Why are they dieing?

mscoral21

Member
I hav a question? I dont understand why I cant keep snails..hermitcrabs etc alive? My fish are fine...I have had them for a long time..my cleaner shrimp is fine had him for a while too, But if I get snails or crabs...They die in a week!...I dont understand.
 

lion_crazz

Active Member
How are you acclimating them? Are you dripping them very slowly over a one to two hour period? They need a better acclimation than fish.
If you are dripping them slowly for a few hours, what are your water levels? pH, temp, salinity, nitrates?
 

mscoral21

Member
No clicking noises...salinity is 1.023 nitrates,nitrites,amm. is all 0...ph is 8.2 temp is 78. Yes i drip them for an hour and a half. I just dont get it?
 

mscoral21

Member
Im pretty sure they were..they act fine for about 4 days and then they stay in one spot and a day or two later they are laying outside of thier shell.
 

jenn-e

Member
I'm no expert, but try bumping your salinity up to about 1.025. Inverts like it a little higher.
 

snipe

Active Member
I have heard 1.020 to 1.023 is alright I have even heard of 1.024 but never 1.025 but who knows I may be missing something. Research the net on proper care for hermits they will probably list all the stuff you need to keep and at what it should be.
 

nm reef

Active Member
I'd also be curious about any meds that may have been used. Everything sounds fine...tough to tell why they die.:thinking:
 

mbrands

Member
I hope I'm not stating the obvious here, but could they be killing each other while fighting over shells? I put some empty shells in my tank to try to prevent that from happening.
Also, in response to lion_crazz's comment about the drip acclimation time, I'd been told by several LFS that they only need to drip for a short time . . . 30 minutes to an hour. That is all I've done with mine and luckily haven't lost one yet. Should they really be dripped up to 2 hours?
Thanks,
Mike
 

jacknjill

Active Member
i dont find dripping them that long necesary. i actually just floated them and added some tank water every 15 minutes and they were fine
 

snipe

Active Member
Well I have learned something 1.025 is ok great lol :rolleyes: .
But as for your crabs and snails. Have you gotten them all from the same place? are the snails and crabs mixed together? if so or not mabey there tanks have parisites or something in the water that are getting on them and your just bringing home sick snails/hermits. Just like buying a fish with ick "That really sucks that established tank dieing off cause your lfs dont keep healthy fish!" But that is my two cents but if you didnt buy them from the same place/person I dont know:notsure: :thinking:
 

farslayer

Active Member
I've had the same problem in the past and I've actually solved it (knock on wood). My salinity is 1.025 and I do drip them for about 2 hours; the LFS couldn't keep their shrimp to live without dripping. However, I still lost them in about the same time frame, I just couldn't keep crabs and margarita snails alive. Know what the problem was? Phosphates! My phosphates were about 2ppm, which I found is lethal to inverts from a local fellow who builds and maintains large tanks (4000G+). I put in some PhosGuard about two months ago and followed it up with about 5 emerald crabs a week later. Previously, I couldn't get one of these to live more than four days, same for margarita snails (I added one of those as well). Well, since my phosphates have been nearly eliminated (less than .15ppm), I have had striking success, no losses at all in terms of inverts. My fish were always fine like yours, and it appears that lowering my phosphates has taken care of my invert problem (again, knock on wood).
Just something for you to check out at least :)
 

sw65galma

Active Member

Originally posted by JacknJill
i dont find dripping them that long necesary. i actually just floated them and added some tank water every 15 minutes and they were fine

That's lucky..this is not general practice nor recommend by anyone..
 
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