Hermit loss

[razorskiss]

I recently expanded my CUC with dwarf ceriths, a few more star astreas, and 3 scarlet hermit crabs. The tank has no fish, ammonia reads 0 (seachem gas exchange sensors), nitrates at 10, phosphates 0.03, Alk 10, Ca 450, Mg 1350, all salifert. There were already two ceriths and two star astreas in the tank. The snails are doing well and chowing down but the hermits have all died after 2 days. They were actively exploring and grazing on days 0 and 1, but today I found them half hanging out of their shells and nonresponsive. What could be wrong with my water? Temp has been stable at 78 and pH is currently 8.2 with 35.2 ppt salinity. Salinity has been very stable but I don't check pH regularly.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

did you feed them?

 

[razorskiss]

There's hair and film algae in the tank, but I didn't directly feed them in those 2 days.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

They can eat algae, but they are not herbivores
I'm surprised they didnt just eat each other though

 

[razorskiss]

Would starvation in 2 days explain it? I guess it depends on whether they were fed at the origin or not. dang, I guess I should have offered some fish food when introducing them to the tank.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

I dont know, just putting it out there as a possible idea.

If I was forced to live off of brussel sprouts for the next 2 days, I know I would die.

But like I said, they could have eaten each other, so who knows

 

[razorskiss]

No, they were anatomically intact, just hanging limp from the shell, hence my fear of water issues...

 

[immo]

No, they were anatomically intact, just hanging limp from the shell, hence my fear of water issues...

I’m having a similar issue. Did you ever figure it out?

 

[Stomatopods17]

How big were the crabs in relation to the snails?

If they were too small (or large) for the shells the snails were in, its possible they just all molted/had nothing to swap into. Shipping for some inverts triggers a molt sooner.

There's nothing particularly anti-hermit if the snails are doing fine, and starvation I don't believe is the problem (if they're desperate they'll go for polyps, worms, and especially the snails).

EDIT: ah this thread few months old.

 

[razorskiss]

How big were the crabs in relation to the snails?

If they were too small (or large) for the shells the snails were in, its possible they just all molted/had nothing to swap into. Shipping for some inverts triggers a molt sooner.

There's nothing particularly anti-hermit if the snails are doing fine, and starvation I don't believe is the problem (if they're desperate they'll go for polyps, worms, and especially the snails).

EDIT: ah this thread few months old.

This was still helpful advice. Losses stopped after the initial couple. Never figured out any obvious issues. I had gotten a wide range of empty shells when I ordered the hermits to begin with so I'm not sure whether available shell size was an issue.