Hermit crab death

Plunder · May 17, 2020

I have about 6 hermit crabs that seemed to be doing great but today I noticed something...dead...it was a hermit crab without his shell. Didnt concern me too much until I noticed another one without its shell. I don't have any spare shells on the ground, as its only 13.5g, should be easy to find. Anyways, any clue what maybe is going on? I dont have any extra hermit shells other than the snail shells, which happen to be the same species shells they are using. Could they be fighting over them?

Jonify · May 17, 2020

Hermits molt and need bigger shells. They don't come out of them often unless they're trying new shells. I wouldn't worry about it, just go to your local LFS and ask for about 10 empty shells, then throw that into your tank. You'll get a tiny calcium bump if they sit in there, and your crabs might find their next home

ZipAdeeZoa · May 17, 2020

Are you sure they were dead? I know that sounds silly but as these guys grow the shed their exoskeleton and form a new one, often hiding until it hardens. I've thought my crabs and shrimp where dead a few times but know I know better- until I see 2 bodies and one of them stinks I'll assume they are fine ;Hilarious If you can't find empty shells but your finding dead hermit crabs then I'm pretty sure your dealing with molts.

I would definitely get more shells ASAP though because yes they will fight if they don't have enough options to upgrade, even if they do sometimes they just want the shell the other guy has.

Plunder · May 17, 2020

ZipAdeeZoa said:
Are you sure they were dead? I know that sounds silly but as these guys grow the shed their exoskeleton and form a new one, often hiding until it hardens. I've thought my crabs and shrimp where dead a few times but know I know better- until I see 2 bodies and one of them stinks I'll assume they are fine ;Hilarious If you can't find empty shells but your finding dead hermit crabs then I'm pretty sure your dealing with molts.

I would definitely get more shells ASAP though because yes they will fight if they don't have enough options to upgrade, even if they do sometimes they just want the shell the other guy has.

The one that died did seem to be molting, something must have gotten to him. I'll go get some tomorrow. Thanks.

Easy Reefing · May 17, 2020

Plunder said:
I have about 6 hermit crabs that seemed to be doing great but today I noticed something...dead...it was a hermit crab without his shell. Didnt concern me too much until I noticed another one without its shell. I don't have any spare shells on the ground, as its only 13.5g, should be easy to find. Anyways, any clue what maybe is going on? I dont have any extra hermit shells other than the snail shells, which happen to be the same species shells they are using. Could they be fighting over them?

They sell shells at the 99cent store in the pet aisle u have a fluval evo 13.5 ?

Plunder · May 17, 2020

Easy Reefing said:
They sell shells at the 99cent store in the pet aisle u have a fluval evo 13.5 ?

Ya, it's been up and running for about a month now. I have 6-7 microhermits, 2 small clowns, 1 small fire dart goby, 1 peppermint shrimp, 1 blood red shrimp (whois been MIA for a week), a bunch of different types of snails who seem to keep multiplying, micro stars, some mama mia worms, a chiton (I think it is, looks like a slug but with a shell) and a bunch of pods living all over. I also built a DT refugium to house them. The last fish I want to get for it is a dragonet mandarin I'm worried it might be too small though.

Plunder · May 17, 2020

Jonify said:
Hermits molt and need bigger shells. They don't come out of them often unless they're trying new shells. I wouldn't worry about it, just go to your local LFS and ask for about 10 empty shells, then throw that into your tank. You'll get a tiny calcium bump if they sit in there, and your crabs might find their next home

Thanks for the input, Jonify. I'll go down to the LFS tomorrow and pick some extra up!

Easy Reefing · May 17, 2020

Plunder said:
Ya, it's been up and running for about a month now. I have 6-7 microhermits, 2 small clowns, 1 small fire dart goby, 1 peppermint shrimp, 1 blood red shrimp (whois been MIA for a week), a bunch of different types of snails who seem to keep multiplying, micro stars, some mama mia worms, a chiton (I think it is, looks like a slug but with a shell) and a bunch of pods living all over. I also built a DT refugium to house them. The last fish I want to get for it is a dragonet mandarin I'm worried it might be too small though.

I have the same tank .

Plunder · May 17, 2020

Wow, that looks really good. Do you have a different light other than the stock? I wanted to do the same thing with my GSP but the LFS sold it to me with bryopsis that I found on it a week later. I did a hydroperoxide dip and is super clean now but still hasn't opened up.. Might have to get a new one.

Easy Reefing · May 17, 2020

Plunder said:
Wow, that looks really good. Do you have a different light other than the stock? I wanted to do the same thing with my GSP but the LFS sold it to me with bryopsis that I found on it a week later. I did a hydroperoxide dip and is super clean now but still hasn't opened up.. Might have to get a new one.

I just added the ai prime 16HD and love it so far . Stock light is decent but I wanted to add a clam one day . And thank u

windemerejack · May 17, 2020

Plunder said:
Ya, it's been up and running for about a month now. I have 6-7 microhermits, 2 small clowns, 1 small fire dart goby, 1 peppermint shrimp, 1 blood red shrimp (whois been MIA for a week), a bunch of different types of snails who seem to keep multiplying, micro stars, some mama mia worms, a chiton (I think it is, looks like a slug but with a shell) and a bunch of pods living all over. I also built a DT refugium to house them. The last fish I want to get for it is a dragonet mandarin I'm worried it might be too small though.

Just a quick note on your blood shrimp, you might not see it for weeks, I used to have one and very rarely saw it, never bought another one. So just because its MIA doesn't mean the worst.

Plunder · May 17, 2020

Easy Reefing said:
I just added the ai prime 16HD and love it so far . Stock light is decent but I wanted to add a clam one day . And thank u

Well, the upgraded light is very noticeable, looks good. Thanks for the tip, I'll have to look into one.

Also to any reading, I think I figure out the *dead hermit* issue. With the information, Zipadeezoa gave me I think he was on to something. From what looked to be a death hermit was hit molt? I tried to retrieve the wreckage but one of the soft corals had its arms around it so I didn't want to bother it. But later I noticed a hermit who was WAY too big for his shell but somehow managed to get in it. I thought maybe he ditched it, mottled, and crammed back in (at least that's I think it works in my head). I never saw that before, I would have noticed, I've been staring at this dang thing.

Do the molts look pretty close to a dead one? I'm asking because his antennas and facial features seemed to be intact.

It's just a bunch of smoke and mirrors at this point. I think they are $%#$#@ with me.

windemerejack · May 17, 2020

a shrimp and crab moult are exact replicas including antennae.

ZipAdeeZoa · May 17, 2020

Plunder said:
Well, the upgraded light is very noticeable, looks good. Thanks for the tip, I'll have to look into one.

Also to any reading, I think I figure out the *dead hermit* issue. With the information, Zipadeezoa gave me I think he was on to something. From what looked to be a death hermit was hit molt? I tried to retrieve the wreckage but one of the soft corals had its arms around it so I didn't want to bother it. But later I noticed a hermit who was WAY too big for his shell but somehow managed to get in it. I thought maybe he ditched it, mottled, and crammed back in (at least that's I think it works in my head). I never saw that before, I would have noticed, I've been staring at this dang thing. Do the molts look pretty close to a dead one? I'm asking because his antennas and facial features seemed to be intact.

It's just a bunch of smoke and mirrors at this point. I think they are $%#$#@ with me.

Apologies if I was unclear, the molts look exactly like the body of the crustacean that produced it even maintaining the colour (although the colours do fade once the exoskeleton is dried for some reason). Here is a photo of the last molt I pulled, although the colour faded a few days after removal you can see all the details- eye stalks, antennae etc- Its very convincing! Like I said in my original post, they've fooled me a few times!