Muthaeffin Emerald Crabs.....

[ReefWreak]

Okay, so I've been an advocate of using emerald crabs with caution for a while now.

That was until tonight.

I was looking through the tank after feeding cyclopeeze to see how the SPSs liked their meal (they enjoyed it very much btw). I zoomed in on one area where I placed some very beautiful zoanthid frags that I got from John a while ago, and lo and behold, I see a very content looking ugly-arse emerald crab happily picking away at those zoanthids. Granted, I've got JessP's "Pink Death" quickly multiplying zoanthids on another rock in the tank, and I have never once seen them disturbed by anything. Well, that irritated me, so I chased him away with a flashlight, and he was gone, eating away somewhere else.

Then I checked the other side of my tank, where the rocks are very close to the tank glass. I enjoy doing this because with the proximity, I can usually see into the nooks and crannies and check out what lives inside those big cryptic rocks. Anyway, I'm looking around, and suddenly see my green metallic hairy mushroom make a pop action. Gee, what could that be. I shine my light on it, and specifically watch an emerald crab claw grab it's body, pop off some meat, and mmmm yumyumyum, devour that piece. I would imagine that this has been going on for a while, as that is the only mushroom in my tank to not start proliferating, while other mushrooms and ricordias all have been spreading a fair bit.

Anyway, unless I see something drastically wrong with those corals, or I end up seeing them picking polyps, or doing something that further irritates me, I don't think I'll remove them, as I would imagine they have been doing their jobs for a while otherwise.

However, I will no longer recommend them, and will not add them to my tanks. now I'm looking for a snail only solution... And a cheap one at that.

Anyways, good day to all of you in internet land. Bring on the questions and suggestions

 

[pedromatic]

Dude, feed your tank
I have emerald crabs, hairy mushrooms, zoas and all kinds of other delicious stuff and the crabs don't touch it. I see them picking at coralline occasionally, but there's plenty of that to go around.

Heck if I was starvin', I'd eat a hairy mushroom too.

 

[ReefWreak]

I do feed my tank! I overfeed my tank for an SPS tank! I fed a piece of Joe's mixed food the size of half a dollar today, and then fed maybe a tablespoon sized portion of cyclopeeze tonight.

In fact, I fed all that cyclopeeze less than 20 minutes before I went to go check that. And I know that there was food left over from lunch today as well because I don't have enough fish to eat that much. I hoped the corals would eat it, but eh.

Stupid crabs

 

[ReefWreak]

Should I remove the frag of zoos and get my hands dirty this late at night, or will it survive till sunrise tomorrow?

 

[gasman059]

I thought you were the #1 acro crab killah!
now #1 emerald killah! lol

 

[ninjamini]

You can spot feed them with a long feeding prong of a straw.

 

[REDDAWG43]

My Emeralds did a good job on the Algae, but since my tank is now algae free they have become major Meat eaters. I had a chromis die, and they were there faster and did a better job than my clean up crew... They even fight with the sallylight foots for piece of meat when I feed my tank.
But they have never attacked my corals. They do clean up around the zoos and other corals.

 

[r00onmac]

i keep my emerald in my sump... two days after adding it my peppermint died, so i blame him... i dont feed the sump and its been down there since late april when i moved... hes obviously eating something (chaeto? detri-vors? pods?) otherwise he would be dead....

 

[jman77]

I caught one of my emeralds tearing into one of my digi's sps's last night ...so she was banashed to the sump with the rest of the deviants... I will do the same with the others as soon as i can get a hold of them. I do not trust those crabs anymore.

 

[NanoKat]

I have heard this before about emeralds. I found it hard to believe also until I saw mine sitting next to a mushroom eating and it looked like he (yes, it was a male) literally "accidentally" grab a piece of mushroom and eat it. I think he liked the taste of it so much that he went back for more! I truly believe that once they get a taste for your softies, that's it! I've heard too that the males are far worse than the females as far as bad behavior goes (go figure!). If you can ever see the bottom of the carapace of your crabs you can tell if they're male or female.

 

[ninjamini]

I thought of the males had bigger claws.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10245782#post10245782 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by NanoKat
I have heard this before about emeralds. I found it hard to believe also until I saw mine sitting next to a mushroom eating and it looked like he (yes, it was a male) literally "accidentally" grab a piece of mushroom and eat it. I think he liked the taste of it so much that he went back for more! I truly believe that once they get a taste for your softies, that's it! I've heard too that the males are far worse than the females as far as bad behavior goes (go figure!). If you can ever see the bottom of the carapace of your crabs you can tell if they're male or female.

 

[NanoKat]

Not sure about the claw thing, but if you see the bottom of the carapace (I learned this from Maryland blue crabs), the males have a more long narrow section towards the back where the females' are more triangular (it's where they hold the eggs when they reproduce).