emerald crab?

[Nina51]

experiences? i have a LOT, and i do mean a LOT, of bubble agae. i have to do something before it takes over. the only thing i know that eats it is an emerald crab. some say they aren't reef safe but every place that sells them, including liveaquaria, says they are.

so, talk me into or out of it.

 

[Reefermatt3]

I haven't had a problem with my emerald picking polyps and I've had two.

 

[jraker]

Mine was pretty good, until it started eating some coral. I once saw a 3-4" emerald crab eating COLONIES of zoanthids for a snack.

 

[BrickFishHouse]

Some eat bubble algae. Some don't.

Some eat corals. Some don't.

Some go after everything after they reach some certain age. Some don't.

You're rolling the dice with them. Some become winners. Some don't.

Hope this helps.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Nina51]

thanks for the replies. think i'll give it a try. if i get one that misbehaves, he'll just have to live in the sump.

 

[Ron Reefman]

Two points:

1) IMHO, most emerald crabs are reef safe. But it's true, some aren't.
2) Once you release an emerald crab in your DT, good luck trying to catch it so you can move it to the sump. Not impossible, but sure not easy either.

 

[Nina51]

i guess it's just a chance i'll have to take. reefcleaners.org guarantees that theirs will eat bubble algae.

 

[Dkuhlmann]

Nina, I too have a bunch of bubble algae in my DT and all I do is weekly just use your fingers to rub it off of the rock or coral frags etc wherever it's attached. It comes off quite easily.

Emerald crabs are IMO and IME not good for a tank, they will eat fish and corals. Ask my 2-3" shell tip to tip Emerald that lives in my sump.

 

[Nina51]

ugh! well, i certainly don't wanna put any of my fish or corals in danger so that's out.

i haven't been trying to rub it off the rocks as i always thought that would only make it spread more. is this something you don't worry about?

 

[Darrell Brady]

have you tried fox face

 

[Nina51]

no, i have not. are they known bubble algae eaters? i'd have to do some checking, not sure i am not maxed out on fish.

 

[Dkuhlmann]

ugh! well, i certainly don't wanna put any of my fish or corals in danger so that's out.

i haven't been trying to rub it off the rocks as i always thought that would only make it spread more. is this something you don't worry about?

Personally I don't worry too much about it spreading. I can't figure out any way how to get rid of it permanently so I don't fight it. I'll rub a lot of it off of the rocks and my frags before doing a WC. I'll scoop up as many as I can with a net and then let the rest settle to the bottom with all pumps off. Then I'll suck them up off the bottom with a siphon hose and do a water change. I only do a 20% WC every two weeks so this is how I do it. You will also find them during the week floating around the tank, just catch them with a net as best as you can. I'm more concerned with the bubble algae growing on my frags and smothering my corals than with it being on the rocks. Personally I believe it's a battle you can't win.

Also so what if you break a few and the slime gets in your system, even if you did get emerald crabs to supposedly eat them, the slime will get in your water with each and ever polyp your emerald crab would eat. I've lost two Royal Grammas to my Emerald crab. The first one I just chalked up to dying from a hard shipment from LA. The second one was an eating machine and always out. I found the emerald crab eating the RG in it's sleeping place :hammer: So that bought him a trip to live in the sump. He's grown quite large in there along with all of my Blue legged hermits. I don't have many blue legged hermits left in the sump and I Suppose that they killed each other off to the point of just a few survivors. :lmao: I have one scarlet legged hermit in my tank and will probably get a few more. My tank is a 40b and doesn't really have much food for them anyway. I've got enough snails to take care of what little there is, but the scarlet legged hermits add a nice splash of red color to the tank.

 

[Nina51]

thanks, Dkuhlmann! guess at my next water change, i'll scrape as many off as i can and suction them out. what a pita!! lol

 

[taby15]

I had an outbreak of bubble algae, so I purchased some emerald crabs. They were doing a great of cleaning up. I passed by my 20 gallon nuvo one night and seen my emerald wrapped around my acro. Im unsure if he was nipping at its polyps.