Scarlet Hermits losing legs!

[wifeoffishlvr]

Hello all! I appreciate any input you may have!
About a week ago, we added 4 scarlet hermits and an emerald crab to a fairly newly-established, 20 gallon tank. There is plenty of algae for them to feed on... Our little percula is still happy as a clam. :happyfish Our sand-sifting starfish is also fine. BUT the crabs seem to be literally falling-to-pieces! !!!
At first, I was like, :scared:

:scared:
But then I thought that maybe the introduction to a new envirnoment perhaps prompted them to molt?!? :notsure:
Still, though, it has been nearly two days. I can still see their little yellow eyes peeping out of their shells, but they haven't moved AT ALL.
Should I be concerned? They were kind of lathargic from the very beginning - not like other hermit varieties I have seen - but still... seeing absolutely no movement in two days has me a little bit concerned.
Please advise...

 

[reefkprz]

well first I would ask how you acclimated them. and then I would point out that your sand sifting star is most likley going to die.

 

[farrider]

I added scarlet hermits recently to my tank and it took about 5 days until all 4 of them were gone from where I put them in the tank at. As long as you can see they are alive I would leave them alone, they should be fine.

 

[reefforbrains]

Best guess I can think of is a rapid salinity change. Like a rushed aclimation process, but if they survived, then probably just shocked and should be fine.
Agreed about the star, they are very specific eaters and your small tank will simply not provide enough food and it will slowly starve. sorry

 

[wifeoffishlvr]

Thanks for the advice all!
I really don't know much about aquariums... All of our tanks are my husband's, but he's out-of-town and won't be back for awhile. I'm sort of the ignorant babysitter.
I think the sand-sifting star will be moving shortly to our 42 gallon aquarium. My husband got it home and saw something amiss in our larger aquarium... I guess he opted for keeping the star in our smaller one temporarily until the issue was resolved... but then he had to leave!

Poor starfish! I'm sure the smaller aquarium is sort of cramping his style, but hopefully he'll hang in until my husband gets back and can figure it out. He seems okay to me, but I honestly don't have a clue.

Thanks again!

 

[f14peter]

It's my understanding that scarlets are more timid and less active than the average hermie. I was on a site yesterday (can't remember the addess and didn't bookmark it) that lists, with pictures, most of the more common hermits and it refered to scarlets as "whoosie" or "wimpy" crabs. I have one and am lucky to catch a glimpse of him once every three-four days, and have gone over a week of not seeing him at all. When I do see him, he's never in a hurry to get anywhere, often remaining in one place for awhile.
My Blue Legs are pretty active, and the striped one I have can scamper the full length of the tank (four feet) in about 20 seconds (Can't recall the species, he's large, a khaki-green color, large, and has light colored stripes running down his legs . . . did I mention that he's large?). I don't think this one will be around much larger . . . he had an even bigger comrade who took down my giant snail for its shell so out he went.
I've also seen a red leg laying around from time to time . . . don't know if he lost it or if it's the result of a molt. Crabs can, and often do, molt due to the stress of a move, and it's not uncommon for them to hunker down while their new shell hardens as they're quite vulnerable during that time.

 

[wifeoffishlvr]

Thanks, Peter. It's been awhile now, and I'm still waiting to see what happens... Like I mentioned, I don't have much experience, but it doesn't seem like they are doing too well. They still pop their little, yellow faces out every so often, but they have yet to move! :notsure:
My husband decided to go with the scarlet crabs because he's heard lots of stories about the agression of other hermits. He wanted some little guys that were not going to attack each other or any anemones that we may get in the future. (We have a friend whose Haitian anemone got eaten by red-legged hermits.

) These seemed to be the safest bet, but maybe we'd be better-off with some blue-legged little beasts. :thinking:
Thanks, again, for your input!