Peppermint shrimps killed my emerald crab!!!!

[SJojo3377]

Hey all,

So I know the title sounds weird but I swear this is true. It happened this morning. I saw one of our peppermint shrimps cleaning/eating one of our emerald crabs. I thought he was just helping him get out of his shell cause I could see he was in the process of molting, but the shrimp kept eating/cleaning him. I thought the crab was just stuck in his shell and the shrimp was helping him. Then all three of our peppermint shrimps started pulling at the crab... I took his molt out and his body. Dead :-( :-( Has anyone heard of this happening before? What could of caused this? :shock: The shrimps can't be hungry, we fed them some mysis yesterday.

My levels are as follows:
Nitrates/Nitrites/Ammonia: 0.25
Temp: 76 degrees
Salinity: 1.029
pH: 8.0

Thanks for ya'lls input.

 

[RockStacker]

My guess is that the crab was already dead and the peppermints were just cleaning up the carcass.

 

[SJojo3377]

Hmmmm.....we was doing just fine last night and this morning too...so weird.

 

[SJojo3377]

He not we LOL!

 

[Bifferwine]

Yep, the crab was already dead -- I can pretty much guarantee that! No way would a live emerald crab let a peppermint kill it. They are much tougher than that. That is the job of the clean up crew, though, to get rid of any dead bodies before it ruins the water. Which I'm curious about -- your water parameters are a little out of whack. Nitrates are not measured on the same scale as nitrites and ammonia, so I don't know how they can be .25. Also, if your ammonia and nitrites are both really reading .25, that's bad -- they should be at 0. Temp and pH are good, but salinity is high and should be at 1.025/1.026.

 

[Waddi]

Yea +1 everyone/

 

[SJojo3377]

O crap! :-(
Well, I am using the individual API tests: 1 is the high range pH and the other is the Ammonia NH3/NH4 test. I thought that was the nitrates and nitrites. It only tells you 0ppm to 8.0ppm depending on the color. I got 0.25ppm....I guess I should have spent the extra money and got the actual reef testing kit instead of the individual boxes. This is what we get for trying to save some bucks. :-( So, to get my salinity down to the correct amount, do I need to buy some RO water and mix it in with what I have? How much do I need to add you think for a 10 gallon?
Thank you so much for your help! :-)

 

[Bifferwine]

Nitrite is NO2 and nitrate is NO3. You are only testing for ammonia with the ammonia/NH3/NH4 test kit. You need to pick up a nitrite and a nitrate test kit -- they will be two separate test kits. There is no such test kit that tests all three at the same time.

Next time you do a water change, make your new water less salty than normal. Then do that every time you do a water change until the salinity is correct. You don't want to make drastic changes at one time.

 

[SJojo3377]

Okay, so I finally went to my lfs and bought the correct testing kit. I bought the API Saltwater Master Test Kit. I tested my parameters and this is what I just got:
pH: 8.0
Ammonia: 0
Nitrites: 0
Nitrates: 0
Temp: 76 degrees
Salinity: 1.029

So, I will be working on my getting my salinity down slowly of course. :-)
Do I need to be expecting any more deaths you think? I hope not....

 

[Bifferwine]

No, the rest of your water parameters look fine. :)