red legged hermits

[ohiobart]

I've started a 75 gal. tank and something is eating my red legged hermits. It looks like they're being pulled right out of the shells.
Here's all I have in the tank, I was told it would all be ok.
2 large turbo snails, 10 small turbo snails, 1 banded coral shrimp, 10 peppermint shrimp, 3 serpent stars, 10 small blue legged hermits, 2 med. red legged hermits, 3 small red legged hermits, 1 emerald crab.
Any ideas? I've never seen it happen-just the carnage scattered across the gravel.

 

[full of questions]

Maybe you got a free hitchhiker.When we buy live rock
sometimes this happens,not alway's a wanted addition
to our tank.But i guess is what seems weird is why is it
only the red legged craps,and not the rest.Sometimes
we just never know.

 

[full of questions]

Maybe you got a free hitchhiker.When we buy live rock
sometimes this happens,not alway's a wanted addition
to our tank.But i guess is what seems weird is why is it
only the red legged craps,and not the rest.Sometimes
we just never know.

 

[waterwolf]

Best thing to do is get those blue-leg hermits out of there. They will evict other hermits and even kill snails.

 

[phil1964]

I just yanked my blue legs last night after a red blue altercation.
I will say the blues are a lot more active than the reds.

 

[ohiobart]

I found what was left of my emerald crab yesterday, mostly the claws and empty body. Something is definately eating whatever it can get. The emerald crab was bigger than everything else but the coral shrimp. Will coral shrimp eat the other crabs?

 

[birdy]

You may have a mantis shrimp, they come as hitchhikers on live rock, they mainly come out at night so you may not see it. Sometimes you can hear a tapping noise that they make. Do a search on mantis shrimp and see if any of the descriptions match what you are seeing.

 

[m.rogers]

did the emerald crab shed you said it was a empty shell was there any thing in the shell. i would do as waterwolf said and get the blue leg hermits out.

 

[steve40]

I would say the blue legs are responsible for the deaths of the red legs, blue legs are definately the more jelous type when it comes to shells. If you get some empty shells from the LFS it may cut down on the deaths, they usually will give you a couple handfulls for free. The shrimp is not responsible for the death of the emerald crab though. If you have ever let them pinch you before, it is a very week pinch you can barely feel it. I wouldnt give up hope on your emerald because it is possible for it to have just shedded. It is also possible though that it just died because of being unhealthy and then the scavengers ate it after it died.

 

[ohiobart]

Thanks for the input everybody. The blue legs are tiny and I bought 50 shells to put in the tank so I don't think there's a shortage of housing. I've been watching for the emerald crab, just in case it was just the molt, but haven't seen it alive in the tank yet but I'm not giving up hope either.

 

[pferboy]

i would spend some time in front of the tank at night. see if you can find any hitch hiker from hell. How long has your tank been set up? lol hope you find out what happend

 

[buyitjody]

ohiobart,
You do realize that crabs do molt, right? The first time my emerald crab molted, I found his carcass and removed it. I was kinda sad until that evening when I was watching my tank and found him (much bigger I must say, too). The carcass was empty inside. Maybe your crab is still around?! Don't be surprised if he is. I can't imagine any hermit beating up an emerald.
Jody

 

[saltyshark]

I agree w/Jody. I have about 20 red legs and I thought the same thing as you. I saw what looked exactly like a massacre of scarlets scattered throughout my tank. It looked just like them in every detail down the stalks of their eyes. They all had fleshy skin hanging from where their tail would be, like they were being ripped in half. So I checked inside of them to see if there was any flesh inside their bodys or legs....and there wasn't any.
Next time you see a "dead" one look inside of it to see if the flesh is inside it's body and legs. If there is no flesh, then its just a molt.
So I would evict any of the other guys just yet. Just keep an eye on em.
HTH
SaltyShark

 

[majakarot]

i was told that an excess of iodine in the water causes early molts, maybe that could explain why everything could be molting at once

 

[killafins]

It may not be molt either... although its a high possiblity. I am missing one of my hermit crabs; red or blue still unsure, but what i m curious about are the ones dying the small ones or the medium sized ones? If they are the small ones it may just be the blue guys... gud luck

 

[ohiobart]

seems to be the big ones only. All my peppermint shrimp are still alive. The emerald left behind dark green pinchers but the peppermints and the coral banded shrimp left clear shells. I'm still watching for him, he could be hiding in the live rock-I only saw him out once. I had the tank set up since October w/the live rock. The inverts have been added over the last few months. I'd like to get another emerald crab-he was cool looking. If the other one is alive still would it hurt to buy another one?

 

[ohiobart]

If I sit around the tank at night can I use a flashlight to check out what's going on? Will it scare everything? What should I be looking for? I've seen some long worms ans what looked like a clam come out of the live rock but that's it so far.

 

[buyitjody]

Your emerald may still be alive, just shy in general. They say you can have more than one in a tank, but they can be territorial. Some have had them kill each other, so it's just a chance thing that depends on the animals personalities.
Things in your tank will get scared if you use a normal white light to look at things at night. However, they say you can use a red light and it won't scare all the nighttime critters.

 

[acez28]

I am willing to bet its the Coral Banded Shrimp. I was checking my tank last night just messing around with a flashlight and i looked at my shrimp sitting there with a hermit crab in his claws eating it. I also did like you and put extra shells in with them and never thought they were getting eaten.....just thought they were changing shells. But i had 10 2 weeks ago now i am down to five.

 

[ohiobart]

ok then, tonights the night. I don't have a red light but I do have a blacklight. I'll try sitting up and watching the tank all night. (I can't believe I'm cancelling a date for this-I just have to know if there's something nasty in my tank)
I have seen the coral shrimp chase after the peppermints but they just shooty out of it's reach. I really think it would eat 1 if it can get it's claws on any.