rita and sue down for to long

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Apr 18, 2008 2:18 pm

I have 5 PPS, two dug under for a molt nearly three months ago i am really worried as i have not seen any signs of them and i have not been able to gut my tank, there is a musty smell i spot clean each day and normally strip and boil everything once a month. do you think i will hurts my wee ones if i disturb them to clean the tank i fear one may have passed on. please advise me on what to do

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Apr 18, 2008 2:50 pm

Does it smell of rotting fish? If not they're probably fine. Moulting can take aaaages.

Of your other 3, is one called Bob? What are the other 2 called?

Got to go - Geoff just pulled something off the wall of the tat!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Apr 18, 2008 3:36 pm

Yes my large one is called bob, i also have fat mavis and wilson, its not fishy as such just well sort of musty really. cant stand not all the waiting my nerves are shot.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Apr 18, 2008 4:27 pm

I would do the deep clean if you feel it is time for one. I would just let things be if you don't feel it's necessary. Three months is enough time for most crabs to molt. Even if one or both shed the day before you do the clean, if they have somewhere safe and dark to go w/ their exos, like an ISO tank, they will probably make it through their molts OK. Odds are good that they aren't just now ready to shed. That would probably be the worst case scenario - interrupting them before they shed and possibly putting it off. If they aren't in the middle of a molt, they are either fine and about ready to come up, or they have passed. A deep clean won't really change things in either of those situations. Anyway, that's how I decide if I just have to go ahead w/ a cleaning. Knock on wood, I've only had 1 death found during a deep clean.

I have a med guy that has been under 10 wks today. My 3 larges that have molted w/ me only took 6-8wks. I don't think my guy is still alive, but I will find out in the next couple weeks when my crabs get moved to their new, bigger tank. I hate digging for missing crabs.

Good luck!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Apr 18, 2008 6:34 pm

My little ones' record so far is a smallish small down for 16 weeks!

evre1's-mom · Post by **evre1's-mom** » Fri Apr 18, 2008 10:34 pm

My I found 2 topside today. One had been down for over 8 weeks and the other had been down for a month or so (that one was a tiny). Haven't seen my other big guy yet, but I feel better now. I would hesitate to dig unless there is a fishy smell.