that I took enough time to properly acclimate them. thanks
travis