Dead Mithrax

[lgarvey]

Hi,

I found my mithrax crab dead today and have fished him out of the tank. He was a fiesty chap who liked to try and bite chunks out of snails, which obviously was not a good thing.

I'm really confused about the whole cycling process as things don't appear to have worked out as they do in "typical" situations. I only have a CuC, LR (pre-cured at LFS) in the tank at this stage.

I am cycling the tank with LR, from the duration saw little to no ammonia or nitrite and now have a reading of nitrAte of about 5-10mg. The am appears to be 0, the nitrIte appears to be 0, and the nitrAte now 5-10mg. It's hard to tell for sure where it's at. I detected very minor amounts of Am and Ni after adding the CuC and feeding them on a daily basis, which I just put down to a mini cycle.

Anyway, against Seffie's advice I fed the CuC each day with "Crab Cuisine" about 3-4 pellets because I was actively looking to create some bioload so that when fish are added later their increased causes a minimal cycle. Seffie advised against feeding the CuC because it trains them from actively cleaning the tank. I am still stuck in the FW fishless cycle mindset of raising the tanks Am to 4-5 ppm using pure ammonia to build a powerful bio filter. And I think I needed to

Another issue is the salt levels have crept up to 1.026 according to my refractometer (which was calibrated with RO). So it's higher than normal but I plan to get some RO water and bring the SG down to 1.024 tomorrow slowly.Is 1.026 an unacceptable level? I have neglected most of the tank maintenance including scrubbing algae from the glass, and doing water changes etc. whilst it has been setting up. I plan to reduce the SG tomorrow, do the maintenance and then add a fish.

I am wondering if anyone has any ideas with the mithrax died?

tank size: 11.5g
am - 0
ni - 0
na - 5-10 ppm
not tested magnesium or ph, but can do if necessary.

Cheers,
L

 

[lgarvey]

NEWB ALERT. NEWB ALERT.

I fished out the crabs carcus and spent an hour going through a mini bereavement, and feeling sad and like a failure.

Then I spotted another emrald crab and thought "wow! a hitchhiker!" Then it dawned on me, that I'd fished out the molted crab shell -- which looks remarkably like the crab itself, unlike say a shrimp shel.

Oh well. I havn't lost my crab after all - time for mini celebration!

L

 

[-Nemo-]

I was going to post earlier asking if it was a molt, never got to it though.
Good to hear! Happens to the best of us.

 

[AK77]

lol, I was going to ask if you were sure it wasn't just its cast. Glad its ok though

 

[lgarvey]

lol, I was going to ask if you were sure it wasn't just its cast. Glad its ok though

Yeh, thanks guys!

I was really upset. It was shocking. Then when I saw the crab hid in a crevice in the LR, i was happy again.

On another note, I did see a really small beige coloured super fast hitchhiker crab, hopefully it won't be destructive to the rest of the tank.

 

[-Nemo-]

I'd definitely keep your eye on that hitchhiking crab, catch if possible. You might be thankful for it later.

 

[seffieuk]

we have all been caught out with that one before

Those nitrate levels you are getting are fine, nothing to worry about at all

Seffie x

 

[lgarvey]

we have all been caught out with that one before

Those nitrate levels you are getting are fine, nothing to worry about at all

Seffie x

Haha, dozey me. One thing though, the mithrax is visibly MUCH bigger than it was before it molted! It also appears much more active. It's bloody enormous! I'm slightly concerned if it might turn aggressive towards my new tank's occupants - a clownfish and a dartfish. The dartfish being the main concern because they live in a burrow.

Also, re's the other crab in the tank - the small cream coloured thing, I imagine at some stage I'm going to have to try adn catch it. Not sure how to do that, but it appeasr to be in one piece of LR. I could take that piece out at some stage and do a hyper salinity bath for a minute and see if the #29### crawls out.

So far so good!

Next I'm after a blue tuxedo urchin!

 

[seffieuk]

Next I'm after a blue tuxedo urchin!

I have one, just love the little guy - it's so funny the way things stick to him, they are like little balls of velcro woke up one day to find a black plastic sucker from the heater stuck on

Seffie x

 

[AK77]

Next I'm after a blue tuxedo urchin!

I have one, just love the little guy - it's so funny the way things stick to him, they are like little balls of velcro woke up one day to find a black plastic sucker from the heater stuck on

Seffie x

lol cute. I wouldn't mind getting a little tux for my nano.

As for catching the rogue crab, try putting a plastic container in the tank and placing some food at the far end of it. Keep checking the container periodically and see if you have any joy. If its small enough, try using something like a 500ml coke bottle. If the opening is too small, use a hacksaw and slice it behind the neck until you think it'll be big enough.