Crabs Getting Killed...Who Dunnit?

Cheeze

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Jan 8, 2021
Messages
193
Reaction score
173
Location
New York
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Over the past couple of weeks I've noticed a couple of my scarlet hermits have been killed off, with their legs/remains scattered on the rocks. And yesterday morning my Electric Blue Leg was found torn to pieces :(, and it was probably the biggest crab in my tank.

The only fish I have right now is a PJ Cardinal, and I've never seen him bother any of the crabs and I feed it well. So it makes me wonder, what is picking these guys off? I have a Pom Pom Crab that I rarely see, a Skunk Shrimp and noticed this hermit (in the attached video) who seems to have taken over one of the larger empty shells in my tank. Could either of these be the culprit?
DA994975-C401-4550-939C-AC4BA8F8EA0B.png FED907D6-1AAE-4471-8840-E7DF639FE94C.png
 
Last edited:
OP
OP
Cheeze

Cheeze

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Jan 8, 2021
Messages
193
Reaction score
173
Location
New York
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I always have trouble uploading videos, so I uploading a couple of pics as well. The hermit I suspect has dull brownish-red marks on it's legs.

I started the tank with dry rock and sand, so nothing foreign has ever been introduced (no corals yet either).

And yes, I'm 100% sure it's not molt unfortunately.
 

UnderseaOddities

Well-Known Member
View Badges
Joined
Oct 23, 2020
Messages
683
Reaction score
485
Location
Ohia
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Could be getting stuck in molt and dying or just shredded molts, could be something off in the water,

Could have been the pom pom, the reason why I dont keep crabs in my cuc anymore is they're ambush predators it could be the pom pom got hungry and snipped em up , could be them fighting each other for their shells.. it's hard telling truly but I dont keep crabs anymore because a 4.99 emerald crab and his 3 cohorts killed a sunkist bounce mama(3in)and terrorized a stick colony that's when I said bye bye and fed them to my buddy's eel


When 12$ worth of crabs costs u 300$ plus in damage it's time for them to go
They're little terrorists sometimes...
 

High pressure shells: Do you look for signs of stress in the invertebrates in your reef tank?

  • I regularly look for signs of invertebrate stress in my reef tank.

    Votes: 41 32.0%
  • I occasionally look for signs of invertebrate stress in my reef tank.

    Votes: 29 22.7%
  • I rarely look for signs of invertebrate stress in my reef tank.

    Votes: 25 19.5%
  • I never look for signs of invertebrate stress in my reef tank.

    Votes: 33 25.8%
  • Other.

    Votes: 0 0.0%
Back
Top