Arrow crab legs fell off!?!?!

[boogsawaste]

Well I had to remove my cc starfish from my tank because he got too large. I also returned my mandarin (didn't want to starve him because not enough pods yet), so I tried an arrow crab. I had him since sunday and he looked ok up through last night. This morning when I turned on the lights he is missing 6 of his legs! He still has his pincers and 2 front legs on either side but all the rest are sitting right next to him (so obviously not eaten). He is still alive but what happened? I've never kept arrow crabs before so this is new to me.

 

[Bifferwine]

Poor water quality can cause inverts to literally fall apart. I've seen it happen with starfish too. What are your parameters looking like?

 

[dustin_P74]

it might have lost them in a molt

 

[daugherty]

what other fish do you have? any shrimp? my shrimp killed my arrow crab. or water quality issues

 

[boogsawaste]

S/G is 1.024, ph is 8.2, nitrites are <.03 mg/l, ammonia is zero. I can also test carbonate hardness and CO2 later tonight. The ONLY things in the tank are an o. clown and the crab. There are however all kinds of hitchhikers on my live rock. These weird looking snails that are a little bigger than my thumbnail and move very fast when the light is on. Some possible bristleworms and some weird worms that only partially stretch out of the rock at night and bury their faces in the gravel. I'm kind of afraid to get another crab because of what happened to this guy :(

 

[yote]

How was the crab acclimated?

 

[boogsawaste]

Oh, I just noticed that my temp is 80! Could this have caused it? I have no idea how it is so hot as room temp is 75 and I have the lights off most of the day.

 

[daugherty]

nitrites are <.03 mg/l,

that could very well be the reason

 

[boogsawaste]

that could very well be the reason

That's the lowest range on the scale of my tetratest laborett. There is no "0" scale on there.

And how I acclimated him. I floated him for about 10 minutes (maybe 15). Next I dumped some of his water and added some of mine (while he was still floating) for another 10. Then I placed him in the tank. Should I have done it different?

 

[daugherty]

inverts should be acclimated longer than that they take longer than fish and even fish i would do for at least 45 min.

 

[Piggy]

That could be the problem you didn't acclimate him long enough. Did you check the salinity that he was in before you put him in your tank?

 

[boogsawaste]

So acclimating him wrong would let him survive for 2 days before death? What process are you guys using to acclimate inverts? In all my time keeping saltwater I have never really had any inverts except some hermits and that cc starfish (and of course the hitchhikers).

 

[Bifferwine]

Inverts should be acclimated over a period of several hours, whereas fish only need less than an hour. It's possible this is why it lost its legs, but I'm not totally convinced.

 

[boogsawaste]

Inverts should be acclimated over a period of several hours, whereas fish only need less than an hour. It's possible this is why it lost its legs, but I'm not totally convinced.

So what else should I be looking out for? I didn't get a chance to test the KH yet or CO2 either. Also the crab died yesterday, which is no surprise since he didn't have many legs left. I just want to get it figured out before I put another one in (or anything for that matter). BTW, the water from the store was 1.025 for his inverts and mine is 1.024.

 

[yote]

Thats not enough of a differance in salinity to hurt anything.
Could be that your crab was already going down when you purchased it.

 

[boogsawaste]

I guess it could be that the crab was already hurting before I got him and the stress of the move might have pushed him over the edge. For future reference, how should I acclimate inverts? Like what's your "step by step" process? Is there anything else for me to check?

 

[dustin_P74]

i just use the bag float method but i double the length of time in the bag for inverts

 

[boogsawaste]

So you aren't adding any of your water to the bag when it's floating?

 

[reeffreak]

I'm not sure how old your system,waiting for it to mature for at least several months wouldn't be a bad idea.

I personally use the drip method for everything.

 

[dustin_P74]

-Floating Method:

Float the sealed bag in the aquarium for approximately 15 minutes. The reason for this is that sometimes the temperatures between the aquarium and the water in the bag are very different. Opening the shipping bag prior to letting the temperature equalize may lower the level of dissolved oxygen quickly and additionally stress your new arrival.

After 15 minutes of floating, cut the shipping bag open under the metal or rubber band clip. Roll the bag down about three or four folds (like rolling up a pant leg). This will hold air and enable the bag to float on the water surface. It is also recommended to use a clothes pin or hair clip to hold the bag in place on the side of the aquarium. This will be helpful if you have a lot of current in your system that may push the shipping bags around and even knock them over. If you are acclimating a coral that is large or heavy, place the bag in a plastic bowl or bucket.

Every five minutes pour a half a cup of water into the floating bag. A turkey baster (which you can purchase at any 99 cent store) will be perfect for this as well. Repeat this step until the shipping bag is full.

Remove the shipping bag from the aquarium and carefully pour out half the water from the bag. Take care to not accidentally pour out your fish or coral. Pour the old water into a bucket which you can dump out later.

Re-float the shipping bag again in the aquarium and continue to add ½ cups of aquarium water every five minutes until the bag is full.

If you have a fish that is safe to net, you may net it out of the bag and release into the aquarium. Net handling can easily damage some tangs, angels, sharks, and others. When at all possible try to pour off as much of the acclimation water as possible, and transfer the animal to a collection cup or bowl.

Remove and discard the acclimation bag. Try not to let any more acclimation water into your aquarium than you absolutely have to. Sometimes, to ensure the health of the fish during shipping, or even at our facility there may be medication in the water that can be harmful to inverts and other fish.

for inverts i usually repeat the pour and re-fill the bag again for a third time