Emerald crab near death.

[maurod]

I just got home and found that an Emerald crab in my 29gal not moving at all and upsidedown. It seemed to move it's lung/mouth area when poked outside the water, but not move much else.

I have tons of other inverts in the tank and no other inverts seem in bad shape.

Does anyone have ideas for things I should check other than the basic water parameters? (I'll post these in a bit after I test.)

Is it possible it starved to death as there's no real algae at all in my display except for the bit of bubble algae here and there.

Thanks for any input,

M.

PS, I've not tried mayonaise.

 

[wrassefan]

you sure it is not the molt?

 

[Piscevore]

!! '_' !!

 

[maurod]

you sure it is not the molt?

It's very solid and heavy (I poked at it w/my finger) and I did see it's mouth move when I poked at it.

Are they that lethargic when they molt ?

Update Salinity w/refractometer is 1.024.
Still havenot done NH, NO2, NO4

M.

 

[Kevin McG]

I had a couple in my tank a while back and they lasted about 1 week

Not sure why

 

[Liam]

May have starved Maurod,did you ever see it eating anything other than algae

 

[stevertr]

If you boil down 2 tablespoons of butter, and a wedge of lime, you should be all set.

(It's just the molted shell) I fall for that all the time.

 

[maurod]

May have starved Maurod,did you ever see it eating anything other than algae

Liam, I dont think I have seen it eat anything else.
I am going to test Steve's word by cracking that shell in half.

M.

 

[Liam]

I have had many Emeralds,the ones that seem to survive are the opportunistic ones that will grab at anything ie missed food etc.Some seem to only be interested in algae and if there is not enough they gradually waste away.
Just my observation.

 

[maurod]

It's a molt. I am a fool. Amazing that I could not find the exit hole.

M.

 

[~Flighty~]

LOL
and I'm only allowed to laugh because I've done it myself more times than I care to admit. Did it again the other day with two hermits.

 

[maurod]

LOL
and I'm only allowed to laugh because I've done it myself more times than I care to admit. Did it again the other day with two hermits.

Yeah, hermits I am used to, and their shells fade a bit, but this looked perfect. I guess I learned something new.

M.

 

[stevertr]

I can't tell you how many times I've done the same thing..... Sally Lightfoots, emeralds...molts galore.