moving a molting crab?

nibbler125 · Post by **nibbler125** » Sun Jun 19, 2011 12:34 am

i am getting a 55 gallon tank and was wondering if I can move a molting crab that is under the substrate. my idea was to cut around him as seen in the sticky then carefully slide a piece of plastic under the slab of sand and lift him into the new tank. I will not attempt this yet but if someone can give there input if this is a good idea.

MudCrabDude · Post by **MudCrabDude** » Sun Jun 19, 2011 12:51 am

Just wondering, would it be possible if you can just leave the crab in the old tank, and to just move all the other crabs and surface decor (not covering the molter) to the 55 gallon tank, and then to wait for about 2-3 months until the molter finishes? Or is this one of those things where you can't keep the old tank like some sort of temporary ISO tank because of space issues and such?

The move in the sticky is doable (I've never done it myself) but personally I would just move any of the surface decor and the surface crabs to the new 55 gallon tank and just leave the substrate and the molter in the old tank until the molt is done and the crab has surfaced - especially as it seems that even a little disturbances such as movements can disrupt a molt.

CrabbyMom33 · Post by **CrabbyMom33** » Sun Jun 19, 2011 6:29 am

I had that situation when I set up my 90 and decided to leave the other tanks set up until the molts finished. I had one in a 10 and one in a 30 molting. I sure was glad when I could go to 1 tank instead of 3 to maintain!

nibbler125 · Post by **nibbler125** » Mon Jun 20, 2011 1:37 am

I'm not in a rush i was just wondering if anyone has done it successfully but thanks for the reply. if something happened to my or someones tank and all the crabs had to be removed then I or them could have a fighting chance to save there molting crabs.