Invertebrate Species Tank

[QuiGonJay]

Looking for ideas from the gathered Gurus of Inverts: my son (12) is fascinated with all inverts -the weirder the better. Sadly most are not the best for my 45G reef tank. The LFS was moving and had a 50% off sale, so I setup a 28G nano for him to use as he wants.

Basically, he wants a crab/invert species tank. Currently it's got live rock, a few scarlet and blue leg hermits and his prize find - a spider decorator crab (who looks like tarantuala dressed as a bag lady for Halloween). It will eventually get some culled xenia and green star polyps from the other tank (plus a gorilla crab if I can catch the bugger!)

My question: any suggestions for other tank mates that might be of interest given the size of the tank and the decorator crab? He is interested in an emerald crab and maybe a pistol shrimp but, from what I've read, they could well be on the menu for the Dec. Crab.

Finally - any suggestions for a fish or two that might hold their own in the Crazy Crab tank (just curious, he may not even go that route).

Thanks in advance for any and all advice with his crazy crab tank experiment!

 

[Calappidae]

Pistol shrimp would probably do alright I guess.

Just remember crabs are very territorial, I personally think a deco and an emerald in a small 28 gallon (bare in mind it's a cube shape so less spreadout surface area) might be pushing it for a crab war but I can't say for certain. Gorilla crab might really be pushing it.

I would throw a damsel in there.. just don't add anything you'll miss incase. Crabs are oppertunistic, if a fish is sick, slow, or sleeping and the crab is hungry or underfed it'll take the oppertunity to grab it. Damsels are pretty fast and aggressive in return.

 

[Betta132]

Pistol should be fine. It'll shoot at stuff that gets too close, but it can't kill anything.
You could try a damsel in there. Personally, I wouldn't add one. It's stressful for the fish if it realizes there's dangerous stuff in there with it.
You could also chance a goby, once the pistol has a nice burrow up. Gobies are pretty timid when it comes to larger things and the pistol's burrow will keep them safe. They sleep underground.

 

[QuiGonJay]

Thanks