Help! I think my Hermit's Died :-(

PheonixRed

PheonixRed

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Help, I think my Hermit's died - I can't work out the cause.
My husband and I are still new to the marine aquatic world - our tank is only 1 month old.
We've had 3 hermits in our tank for a couple of weeks - Blue Leg, Scarlet Leg, and an Electric Blue. Until today, they have all been doing well.

Yesterday, we noticed that the Scarlet- and Blue-Legged crabs had swapped shells. Today, when we got home, we noticed that the Scarlet had reclaimed his shell - and the blue was lying outside of his old shell.

We've isolated him off from the rest of the crabs in case he is molting, but he's not moving - which makes me suspect he is dead. :( How do we tell?
Would the scarlet have killed him?

We double checked the water parameters, but they are all in spec.

I would really appreciate some advise.
 
Did you have any spare shells I'm the tank? As hermits grow and moult they require larger shells. The fact that they swapped shells means that one of the crabs preferred the look of the other shell and may have fought the other crab for it, possibly resulting in a casualty. Before you add more hermits, make sure you have spare shells in the tank.
 
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I agree with @LCornelius and @459b. It could be any of the above possibilities. When the hermits are still relatively small they do swap shells and even fight about shells. For that reason you should have different sizes of empty shells lying around. But I have also noticed that my bigger blue and red legged hermits do not change shells anymore. They only moult "out of" the old shell. They go to the exact same safe spot every time and sit there for days. Then after about 2 - 3 days you'll find the legs attached to a piece that looks like their body lying in the tank. And your hermit cruising around the tank again. Don't disturb them. Give him time, he might just be moulting.
 
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Thank you all for the response. I really do hope he is just molting
Yes, we do have extra shells in the tank - but none of them have paid any attention to them.
 
PheonixRed said:
Thank you all for the response. I really do hope he is just molting
Yes, we do have extra shells in the tank - but none of them have paid any attention to them.
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are the shells the correct size? As Helga said give them time, but if you really think there is something wrong take the crab out and give it a sniff, if it bit the dust you WILL be able to smell it lol :)
 
I followed your advise deadmeat2016 - unfortunatetly he'd more than bitten the dust. Got some more shells from our LFS - will buy replacement crab over weekend
 
PheonixRed said:
I followed your advise deadmeat2016 - unfortunatetly he'd more than bitten the dust. Got some more shells from our LFS - will buy replacement crab over weekend
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Sorry to hear Pheonix :( always a bummer loosing livestock, the best one can do is find out why the death occurred and learn from it.

On the bright side, you have mastered the 'smell test'
 
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