what happend to my hermit crabs?

[waterdog]

i have 8 blue leg hermit crabs, this morning i found some blue legs laying on the sand. i have a bi color pseudochromis, two blue chromis, and an osci clown. the clown was introduced a few days ago, the others have been in there for a while. did the clown eat one of my crabs, or do hermits molt cause it looks like just the crabs legs, as if he was eaten, please help.

[sambrinar]

I really doubt the clowns ate the crabs. Hermits do molt, that is prolly what you are seeing

[ZAPCOnj]

mmm.. crab legs...

To be honest this has happened in my GF's tank. The shell does not move. the spare shells have not moved. but Crab legs all over the place.

I have yet to figure it out... my latest theory is that the fire shrimp ate him.

[waterdog]

lol, my hermits are a mystery to me, there like tank ninjas, they vanish and show up out of the blue

[plecosword]

I still get fooled that my hermit crab dies, then I find it crawling around somewere. clowns can't kill hermits lol

[Varga]

My guess is one of the crabs is bigger and is killing the rest, I've seen this happen and its ugly! he just pulled him out and chopped him up!

[naperenterprise]

Hermits will shed, I have little legs all over the place...lol

And to add my cleaner shrimps, BC shrimp... Its all over the place. I believe the copapods molt as well. I see sheddings from them everywhere too.

[BigJay]

Originally Posted by naperenterprise

Hermits will shed, I have little legs all over the place...lol

And to add my cleaner shrimps, BC shrimp... Its all over the place. I believe the copapods molt as well. I see sheddings from them everywhere too.

As far as I know all crustaceans molt including amphipods and copepods.

[JOSEPHLB]

Also.. when they molt, you will most likely find your crabs hiding. I assume they are more vunerable, due to their "new skin" being exposed.

[arizonagrace]

I have about the same set up. 1 green chromys, 1 clown, 1 bicolor goby and hermits. The fish do not bother the hermits. I sometimes have a heck of a time finding the hermits in my tanks. Mine all molt within 3 days of being introduced to the tank.

The hermits, as stated above, will eat each other from time to time. If it is just legs and a piece of flesh, it is probably molting. I got very upset when my first crab molted, thinking it was dead. Otherwise, like above, check for the largest of the crabs and take it back to the store and replace it with a smaller.

I find it also helps if you keep the same colored crab in there. Use EITHER blue or red and your crabs will get a long a lot better.

Also. When I first started my tank, I had 4 crabs in there. I quickly went down to 2. I went to the store, bought me 8 and after that, they didn't bother each other. When I set up another tank, the same thing happened. Seems the more they are, the less they bother each other. Don't know if that is everyone's opinion, but I keep at least 6 in each 12 and no less then 8 in my 24.

[Jova]

I've never had much luck with blue leg hermits lasting that long. They fight amongst themselves pretty often, and kill each other from time to time. My guess is, that's probably what happened. I've always just had to keep replacing them from time to time.