So, from when I first started crabbing back in 2009, I had three crabs, one of which had a painted shell with a penguin with a santa hat on. This is why we named him Santa. A little after I purchased him, I foudn out the horors of painted shells. I wanted him to change badly, but he was just so stubborn. Anyways, Santa has had 2 other molts with me, and has kept his horrible shell through the years! No matter how meany choices he got, he just would never move! Anyways, when I did my deep clean last month, I of course removed all of my sand to bake, and my Eco Earth to throw away, and later rplace. I found his shell, empty at the bottom of the tank, beneath the inches of EE. As i looked through the rest of my tank, I didnt find any remains, other than some tips of legs at the opposite end of the tank. I suspect this was a different crab??
It has been a a little less than a month since my deep clean, and I am still trying to figure out where he could be. I guess this is one of the downfalls of having a colony. I think he may be in a different shell, and buried his terrible painted one, but I just cant tell. Please tell me what you think may of happened, if he got eaten, or if he is just MIA, or possibly in a different shell?? I miss him dearly, and I really want to figure out what the chances are that hes still alive, and hasnt crossed over the rainbow bridge
Thank you so much,
Abby
Yes, they all really do great together. I am really lucky to have no aggression, other than the feeler fights, which I think are just cute! 
Thank you so much for your quick reply! I really appreciate it. I do have a 25 gallon iso tank, where I can separate anyone who needs to be separated. I do have my eye on about two of the crabs that could be Santa, but its so hard ot tell. I will keep you posted if I have figured it out. Otherwise, unless he didnt die, Santa may have to spend the rest of his life with a separate identity! 