red leg hermit crabs dying?

[freeek5150]

I recently ordered the 30-90 reef crew from swf.com and the red leg hermit crabs seem to be dying off while everything else is surviving quite well. Any ideas as to what is causing this? I had suspected that the brittle star was pulling them from their shells, but all of the literature points away from this.

 

[alyssia]

Are you sure they aren't molts?
What are your water readings and salinity?

 

[pclown]

I bought 8 hermits and I thought they were dying because I would find them in the sand and they looked dead so I would take them out. My wife kept counting them there always 8 even if I found and took out the dead ones. Come to find out that they were molting and leaving there old shell(Skin) behind. It looked just like them.

 

[hrlygma]

I purchased a large clean up crew from this site, and all but two of the red leg hermits died. There were bits of bodies floating in the shipping water when the order arrived. When I called them about it, I was told that it was probably bits of molt and not to worry. I acclimated to their specifics and added them to my stable tank. Waited days and days but only two moved at all. I pulled a couple of shells out and there was nothing in them. I called again and they gave me the return procedure which was far more trouble than it was worth.

 

[freeek5150]

Well, the molting has some feasability. I tested at 8.3 PH, 0 for nitrates, and the salinity is 1.025. The one that was "DOA" is in the rose garden and the others I left alone. There were supposed to be 20, but with the reef in the tank, I can't count them without removing the rocks and risking more lost life in the tank. The crabs that appear to have died/molted are not in the discovered location. I guess you can call me a beginner, but the tank has no loss of life unless these actually died. The fish are healthy, and the rest of my sea life seems to be just chipper. Who knows!?