Crabs from the ocean

[Mr31415]

Is it OK to catch small crabs that live underneath the rocks on the beach at the coast to feed to my Peacock Mantis shrimp? Or do I run the risk of introducing unwanted bacteria / organisms in to my system?

 

[peasofme]

it's a risk

 

[LeLutinBanni]

Parasite...

 

[Agu]

I supplemented the diet of my n. wennerae mantis with coquina clams and snails from the Gulf of Mexico.I had it over four years without health issues. Based on my research that was a ripe old age for an n wennerae.

So imo there is a minor health risk but no greater than using live food you buy at the LFS. Bigger risk is that cold water animals will die in our tropical tanks and pollute the water if they aren't eaten.

 

[REEFERIOUS]

shore crabs for mantis

shore crabs for mantis

been feeding locally caught shorecrabs to my mantis for long time. i more or less quarantine them for a while by keeping them outside in bath tub and putting a few into tank every so often. as to whether they'll survive the answer is a definite yes. i'm always finding a few survivors anytime i go about cleaning tank.

 

[TundraGuy]

The risk of parasites is the same as buying them from the store. Where do you think the store gets there crabs from? The only thing you might want to be aware of is what the water they live in might contain. Close to boat docks might have higher levels of pollutants in the cells of these crabs. Also if the crabs are cold water and your adding them to a warm water system they may die. If you are worried about parasites just set up a 10 gallon tank with a HOB filter to watch for signs of problems and keep your feeder crabs in there for observation.

Mantis eat wild crabs and snails when they are free in the wild, so why not give them some sport kills?...... hehehehe

O yea one more thing send me a bunch of them crabs. Buying crabs/snails is killing my budget.