Crabs Acting Weird!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

fishobsessed · 01-08-2007, 04:45 PM

Hi guys, my crabs were great up till a week ago,cleaning all the algae

But now the're lazy,my green one shed his skin last week , now he sits in his shell & doesn't want to come out, my red one too

Nitrite 0-Ammonia 25- Nitrates 5-PH 8. Thanks!

Loman · 01-08-2007, 06:23 PM

fishobsessed,

I am surprised that all of your fish are not acting weird. The ammonia level is way high - it should be 0. Has the tank cycled completely? These numbers look like a tank that is starting to cycle to me.I would try frequent and consistent water changes and see if I could improve the water quality some. The nitrites are great at 0 and the Nitrates can even be higher. pH is also fine. Ammonia is the problem though

Tommy Gun · 01-08-2007, 06:41 PM

While I think it may be semi-common for crabs and/or shrimp to act a bit different before and after molting, I also think that your tank has some issue right now since you have an ammonia reading. I also think your Ph is a bit low as well. If you address those problems first you may see a difference. That is where I would start first. Keep in mind that ammonia and nitrites (and nitrates) are more toxic at a higher Ph level not to mention that saltwater fish and inverts utilize the water they live in much more internally than a freshwater equivallent.

From my experience with the emerald crabs (which I am assuming you mean by your 'green crab', they are very reclusive. In fact, I haven't seen mine in well over a month and probrably longer. I would make sure it has some places to hide.

fishobsessed · 01-08-2007, 07:08 PM

Are water changes enogh to lower ammonia. And is high ammonia due to alot of food? i was feedeing twice a day . Should i cut down to once a day?

Tommy Gun · 01-08-2007, 07:12 PM

High ammonia is from fish wastes and food/organic matter decaying. If your tank is established at all, which I had thought yours was, you should not be able to have any ammonia levels at all and it should be simple to avoid them. For example, in my tank, if I was to over feed accidentally and did not remove the food, I would see a high nitrate level as the end result. I would most likely not see any ammonia at all, nor nitrates.

How long has your tank been up and running?

Has your live rock been in the tank since day 1 or did you just add it?

Have you recently cleaned or rinsed out your filter media?

What type of substrate are you using right now?

fishobsessed · 01-08-2007, 07:21 PM

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How long has your tank been up and running?

My sister gave me her live rocks and damsels in November, i bought a 29 gal tank ect.

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Has your live rock been in the tank since day 1 or did you just add it?

My sister gave me 3 large rocks then i added 2 small(dont know the weight.

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Have you recently cleaned or rinsed out your filter media?

Yes i did about 2 weeks ago.

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What type of substrate are you using right now?

My sister gave me her live sand.

Tommy Gun · 01-08-2007, 07:24 PM

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Do you think i should get a swt test kit since im using my fwt test kit instead?Maybe im getting an erroneous reading

I use the same test kit for my saltwater tanks and my freshwater fish tanks. While it may change a little bit, there are two color charts on each test, one for SW and one for FW, but they are very very similar.

What test kit are you using?

The only test that I think would be different for most people is that I need a low range Ph test kit for my freshater fish tanks and a high range Ph for saltwater tank. Some companies say that one test kit can test for all Ph levels in between 5.5 and 9.0, but I feel more confident in using the high range and low range versions since it seems more appropriate to me to have a more narrow margin of error, if that makes sense. Still, I dont think any of these tests are that super accurate that your Ph kit would be way off like that so it is not a big rush for you to buy new kits.

Tommy Gun · 01-08-2007, 07:27 PM

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My sister gave me her live rocks and damsels in November, i bought a 29 gal tank ect.

Well, my first instinct here is to say that your test kit has to be wrong then, but there is reason to believe the ammonia is high because of the odd behavior with the crabs....

Your tank should be cycled by now in my opinion if it has been up and running for two months or more. Did you notice a real cycle or was it pretty short and sweet because you got your sister's well established rock and sand?

How did you clean out your filter media?

fishobsessed · 01-08-2007, 07:27 PM

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What test kit are you using?

I use Freshwater Master Test Kit.By the way how do i post my pictures i wanted to show you my tanks?

Tommy Gun · 01-08-2007, 07:30 PM

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By the way how do i post my pictures i wanted to show you my tanks

I really like using the photobucket option. Just follow the link in my signature and start your own album (there is a link for 'join now' in the upper right hand corner just below the advertisement on the page). Then upload them and you can use the links they give you to copy and paste your pictures in the forum here. It works all over the place, not just here, and you can send the links via email as well so I like the versatility of doing things that way. Otherwise, go to www.photobucket.com and start from there.