Crabs Dying Out of the Blue?

[Guest]

All the crabs except the first 3 have been from the same Petco. The conditions there aren't too bad and they've definitely improved over the past year.I was thinking the same thing KittyCaller until one of my original crabs died, he's the one that crawled out of his shell. The other thing I thought was that it may have been the type of crab, most of the ones that died were ruggies. I know that they have a harder time molting then other species. Maybe they are much more delicate in general then others so even if you take good care of them they can suffer from PPS longer.The tropicaire uses an air pump, but I would think if something was coming in through it, it would affect all the crabs.I think the general concensous is no stress coat in the tropicaire. In going over everything, I realized I probably don't change the water enough in it either. I mean it can't exactly be very good for them to have old water misting into the tank. It's not really stagnant though, it's moving fairly constantly with the aeration.I'm just really glad to know that at least it doesn't seem that I'm to blame. I was really staring to wonder and was kinda getting depressed about the whole thing.

[KittyCaller]

Did the original crab die the same way? If he died at the same time, but in a different way, that could have been coincidence. Or one of them had a disease and spread it to your original guy. It's really tough to say. One of the reasons I recommend isoing new crabbies, is the slim chance of disease. A couple of people reported epidemics that suddenly hit their tanks. Aviate introduced two new crabs one time without Isoing, and suddenly she lost SO many crabs one by one. The only thing that she could trace it back to was these new crabs. She went so far as to get an entire new set up. All she could do was isolate those few that didn't seem to be affected. However, Aviate seemed to lose a few every day in a pretty short period of time. I've not had a whole lot of success with the crabs I've gotten from one of the Petcos I've bought from either. I don't blame it on the Petco though; their store conditions are fantastic. I think it probably has to do with the distributor and what the crabs had to put up with before they ever got to the store. I'm glad not all your crabs have been affected.

[Guest]

The original crab that died had crawled out of shell before he died. He was the only one that did that.That's the other thing is that it wasn't like a bunch at once or over a short period of time. What concerns me is that it's six months to a year after purchase that they die. And you would think that with descent care that they would be ok and recover.

[Willow]

I think the HBH Variety Bites also contain ethoxyquin. But probably just the short time you were feeding it wouldn't hurt them.

[Guest]

It does, that's why I didn't buy them the first time I saw it. After reading all the posts on here and that the ethoxyquin is the very last ingrediant I thought I'd try it. But with the garlic in it to I may just toss it.I just changed the water in the tropicaire today. I put the reptisafe in the water but no stresscoat. I noticed that the tubing from the tropicaire to the tank had turned smokey or blackish at the connection to the tropicaire. I though it may be mold, but it looks more like scum, not fuzzy. I wonder what that is?

[Guest]

I saw someone mentioned all the deaths I've had and they were right, I could never pinpoint any exact cause. Things seem to have settled down in my tank as far as deaths but my best guess was that perhaps a couple crabs I brought in had had some sort of slow-moving illness that spread to susceptible individuals? I lost all my exotics except one straw and one Rug. I have six of what was once 17 left. They all just sort of slowed down, acted lethargic for a day or two, and died just like you described. Some were naked and some weren't. Since my last death, which was I think maybe two or more months ago (?) I've decided not to bring any more crabs into the crabitat and just see how these guys do for a while. After my first death I kept adding to the tank, ISOing for a couple weeks, and when the new guys seemed fine I added them into the main crabitat. I can only wonder now if maybe some of these crabs were the carriers of some illness. I've done two deep cleans since then and never noticed anything amiss but who knows, maybe it's something that can't be seen.I'm so sorry for your losses, I know how frustrating it is to be seemingly doing everything right only to have one after another die on you for what seems like no good reason! Maybe your tank will stabilize and you'll be able to relax and enjoy them again. I'm almost at that point but I'm always kind of on edge about them when I'm doing tank maintenance, like, OK, who died today...*sigh*My beautiful Pearl, my large straw who recently successfully molted, just changed shells last night. She sends her good crabby vibes your way.

[moire_eel]

I thought I'd chime in -- I have had a lot of deaths recently and also cannot find a cause. I went from a high of 53 to a current count of 40. A couple of the deaths could be attributed to PPS, but many were crabs I've had for quite a while, including my beloved large PP Wrench. The crabs who died acted entirely normal up to 24 hours before they died, and even up until their deaths it would be hard to say that their behavior was not normal. Sometimes crabs *do* sleep all day. I don't intend to buy any more crabs for quite some time, if ever -- I think that mixing crabs from populations that were once isolated from each other (whether they are different species or not) introduces the possibility for a disease for which the carrier has immunity to be transferred to crabs that would normally never have encountered it. I am also considering that there is something about where I live that is causing the problem -- a particular type of mold spore in the air or something like that. I think my loss rate has always been higher than the norm. I have been over my tank conditions so many times and done so many deep cleans "just in case", and it does not seem to make a difference. My remaining crabs appear to be very healthy, and I'm hoping that a significant number will survive this, whatever it is.

[Guest]

Thanks for all the encouragement. I'll add the 2 new ones that I got last weekend in a couple of weeks, I think they're going to molt soon so I'll wait until after that. If anyone was carrying anything I think it may be from the original 3 I got. Since it seems like any I add in with them die. I may not get anymore either, it's just too dpressing.

[NewCrabber]

What a frustrating situation! I'm so sorry for your losses. Between the great care you provide and what we know and don't know about them in general, I agree with the theories given regarding possible disease. What I find interesting though, is that most of the deaths were exotic hermies. Just out of curiosity, of your remaining original hermies, what species are they? I realize after having had them for a long period of time, and especially in such a good environment, it's difficult at best to understand what happened, but what I think needs to be looked at more closely and probably documented is how long after adding newbies to the main did the deaths occur. Having said all that, though I agree with the possibility of exposure to something, about two years ago I had seven deaths within about a two month period. There was no warning, at least none that I noticed. Most I found retracted in their shells and one of my fav Es just leaning up against the glass as though he were peering out. But, I had not added any new hermies for a year or more prior and nothing else was amiss that I could find, absolutely nothing and I really racked my brain. This probably has nothing to do with the deaths, but did I understand correctly that the gauges are sitting face down on top of the mesh lid with the plastic over them? If so, you aren't getting the best readings.

[Guest]

The original 3 were; 2 PPs and 1 Ecce. All the ones that have died were Ruggies except for one. The exception was a PP from the original group of 3, he crawled out of his shell and he was the only one that did that.New Crabber, Moire_EEL and Crab*Grrl the deaths you have described are all similar to what I've seen with mine: sudden, no warning, curled up in shells or looking like they're sleeping and mainly with exotic crabs.I really wish we could define it more, and really pin point a reason. I wonder if there is a similar disease among more commonly studied crustaceans? Maybe we could call it something like Creeping Death.My guages are face up on the mesh with plastic over the guages and mesh. Like this;G= Guage, Solid Line= Plastic, Broken Line= Mesh _________________ G G G ----------------------------The plastic is really to control humidity in the tank, without it the humidity can drop as low as 50 (and that's with the waterfall and tropicaire). So I just keep the part of the tank opposite the waterfall covered and then I can adjust it based on the readings.