Crab help

[honda350rmx]

I keep losing crabs. i put 5 Emerald Crab in last week and two are dead today. any thing i need to be looking for. i have a foxface and a yellow tang. no coral yet.

 

[Cake_Boss]

Have you tested your water? Are they hiding somewhere? Have you found some shells?

 

[Mantid]

Are you sure the crabs are dead and not molted?

 

[honda350rmx]

how do you tell that thiese ones have molted i am what looks to be a hole crab lying upside down in the rock. the nitrite is about 20 and my ph is about 8.7 every hting els is good for water specs

 

[Mantid]

I guess if you have never seen a molted crab shell before it would be kind of hard to tell the difference. does the crab look hollow or can you see guts and stuff inside of it?

 

[Cake_Boss]

Your nitrite is on the high side for inverts, also your pH is high. IMO, you should do w/c to bring those levels down. How old is your tank?

 

[honda350rmx]

sorry the nitrate are about 20. wekk i have senn it on shrimp but not these ones. i pulled it out and it looks to be full. the little round part on the bottom like a trap door hinged open is full of somting. white

 

[honda350rmx]

tanks been running for about a year. i just did a w/c friday. i have all ways had a hard time with the nitrate being 20-40

 

[Cake_Boss]

I asked because I've only had an issue with nitrites when I was cycling, but you meant to put nitrates so nevermind. Do you have suspicions on what is causing the nitrate issue? Is there decomposing food that isn't being ate? Is your rock leaching? I've heard florida and lace rock leach but I can't confirm, ghost swears that they don't but the i-net is filled with guys who say they leach.

 

[little_fish]

How are you acclimating them? Also 20 is still high for inverts IMO

 

[honda350rmx]

acclimating them in a 5gl bucket with a 1/4 line running into it i have about 3-6 dropps per sec. I do that for about and hr and untill the water has doubled. as for the nitrate i think it was becuse the RO unit i was using the fiters had not been changed in about 4-5 years. 1 1/2 months a go i changed them and have been doing a 35gl w/c (125gl tank) ever week sence. the nitate was above 90 at one pint so it is coming down. i have all ways had the little blue leagged and red leaged crabs about 20 of them for a long wile now. i wanted the emearal crabs for the alage growth i keep getting.

 

[little_fish]

You should slow that down to one drip a second and acclimated them over a couple of hours. With water that has no nitrates you can acclimate that way, but the less your water quality is the slower you have to acclimate.

 

[chrislorentz]

You should slow that down to one drip a second and acclimated them over a couple of hours. With water that has no nitrates you can acclimate that way, but the less your water quality is the slower you have to acclimate.

+1

 

[Zooid]

at LEAST a couple hours........
I float mine in a container in my sump to keep the water from getting too cold,
then drip acclimate them for about 4 hours. pH is VERY high so a long acclimation is critical.

 

[hurrafreak]

How are you acclimating them? Also 20 is still high for inverts IMO

Agreed, I've always thought 25 was max.