always dying

suebee · Post by **suebee** » Tue Jan 11, 2011 1:03 pm

hermitcrabs604 sorry to hear that. This has been happening to alot of first time Compressus owners. I chose to call them Compressus because E stands for Ecuadorian and most compressus crabs in the United States are not from Ecuador but from The US coast of California. Its why I started keeping Charts of what was working and what the people who were keeping them well were doing that was working. I have charts of about 70 different Compressus owners some are from another Forum where i am adviser and some are from researcher that i have been working with also I have lots of friends in the Hermit crab family that have them that tend to all do things a bit differently due to where in the world they live. Hopefully if you come across them again and give them a try you will have better luck. I know i have. Im in NJ so we are also getting ready for this big storm.. Blessings and stay warm.. Email me any time for info or just to chat about the snow! Suebee

krabby kristen · Post by **krabby kristen** » Wed Jan 12, 2011 12:04 am

this isnt any big contribution, but instant ocean is found by aquarium products, not hermit crab products.
lol

suebee · Post by **suebee** » Wed Jan 12, 2011 11:53 am

krabby kristen, I think that could be a big help..

Thanks for the input..

philingroovie · Post by **philingroovie** » Sat Jan 15, 2011 6:00 pm

i read a few ppl using instant ocean. A while back there was a debate about using IO. Something harmful (to Hermits) was in it. at least it was a debate a few years back.

philingroovie · Post by **philingroovie** » Sat Jan 15, 2011 6:02 pm

found it this is on the drop down FAQ : Instant Ocean
package indicates to use 1/2 cup (which=8 TBSP) per gallon.

* 1 1/2 tsp per 8 oz (1 cup) water
* 1 TBSP per 16 oz (1 pint)
* 2 TBSP per 32 oz (1 quart)
* 4 TBSP per 64 oz (1/2 gallon)
* 8 TBSP per 128 oz (1 gallon)

*reports have shown that IO has some of the highest metal concentrations..something to think about. Check it out here http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-03/rs/feature/
................................................

suebee · Post by **suebee** » Sun Jan 16, 2011 12:30 am

That might be a concern if metal was harmful to hermit crabs.. You can read more about metal and hermit crabs a few posts into this thread here http://www.hermitcrabassociation.com/ph ... hp?t=73920&

samurai_crab · Post by **samurai_crab** » Sun Jan 16, 2011 1:05 am

The problem is, some metals are dangerous, specifically higher levels of heavy metals that the body cannot remove. This is a problem found throughout the food chain. The link he's referring to is specifically talking about heavy metals found in "rather high" concentrations in some salt mixes ( I use quotes because when talking ppb nothing is big so to speak). The levels of the heavy metals were found to be way over the levels found in natural saltwater taken from the ocean. This study was also centered around saltwater aquarium inhabitants but theoretically if our crabs are ingesting this same water it could lead to problems with heavy metal buildup over the years.

It may never be a problem given that along with synthetic saltwater our crabs get a different diet from that found in the wild. So while they are ingesting more heavy metals in the saltwater mix, they may be getting less in the protein rich foods we feed depending on what seafood we feed our crabs. If a predatory fish washes up on shore, it can and most likely will contain higher levels of heavy metals the crabs may ingest since the higher you go on the food chain the more buildup of toxic metals can be. All of this though is assuming that heavy metals are toxic to hermit crabs, which I believe is a reasonable assumption since they are a crustacean (heavy metals are toxic to aquatic crustaceans) and nearly all living things can't handle heavy metals well.