Lost a hermit crab??

[RLIrwin]

Came home this evening and one of my hermit crabs was dead and out of his
shell. He seemed healthy and had recently switched to larger shell (Atrea
snail shell). The other hermit crabs, the snails and my clown fish seem to be
doing fine. The only thing that I have changed is I started adding 1/2 ml
iodine once per week and 1 ml Reef Solutions twice a week to my 10 gallon tank
at the advice of my local fish store to try to get the coralline algae on my
live rock growing. I change 2 gallons of water every other week.

The water chemistry has changed very little over the past couple of months and
looks OK to me:

ph-8.4, ammonia - 0, nitite-0, nitrate - 2.5-5 - SG-1.024, Alk - norm, Ca -
500, Kh - 11

Any ideas? Or maybe it's not that unsual to lose a hermit crab once in a while
(I'd had them for about 3 months).

Thanks

Bob

[Mort]

He probably molted. I thought the same thing when this first happened to me
and posted a similar question several months ago.

Everyone said it prolly molted...

I thought, no way that is just a shell but sure enough... He turned up a
few days later. I mean it looked like meaty fragments were left but he was
fine.

Also, crabs need iodine in the molting proccess from what I understand so
odds are you may have triggered the response by dosing it. (dont quote me on
that though)

hth

~Mort



"RLIrwin" > wrote in message
...
> Came home this evening and one of my hermit crabs was dead and out of his
> shell. He seemed healthy and had recently switched to larger shell (Atrea
> snail shell). The other hermit crabs, the snails and my clown fish seem
to be
> doing fine. The only thing that I have changed is I started adding 1/2 ml
> iodine once per week and 1 ml Reef Solutions twice a week to my 10 gallon
tank
> at the advice of my local fish store to try to get the coralline algae on
my
> live rock growing. I change 2 gallons of water every other week.
>
> The water chemistry has changed very little over the past couple of months
and
> looks OK to me:
>
> ph-8.4, ammonia - 0, nitite-0, nitrate - 2.5-5 - SG-1.024, Alk - norm,
Ca -
> 500, Kh - 11
>
> Any ideas? Or maybe it's not that unsual to lose a hermit crab once in a
while
> (I'd had them for about 3 months).
>
> Thanks
>
> Bob

[Microbot]

Some say that Iodine is the reason why they molt, to get rid of excess
Iodnine and not so much as to they need it to molt..

Cheers
Microbot

"Mort" > wrote in message
. ..
> He probably molted. I thought the same thing when this first happened to
me
> and posted a similar question several months ago.
>
> Everyone said it prolly molted...
>
> I thought, no way that is just a shell but sure enough... He turned up a
> few days later. I mean it looked like meaty fragments were left but he
was
> fine.
>
> Also, crabs need iodine in the molting proccess from what I understand so
> odds are you may have triggered the response by dosing it. (dont quote me
on
> that though)
>
> hth
>
> ~Mort
>
>
>
> "RLIrwin" > wrote in message
> ...
> > Came home this evening and one of my hermit crabs was dead and out of
his
> > shell. He seemed healthy and had recently switched to larger shell
(Atrea
> > snail shell). The other hermit crabs, the snails and my clown fish seem
> to be
> > doing fine. The only thing that I have changed is I started adding 1/2
ml
> > iodine once per week and 1 ml Reef Solutions twice a week to my 10
gallon
> tank
> > at the advice of my local fish store to try to get the coralline algae
on
> my
> > live rock growing. I change 2 gallons of water every other week.
> >
> > The water chemistry has changed very little over the past couple of
months
> and
> > looks OK to me:
> >
> > ph-8.4, ammonia - 0, nitite-0, nitrate - 2.5-5 - SG-1.024, Alk - norm,
> Ca -
> > 500, Kh - 11
> >
> > Any ideas? Or maybe it's not that unsual to lose a hermit crab once in
a
> while
> > (I'd had them for about 3 months).
> >
> > Thanks
> >
> > Bob
>
>

[RLIrwin]

How much Iodine should I put in the tank? I'm putting in 1/2 ml per week -
this is half what is recommended on the bottle. I am also using a product
called reef solutions recommended by my local fish store. I put in no other
products unless the Ca, Ph, or Kh needs adjusting which it hasn't in a month or
so. It is a 10 gallon tank with 3 hermit crabs, 3 astrea snails and 2
clownfish. Live rock, but no coral.

[Richard Reynolds]

> How much Iodine should I put in the tank? I'm putting in 1/2 ml per week -
> this is half what is recommended on the bottle. I am also using a product
> called reef solutions recommended by my local fish store. I put in no other
> products unless the Ca, Ph, or Kh needs adjusting which it hasn't in a month or
> so. It is a 10 gallon tank with 3 hermit crabs, 3 astrea snails and 2
> clownfish. Live rock, but no coral.

how much iodine is in the tank before you add it, you would know this because if your
adding any iodine you are testing for it. you are testing for it right ??? if not stop
dosing it.

you dont need iodine and you are adding it every time you feed your tank.

--
Richard Reynolds

[Microbot]

I stopped adding Iodine when I found out you dont really need to add it.

Cheers
Microbot

"RLIrwin" > wrote in message
...
> How much Iodine should I put in the tank? I'm putting in 1/2 ml per
week -
> this is half what is recommended on the bottle. I am also using a product
> called reef solutions recommended by my local fish store. I put in no
other
> products unless the Ca, Ph, or Kh needs adjusting which it hasn't in a
month or
> so. It is a 10 gallon tank with 3 hermit crabs, 3 astrea snails and 2
> clownfish. Live rock, but no coral.