Is it possible for 10 crabs to all be molting?

[blondy627]

API is aquarium salt that apparently has epsom salts in it which is not good. I'm glad that I applied to be a certified adopter. Thats how I found out that it was the wrong salt. I came home with Instant Ocean today

Wai's crab care section as well as CJS has more info on the salts.

[blondy627]

Something was smelling like dead fish in my tank. Poor Spot is no more.

[ladybug15057]

I'm sorry to hear this. I assume you checked very closely for any signs of life prior to a burial?

[blondy627]

I could not see any signs of life at all.

However, I was happy to see my E, Spidey, out and about this morning! He took a long drink of his new salt water (that sat for at least 12 hours before serving) and sniffed the peanut butter and seaweed I had put out. He didn't eat any and went back to burrow under the coco husk. And he had brought a piece of coconut over to the coconut hut.

[blondy627]

One of my newer ones who burried before it could be named is up and eating his/her coconut fiber background So happy! It doesn't appear to have molted.

[blondy627]

Am I being really impatient? I'm still not seeing more than 4 crabs. How long do I wait before I look for everybody? I'm nervous they may be decaying under the sand and coco husk if they had enough of the API salt water to do them in.

[abegie]

How long has it been? I know its hard to be patient but depending on the size of your crabs they could be down 2 weeks or up to 2 months. Resist the urge to dig them up as you could cause them lots of stress by digging them up.

[blondy627]

I began this post Sept 12 and most of them had been burried for 3-4 weeks at that time.

[abegie]

I know the waiting can be tough. My first molter seemed very unhealthy when he buried himself and I had been a crabber less than a month. At the three week point I was ready to start digging, I was sure he was laying there dead under the surface somewhere rotting. He was just a tiny crab smaller than a golf ball so I was thinking there was no way he should be taking this long. I managed to resist the urge and 2 days later I saw him in the food bowl with his fresh new exoskeleton and far more active than he had been since I bought him. I totally get how tough the waiting can be, but if they are molting down there you will only do harm to them by digging them up.

[blondy627]

Ok... Thank you! I just need to keep positive that they're all molting or destressing and that they're all alive! Unfortunatly, they probably made it through worse than me before I got them.