Mr. Emerald Crab Became Part of the Circle of Life

[LoveLEE143]

One can see the livestock I have in my tank in my signature. Last night I noticed my Emerald Crab was missing three legs. Well when I woke this morning he was alive and moving around. About 11 when I was going to the grill (ironically to go cook some Tilapia) I noticed that the Clown and two of the Damsels were playing tug-o-war with the Emerald Crab. They were all three pulling him apart (I guess they were having a Crabby Patty) which started a feeding frenzy. I then noticed one of the Yellow Tails was then attacking one of the hermit crabs. He would use his tail to flip him over then nip at his legs. I can no longer see the hermit crab because the Yellow Tail pushed him under a rock. I thought that all of these fish were safe if inverts. I have had fish and crabs in the tank for the past two months. Has anyone ever had this happen before? And, will they now eat all my crabs. My girlfriend is quite pissed because she has become emotionally attached to her Hermit Crabs, as she has had them for two years now.

 

[Hara]

wow, that is alot of fish in that tank.

 

[LoveLEE143]

They are all very small except the clown fish.

 

[Hara]

Sure, for now. The problem that I see is the fact that most of those fish are pretty territorial and with a tank shaped as yours, there is not as big of an area (footprint) for them to claim as their own.....especially as they mature. It could be that they actually resented the crabs crowding them out too. You do need to have a decent cleaning crew and so if that is the way they are going to be, you may need to return some fish.

 

[LoveLEE143]

They all get along well I only have the occasional chasing of each other in the tank. Each has just claimed their little cave or area along the rocks. I hardly ever see the crabs except at feeding time. The clown just stays inside of his anemone. I was going to buy some new crabs today. If they continue to eat the crabs what can I do as far as a clean up crew. All of the fish were in on the frenzy. they are all picking at the other two crabs now. What is a good number of crabs and snails to have given my parameters for a clean up crew.

 

[Hara]

I would be adding some astrea, cerith or other types of snails. Start with a dozen and see how that goes. More than that would not be a bad thing. A couple of serpent stars added to the mix. The more variety in your cleanup crew the better in my opinion. I stress, that is my opinion only. If your fish continue to be aggressive toward the crabs, dont get crabs. A few shrimp could be added, peppermints would be my choice. A few sites that have clean up crew packages have recommendations as far as exact numbers.....I think the general rule of thumb that they use is 1 per gallon.

 

[Brad]

I've never seen my yellow tail show any interest in hermit crabs...or any type of crab for that matter. Maybe yours are just hungry.

I have a 5 stripe damsel that is quite a bit bigger than the yellow tail. Once, I got trapped in a snowstorm and didn't feed them for a week. When I returned, the yellow tail had been attacked and lost an eye.

Point being...as long as they aren't overly hungry, everyone seems to get along fine.

 

[MarineFlake]

Feed much?

 

[LoveLEE143]

I feed them every other day. I switch between the pellets, and live brive shrimp.

 

[RocketSeason]

is there alot of problems come feeding time where some of your fish don't get alot compared to others? maybe some of these fish are going hungry and have turned to alternitive sources of food.

 

[LoveLEE143]

No, when I feed them the live brine shrimp the shrimp just swim around. The fish will just eat them with no competition since there are so many of shrimp. The shrimp usually stay in the tank for maybe 2-3 hours before all have been eaten or sucked up by the filter. When I feed them the pellets, the pellets sink to the bottom and they just eat them off of the sand. The fish have left the hermit crabs alone now. The last I saw of the emerald crab he was being feed to the anemone by the clown fish. Still very aggravating, hopefully if I add another emerald crab he will not come to the same fate. The guy at the LFS said he has never heard of this happening before. What is even more confusing is that every where I read the yellow tail blue damsel is supposed to be one of the least aggressive damsels. This is sooooooo not the case in my tank. Those three rule all the others even though they are the smallest. They are the only ones that will usually chase the other fish.

 

[RocketSeason]

lets hope they don't get a taste for human....we could all be in trouble!!!

 

[LoveLEE143]

Yes this Darwinism in my tank is very annoying. Watching my fish play tug-o-war with my crab. Then i heard the crack as he was split in half. All the while he was still fighting back for his life.