Blue hermit dead

[ndz98]

Was just looking at my tank and spotted a dead hermit. I've got like 4 of them (well three now actually) and they are all still alive. Along with everything else in my tank. I don't have any test kits so it may be hard to say what killed little guy, but is it possible something something in the tank killed him like a fish or another crab? I've got a sailfin tang, 2 clowns, 4 snails, 3 blue legged hermits, and an emerald crab. I found the dead hermit out of his shell. Also I do have a little cyano that grows during the day but goes away at night. Idk if it's the same as like bubble algae (I think that's what I'm thinking of?) where if they eat it they die.

 

[dewboy1127]

It was more than likely another crab competing for a bigger n better shell and the shell you see there is the other crabs old one...not sure on what kills them if they eat it but most animals know not to eat something thats potentially dangerous to them

 

[GatorGuys]

Are you sure it was the complete crab? Hermits shed their exoskeleton (which looks very much like a dead crab). Many times the crab that recently shed will go into hiding for a day or two until its new skin hardens.

Keep an eye on the shells in your tank to see if he switched after shedding.

 

[human]

I believe you're thinking of dinoflagelate algae ( dino ) that's toxic when animals ingest it. Do you have any extra empty shells for the hermits to choose from? If not you may want to pick some up, the more choices, the less chance they'll fight one another for a shell. Also you might want to pick up a test kit, just in case there is a water quality issue.

 

[ndz98]

If it was an exoskeleton then it was a pretty good looking one then. I hope that's what it is. I have plenty of shells for them to choose from so I don't see that being the issue. And yea I was thinking of dinos. Couldn't think of the name.

 

[WetWhistle]

When keeping hermit crabs it is important to keep a variety of open different sized shells around. As they grow they will need new larger shells to try on as a new home. If you don't have bigger shells, larger hermits will pull the smaller ones out killing them just so they can try the new home on. If you have extra shells around it also cuts down on random snail deaths for the same reason.

 

[Tori]

Are you sure it was the complete crab? Hermits shed their exoskeleton (which looks very much like a dead crab). Many times the crab that recently shed will go into hiding for a day or two until its new skin hardens.

Keep an eye on the shells in your tank to see if he switched after shedding.

That's funny, this happened to me. I pulled a dead zebra legged hermit crab out of my tank a couple of weeks after I introduced them. The tank was done cycling and the parameters were good so I was scratching my head trying to figure out why one suddenly died. Then a couple of days later I was scratching my head trying to figure out how all three of my hermit crabs were still alive in my tank :D.