Simon wrote:
"Elaine T" wrote in message
. ..
Simon wrote:
We bought 4 dwarf red crabs a while back... they lived happily for
about
3 days then 2 of them decided to climb up out of the tank and sit
on the
glass ledge just under the hood... where they died. The other 2
crabs
stayed in the water and seemed to freeze solid and again die.
Anyone know why this might be?
I would really like to give them another go but obviously i don't
want
them dying again. Since then i've cleaned the tank out throughly
and
replaced the foam filter with an undergravel one with power head
one end
and riser the other with air stone and carbon filter on.
We have fish in the tank that are all healthy, just as we did when
we had
the crabs.
Any possibility you could have had a touch of ammonia or nitrite?
Or high
nitrates from the UGF? A heavy tank cleaning can sometimes cause a
tiny
cycle that doesn't bother fish or register on test kits, but can
harm
inverts. Another thing that comes to mind is that dwarf red crabs
are
really brackish, so they might not have been comfortable in pure
freshwater. Also, if they were trying to moult (seems unlikely if
all
died at once) they need iodine. A drop per 10 gallons of reef
iodine
weekly is all they need, but it apparantly makes a huge difference
to FW
shrimps and crabs.
--
Elaine T __
http://eethomp.com/fish.html '__
rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com
At the time we only had a foam filter, no undergravel.
I honestly wouldn't know if there was any ammonia or nitrate in the
tank at
the time.... we've never tested for that. As long as the fish are
healthy we
assume all is well.
Now I am not an expert by no means. And again, I am not certain if this
is that same species of crab that you have. I have been doing some
research on Red Claw Crabs and freshwater lobsters as I have been
considering whether or not to get one for my tank. The RCCs, at least,
need a place to go the is above water for brief periods of time. Does
your water contain any copper? Here are two sites that I found helpful.
http://www.centralpets.com/critterpa.../FWI4673.shtml
http://wrongcrowd.com/staticpages/index.php?page=crab
I am sorry for the loss.
Will