Pom Pom Crab

[jglackin]

I am considering adding a couple of pom pom crabs to my tank. Does anyone have any feedback on these guys?

 

[Illuminati]

Awesome cryptic little guys. I have one, lucky to see him once a month (Just saw him tonight though). Mine comes out when the moonlights are on just after the halides turn off.

No feeding required. You can easily keep multiples but with the size of your tank and their behavior I think it would be a waste of money.

Here's mine

Mine again but Bryan at www.purecaptive.com took this picture. I got mine through him.

 

[jglackin]

I was reading up on them. I am wondering, I would bet that they would munch a large amount of critters by "dusting" with their pom poms? That might not be such a good thing.

I am not overly concerned with seeing things in my tank all of the time. I like the idea of having more "stealth" biodiversity where you see things from time to time that you forgot you even had in there. That's quite alright if they are reclusive.

 

[Illuminati]

These guys are very slow and methodical. When you see them you can watch them for a good 10 minutes until they move away.
Not sure what their appetite is like but from their movements I can't imagine they eat a lot or eat very quickly.
If a hermit crab is at one end of the spectrum in terms of eating ability and speed the pom pom is at the other end of the spectrum.

There is a thread on nano-reef about them, honestly I have only glanced at it.

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=67217&hl=


Not sure where to find one locally, I know Sharkys had them in the past once in a while. Maybe a store can special order one, or did you see one at a store?

 

[PSam]

Old Town usually has them in. Any issues stinging stonys?

 

[BlakDuc]

From what I have read, the nems can sting the crap out of your other corals.

 

[jglackin]

According to the write up linked above, that is an unproven myth. I don't know if it is or not, but, according to the author, this is a claim usually made by people that have never actually owned a pom pom crab.

 

[Illuminati]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10547611#post10547611 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by GrandeGixxer
From what I have read, the nems can sting the crap out of your other corals.

Never had this happen. I have had every coral under the sun in my tank with this guy without a problem (LPS, softies, zoa's, and is now SPS dominated).