Hermit Crab molting again?

kimmysue

kimmysue

Member
:notsure: My stareye hermit crab molted about 6-8 weeks ago. Does anyone know how often they molt? I just want to make sure this is a molt and not an illness. He has been hiding in his shell for a day now and only pops out when I feed my other fish (just like during his last molt). He is my favorite part of the tank and I want to make sure he is ok.
Some tank information: My nitrate, nitrite and ammonia levels are zero. My Ph is around 8.0. A couple of weeks ago he ate my blue devil damsel that was dieing from agressive tank mates. I have a 75 gallon tank with 10 snails, 3 black domino damsels and 2 blue devil damsels. We have lots of empty shells in the tank and he changes shells a few times a day.
Thanks,
Kimmysue
 
kimmysue

kimmysue

Member
My salt is 1.023. SHould I feed him anything special during the molt or even when he is not molting? He usually just eats the hair algae and brown algae on the rocks and sand.
 
seavolcano

seavolcano

New Member
I have Three Hermits in my 40 gal plenium filter sump they molt about once a month.
They really should not be in the same tank as fish as they will eat anything meaty if they get a claw on it.
 
seavolcano

seavolcano

New Member
when a big hermit crab like i have molts for the first time i thought it died they discard their outer layer over thier entire body so as to grow more as thier outer layer prevents them getting any bigger cus it is hard to protect them from attack, coral banded shrimp do it too, it looks kinda cool untill it clogs up the inlet to a power head or filter,lol, my hermits usually stay in thier shell a day atleast afterwards to pump in as much sea water as possible to expand thier new soft outer layer plates untill they harden to allow them to grow larger untill the next time they molt.
 
monalisa

monalisa

Active Member
Originally Posted by WillCon
can someone please tell me what the hell molting is?

:notsure:
Uh, seavolcano just did ^^
Lisa :happyfish
 
pbienkiewi

pbienkiewi

Member
you know when you get a sunburn and the skin peels off, Or when you see a snakes skin.
Molting is when he sheds it's outer covering. It is growing..
 
monalisa

monalisa

Active Member
My cb shrimp just molted this past weekend (again). Seems like it's a really regular event in saltwater.
Lisa :happyfish
 
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