mandarin dragone GONE after adding 2 emerald crabs

[aerialdronemaster]

Hi
so I went to LF and got 2 emerald crabs to battle my green hair algae ( I was told they will eat it)
well, the next day both crabs are dead !! ( whatever)
but my freaking mandarin dragone is GONE !!! I cant find the dang fish
I am so upset , I loved that fish, and it is gone ! I moved all rocks, and it is nowhere!

can those crabs kill and eat the mandarin dragone ? what happened

thank you
tom

 

[Tamberav]

You sure the crabs are dead and didn’t molt?

How long did you have the mandarin? A healthy one should be a fat sausage and no concave belly.... it should have a nice rounded belly. Many die from nutritional issues.

It may just be a coincidence.

If both crabs are actually dead that may be an acclimation issue even though they are typically pretty hardy.

I had a bad crab (not emerald) grab a scooter dragonet in front of me and kill it. That is how I found out I had the crab. My emeralds have not bothered my fish though I am sure they would eat a weak one.

 

[aerialdronemaster]

You sure the crabs are dead and didn’t molt?

How long did you have the mandarin? A healthy one should be a fat sausage and no concave belly.... it should have a nice rounded belly. Many die from nutritional issues.

It may just be a coincidence.

If both crabs are actually dead that may be an acclimation issue even though they are typically pretty hardy.

hi
the mandarin had been there over 6 months
yea, both crabs were dead, I have a small mini tank, so I would find them
I have blue tang ( no issues) , shrimp , 2 clowns ( no issues) almost 1 year

 

[Tamberav]

If the tank is small then it’s possible the mandarin starved and it is all a coincidence and the crabs died from acclimation issues.

Crabs are opportunistic but dead crabs can’t kill things

Mandarins have a slime that is nasty tasting and even a bit toxic but I have never seen CUC die after eating a mandarins corpse so I assume it is not THAT toxic.

Mandarins have small inefficient digestive tracts so they need a lot of food. Many perish from their nutritional needs not being met.

Now if the crabs are larger and the mandarin is small.... assuming the crabs are actually alive and what you saw was molts, it is possible.

If you have two clowns, a mandarin and a tang in a small tank. You will likely not solve your algae issue with cuc as the issue is too much bioload.

 

[aerialdronemaster]

If the tank is small then it’s possible the mandarin starved and it is all a coincidence and the crabs died from acclimation issues.

Crabs are opportunistic but dead crabs can’t kill things

Mandarins have a slime that is nasty tasting and even a bit toxic but I have never seen CUC die after eating a mandarins corpse so I assume it is not THAT toxic.

Mandarins have small inefficient digestive tracts so they need a lot of food. Many perish from their nutritional needs not being met.

Now if the crabs are larger and the mandarin is small.... assuming the crabs are actually alive and what you saw was molts, it is possible.

well I get it . but the mandarin was well ok over 6 months, and just disappeared, then I saw 2 crabs dead !!
I removed those crabs, and I thought that the mandarin was hiding under the rock, as usually, it was over 2 weeks, so I decided to move those rocks, and the fish is gone !! nada, no single sight , is it just gone, I checked by the filters also.

it is just weird coincidence for me.

 

[Tamberav]

well I get it . but the mandarin was well ok over 6 months, and just disappeared, then I saw 2 crabs dead !!
I removed those crabs, and I thought that the mandarin was hiding under the rock, as usually, it was over 2 weeks, so I decided to move those rocks, and the fish is gone !! nada, no single sight , is it just gone, I checked by the filters also.

it is just weird coincidence for me.

Well the worms in the rock would eat it’s corpse in a short time. Bodies are rarely found.

Six months may just be the timeline for it to starve.

Crabs are opportunistic but why would crabs that are healthy enough to catch a fish and eat it just up and die?

I guess the answer is...under the right circumstances...yes crabs can catch fish... weak fish...small fish and such... or it starved.

I have 5 small female emeralds. The males can get quite large.

 

[blaxsun]

It's hard to say without knowing how long it's been since you last saw it. Have you checked around the outside of your tank or back of the tank if it has a built-in sump? I once had a black cucumber force a lid open to climb into a filter caddy where it lived quite happily for almost a month.

 

[homer1475]

6 months is just about the right amount of time for it to starve to death.

With a healthy population of CUC, a small body could disapear within hours.

 

[aerialdronemaster]

6 months is just about the right amount of time for it to starve to death.

With a healthy population of CUC, a small body could disapear within hours.

so, you are telling me that the fish can survive 6 months before it dies ? ..

 

[Uncle99]

so, you are telling me that the fish can survive 6 months before it dies ? ..

That would be correct. Runs out of PODS.