# Crabs



## conni (Nov 14, 2008)

8 weeks ago I started a saltwater tank. Its 25 gallons. Kind of small but if nano tanks could survive why not mine. 
I have:

crushed shell for substrate
1.025 saltivity
73 degree temp
ph 8
light of 6500k
alkalinity-ideal
chlorine-safe
nitrite-safe
nitrate-okay
red & green algae
I bought a shaving brush plant and 2 Dward blue leg hermit crabs to start. The plant and one crab has died. What have I done wrong???


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## onefish2fish (Jul 22, 2008)

first the crushed coral gravel usually isnt good, atleast in my opinion
second, have you cycled your tank yet? if you do not know what this means google fishless cycle
third your temp seems low, mine is at 78, sometimes hits 80-81
what does ideal alk, chlorine,nitrite,nitrates mean? can you post specific numbers and the test kit your using?
fourth 6500k lights are good for growing algae
fifith, do you have live rock, how many pounds
sixth if you dont have live rock what do you use for filtration
seventh PLEASE DO MORE RESEARCH.
eight welcome!!
ninth please do more then what you already did researching.


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## Kellsindell (Sep 15, 2008)

I have a 25g and i know that you must top off daily sometimes 2 times a day to ensure that the salinity is staying where it needs to be. 

I agee with onefish you temp is way to low and it'll hurt many things. Recommended temp is going to be about 79-82degrees. a bit lower is ok, but any higher is not. so most go with 80. 

agree with onefish again crush coral was all kinds of wrong and don't ever listen to whomever old you that'd be ok ever again.(and i don't care what their tank looked like)

Red and green algae? what does that mean? you got cyano and greenhair algae and threw them into your tank? you need to know the name of the algae and let it be known that clurpa isn't good for a tank and your clean up crew probably ate most of it.

Finally we need to know what you're calling safe. In fw tanks it's diff from sw tanks. Safe is close to 0ppm and for fresh it could be 40ppm-100ppm depending on breed of fish and inverts.


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## ajmckay (Oct 28, 2008)

Hello,

As you are, I am new here and to the marine hobby as well. I also did a fishless cycle. I started my tank (a 29gal) with 15lbs of pre-cured live rock. It was expensive (my LFS sold it for $4 per lb after a $10 membership fee) but I can tell you that it has made all the difference!

I added a dozen hermit crabs and some snails a week later. The hermit crabs ate any of the decaying material from the live rock, as well as the brown algae that covered my live rock after a week or 2 and everything was great. 

Are you sure that your hermit crab even died? Mine molted and I thought it died but I counted them and I still had 12... Do you have extra shells in there for the crabs if it outgrew his shell? Hermits don't live very long at all outside their shells. Also, did you feed them? If you didn't use live rock, or not enough, the hermits will need supplemental feeding (you can feed them almost anything just as long as it sinks). 

Lastly, it really helps if you add in all the detail you can when posting here. Try to be as exact as possible, and include all the setup details as well as an accurate time line. Believe me, people will read your ridiculously long post if it gives them all the info. 

My advice is to take a step back... People have been successful in maintaining a thriving marine aquarium with all different kinds of substrates, all different kinds of filters, livestock, and methods. Give it a week before you add any more livestock to do some research, and in a week I recommend hermit crabs and snails to start (they're interesting and cheap too!).


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## Kellsindell (Sep 15, 2008)

ajmckay said:


> Hello,
> 
> As you are, I am new here and to the marine hobby as well. I also did a fishless cycle. I started my tank (a 29gal) with 15lbs of pre-cured live rock. It was expensive (my LFS sold it for $4 per lb after a $10 membership fee) but I can tell you that it has made all the difference!


 wow only $4 a lb? that's awsome. i got a 7lb rock and payed $8 a lb.


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## onefish2fish (Jul 22, 2008)

i got 50lbs for free from a good member at my reef club and i also picked another 50lbs from a guy for $100
all had coraline, feather dusters, and all sorts of life. 

so, if ya have a chance to join a local reefing club i recommend it! 
mine is $12 a year for membership
and it is by far well worth it, you learn so much, meet great people, and get great deals


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## Kellsindell (Sep 15, 2008)

onefish2fish said:


> i got 50lbs for free from a good member at my reef club and i also picked another 50lbs from a guy for $100
> all had coraline, feather dusters, and all sorts of life.
> 
> so, if ya have a chance to join a local reefing club i recommend it!
> ...


 
Of course that was 5 years ago when i first started. I got 120lbs for $175 from a club member like 1 year after that, and i've been using the same LR.

Conni, have you had anymore issues? have you changed the parameters?


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