Dead crab :(

[audiman]

I had a red clawed crab die on me this week. Found him on the top of the castle, dead!

I have no idea why he died. Water has been tested and was perfect. It was about 1 month old and had shed a shell already. I fed it every other day on bloodworms and the water temp is always between 20-23 degs.

No other deaths amongst the tank crew. Does anybody know why it may have died???

The castle does come out of the water so it can get air. This dude even survived the maturing of the tank! No-one warned me that i shouldnt have crabs straight away

[locojay]

I tried one of those guys based on the advice of the guy at the lfs and it was a bad experience. He seemed to despise being in my tank. He made a habit of climbing up my filter hose, into the sump and staying there. Everyday I would open the filter, take him out and put him back in the tank with some food. He'd just bypass the food and climb back into the sump. I thought the other fish were bugging him so I gave him a couple different hiding places, he didn't want any of them. We went at it for a month or so and in the end he died. I think he just starved himself to death. I thought about putting his food in the sump but I didn't want to encourage him to stay there. I figured he would get hungry and come on down, but I was wrong.

For mine, I think he was just uncomfortable in the tank. I hoped he would get over it but he didn't. Sorry I couldn't give you anything more specific, hopefully someone else will help you more.

[Puffer Pita]

If you cycled the tank with him in it, that probably had a great deal to do with his death. Also, was there any salt in the water? They are brackish and need the addition of marine salt in their tank. They are omnivores and should be fed a varied diet for optimal health.

[audiman]

I didnt realise RCC were brackish?? I thought that was fiddler crabs?? And no there is no salt in the tank

[audiman]

http://wrongcrowd.com/staticpages/index.php?page=crab

found this, seems quite helpful

[locojay]

That is a cool link. Now that I'm feeling a little bit educated I just might give it another shot.

[Puffer Pita]

Yup, they are brackish. I don't know of any aquatic crabs that are freshwater. They aren't picky about how much salt, just make sure you use marine salt and not aquarium salt. I use about 1 tablespoon per 2 gallons and mine are doing quite well.

[audiman]

Will my other fish be ok with the salt water?? I have a few danios, a "goldfish" and a sucking loach

[Puffer Pita]

Goldfish shouldn't be in the same tank with the others anyway, its a coldwater fish and the others are tropical. Personally I never keep crabs with fish. The loach probably won't handle the salt very well.

[audiman]

Since when are Danios and Loach's tropical?? Just reading a few things on the net and most say temp range of 18-22 degs, that doesnt sound very tropical

[Puffer Pita]

The recommended temps for sucking loaches is 24C - 28C in everything I've read. With danios, it depends on the species. Some are fine in 18-22, some should be in a higher temp range.

Goldfish are also extremely messy and need quite a lot of space. Fancy goldfish need at least 20g each, more if they have company, and common, comets, etc., need very large ponds as they get quite large, 2 feet or more if well cared for and properly housed.