Emerald crab issues

[megadon]

I can't seem to keep one alive for more than a few months, Wednesday he ate and looked normal, when I went to feed the tank last night he was nowhere to be found, until I saw him beely up in the sand. He was turning pretty white as I thought he was getting ready to molt, what's the deal, I like having one in the tank. He didn't starve as he got plenty of Silversides and other foods. Nothing else in the tank seems to be having problems.
HELP!! Thanks.
Don.

 

[megadon]

Anyone, any thoughts on this?

 

[leboeuf]

how many have you lost? Better post your water parameters also. Never hurts to have a second pair of eyes.

 

[megadon]

This is the third, 2nd batch, the first one lasted 1 week, the 2nd of that pair last 5 months, this last one was in for 3 months. Water seems fine, Salinity is 1.026 ish temp is 80, Trates are under 20. Everything else listed in my footer seems to be fine. The shrimp molt and the hermit crabs are ok too. I doubt the Emerald crab is the most sensitive in my tank.

 

[megadon]

Anyone else have any insight on this?

 

[hvy_dty]

Did you find him intact or could he have been attacked by something? The only other thing I could think of would be your iodine level?

 

[megadon]

He was in tact upside down in the sand, looks like the same way the other 2 went. The shrimp seem to not have any problems molting, nor do my hermits. Once in a while I even see pod molts floating around. This is starting to bug me.

 

[dmurphy]

I had a similar problem I narrowed it down to the food ( or maybe like 80% sure ) .. I got five emeralds this time around and one of them I saw grab a shrimp pellet and he was belly up the next day. So I stopped using those and I have been fine ever since then. Although keep in mind that's only been 3 months.

 

[broomer5]

Don,
Does your tank have any algae for the emerald crabs to eat ?
It's my understanding that they will scavange meaty foods - but they also need algae.
I keep 5 emeralds in my 75

 

[megadon]

I have some algea, mostly on the glass, my rockwork is pretty clean of it though. I also have what I thought was red bubble alge, but now I am not sure as I thought the Emerald would have munched on that. By your reply, it sounds as if I need to put some alge sheets in the tank once in a while, sounds like a logical plan.

 

[ac]

I have 5 emeralds in a 125 reef. I've never seen them eat anything but the bubble algea I bought them to get rid of.