socalracer
Member
my sally lightfoot died today....do these crabs normally live long.... i've only had him/her about a month it was always very quick and always active but today it was on its back getting ate by my hermits
R.I.P. sally
- Thread starter socalracer
- Start date
socalracer
Member
they were picking at him but not really the meat, i hope he wasn't molting cause i tossed him.....if he was molting would he have been on its back also wouldn't it have moved if i grabbed it w/ the net?
renogaw
Active Member
no, if your sally has molted already, it would leave the shell and go hide in the rock somewhere. open the shell and see if there's anything in it. if there's meat inside, then the sally is dead. if there's nothing inside, it molted. clean up crew should chew on the molt a little. i had one crab die and found half the body shell one day, and nothing the next.
socalracer
Member
it wasn't molting i picked it up by it's leg....nothing, one eye was drooped down the other wasn't it's dead i just don't know why my tank is doing very well and i thought these crabs were relatively hardy....just bad luck i hope
socalracer
Member
how long has urs been in ur tank?
jcarroll
Member
Sally lightfoot crabs die naturally from growing. They shell only gets to be so big and they end up outgrowing it, but don't molt it. It's weird. They end up almost suffocating for lack of a better word in their own shell. It's nothing with your tank, it's just what happens to them. I had a fish store that didn't sell me one because she said the crab was almost at it's maximum size, and wouldn't live much longer.
saltn00b
Active Member
Originally Posted by Jcarroll
Sally lightfoot crabs die naturally from growing. They shell only gets to be so big and they end up outgrowing it, but don't molt it. It's weird. They end up almost suffocating for lack of a better word in their own shell. It's nothing with your tank, it's just what happens to them. I had a fish store that didn't sell me one because she said the crab was almost at it's maximum size, and wouldn't live much longer.
ummm what? all crustacions molt. they will molt more as juveniles, but then it will slow down. they will continue to molt and grow their whole life, like a snake. these crabs can live a few years easily, they can get 6" at least and even have occasionally been known to catch small fish for a meal at that size.
your particular case, did it feel light when you picked up the supposed corpse? it could very well have been a molt, sometimes it is very tricky to tell. you may well see him in about 3 days.
is your tank new? did you ever dose it with copper? do you use tap water? what are your water parameters? sometimes if you buy a used tank from someone you can never be sure they did not dose with copper at one time or another.
Sally lightfoot crabs die naturally from growing. They shell only gets to be so big and they end up outgrowing it, but don't molt it. It's weird. They end up almost suffocating for lack of a better word in their own shell. It's nothing with your tank, it's just what happens to them. I had a fish store that didn't sell me one because she said the crab was almost at it's maximum size, and wouldn't live much longer.
ummm what? all crustacions molt. they will molt more as juveniles, but then it will slow down. they will continue to molt and grow their whole life, like a snake. these crabs can live a few years easily, they can get 6" at least and even have occasionally been known to catch small fish for a meal at that size.
your particular case, did it feel light when you picked up the supposed corpse? it could very well have been a molt, sometimes it is very tricky to tell. you may well see him in about 3 days.
is your tank new? did you ever dose it with copper? do you use tap water? what are your water parameters? sometimes if you buy a used tank from someone you can never be sure they did not dose with copper at one time or another.
socalracer
Member
my tank is used but was never filled w/ water, unfortunately i do use tap water w/ a dechlorinater, i know this is bad please don't give me any crap..... also none of my hermits have ever died, lost 3 mexican turbo snails but all of my smaller cone shaped ones are still alive ......never used copper treatments, however when i was picking out the crab the guy asked if i wanted a large or small one i said large since i have a 100g tank it was probally around 4.5 inches from side to side (legs)
socalracer
Member
also he seemed to kinda snip at the fish once and awhile....is this a sign of older age?