Please help! I need some answers about my Yabbie

[leah85]

I have a yabbie (Sonny) don’t know the sex, which I brought about 2 months ago, he is an active little thing, anyway my tank has ammonia in it which I am treating, I have brought a new tank which is all set up just waiting on my dad to set the filter in it (which he is doing tonight) and he is ready to be put in his new home, now to get down to why I am emailing you, 2 days ago I fed him a bit of carrot which he loves he never touched it, he didn’t even go running over to it like he usually does when I put it in the tank, so yesterday morning before I went to work I put a bit of turtle food in there which again he loves and will go running to it but again he didn’t it fell to the floor and that’s where it was when I left, I left so not sure if he ate it or not but anyway when I got home last night I noticed that he was a bit funny he wasn’t as active as usual and didn’t really look himself (don’t ask me how I know that but I just do), but didn’t think much of it, but I woke up this morning turned his light on and there he was flipped on his back and only moving a little bit (not much at all, his legs were the only thing moving and it was very little movement) I flipped him over and he started slowly moving and went to the top of his barrel and just stayed there I dropped in some more turtle food and it landed on the back of him he didn’t move, he just stayed there, he didn’t even flinch when the food touched him, can you tell me if he is sick and slowly dying or could he be shedding his shell? He has shed his shell before about a month ago but I was away on holidays so I didn’t see what he was like and went through. I came home to the empty shell on the floor of the fish tank And if he is shedding then should I leave him in that tank until he dose shed or is it safe to move him into his new tank? Can Anyone help me please!

[Neffy]

Hi! we have a few yabbie keepers that might be able to help you, i dont know anything about yabbies or how they shed but if your tank has ammonia these symptoms are similar to the symptoms shown by fish when they are experiancing high levels of ammonia in their tanks. I would stop adding food because uneaten food will only cause your ammonia levels to get higher and higher.

[dwalk]

what the temp of the tank? if its not ammonia then it could be the temp of the water, cold water makes yabbies slow right down and into hibernation.

also there may not be enough oxygen in the water, if he is getting up on top of things in the tank he is trying to get to the surface for air.

Edited June 26, 2012 by dwalk

[briztoon]

Hi Leah,

I know it's not going to help much, but do you know what is causing the ammonia build up in your tank. You can do water changes to dilute the ammonia build up.

With the new tank and filter, do you know about the nitrogen cycle? Many people lose fish and other aquatic pets to "New Tank Syndrome". Basically the Ammonia and Nitrite that are produced from fish waste are poisonous and can kill aquatic animals, there are good bacteria that consume both Ammonia and Nitrites, but they take time to grow in your tank and filter. You can read it here, The Nitrogen Cycle.

[Fletch]

Could it be moulting? Have no idea really but you do need to sort out your water quality. :-)

[leah85]

Thanks for all the replys i have just moved him into his new tank as when i got home he was back on his back, he is not moving in the new tank but his feelers and month are moving so hopefully thats a good sign, the water is about 2 days old and the new pump has been on all day, i will go and get the water tested tomorrow in the new tank. if anyone else could help and maybe tell me little more about what i might have done wrong in the old tank i would most appreciate it. i was dumping 25% of the water out every 2 days with a stone/pebbles pump trying to get the amm levels down.