my snail and crabs are disappearing

AMETHYST212

AMETHYST212

AC Members
Mar 2, 2006
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QUEENS, NY
ok i have a small nano sltwater tank that i have setup approx 6 mths ago.

my problem is that i had 4 astrea turbo snails and 4 mexican red leg hermit crabs and now i only have 2 hermits and 1 snail left. there are no signs of carcasses and there is nothing floating the only thing left is the shells.
these animals just dissappeared. i know they just did not escape.
there is a bubble tip anemone in the tank that is one inch in diameter, but i dont think he can be the culprit, or i may be wrong.

My parameters are as follows

6 gallon tank.
10 lbs of fiji live rock
2 inch deep of aragonite sand

1 bubble tip anemone
2 hermits left
1 snail left

water parameters are

calcium 425 ppm
alkalinity 2.8 meq/l
temp 78-80 degree
salinity 1.024
nitrates 0.5 ppm
ph 8.0

please tell me if there is something wrong.
 
The remnant shells are not smashed?

Have you seen your hermits trotting around in your snail shells?

Have you noticed any unusualy algae growth or nutrient spikes?
 
no the shells are not smashed at all and no there is no signs of these guys they have completly disappeared and i checked the water and ther has been no spike and there was some algae growth. like a few spots here and there.
but no major issue.
 
Since only the shells are left and you haven't seen any nutrient spikes, I wonder if they were killed and eaten by the crabs, which in turn, cannibalized each other.

Pretty strange.
 
I found a missing hermit crab over 20ft away from the tank in another room. Any chance they went on walk-about?
 
nope not at all. that tank has a very tight hood.

what happens if there was a nutrient spike and i just never caught it.
 
I'm no expert or had any experience in SW yet.
But I was wondering if you have noticed any hitchhiker in the nano tank? Maybe that hitchhiker is what eating your snails and hermits :confused:
 
I just read a post in another sw forum where a polyclad flatworm was the culprit of snails missing but not hermits. Maybe do a red lens flashlight search at night.
 
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