spidey deco crab

[Mranderson]

As always, fishing for opinions. I bought a spider decorator recently, but then when I got home, I didn't think which tank I would put him in. I have a 20 full of coral and a 10 that's virtually fish only. My 20 has a hinged beak shrimp and the regular cleaner uppers (more so than my 10). The 10 just house a very small number of 'shrooms and minuscule palys (that are really spread out), along with a citron goby and an azure damsel. I might come to split them up later, I had the azure in the 20 getting picked on by some other fish.

Anyways, the corals in my 20 aren't all puttied down or anything for that matter. I figured for now, the crab might best be suited for the 10 with few clean-up crew members to pick on, 0 shrimp, and 0 coral or rock to knock over. I am worried though, the crab will get at my fish at night now when they hide away. Think I might just set him up his own tank.

??

 

[Calappidae]

Species tank..

-Will move corals around
-Hazard to fish
-gets big and takes up alot of room

Lost a scooter blenny and yellow angelfish to a sponge decorator crab.. and thats a much safer variation of spider decs but I still lost fish... go figure.

 

[Mranderson]

thanks for the reply! looks like i'll be setting up my nuisance tank finally! haha. My lfs has one tank that isn't tied into all their others, but is riddled with aiptasia. I always joked about starting just an aiptasia tank. they just strike me as curious. When I see them on rock I cut the rock completely. I've done that and kept them in a little tupperware container for nearly a month just sitting right next to my t5 immediately atop my tank.. only 'til all the water evaporated did it die.

Rather, maybe I should set up something more productive. Ideas? I'd like to recycle my water change, uh, water. Hence the aiptasia tank. That tank would be fruitless but a minor amusement. Maybe for this guy a filter feeder tank?

 

[Mpy]

I have a pair of decorator crabs that have currently been shunned to my sump tank. They never were an issue with fish, they were my 55g DT with a Florida blenny and never picked on him, but they did like escargot, and the occasional hermit crab...

 

[Whiterabbitrage]

If you set up a species tank please post pix!

 

[snorvich]

Species tank..

-Will move corals around
-Hazard to fish
-gets big and takes up alot of room

Lost a scooter blenny and yellow angelfish to a sponge decorator crab.. and thats a much safer variation of spider decs but I still lost fish... go figure.

Similar experience. I do not trust them with fish at all.

 

[Betta132]

Aiptasia/decorator tank? Sounds cool. You'd end up with the decorator covered in the 'tasia, I bet, and it would look pretty neat IMO.