Pix & ID: Critters that come in your rocks: the good and the bad.

Looks like some type of swimming crab. They are getting generally very destructive.

Really? I'm not sure at all about what kind of crab it is, but it doesn't look like any of the swimmer crabs I've collected. I'm not saying you're wrong, just that my experience doesn't see it as a swimmer crab.
 
Looks like some type of swimming crab. They are getting generally very destructive.

Really? I'm not sure at all about what kind of crab it is, but it doesn't look like any of the swimmer crabs I've collected. I'm not saying you're wrong, just that my experience doesn't see it as a swimmer crab.

To the OP, your new pics are SO much better, thanks.
 
I dunno, the back two legs look kind of paddle - ish. I've been wrong many times before. :lol:

Upon a second and third look I'd say...no idea.
 
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Thanks guys. I have done a bit of googling and could it potentially be some kind of juvenile stone crab? Its claws, though the pictures don't really show it, seem comparatively large and as I said their tips are a darker grey.
 
I don't think it's a stone crab. My wife, who is good at this doing ID's said she thinks it's some kind of swimmer crab too. So maybe I'm the one who is all wet?
 
Found another crab that crawled out from the rocks. Are they starting to come out because they are hungry or because the tank is almost cycled?
 

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Found another crab that crawled out from the rocks. Are they starting to come out because they are hungry or because the tank is almost cycled?

That one is a mithrax (emerald crab) and is usually considered a good member of the CUC. They pick at algae, including bubble algae.

It could be hunger, but I doubt it. Try a small, 1", strip of nori and get it to the bottom of the tank somehow. I use an all plastic clip (no metal spring) and it sinks. I tie a length of fishing line to the clip and the other end to a magnet or suction cup that I can stick to the glass outside the tank.

The herbivore fish, like the tangs, will go after nori if they are hungry. Then some of the shrimp, but eventually they are all full and the crab will come and get some.

My guess is that it's just exploring the new surroundings and feeling safe in the new environment. They tend to come out more at night than during the day.
 
Snail parasite?

Snail parasite?

Hi all, very new to this, first time post but have read a lot of threads on this site. Very informative. I have what appears to be a parasite on a snail. Tried getting the best picture I could, would like to know if its hazard to my tank. Looks like two large vents (horns) off the body. The body of the parasite is almost the size of the snail now.
Hope I attached it correctly.
 

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Hi all, very new to this, first time post but have read a lot of threads on this site. Very informative. I have what appears to be a parasite on a snail. Tried getting the best picture I could, would like to know if its hazard to my tank. Looks like two large vents (horns) off the body. The body of the parasite is almost the size of the snail now.
Hope I attached it correctly.

Sea Squirt/Tunicate.

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-03/rs/index.php
 
Anyone know what this is? It just showed up in the sand bed right up tight to the glass dead center of the front of the tank. I think its some kind of anemone from the way it looks and acts but I've ever seen one so small. Its about the same size of the gravel. It appears to have white tentacle and the foot seems to be green with white stripes.
It almost looks like a tiny tube worm to me.

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk
 
This looks scary

This looks scary

Saw this guy under my rock tonight. He was upside down and I rotated the picture. His little beady eyes are looking right at me.

PjVot3
 
Guess the picture didn't work. How do I get the picture to show up instad of the thumbnail? Tried attaching image from my shutterfly but it didn't work. Anyway attaching thumbnail,
 

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I think to get a good ID here you need to get a better picture. Maybe pull it out of the tank and put it in a bowl with some tank water and then take a few pics.

I can't tell what kind of crab it is from the photo, but the claws look pretty big compared to the size of the body I can see in the photo.
 
I think to get a good ID here you need to get a better picture. Maybe pull it out of the tank and put it in a bowl with some tank water and then take a few pics.

Pulled out the rock and found beady eyes and another crab.
 

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Yes it is! We find those inside sponges that wash up on the beach here in SW Florida after a storm. I collected 40 of them one day (20 for me and 20 for my wife because 20 per person per day is the legal limit). I put them all in my 180g tank. My wife asked if the LFS sold porcelain crabs? I told her I didn't think so, but I know Live Aquaria does. So she looked it up and saw they were almost $20 each! I just added $800 in crabs to the tank! And I rarely see them in the tank... mostly when I pull a colony of coral out there will be 1 or 2 hiding in it.

BTW, those pics made it so easy to figure out what it was, thanks.
 
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