Decorator Crab - Good for a reef tank with reef fish? - HELP!

[chrisbenavides]

I was going to buy a Decorator Crab today, but decided to wait and ask here at RC.

Well is it a good buy for a tank that contains corals? Also, would the fish be safe? I have two small clowns, a yellow tang, bicolor blenny, and a Royal Gramma. My corals are Torch, Polyps, and Pulsing Xenias.

Do you all think I should get one, if they are safe?

THANKS!!!

- Chris

 

[jgoodrich71]

Safe with fish? Sure

Safe with coral? Nope.

They will shred coral to stick it on themselves. They like to look like everything in the tank at one time. Gravel, hair algae, polyps, coral, anything and everything they can get to they will glue on themselves.

At a LFS I worked at, someone thought it would be good to put one in the store reef display. It cut about an 8" leather coral halfway up the stalk and glue that it its back. You could look in the tank and see this leather coral "walking" across the back of the tank. The coral didn't appreciate it that much.

 

[Hattie B]

goodrich71

Guess I now know why they call it a decorator crab..

Pretty interesting