Emreald crabs

[kisscouple]

Good or Bad for reef tanks? I have 2 all has been well. Got up this morning and 1/2 of one of my zoos was gone. Was it them? The only other possibilities would be blue legged hermit crabs and I have a serpent star. Any ideas? Thanks in advance Bill

 

[bertoni]

They usually are fairly safe, especially when small, but crabs are predatory by nature, so they might eat a lot of things. You could have some sort of zoanthid predator that arrived as a hitchhiker.

 

[EricBrian]

Are there any known zoo predator's? If so, what are they?

 

[bertoni]

There are zoanthid-eating nudibranchs and snails, if memory serves.

 

[kisscouple]

I did see something the other night in the back of my tank after lights out so I couldnt get a good look at it. It kinda looked like a small snail with no shell. It was dark colored possibly black I could see that it had antennas. Any ideas?

 

[EricBrian]

From http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=16&cat=1988&articleid=3354
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Several species of nudibranch which feed upon Soft Corals like Sarcophyton sp. Leather corals, Xenia sp., Zoanthus sp., and Palythoa sp. polyps have made their way into the industry over the years. Most of the soft-coral-eating-nudibranchs can reach a size of 2 cm when full grown, and are best seen after the lights have been off on the aquarium for several hours.
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You can read the rest there.

 

[bertoni]

The small snail with no shell is probably Stomatella, which are good to have.

 

[szwab]

heard somnewhere that porites are part of emerald crab diets
In my experience they have been hit or miss as far as what they will eat.

 

[Paintbug]

my emeralds have never bothered my zoos. i have seen them picking at the LR in between the zoos, but never a zoo itself.

 

[ycrazyy]

I've had my emerald for about 4 months and he has never bothered my zoo's or other corals. He will go about in between the zoo's and GSPs, but never pick at the actual coral itself.

 

[kisscouple]

Thanks guys you saved their little lives Well in my tank any way Ill just keep a close eye on them Thanks for your input Bill

 

[FormulatedFire]

i have one in my 55g and he is great and feeds off of the rock......but be careful they because they can get teritorial

 

[Paintbug]

would like to add feed them some algae strips. it keeps them happy. i feed mine a small peice maybe 1x2" about 1-2 times a week.