Spider Decorator and Blue Sponge

[WillWorkForFish]

Well... I woke up this morning and looked at my tank and saw my blue sponge that i just added 2 days ago seemed a bit small and rough around the edges.. I thought maybe it was my 2 pearlscale butterflys..
Well later this evening I was looking through the rocks and saw some blue pieces, and realized it was my large spider decorator crab, and he was COVERED from what I could see.. Well I managed to take some pics as he came out tonight.. I have a 120 gallon.. this is my only sponge.. Do you think that I should get rid of the crab before he does this a few more times and i'm left with no sponge.. or will the sponge be ok with him in there..

 

[LeslieH]

Why don't you watch it for a while & see what happens? Once the first sponge bits have been taken by the crab they will continue to grow in place & the crab won't need to take any more until it molts. After molting some crabs will transfer their camoflague from the cast off shell to the new shell.

 

[finsurgeon]

spider decorator

spider decorator

If you value the blue sponge, the crab must go elsewhere, sorry to say. Mine looked about the same size as yours, and in the 7 months I had him in my 215 reef, he never molted, but regularly raided my corals until I finally gave up and moved him to my son's FOWLR tank. He took zooanthids, pink carnation, lemnalia, pom-pom xenia (still pumped for awhile). He did not have to be running low or molting to want more. He looked very cool in the pink carnation, but picked it down to nothingness. He never took mushrooms or hard corals. Once he mounted a turbo snail on himself - it seemed pleased when I noticed and pulled it off in time to save it. He wore parts of my dissoved blue linkia starfish for quite some time. They have character, but are addicted to fashion and won't stop. I have a nice video I shot late one night of mine plucking some choice zoos, licking them and sticking them on his shell and legs - even though he already was covered by 80- 100 others!

 

[dragonladylea]

Have to agree with Finsurgeon - The only time mine actually fragged something I didnt mind was the time I had hair algae. He decided he liked it and in just a couple of days the only hair algae in the tank was on him!! LOL!! He is now adorned with my prize zoa, neon green star polyps, anthelia, halimeda, red and purple sponge. I yell at him daily!!

 

[WillWorkForFish]

I decided to take him out one night when he was out in the sand.. Anyone wanna buy a nice Spider Decorator Covered in about 20$ worth of Blue Sponge? hah