Cool Crabs (w/ pictures)

Re: Cool Crabs (w/ pictures)

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7806578#post7806578 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by reefnewbie54321
I am a big invert guy and actually got into the hobby more for the inverts then anything else. I plan on stocking a few of my favorite crabs and was wondering if anyone has pictures or names of some cool crabs I'm missing out on. If you have kept any of the carbs listed below please share your experiences as well.

Staghorn Hermit
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This is a really cool crab but I don't think I will end up getting it because its staghorn shell will most likely get stung by my multiple anemones.

Arrow Crab
pw79882arrow_crab.jpg

Another cool crab that wont make it to my tank ... It just gets to big and I have heard some horror stories.

Xenia Crab
crb170.jpg

These are one of my favorite ... although hard to spot in the tank they are still cool. If I don't end up with any hitchhiker crabs I plan on posting in the WTB to get a few to host my multiple xenia patches.

White Porcelain Crab
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This crab looks much better then the regular porcelain crab and will host my anemones. Definitely going in my tank.

Pom Pom Crab
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I would say this is my all time favorite crab and even though you rarely see them when you do its quiet a sight. I plan on getting at least 2 of these.

Teddy Bear Crab
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Although is has a very bad rep I love Teddy Bear crabs. I think it is a myth that they are pests (this was also discussed in an RK magazine about aquarium myths) I am not 100% sure if I will add one but if it comes as a hitchhiker I wouldn't remove it.

I also plan on getting a few different hermits and give them some cool deco shells I bought online to see if they will switch. Any suggestions on the more timid of hermit crabs would be helpful.

NOTE: None of these crabs are being added as part of a cleanup crew and will be target feed via sinking pellets.
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I found a hitch hiker crab for the first time after a year. He's small (maybe half an inch at most) with purple patches that blends really well with the purple algae on the rocks. The tips of his legs are white. I would almost say he looks like an emerald crab in shape (I have one) except for the purple coloring and white tips.

Any clue? I'll try and get a pic but he's very small and hard to see.
 
jakaufman, cool arrow. I would get one but as others have mentioned they can get 8+" and are known to eat other fish, snails, shrimp and corals.

FishNutzBoi, I do plan on getting atleast 2 but by the time my plumbing gets finished and the tanks cycled it wont be for around 3 months.

Twisted, horseshoe crabs are cool but they get to big and eventualy starve becuase they clean a sand bed dry. Plus they eat your DSB critters.

ssgatbliss,
No clue but he sounds pretty cool.
 
Wow ... Spider Deco Crab I assume?

I didnt mention him after doing a search and finding many horror stories and reccomendations to never get one. What types of problems have you had with him? I really would want one buts its not worth the trouble.
 
As you can see, he is decorating himself with all my cool sponges and zoos. The only good thing about him is that some of his decorations drop off and establish themselves where I can't reach.
The last 2 mornings I have spotted him going after my snails and this morning he was picking on my hermit crab.
I found out by accident he loves emarld entree. He comes flying out of the rocks at dinner time for it. It would be a great time to grab him if I dared.
 
Definitly has a cool factor to him. I have no zoos or anthing that I care about that he would stick to him but I wouldnt want to risk my other crabs/snails/shrimp.
 
I dont know if the pic will work because im linking it off nano-reef.com, but here is a picture of my decorator crab. I collected him off a Jetty at a beach.

He's probably the coolest thing in my tank. I named him Jacques.
He's got the most personality of anything else in my tank, including my Pearl Jawfish. He never hides, EVER. He's always moving around, he doesn't bother any other animals or corals ever (except the occasional clipping of kenya or xenia to put on his head) and he's just hysterical.

When I feed the tank he goes nutz. If the turkey baster comes anywhere near him, he tries to grab it. And if food is falling past him, he will bonzai off a rock to try and catch it mid-air. He goes into feeding frenzy mode. Where all the extra food lands at the bottom of the tank is where he sprints too as soon as I food hits the water. If anything else goes there (gobies, jawfish, hermits, stomas, anything) he will try to eat them too... (he's too small)

I love this guy and I suggest if you see a crab like him anywhere, buy it! I dont know the species of this crab but I believe its a type of decorator crab, as he occassionally grabs little softies and sticks them to his head. Only tiny peices though, and very rarely so I dont mind.

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Little did I realize that the blue hermit was sizing up the turbo snail for his new home.... a few days after this picture he was living in the turbo shell !!!
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Pico Keeper, cool crab ... it doesnt look like the deco abs I usualy see for sale. I'll have to keep my eye out for taht one.

klhscooter, to bad about the snail.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7807669#post7807669 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by reefnewbie54321
Where would you buy one if you knew what it ate? It must be really small to host in an urchin.
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The urchins it is normally found in grow to about a foot in diameter if I'm not mistaken, but it will host in smaller ones from what I have seen. I saw them at a pet store once, they're out there but not too many stores want to get them because they're expensive and relatively unknown.
 
How is this for a hitchiker with some live rock?

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Was looking in the tank about 2 months after I put the rock in and out pops this guy and just slowly wanders around.

DSCN0738.jpg
 
Arrow crabs are the coolest. They look like spiders and are always visible. When I first added mine to the tank, my dottyback tried to bite his face. The crab swatted at him and now everyone lives in perfect harmony.

Robb
 
im not worried about my arrow at this point.. if he is bothering any fish I add then hes gone waaay before they are ;)

plus i will not add corals for awhile yet (FOWLR at the moment)

hes one of the guys i will keep an eye on though heh
 
I have about 10-12 mixed sized of porceline's that came with my TBS package. ranging from 1/4 to a little over a inch wide.
 
I WANT A "zebra urchin crab" god that looks sooo awesome. I love crabs to and since I have a couple of tanks, a lot of these I would set up a species tank for if I needed.
ClamIAm
You wouldn't happen to know the common or species name of the crab in the second photo you showed would you?

Pico Keeper
Awesome story, that guy seems awesome. I will keep an eye out for the species name. I'm going nuts trying to find any kind of book or anything on these types of animals. I have "A pocketexpert guide to Marine invertebrates" but it covers a wide range of stuff and doesn't have a lot of species of crab in it.(or crab like creatures as some may say they are not true crabs)

klhscooter
that blue hermit looks HUGE for the shell he is in for the photo. Do you have plenty of spare shells for them to pick through?

Has anyone mentioned sally light foot crabs? You want something that looks like a spider... lol. I had one once only because a friend of mine just brought it home and put it in my tank.

delsol650
10-12 mixed sized of porcelain’s ????? How big of a pack did you buy? I've never seen anything that has more then one of them in it.
 
I personally loved my Arrow Decorator the only "bad" thing he ever did was frag a piece off of everything. The funnies thing was when I had a hair algae problem and he decided he liked it. He collected every bit he could find. Never bothered my snails or hermits and he always came out on the losing end of the scraps with my pistol shrimp. It was too funny!! Here he is with his algae coat. (by the way he was the size of a softball).

decoratorcrab2.jpg
 
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