Stone Crab

[Mishri]

I have a small stone crab, in my 40B tank. Came in as a hitch hiker on my Tampa bay saltwater I've left him in there intentionally (Hoping he'll fight/kill the gorilla crabs) I haven't seen any gorilla crabs in awhile and he is now about the size of a silver dollar (not including legs) so quite large.. I've been feeding him krill and flake food. but I think it's time to get rid of him before he becomes a real nuisance.

He should be fairly easy to trap, every couple of days he climbs a corner of the tank and eats things off the back of the glass, he's getting pretty fearless of me, so I should be able to just net him.

What do you think I should do with him after I net him? crush him and throw his remains back in? or should I just throw his carcass away? setup a small 10 gallon tank just for him and eat him once he gets bigger? I don't have any sumps on any of my tanks so that isn't an option... another option is set him out for a toy for my cats.. They were quite intrigued by the few gorilla crabs i caught.

Any other suggestions?

 

[MondoBongo]

i would see if any local reefers or LFS would like him before killing it for no reason. if you don't have any sumps but are willing, i think the dedicated 10 gallon would be a great idea if no one else wants it.

if you do decide to kill it, don't torture it by letting your cats play with it. euthanize it as humanely as possible. there's no reason to torment it before its death.

 

[salasaz]

euthanize it in some boiling water:wavehand:

 

[d2mini]

Kill it with fire!

I had one too. Big sucker. Really hard to catch, too!
But d2mini crab slayer finally got him. lol

 

[triscene]

What about putting him to sump? He could be useful there and not harm corals.

 

[heathlindner25]

The last thing you would want to do is eat him, find somebody who wants him.... or set up a dedicated tank for him.imo

 

[CuzzA]

Well I can tell you what we do down here in Florida. First I'd put him in the sump or refugium. Then once his claw gets a decent size, just yank it off. Then boil it and have a snack. Leave the small claw and he'll regrow the missing one. Then repeat. Lol. Maybe pick up a few more and you can have an appetizer. They are absolutely delicious crab.

 

[heathlindner25]

I was just worried about chemicals such as gfo,prime , or other weird closed-loop systems things that are not FDA approved.......so I would not eat it

 

[CuzzA]

I hear ya. Our systems are probably a lot cleaner than many near shore aquaculture farms. Especially filter feeders like oysters. I'd eat his claw. About 4 claws go for around ~$25 at restaurants here.

 

[Dkuhlmann]

Well I can tell you what we do down here in Florida. First I'd put him in the sump or refugium. Then once his claw gets a decent size, just yank it off. Then boil it and have a snack. Leave the small claw and he'll regrow the missing one. Then repeat. Lol. Maybe pick up a few more and you can have an appetizer. They are absolutely delicious crab.

x2 :thumbsup: Stone crab claws are amazing!!!!

 

[heathlindner25]

x2 :thumbsup: Stone crab claws are amazing!!!!

from the ocean I agree..lol

 

[CStrickland]

The rspca recommends clove oil as the most painless euthanasia for tank pets. For fish it acts as a sedative in low doses and sends them off into the sunset at high dose.
Idk if crabs are the same way, I guess people don't really think about it.
Not like you could just flush the bugger though, he might seek revenge by climbing out and pinching ur butt

 

[codyreed29]

I keep one in my sump as well hes cool looking and will munch on left overs.