Is an emerald crab really safe?

[new_world_disor]

Got a fair amount of bubble algae nd hair algae nd turf algae that nothing else will eat. Been looking at emerald crab. But read a lot of things saying when the algae runs out they may turn on tank members?

I have the following other small critters :

Cleaner and fire shrimp
Red legged hermits
Conch snails
Turbo snails (giant & normal)
Nassaris snails
Marble conch

And none of my fish are very big either.

Any advice is great

 

[cloak]

I don't trust them...

If bubble algae is a problem, just manually remove as much as you can before each water change. Don't worry about popping them... You will always be much more efficient at removing these things than any invertebrate might be. (unless your lazy)

As far as turf algae goes, maybe smother it with some epoxy? One way or the other don't let either one get out of hand. It's all on you... GL.

 

[Betta132]

Consider a tuxedo urchin, they're good for that sort of thing. They'll pop the bubble algae, yes, but they should help clean it up. Hand-remove the bubble algae and leave the urchin to eat the turf, perhaps.

 

[Nina51]

i have a tuxedo urchin and 2 pincushion urchins and i have never seen them interested in bubble algae. while i know emerald crabs are iffy with corals, i am reaching the point of trying one.

 

[new_world_disor]

I was going to try one. Buuut the last 24 hours has seen my red spot blenny obliterating the turf algae. And the bubble algae, as mentioned can be removed manually. Will keep away from a crabby for now

 

[snorvich]

I don't trust them...

Neither do I, especially once they get larger.

 

[AdamNC]

I've got 2 in my tank at the moment. One about the size of a nickel and the other is full grown, 2"+ maybe? Model citizens for now although I'm running out of algae and will soon have to supplement some Nori for them.

 

[Betta132]

I don't trust anything that's physically capable of subduing a tankmate. If it's physically capable of killing something, there's a chance it will.

 

[lilyep125]

I have 2 full grown ones, the male is HUGE and increasingly more aggressive. Everything has been ok so far but I have to keep him very very well fed with nori and fish food. he always seems hungry. otherwise I am worried he will turn to everything else. The female is quiet, smaller, and I rarely see her. From personal experience if you do really want one try to get a female

 

[Bobabooie]

I've had one for about 3 years and he's yet to show any aggression but he's in a 125 and stays mostly in the lower crevices of my liverock where the fish don't. He maintains the rock and my pincushion gets the glass.

 

[ThRoewer]

I got a pair and the male definitely did some damage to corals. Also at night I caught him hanging out in my birdsnest coral. That behavior enabled me to catch and put him in jail (HOB skimmer).
The female seems to be safe.

When I talked with my LFS manager about that he told me that many people ask to get only females. So it seems there is something about it that the males are the ones who may do harm. They are for sure the ones with the bigger claws.

 

[shotgun mcquade]

I have one emerald, doesn't bother anything just double fists algea all day long. My blood shrimp has even cleaned it a couple times and the snails bump into him from time to time it never cares but all inverts have diff personality so it's a gamble.

 

[Calappidae]

I got a pair and the male definitely did some damage to corals. Also at night I caught him hanging out in my birdsnest coral. That behavior enabled me to catch and put him in jail (HOB skimmer).
The female seems to be safe.

When I talked with my LFS manager about that he told me that many people ask to get only females. So it seems there is something about it that the males are the ones who may do harm. They are for sure the ones with the bigger claws.

In emerald crabs case, there isn't too much of a difference between sexes when it comes down to aggression. Females are less likely to fight eachother but they still pose the same risk to other fish.