Are any of these crabs reef safe?

[Gluestick]

I love crabs! Is this pompom crab reef safe? so cool looking! any one have one of these? what do you think?
http://www.marinedepotlive.com/pom-pom-crab---lybia-species-inverts--crabs.html
What about a decorator crab?
Do you need to have sps corals to keep a staghorn hermit crab?

 

[hansnfrans]

Stay away from the decorator crab! They will remove corals and try to put them on their shell. Once their shell is full, they don't necessarily stop damaging the corals either.

As for the pom-pom/boxer crab, this is an excellent choice for a reef tank. I have one in my tank and he is a blast to watch. When I see him that is.

Another cool little reef-safe crab are the porcelain and pacific anemone crabs. They don't use their big claws for eating, but rather use little net-like appendages to capture zooplankton. And they prefer to live in anemones, but don't necessarily need one to thrive in a captive environment.

 

[hansnfrans]

BTW: 18.00 is a little pricey for the pom-pom crab. You should be able to find them for 8.00 - 12.00 at a reasonable LFS. I paid 8.00 for mine from Splash of Life, but they are no longer in business.

 

[gvibes]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7962989#post7962989 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by hansnfrans
Stay away from the decorator crab! They will remove corals and try to put them on their shell. Once their shell is full, they don't necessarily stop damaging the corals either.

As for the pom-pom/boxer crab, this is an excellent choice for a reef tank. I have one in my tank and he is a blast to watch. When I see him that is.

Another cool little reef-safe crab are the porcelain and pacific anemone crabs. They don't use their big claws for eating, but rather use little net-like appendages to capture zooplankton. And they prefer to live in anemones, but don't necessarily need one to thrive in a captive environment.

I was going to recommend a porcelain crab as a somewhat cool-looking and very reef-safe option as well.

 

[Gluestick]

Thanks for the advice! What about red cling crabs, AKA red mithrax crabs?

 

[hansnfrans]

As far as I now, the red mithrax are just a color variation on your standard emerald (green mithrax) crab. Most people have had good experiences with these crabs in a reef tank. Personally I am anti-mithrax b/c of some unexplained fish disappearances. They will eat Valonia (bubble algae), but some individuals may become aggressive when they grow larger. If all your fish are larger than 3" then I wouldn't worry about these crabs.

 

[reefman77]

I dont think you need sps for a staghorn hermit crab Ive got one and ive never seen him leave the sand bed i think the point on his shell is too heavy for him to climb up the rockwork

 

[Gluestick]

This is what I'm talking about. Read the Item description, it says they are red cling-crabs.
http://cgi.ebay.com/5-Red-Mithrax-C...ryZ66788QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

[hansnfrans]

Those should be just as reef-safe as the emeralds

 

[Gordonious]

WHERE did you get that staghorn hermit crab! lol I would love one of those.

I to love crabs. I have been trying to look for different species of porcelain. http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=899503&highlight=green+crab

 

[TellyFish]

living sea aquarium had some staghorns for sale recently

 

[Gluestick]

I really love the red porcelains.

 

[Gordonious]

I want to get a red one badly, but can't afford to have just that shipped at this point.

For those of you who havn't seen it this thread is on a simular topic:
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=892631