small tan crab ??

[fishcrack]

I have a tiny crab that I've only seen twice in my tank. I can't get a picture of him, as he rarely comes out and ducks back in the hole in the rock the minute he sees me. He only seems to come out at night. He is disc shaped, tan in color (matches my rock color), has 2 front pincher claws and is smaller than a dime in size. I'm assuming he came in as a hitchhiker on my live rock from when I started up my tank originally (29 gallon nano). I first spotted him in the fall and thought he was a goner since I hadn't seen him again. But, the other night, when I was checking my tank for night critters, I got a quick glimpse of him again. I haven't lost anything and all my water parameters are ok. Is he anything to worry about?? My concern is what will happen when he gets bigger?

 

[roka64]

What color are his pincers and is he hairy?

 

[fishcrack]

I haven't seen any hair on him and I think his pinchers were a bit darker than his body. I'll have to try and spot him again to get a better look. Any ideas how to lure him out? I know what hole he is in or at least where he has come out of the 2 times I've seen him. He moves lightning fast - certainly doesn't hang around for me to observe him.

 

[roka64]

Use food in a tilted glass trick. Tilt a glass by his hole ad a piece of raw shrimp tilt glass and wait. Don't leave the shrimp in there too long or it will start to decay.

 

[SassyAngel111]

yea get him out, I had 4 gorilla crabs that was able to catch my new fish and had a feast, lost about 100.00 in fish because of them. They are natsy buggers

 

[fishcrack]

My guy at the lfs said he's a "sand crab." Ever heard of that? He did say that he'll eat corals, especially zoas. I just placed an order with Ziggy so the crab must go. He is in my base rock, of course, in a really deep hole. My scooter blenny keeps bullying him back in his hole every time I see him start to come out. Worse case scenerio, I take my tank apart to get to that rock. It doesn't have any coral on it. Do I dip it in fresh water to get the crab out? Will that hurt my bacteria on the live rock? Any better suggestions? I'll try the baited cup again but so far all I've caught is the blenny.

 

[fishcrack]

Crab story continued

So, I tried the tilted glass trick again this morning. The little sand crab had started to inch out of his hiding spot, I was beginning to feel victorious when . . . out of a dark space in my rock comes a big, black hairy claw followed by a equally creepy looking body. Luckily, no students were in my room (my tank is in my classroom), because I said a few nonteacher like words and dropped the glass back into the tank. To make a long story short, after waiting patiently for 3 hours in a darkened classroom with all the pumps off, I ended up taking apart my tank and removing the rock he is residing in - now in my son's sump for the 90 gallon at home. Luckily it was a small piece of live rock. That explains the large number of disappearing snails! He had a den underneath the rock with a whole pile of shells. Yuck! Can he live in the sump? I can't kill him - I'm a softie.

 

[fijiwigi]

chalk one up to the Anti-Crab movement. Crabs are evil little guys no matter what species

 

[Ziggy953]

LOL...he will be fine in the sump. Not all crabs are bad. I have 2 Acro Crabs in my bottlebrush acro and one in my pink pocilipora. If you have ever watched the Blue Planet series on Discovery they have a segment about the Crown of thorns Star and how the Acro Crabs defend thier home. So...not all crabs are bad.

 

[Karegg]

So, I tried the tilted glass trick again this morning. The little sand crab had started to inch out of his hiding spot, I was beginning to feel victorious when . . . out of a dark space in my rock comes a big, black hairy claw followed by a equally creepy looking body. Luckily, no students were in my room (my tank is in my classroom), because I said a few nonteacher like words and dropped the glass back into the tank. To make a long story short, after waiting patiently for 3 hours in a darkened classroom with all the pumps off, I ended up taking apart my tank and removing the rock he is residing in - now in my son's sump for the 90 gallon at home. Luckily it was a small piece of live rock. That explains the large number of disappearing snails! He had a den underneath the rock with a whole pile of shells. Yuck! Can he live in the sump? I can't kill him - I'm a softie.

I just want to say that that's an awesome story. So you got the sand crab out, but what was the big black thing?

 

[pat8you]

If i remember right you got the big black crab out but not the sand crab. You probably still want to get out the sand crab because those polyps i bought you are zoas and that may be why you are having trouble getting them to open up.

 

[fishcrack]

I think the small tan crab was in the same piece of live rock or he went down the sink when I rinsed things because he is MIA. Believe me, I have been watching the tank carefully because of my new coral purchase. What is hard to believe is that black hairy crab has been in there since August and I never saw him. He is about the size of a quarter plus legs, etc. I haven't been able to get a picture of him in the sump yet. Anyone have a good site that I can look at to try and identify him?

By the way, son, my zoas you bought me are doing very well now. Bought a turkey baster as you advised. See I do listen to you.