new live rock ,,,with crab

Murphs205

gotta love saltwater.....
i got a bunch of rock from a buddy of mine ,,this rock was set up in a tank for a few years , and for the last few months has been in a big rubber maid can , with light , power head , brewing in there. i went and picked it up got it home , set it in my sump ,,so sunday morning i went to put it in my tank , i got it all out of sump , decided to take the sump out and clean it , when i got all the rock,skimmer, pumps out ,,i looked down and there was a 1" round piece of live rock left in there, i reached down and picked it up ,, damn thing bit me ,,,it was a crab ,,not the good kind either, my buddy came over took it to salty ..they said dump it asap , some kind of rock crab.
not that my buddy knew,he didnt know he was in the rock at all. now i am really freaked out on putting this in my tank, all softies in my tank. what would be the best way to rid anymore crabs if there are anymore ?? fresh water soak ?? i have a hot iron with a 4 inch thin 1/4 inch neck for etching wood ,, i plan on sticking that in every hole in that rock, and it gets red hot . i dont care it it kills anything in the holes that might be in there good or bad ,
does anyone have any other idea to rid this rock of any more crabs if there are any left ? there are some nice chunks here too , i dont want to get rid of it,

Murph
 
I've had my fair share of battles with rock crabs. Really the only thing you can do is ditch the rock, or bait them out one at a time once you figure out you have one. It pretty much impossible to inspect the rock to the point of 100% certainty that they're aren't any.

Not to high jack your thread Murph, but we have one that's FREE to anyone that wants it. It would be cool to keep in a nano, sump, or a FOWLR tank. They're manageable once you know where they are, and really aren't that bad as long as you don't have any coral for them to move around.
 
Thanks Jim ,,, you can hijack anything you want Bro , except the plane i am getting on @ 6 AM tues morning. that thing was nasty looking !!! looked like he could eat steel bars
I still want to get this into my tank ,,or a few chunks of it anyway ,, some of it is that nice. I might just dry it outside for a few weeks in the sun , and start all over with it in my sump, it has some nice yellow,orange,pink,red over some of the chunks, it would be a bummer to kill all of that stuff ,,,,,

i have a old microwave in the garage ,,,, might cook the heck out of it , or boil it ,, that should kill everything in it and on it
 
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i got rid of mine by taking out every peice of rock and spraying (misting) the rock down with fresh ro/di water in a squirt bottle
 
darn it ,,, it looks like a 212 degree bath is in order. it will kill everything im sure , ill start over with bare rock, sump it and see what happens with it, thats all i can do. im not willing to put it in as it sits here today ,, i can just see these crabs going through my Zoas like a new Toro mower ,
 
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before i do anything i am going to bait my sump ,,,see if i get any takers .. i have a 1 " piece of raw shrimp (that i washed in RO real good) i am leaving for 2 days on tues ,so i will rubber band this little piece of shrimp to some rock in a empty corner of my sump, turn the light off for 2 days, and if there are any more crabs in this rock ,the shrimp should be gone when i get back. i will have the kids call me over the two days and let me know. man i hope that shrimp is still there when i return ,,,,,,,,,,,,,
 
Why don't you try a trap. Place the shrimp in a glass container and place the top of the container near something that the crab can climb into it from. Leave enought of an angle so the crab can not climb out. It may catch more than one. It worked for my rock crab when I got my rock from salty.
Phil
 
so i baited this sump , i took a 4 inch tall glass jar , cleared a spot right in the middle of this rock in my sump , with the rocks right up to the top of the glass. i put a chunk of shrimp down in the jar,shut the light off,left for 3 days
I got home last nite , checked my jar ,,nothing but shrimp
man i hope their gone . you would think after being in a big plastic can for months with out feeding on real food, if there were any in there it would have wanted that shrimp, and tried to get it ,, i am going to re set it and a few more over the weekend , and check them after the swap on sunday ,

Murph
 
Is the jar straight up or at an angle. I put an angle in the container so the crab could climb in instead of dropping in. This my work better.
Phil
 
n nm`

n nm`

i will set 2 down on a 45 deg angle tonite when i head up to Michigan for 2 days , and see what happens on sat nite when i get home. I hope the results are the same. still shrimp in there

Murph
 
you can submerge your rock in a bucket of saltwater with a specific gravity of 1.035-1.040 for one minute. Any invertebraes including mantis shrimp, bristle worms and crabs will quickly evacuate the rock into the water, I do this will all live rock I get before adding it to my tanks, it works great!
 
hummm i see ,,,,the shock/stoke em out method of getting them out of the rock , never though of that , heck i might hook up some 110 and run some current through the rock . seriously ,,,i have set several traps on different angles and places in my sump , never caught one after the first one. it has been 2-3 weeks in my sump with no catches in my traps and i have set them every nite , so i am feeling a bit more at ease that there might not be any more in the rock, but i am going to still dip them before i put it in my tank , and i will try this and see what happens!!! thanks for the advice ,,,, i will make up a bucket @ 1.040 and dip it,,
 
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