Pitho crab in his golden years?

[JoJosReef]

I've noticed a huge slowdown in activity from my pitho crab. Had him/her for 10 months. It gets target fed pieces of nori frequently, not daily, and there is a bit of bubble algae and plenty of food floating around in the tank, so I don't think it is starving. It also is not burying itself like it usually does, instead just sitting next to the scoly or just below the trachy, as in the pic below:

It still waves its arms around and will take strips of nori when I wave it in front of him/her, but before it would always come out of the sand energetically waving its arms to grab nori/food. It also has a little bit of GHA growing on its shell near its eyes, which is also the only place in the entire tank where GHA is growing.

Is this pitho crab just slowing down due to old age? I've never seen it molt, but this has been going on for a week or two now, so I would have thought that a mold would already be over and done with. Thoughts?

 

[shakacuz]

likely with inverts like this we never truly know their age or how long ago they were collected unless you are the first(as in, the person importing them, or being the first to buy the moment they're imported, etc). likely it is slowly regressing, but hopefully not?! if its been doing that for a week or two, have there been anything you can identify that has changed? new food, water parameter changes, WC, etc.

 

[JoJosReef]

likely with inverts like this we never truly know their age or how long ago they were collected unless you are the first(as in, the person importing them, or being the first to buy the moment they're imported, etc). likely it is slowly regressing, but hopefully not?! if its been doing that for a week or two, have there been anything you can identify that has changed? new food, water parameter changes, WC, etc.

Everything seems to be fine in the tank. It's still moving it's little arms occasionally and certainly responds to food being in front of it. I'm just wondering, because it's really starting to act like an old person. I don't think the wrasses are picking on it, because they swim by and generally ignore the pitho and haven't attacked the sexy shrimp or porcelains. Dunno! Hope it's not on its way out. I'd miss its waving little arms begging for food (it is a useless CUC member, learned early on that it can get what it wants from me by acting cute). Then again, I'll not miss having to specifically tear up small pieces of nori and hand feed it...

 

[shakacuz]

Everything seems to be fine in the tank. It's still moving it's little arms occasionally and certainly responds to food being in front of it. I'm just wondering, because it's really starting to act like an old person. I don't think the wrasses are picking on it, because they swim by and generally ignore the pitho and haven't attacked the sexy shrimp or porcelains. Dunno! Hope it's not on its way out. I'd miss its waving little arms begging for food (it is a useless CUC member, learned early on that it can get what it wants from me by acting cute). Then again, I'll not miss having to specifically tear up small pieces of nori and hand feed it...

they are scavengers, and do roam. so i wouldn't worry too much on hand feeding it. perhaps you've conditioned it to wait for food, rather than move and get it?

 

[JoJosReef]

they are scavengers, and do roam. so i wouldn't worry too much on hand feeding it. perhaps you've conditioned it to wait for food, rather than move and get it?

Definitely conditioned, although maybe it roams at night. I got it for fun, not so much for CUC, so I don't mind that its a slacker.