How to catch Crabs??

[mallyk]

I got a crab as a hitch hiker that came in on a piece of rock. I haven't been able to get a good picture of him yet b/c my camera sucks, but he looks like an emerald crab , only very dark pinkish brown. He is somewhat hairy also, and about the size of my thumbnail.

I don't know if he is good or bad, but I would like to take him out of there anyway, just incase.

How would I go about catching him, I rarly see him and by the time I get my hand in the tank, he's gone.

It's a 75gallon tank w/ 110lbs of live rock.

 

[greenbean36191]

Take a tall drinking glass and stand it up so that the rim is touching a rock and put some shrimp or something else meaty in the bottom. The crabs crawl in to get the food but can't get a grip on the glass to climb out.

 

[Grey Reefer]

Ditto what greenbean said. If you catch him post a pic here and send one over to the guys at wetwebmedia. They're great at IDs.

 

[650-IS350]

I tried that a whole bunch of times.. just catches nassarius snails and sometimes conches.....

I prefer the redlight and spear em' technique. hahahahhah

 

[mallyk]

Great idea!! I'll give it a try tonight, I have some squid and some krill that I can try.

When I catch him, i'll be sure to post a pic so i'll know weather to dump or keep him!

Thanks!

 

[PruneHands]

I had a crab just like you describe in my tank. It grew rapidly and I was blaming it for the death of some of my clams and hermits.

I caught it by tying a string to the mouth of a large babyfood jar. I put a chuck of shrimp in the bottom of the jar and laid it on its side by where he usually hung out. I did this when the lights were out but I could still see using a red LED moonlight. I waited until he went into the jar and pulled the string to tilt the jar vertical. I had to wait about 20 minutes but the thrill of the catch was worth it.

I tried the tilt-a-jar method but the crab just wasn't dumb enough to go down into the jar. He would hang out on the rim but not venture in.

Good luck.

 

[mallyk]

I tried to catch him last night with some krill in the bottom of the glass... but I was unsuccessful. I did catch about a half a dozen hermit crabs, and my blue knuckle hermit crab.

 

[mfinn]

I have used that method many times successfully. I use a tall baby food jar.
Sometimes it takes a week or two and I have had to rebait the trap a few times, but if you are determined, you will catch him.