Another Package Part 1

[MichaelBrock]

I just got back from Tampa with my package part one. More details and photos to come; I'm still unpacking. No disappointments! I got one beautiful rock weighing in at 40 lbs. and in the process of putting it into the tank these two little guys fell off:

I haven't had the time to look it up yet. Porcelain crab?

 

[MichaelBrock]

Another crab (still working on an id on this one too):

 

[lionbacker54]

first crab is definitely a porcelain. good crab, definitely put it back in.

not sure about the second, but i'm going to guess "bad crab". do you have a refugium you can put it in?

 

[MichaelBrock]

I saw one of those first crabs sitting on the rock filtering last night. Nice!

I do have a refugium for the others and they are in there now.

I have one particular hole in my rock which is maybe an inch across and it's occupied by something which easily fills the hole. Can't really see what it is Every now and then a blunt "leg" pushes out some gravel. I'll try to get some pictures tonight.

This is fun!

 

[MichaelBrock]

This morning I finally got the lights on to the tank. Amazing the difference some light makes! The first I noticed was a "huge" (relatively speaking) gorilla crab. It's easily 2" across and I don't think he's going to fit into a "soda bottle" trap. He doesn't appear to spook easily, I might try some shrimp on a skewer and see if he'll behave like a blue crab once he gets his claws on some shrimp.

 

[Yogre]

This morning I finally got the lights on to the tank. Amazing the difference some light makes! The first I noticed was a "huge" (relatively speaking) gorilla crab. It's easily 2" across and I don't think he's going to fit into a "soda bottle" trap. He doesn't appear to spook easily, I might try some shrimp on a skewer and see if he'll behave like a blue crab once he gets his claws on some shrimp.

And if he does, you can net his fanny just like a blue crab. I remember doing that when I was a kid... the gorillas in my tank aren't quite that big yet, but they still need to come out. My green chromis sleep in the rocks, and I have some flasher wrasse in quarantine, definitely not intended to be crab snacks.

 

[MichaelBrock]

I have pictures. Unfortunately, they are huge and I'm too lazy to resize them. So, instead I uploaded them to flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/89435356@N00/?saved=1

So far everything is coming along very well. I hope I can keep all of these barnacles alive. I'll feel bad when part 2 comes and I have to stack rock on top of all of this life.

 

[Raggamuffin]

the pic you have of the red mithrax isn't a mithrax, legs are way too fuzzy. I love your holey rock! that thing is sweet. It looks like you are doing what I am... spreading the rocks around waiting on part 2... it's the only thing I could think of so I wouldn't have to cover anything later.

 

[MichaelBrock]

Not a mithrax...I guess I should stop guessing and do some reasearch :fun2: Right now it's hanging out in that same position. Every now and then it reaches out picks something off the rock and gets busy eating it.

I do have a porcelain crab that is almost as big as that non-mithrax.

 

[Yogre]

Well..hmmmm...one of the pictures in your gallery really looks like a red mithrax crab to me. Check out the pix on Richard's website.

My red mithrax has some seriously fuzzy legs, as well as the stripes. The gorilla crabs I'm hunting also have fuzzy legs, but they're brown, nearly the color of the rock. With all the lights on, they don't look at all alike.

Wish I had a better camera, I've seen both mithrax and gorilla close up recently.

 

[MichaelBrock]

After some research, I am pretty sure it is a red mithrax. the crab I think is a gorilla is fuzzy all over not just the legs. Looks more like a tarantula than a crab. Just like this guy:

 

[Yogre]

Exactly! There's a decent sized gorilla in my tank that's hairy all over, too.

I'm still trying to figure out how to get him out... the rock he's in is big, it must weigh over 50 pounds. Not gonna try to lift it back out of the tank.