my crab is dead

cicih · Mar 30, 2021

My chemical levels are good but my emerald crab is dead. I don't know if I should take him out of the tank yet. I don't know what happened. No fish is dead.

DC Reefer · Mar 30, 2021

If it is dead I would remove from the tank. Not sure of the Emeralds life span. I usually get 12-18 months out of them.

Oceanboys · Mar 30, 2021

I’m sorry to hear that, I would definitely take him out of the tank to avoid any unwanted nitrate spikes

lpsouth1978 · Mar 30, 2021

I would remove it. I have found that emerald die often of starvation. They require a large amount of food (algae) or they will starve. I stopped keeping them long ago for this reason.

windemerejack · Mar 30, 2021

Are you sure it is dead and not just moulted?

Bored_shrimp · Mar 30, 2021

Look around your tank to be sure it's actually dead. They like to molt and trick you into thinking they're dead. Has happened multiple times to me. If it is I'm sorry to hear that.

stanleo · Mar 30, 2021

I stopped keeping them because I never got a full year out of them and I think they don't get enough algae in a well maintained tank.

cicih · Mar 30, 2021

stanleo said:
I stopped keeping them because I never got a full year out of them and I think they don't get enough algae in a well maintained tank.

Thanks

cicih · Mar 30, 2021

An_Average_Fish_Keeper said:
Look around your tank to be sure it's actually dead. They like to molt and trick you into thinking they're dead. Has happened multiple times to me. If it is I'm sorry to hear that.

cicih · Mar 30, 2021

if he has moted I can still take the shell out correct?

CMMorgan · Mar 30, 2021

cicih said:
if he has moted I can still take the shell out correct?

yes

cicih · Mar 30, 2021

cicih said:
if he has moted I can still take the shell out correct?

windemerejack · Mar 30, 2021

cicih said:
if he has moted I can still take the shell out correct?

Yes you can, but if it is just the moult then put it back in as they eat it, it helps with the new shell.

BloopFish · Mar 30, 2021

For whatever reason, the algae eating Majidae crabs, like the emerald crab or decorator crabs, seem to require quite a substantial amount of algae to live - and sometimes they only like to eat particular ones. I've never had success keeping them for very long even with a tank filled with algae (never kept an emerald crab though), they sort of disappear after a while.

landlubber · Mar 30, 2021

there are good responses already regarding the crab itself so i won't touch on that but in general, remove any dead fish or inverts as soon as you can. they are capable of jacking your nutrients pretty good if left to rot away.

cicih · Apr 1, 2021

JUST curious. How long does it take a crab to molt? I was thinking maybe he stays still while molting. I have disposed of him but I hate to think I may have killed him in ignorance.