Help! HUGE!!! Teddybear crab!

[bigE54]

Bought snails a few weeks ago and couldn't figure out why I was finding a lot of empty shells. I thought the scarlet hermit crabs in the tank were feasting on them. Turns out I have a Teddy bear crab that must have been a hitchhiker on the live rock I bought 4yrs ago when I set this tank up. The crab is about 3" in dia. and I have tried about everything to catch him short of taking the 400 lbs. of live rock out of the tank. I have a deep sand bed and he has been burrowing under the live rock and just sets near the hole waiting for snails to come by, then he snatchs them and takes them under the rock and proceeds to rip them out of the shell. Last night he had 3 snails he was happily munching on. I've tried the glass trick to catch him, even tried baiting him with food but to no avail. If I could get him out from under the rocks I would try to snatch him out by hand! Would appreciate any other ideas short of tearing down this 600 gal. tank reef tank. The hole he makes under the rock is about 4" to 5" wide. How large do these things get?

 

[Grunt]

Go spear fishing at night with a red lens flashlight.

-OR-

If you know he is in a hole, get a drinking glass overturn it and push it through the sand, hopefully you can get him in the glass.

 

[CadetMKultra]

try this if you can. Get a gravel syphon set up and a net in the other hand. You may want to have a friend there as an extra pair of hands. Maybe you can suck the rotten bastard from his burrow.

 

[bigE54]

I think I'm going to try the siphon. He's back about 3 or 4 inches in his hole under the rock. I have some 5/8 and 3/4 siphon hose, and I think I'll use the 3/4 on him tonite. I think he might be the reason my clown and wheelri gobies have been missing. Thanks for the idea CadetMKultra.

 

[bigE54]

Tried siphoning him out last night, thought I might have had him twice, but no such luck. Moved him back further back under the rocks until I couldn't see him anymore. Siphoned out about 30 or 40 empty snail shells that were stored in there from his meals. I'm hoping I might have injuried him because I haven't found him since trying to siphon him out last night. Even tried moving some of the rock work around looking for him. I guess I'll be playing the waiting game until I find him again.

 

[bigE54]

Well, waited 2 days to find him. I moved some of the rocks away from where he has been the past couple of weeks. Set a glass at a 45 degree angle with silversides in it, and couldn't entice him to go in for his last meal. He did come very close to coming out from under the rock. I removed the glass and played the waiting game again with him. Friday i came home and there he was near the opening from under the rock, eating a large nerite snail. I was planning on catching him and place him in the sump, but after seeing him eating another snail, I lost it. I went and got a fork and then proceeded to reach into the tank and stabbed him with the fork I really don't know if I had gotten him or not, but he has failed to turn up anywhere in the tank. hopefully I injuried him enough that he will die off and my problem with him will be over.

 

[Snail-po]

stabbing seems a bit harsh. it would have been just as easy to grab a net instead of a fork.

 

[jhildebrand]

ditto on that. banish him to the sump or give him away. no need to kill something just because it's not reef safe...

 

[sikpupy]

I dont think it has anything to do with banishing as thats what he wanted to do, banish the crab. Yea, does sound harsh, but, if all it is is one crab, taking out all your snails, hmmmmm..........