Strange crab deaths

[PaigeB]

Three days ago I went to my LFS and got my water tested and everything seemed to be ready for a cleanup crew.
I bought:
3 Scarlet Hermits
1 Blue leg hermit
1 Zebra turbo snail
1 Cerith Snail
1 Nassarius Snail

When I put everything in they all seemed to be doing well.
But one of the scarlet hermits crawled into a crevice in the live rock and didn't move away. I assumed it was just hiding out for a little while.

Yesterday I was looking at my tank and saw a different scarlet hermit in the sand and it hadn't moved in awhile/looked halfway out of the shell.

Today I decided to investigate since it still hasn't moved. Sure enough it was dead.
Then I moved the other scarlet hermit from its crevice that it still hadn't moved out of and placed it in the middle of the tank so I could tell if it moved.
I come back maybe 15 minutes later to my Nassarius Snail on top of the hermit crab and just engulfing the entire thing.
Everything else that I put in the tank seems to be doing great.
I'm assuming that the crab is dead but I have 2 questions

1. Could there be any particular reason why 2 of my crabs randomly died? Or is it maybe just a bad batch?

2. Is it normal for snails to latch onto dead crabs?

 

[jay0705]

That type of snail yes it eats dead matter. The crabs could be bad batch or acclimating wrong . Hard to say

 

[PaigeB]

That type of snail yes it eats dead matter. The crabs could be bad batch or acclimating wrong . Hard to say

Okay and I forgot to mention that the first dead crab had a small starfish latched onto it. So I assume that starfish may also eat dead crabs?
(Btw I didn't put the starfish in the tank. It was already in there from the previous owner and it was so small that I didn't bother to take it out.)

 

[jay0705]

Lol alot of critters will eat dead stuff. Its a good thing

 

[Jesterrace]

@PaigeB how did you acclimate your snails and crabs to the tank and about how long did you give them before putting them in? How long has the tank been running/cycling and have you had a brown algae bloom yet? What kind of saltwater mix are you using?

Sorry, if I seem to be hitting you with a bunch of questions, but this can help us narrow down if it's just a random batch/die off issue or if it's something to do with the tank that will eventually get worse and needs to be addressed. As for the snails and crabs, they will eat each other if there isn't enough food present or if they are wanting the shell of the current occupant (I do recommend tossing in a handful of empty shells of different size as this will eliminate the latter problem). Keep in mind that snails and crabs will eat any left over waste or dead/dying stuff in the tank, hence the reason they are referred to as a "cleanup crew"

 

[PaigeB]

@PaigeB how did you acclimate your snails and crabs to the tank and about how long did you give them before putting them in? How long has the tank been running/cycling and have you had a brown algae bloom yet? What kind of saltwater mix are you using?

Sorry, if I seem to be hitting you with a bunch of questions, but this can help us narrow down if it's just a random batch/die off issue or if it's something to do with the tank that will eventually get worse and needs to be addressed. As for the snails and crabs, they will eat each other if there isn't enough food present or if they are wanting the shell of the current occupant (I do recommend tossing in a handful of empty shells of different size as this will eliminate the latter problem). Keep in mind that snails and crabs will eat any left over waste or dead/dying stuff in the tank, hence the reason they are referred to as a "cleanup crew"

I floated them for 20 minutes and then drained some water and added some of my tank water into the bag. Then I let them sit for about 10 or 15 minutes before placing them in the tank. I probably could have done a better job of acclimating but I still don't know all the tips and tricks with it tbh.
The tank has been running for 3 weeks though it isn't a new setup. The tank had been running for years and then we drained most of the water so we could transport it to my house. So with the newer water it's been 3 weeks.
I had had the algae bloom. Haha! It's mostly on the live rock and also on the sand. The turbo Snail has been going around and cleaning some of that up.
And I'm buying the SW from my LFS with 5 gallon buckets. I haven't had to do a water change yet though.

 

[jay0705]

Ok. Inverts are much more sensitive to water changes. Acclimating should take a few hrs. Alot of lfs keep salinty low so there water could be 1.020 and yours at 1.023-24 . Thats a huge jump

 

[Jesterrace]

Ok. Inverts are much more sensitive to water changes. Acclimating should take a few hrs. Alot of lfs keep salinty low so there water could be 1.020 and yours at 1.023-24 . Thats a huge jump

That's a good point. I would ask them what their salinity is. Normally people recommend 1.025 as being the best balance between fish and corals (corals do better with higher salinity). I lucked out in my area as both of my closest LFS stores run all theirs at 1.025.

 

[PaigeB]

Ok. Inverts are much more sensitive to water changes. Acclimating should take a few hrs. Alot of lfs keep salinty low so there water could be 1.020 and yours at 1.023-24 . Thats a huge jump

Okay thanks so much for the info!
I'll ask about the salinity next time I go.

 

[jay0705]

I usually check the bag water with my refractometer to see the diff