HCA: Hermit Crab Association

I are my crabs dead or surfacing? 1 is kinda limp, but isn't coming out of his shell...... He hasen't moved for ATLEAST 1-2 weeks. The other was kinda sluggish before now.... Well, he is limp, isnt moving but isn't falling out of his shell or has his eyes crossed or anything...... BUT IT SKINKS LIKE HECK!! Its been this way for about...... a week. I really need advice. This is in my biggest tank.... AND in my room!!! I have my window open 24/7 and it BARELY takes ANY of the smell away. NEED ADVICE HERE!! DXIve also posted this on SCP so I may get the info there before here..... I may get the same answer twice. So if I SEEM to not need your help, its not that at all.

@Theodora, the presence of a strong fishy smell combined with limp sluggish hermits means you've got dead/dieing crabs unfortunately.How many crabs do you have in the effected tank and how big is the tank as this seems like an issue with stress and a possible nutrition deficiency.Way back when I first got started in the nineties I had several tank wipeouts where my entire group suddenly fell ill and did what yours are doing and it was from stress and a lack of space in my particular case.If you can I would go on ahead an move the effected hermits to an iso becuase it sounds like they are either dead or close to it and it's no good having them in the main enclosure where they could possibly be contaminating it.

The death smell is pretty unmistakable and pretty much means one thing.The only way to get rid of the death smell is to remove the crab, along with spooning out about an inch of substrate underneath and around where the crab was. The smell is actually from an expulsed liquid that gets into the sand under the crab.Crabs that die while still fairly tucked into their shells can rigor before you find them, and then they will not fall out of their shell anymore. The way to test is to push the legs up and around. if they feel like there's no resistance, and they kind of slowly retract back to their original position, then the crab is gone.Taking a whiff in the opening can also be a strong sign for the weak heart.A crab not appearing to move for 2 weeks alone though isn't always a sign of death. Often they only move at night, and return to their original position, Checking for other signs of motion can be used. Spread something around the crab and see if it's disturbed. Put some yummy foods like applesauce or peanut butter and see if they get attached at midnight.