dead emerald crab

[clownfish11]

okay so my emerald crab got attacked and killed and i was wondering if its lodged in some rocks behind my rocks...should i leave it or can i leave it cuz thers not way for me to get to it if unless i take my rocks down, which i really odnt wanna do..
is it okay to leave him in there?

 

[subielover]

I would see if your clean up crew goes after him, if they don't in a few hours, you may have to take him out. I would think that if he was left to rot in there that you would have an ammonia spike, maybe someone else can shed some more light on it for you.

 

[mr_x]

i don't think you'll get an ammonia spike from a single emerald crab.
how do you know he is dead?
what attacked him?
did you witness it?
maybe the crab molted. the molting from a crab looks identical to the crab itself. i've mistaked a molting for a death more than once. it's hard to tell the difference.

 

[clownfish11]

well it may have molted but the legs were still hairyy..umm its claws were there it didnt look like a exoskeletan didnt witness it, but looked all over to make sure at least i dnt think its a molt, and i think it was my mithrax or clown that attcked him...

 

[mr_x]

the claws and hairy legs will be on the molting.
mithrax? emerald is in the mithrax family. what other mithrax do you have?

 

[clownfish11]

ive got red mithrax thats a lot bigger and seem pretty aggressive since whenever i put my hand in the tank he goes for it....it might be a molding, and i hope its a molding...

 

[nycbob]

u dont hv remove the dead crab. one dead emerald isnt going to cause waterproblem in a tank.

 

[mr_x]

hmm...i've heard of these on many occasions, but haven't seen them for sale around here....have you noticed anything else interesting about this red mithrax's behavior?
do you have a pic?

 

[truckie174]

If you can get a good look at him, see if the eyes are still with it. Mine molted a couple weeks ago. I thought he was dead. Looked just like he did when he was moving around. But the eyes were gone. Just holes. Got a glimpse of his newness later that evening.

 

[sk8shorty01]

Yeah a newly molted invert will hide out while it is so vulnerable without its exoskeleton. You should see the crab within a day or two if it was indeed a molt. This is my guess though, as most of the time a molt is mistaken for a death.

 

[clownfish11]

ya my pistol shrimp just molted to....and i can get pics like friday...i dont have my camera

 

[bizzmoneyb]

it might just be that it molted. ive had my emerald crabs for 3 months and have theyve already tricked me a few times.