Cool looking crabs

[Leviathan_XE]

I've always been a fan of cool looking inverts espcially crabs. I had a strawberry crab(Liomera sp)in my old tank before it crashed and it was def one of my favorite critters(even though it was nocturnal, I just loved the fact that he was in there.) But I jusr happened to stumble upon it in a LFS. Does anyone know of a site where I can order some cool/colorful crabs(preferably reef-safe)?

 

[VacavilleFC3S]

very few crabs are safe. most are predators. mithrax (emerald crabs) are one of the few that are

 

[finsurgeon]

My favorite crab is the "pom pom", or "boxing" crab. Completely reef safe and very cool to watch, though also mostly nocturnal and pretty wary of fish. Used to get them from Reefscavengers, but site not working today. Looks like they are in stock here: http://www.bluezooaquatics.com/productDetail.asp?did=2&pid=1118&cid=80
The porcelain and anemone porcelain crabs are also cool, and reef safe. The zebra urchin crab is reef-safe, but it lives on an urchin and requires 2 or more urchins to share the burden of its parasitism. (But one of the coolest relationships and keeps the urchins small enough to stay in my tank.) They're "zebrida adamsii" I believe.

 

[finsurgeon]

And don't do the "anemone hermit crab" that is pictured on that same page... it's a murderous monster.

 

[finsurgeon]

Here's the zebra but out of stock: http://store.atlantisaquarium.net/zebra-crab-clr-020.html
I've been waiting several months on another, while my urchins grow fat and need "mowing"

 

[Guygettnby]

there is no such thing as a reef safe crab, period... there are certain crabs that are more reef safe then others. but none of them are completely reef safe. typicly you would want to have crabs in your tank that have blunt, cupped claws wich are primarily used for scraping algea off of rocks and such. if the crab has a pointed claw it is a meat eater. although even crabs with blunt, cupped claws will eat meat if the oppertunity is there.

 

[sjmantis]

Here's the zebra but out of stock: http://store.atlantisaquarium.net/zebra-crab-clr-020.html
I've been waiting several months on another, while my urchins grow fat and need "mowing"

Haha that place has o.scyllarus marked as a "banana shrimp" :spin2:

 

[Leviathan_XE]

I fully understand that with certain animals there comes an amount of risk involved with keeping them in a closed in habitat, and like us humans the there is no generic sterotype or universal rule that ALWAYS applies. Like some have had dwarf angels, that were model citizens and some devour corals, some mandarins eat prepared foods and some never eat anything other than pods, and so on. I've had emerald crabs that totally behaved and one in particular that always tried to snag my royal granma whenever it was close. If we look at things in those terms almost nothing is "reef safe", almost eveything consumes another living thing for survival.

 

[Leviathan_XE]

That being said...the zebra crab is awesome looking! I do have an urchin but it's a tuxedo (kinda partial to those) would that type work or would I have to go with a longspine variety.? I know I would have to get more than one.

 

[finsurgeon]

I've had my zebra crab jump onto my tuxedo a couple of times, but if it's more than a few days the tuxedo gets a worn spot, and in time it would likely lead to its demise. They do well on the true long-spines, and keep my two down to 4or5 inches and therefore okay size to stay in my tank. They also like the "radiant urchin", (astropyge radiata) but my experience with the radiant urchin is that they are beautiful but hard to keep and a little less reef-friendly. I have 6 urchins, and almost all of the crab's time is spent on the 2 black long-spines. And the zebra crab is TOTALLY reef safe (except to the urchin). And the porcelain crabs are also completely reef safe, as are the pom poms.

 

[Guygettnby]

I fully understand that with certain animals there comes an amount of risk involved with keeping them in a closed in habitat, and like us humans the there is no generic sterotype or universal rule that ALWAYS applies. Like some have had dwarf angels, that were model citizens and some devour corals, some mandarins eat prepared foods and some never eat anything other than pods, and so on. I've had emerald crabs that totally behaved and one in particular that always tried to snag my royal granma whenever it was close. If we look at things in those terms almost nothing is "reef safe", almost eveything consumes another living thing for survival.

ok, so if you understand this then why ask for our help? in your origanal post you said "Preferably reef safe"

so i answered your question wich you obviously didnt know.

so again, there is no such thing as a reef safe crab. do your research and you will find that to be true. even though you dont see your crabs cause any damage that does not mean that they do not or the possibility is not there. they are all predators and all opurtunist feeders. you give them the opurtunity to eat something and they will. if you look around some more you will find a lot of people who refuse to use crabs at all just for this reason.

 

[finsurgeon]

As I stated before, the pom pom crab, porcelain crab, and zebra urchin crab are totally reef safe. I have not seen any problem from small acro crabs or my army of small hermits (though some hermits are trouble). I am a little suspicious of any mithrax but the smallest -and the smallest tend to grow and may be hard to extract once they make you nervous.