emerald crabs ?

[J_Geisinger000]

are emerald crabs reef safe??

 

[egdevilboy]

yea they're fine w/ reefs

 

[bertoni]

They seem to be mostly safe, but they are predatory and some people have lost fish, etc, to them. As they get larger, they are more likely to cause problems.

 

[Teremei]

they are fine. But when I first got into reefs I got a hawaian feather duster and my larger emeral kept picking at it doing damage to the tube.

Since then I wouldn't trust any male emeralds with dusters. Get the smaller clawed females.

 

[scrmbld33]

i have 2, no problems to date

 

[Carressa]

I have one that came with my live rock. He has been really good until recently when all of a sudden he decided to start pulling at my star polps. I found that a lilttle frozen mysis shrimp every night has stopped him from his late nite muchies on the star polps. Other than that he has done an excellent job of keeping hair alge and other unwanted stuffs out of my tank.

 

[SuperNerd]

IMO if crabs are well fed they will be likely to go after the things you like.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6548726#post6548726 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Teremei
Since then I wouldn't trust any male emeralds with dusters. Get the smaller clawed females.

How can you tell the difference when they are young and what do you know about the emeralds with the little red dots underneath their arms?

 

[J_Geisinger000]

I have one in my tank now and he seems to be eating my mushrooms I think im going to be taking him out

 

[doodoobrown]

most of the time they arent any trouble. the best advice i can give is watch them as close as you can just to make sure. i have had to remove a few because they where picking at some of my ricordia and clams. some people really have problems with them. others have never touched anything but the food that goes in the tank and sometimes a stray piece of bubble algae. so with that said i would say they are reef safe with caution

 

[usmcsgt]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6548726#post6548726 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Teremei
they are fine. But when I first got into reefs I got a hawaian feather duster and my larger emeral kept picking at it doing damage to the tube.

Since then I wouldn't trust any male emeralds with dusters. Get the smaller clawed females.

The females are the ones that get bigger and the are like clown fish one takes the dominace and becomes the female.

 

[Carressa]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6549064#post6549064 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by SuperNerd
IMO if crabs are well fed they will be likely to go after the things you like.






How can you tell the difference when they are young and what do you know about the emeralds with the little red dots underneath their arms?

My emerald also has the red dots in what I refer to his elbows. I would also like to find out if all emeralds have this same characteristic.

 

[usmcsgt]

all of mine have the red

 

[SuperNerd]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6549208#post6549208 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Carressa
My emerald also has the red dots in what I refer to his elbows. I would also like to find out if all emeralds have this same characteristic.

The reason I was asking is because I have heard from people here that the ones with the red dots are more aggressive than the ones without them.

Anyone know if the red dotted ones and the non dotted ones come from the same place?

 

[Paintbug]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6549165#post6549165 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by usmcsgt
The females are the ones that get bigger and the are like clown fish one takes the dominace and becomes the female.

wrong! the males get about twice the size of females! theres several ways to tell the differences from male and female. one is the size of the claws. males will have more bulk to theirs. even when young. the females back side of the body is more square than the males. the males have a center plate on the bottom of the body, where the females entire bottom of the body is a flap.

heres a pic of mine mating:

heres another of the two. the male is on the left. he is also about 3 inches further back in the tank so he looks about the same size as the female. but look at the claws.

 

[scrmbld33]

any info on the red ones from tbs?

 

[bertoni]

If it's Mithrax forceps, they seem to be less reef-safe than their green congeners, at least according to various reports.

 

[scrmbld33]

thanks

 

[Yarrow]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6548726#post6548726 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Teremei
they are fine. But when I first got into reefs I got a hawaian feather duster and my larger emeral kept picking at it doing damage to the tube.

Since then I wouldn't trust any male emeralds with dusters. Get the smaller clawed females.

I have three dusters with my emerald. He picks the purple algae off the duster but doesn't seem to be doing it any harm.

 

[Wryknow]

I had one a year ago that decided to eat some of my xenia so I sent him back to the pet store. I got a new one recently because I had some bubble algae popping up in my tank and this one is leavng the corals alone but won't touch the algae! Frustrating little buggers but not a major risk IMHO. They are easliy trapped if they get to be a problem.