pom pom crab anemones

[Humuhumunuku]

I'm not sure if this is the correct forum for this post, but here it goes anyway. I recently had an unfortunate event in my 12g nano involving water that wasn't fully dechlorinated. Several things in my tank died, including the anemones that my pom pom crab had. The poor guy looks so sad with his claws empty, does anyone know how (or where) I can get some new anemones for him? Thank for any suggestions!

 

[riley290]

I am not a pom pom owner but would like to see an answer to this question.

I know they can lose their nems during a molt also and am interested if there is anyway to recover them or get new ones.

 

[kar93]

Pom Pom/Boxing crabs. No matter what you call them, these little crabs are really neat. They form a symbiotic relationship of sorts with small anemones that it carries in it's front claws. These anemones are used for protection. If threatened, the crab will shake the anemones to ward off potential predators. This is where it gets it's name(s). The tiny anemones are also used to gather food from the sea/tank floor. If one anemone is lost, the crab will often times cut the remaining anemone in half to replace the lost one. The crab will drop it's anemones during molting and may or may not be able to replace them. These animals will eat fish food but should have their diets supplemented with bits of meaty food. A slow drip acclimation is suggested.

http://www.fantasyreef.com/database/index.php?p=getitem&db_id=1&item_id=82

 

[wicked_NaCl_h2o]

riley290 they don't lose their anemones durring a molt. They just stick the anemones to a rock, molt, then grab their anemones and stay hiding while waiting for their shell to harden. Mine has done this twice since I bought her in september.
Humuhumunuku you could try getting another pom pom and see if they will share anemones. I have read that if they lose an anemone pom pom crabs will split their remaining anemone. My pom pom has two very good sized anemones I wonder if she will drop one if they get too big. If your pom poms won't share, its not a big deal they don't need the anemones to survive in your tank unless you have crab eating fish.

 

[Humuhumunuku]

Thanks for the input guys. No one in my tank is really a threat to the crab, I suppose I'll just have to wait and see if the lfs ever stocks them again. I sure hope they do, these crabs and anemones have one of the most fascinating relationships I have ever seen!