who's the culpret?

college kid

college kid

Member
Ok so I have a 55 gal tank that I set up about a year ago. I have one Koran Angel, Foxface Rabbit(I know should be in bigger tank, LFS said I would be fine until I read more on them), watchman goby, a couple small damsels, and a CBS. I added 3 emerald crabs to the group about six months ago and have been noticing they have be "dissapearing" aka probably lunch, over that time. Now I don't have any in there. I am thinking of adding more crabs and some snails but don't want them to end up as food. Which fish do you think is getting a little extra to eat? And is there anything I can do to stop them from that?
 
robdog696

robdog696

Member
I doubt anything in your tank ate your crabs. Instead, I would be looking for a problem with your water. Perhaps high salinity? Do you have a test kit?
 
reefkprz

reefkprz

Active Member
inverts tolerate High salinity rather well especially crabs, low salinity is extremly hard on them. ever notice how many crabs you find in tidal pools at the beach? after 12 hours of evaporation in the beating sun on a summer day the salinity spikes quite a bit due to evaporation. I would look into your water but I would not suspect high salinity unless it was well over 41 but your fish would look haggard at that point too.
 
college kid

college kid

Member
Well my ? is then why didn't I ever find the bodys? I have moved a couple times in this time period, (being a college kid isn't easy to keep a fish tank) and I understand that moving puts quite a bit of stess on them, but during all the moves I should have found one of their bodies and I never found anything. And also all my levels are right where they should be, nitrites and amonnia 0's salinity is 1.023. Every time I move I also re-drip aclimate them. Never lost a fish, except for the neon goby and that was before I moved. I am so confused.
 
J

jesses89

Guest
How aggressive is your coral banded shrimp?
and or do you hear a clicking sound coming from your tank?
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
CBS can be nasty little guys. He could very well be the reason that the crabs are missing. He could have grabbed the neon goby as well. I had a CBS grab a corlal catfish in mid-swim. They can be nasty. If you have to move every semester then don't keep sensitive fish. Not that you do, just a little FYI.
 
college kid

college kid

Member
Thank you for your reply, my CBS is a little

[hr]
lol
He chases my watchman all over the place, It is actually quite comical. The watchman will go to one side of the tank and sit and the CBS will slowly work his way over, after about three hours he has to switch sides.
I guess I've never heard of a CBS eating crabs or anything like that but I guess it could be a very good possibility. And what would be the clicking sound that I could hear. Earlier in the year I thought I did hear something like that and never figured out what it was.
 
college kid

college kid

Member
I don't think it is mantis because I've had the tank and everything in it for about a year and a half and never seen anything out of the ordinary. Is mantis what makes that clicking noise? Maybe I do have one in their then. But from what I hear it should have taken out a few more fish than that in the last year.
 
bang guy

bang guy

Moderator
Originally Posted by college kid
And also all my levels are right where they should be, nitrites and amonnia 0's salinity is 1.023.
That's a little low, probably not enough to kill a Crab but it wouldn't help them either.
Excess Iodine could also be a problem.
It doesn't surprise me that you don't find a body. Most crab deaths happen during their molt and they like to hide somewhere when they molt.
In my experience, if something was eating the crabs you would find claws and/or legs scattered around.
 
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