Emerald crab??

[Canela]

Is this crab good or bad. I came home found it on my soft sponge. I thought he was cleaning, then he was ripping off a piece. I'm so distraught. He seems to be eating a lot of stuff on my live rock. Don't know what to do.







I recently found him, hitch hiker

[Reefer4eva]

Most say there reef safe but I beg to differ,I had one chew up a whole colony of my eagle eye zoos.i took a hammer to his *** in a heartbeat

[mr_X]

I'd rather have the crab than the indo zoas or the sponge actually.

[User Name]

It's from the same genus as an emerald crab (Mithraculus). Could very well be one. Eating a sponge is no big deal in my opinion. I have emerald crabs and they do a great job of clean the live rock and substrate. However, if there is not enough food available they may go after other food sources. If that happens i would suggest feeding the crab seaweed to keep him good. It's really up to you to decide. By the way. That crab didn't ask to hitchhike a ride on your live rock. I'm sure there are other ways to get rid of the crab beside death as been suggested. Like maybe a local fish store, craigs list, or a sump.

[Canela]

Originally Posted by User Name

It's from the same genus as an emerald crab (Mithraculus). Could very well be one. Eating a sponge is no big deal in my opinion. I have emerald crabs and they do a great job of clean the live rock and substrate. However, if there is not enough food available they may go after other food sources. If that happens i would suggest feeding the crab seaweed to keep him good. It's really up to you to decide. By the way. That crab didn't ask to hitchhike a ride on your live rock. I'm sure there are other ways to get rid of the crab beside death as been suggested. Like maybe a local fish store, craigs list, or a sump.

I wouldn't kill a crab, like my hitch hikers! It's just that I have been feeding my aquarium twice a day: flakes, frozen food, or pellets. Don't know what to feed the crab! I can't find it in me to kill my aptasia!! I took out my frag coral that had aptasia all on it and put it in its own separate bowl in top of my aquarium, regular water changes and all!!!

[mr_X]

LMAO. I would stop feeding twice a day. You are going to have problems with nuisance algae and water quality pretty quickly. The crab will find food.

[Beengirl]

Originally Posted by Canela

I wouldn't kill a crab, like my hitch hikers! It's just that I have been feeding my aquarium twice a day: flakes, frozen food, or pellets. Don't know what to feed the crab! I can't find it in me to kill my aptasia!! I took out my frag coral that had aptasia all on it and put it in its own separate bowl in top of my aquarium, regular water changes and all!!!

You're going to be overrun with Aptasia at some point if you can't kill them at all. Just buy some Aptasia X, it's about $10 at LFS and get them suckers!!

[Gti_Leo]

Originally Posted by mr_X

I'd rather have the crab than the indo zoas or the sponge actually.

this

the right thing to do with an unwanted critter is banish it to the sump or refugium or take it to your LFS so soemone that wants it can care for it, don't kill it

[Canela]

Originally Posted by Gti_Leo

this

the right thing to do with an unwanted critter is banish it to the sump or refugium or take it to your LFS so soemone that wants it can care for it, don't kill it

I would kill it. I'm just surprised! Hey, it showed up last week. My aquarium has been running since October. I was shocked. I'm keeping him! I'm not into killing anything in my aquarium. I will make sure I provide food it likes!

[Gti_Leo]

i had a crab show up in mine i took it out and moved it to my refugium. the inlet tube for my HOB fuge broke and i left it off for soemthing liek 6 months. when it broke i put all my chaeto in a 5 gallon bucket with air stone until i set it back up again, and found that the crab had wondered into the bubble chamber section after the skimmer and had no way of getting back and it died there.

now i set the fuge back up last week and everything with just chaeto, but to my surprise i found another of those crabs hidden in the shadows. my tank has been running for 2.5 years.

critters can grow and form in hidden caves in rocks and stay their untill they get bigger, i noticed some peanut worms in my rock a few months after my tank was setup and thats when i also notices the first of this type of crab, so my suggestion is if you have a refugium any critters like crabs or snails that you find that you are un aware of how they will be in youre display put them in your fuge they will also help keep the macroalgae trimmed and controlled