Your Experiences With These Critters

[Fretfreak13]

I have an invert/coral only tank in the making (2.5 gallon under T5s). Right now its currently cycled and has a couple frags in it. I'm saving up some cash to buy my little critters, but I keep happening on a bunch that I've never seen or even heard of before, most on LA. Now, please keep in mind that I'm not planning on putting ALL of these animals in this tank! I know better, I'm just looking for your own opinions and experience with them before making my final decisions on which ones to get!

I know I want a pom pom crab. I've had them in the past as hitch hikers and just loveee them, but I never saw them in my 29. I'm also interested in:

Porcelian crab
Staghorn hermits
Sexi Shrimp
Chrinoid Squat Lobster (Allogalathea elegans)
Yellow Line shrimp (Urocaridella sp. C)

Could I get some inputs on them? Territorial? Coral/clam nippers? etc?

 

[mscarpena]

Porcelians are great and sexy shrimp are cool and a good choice. I know nothing of the others.

 

[Elysia]

You should be able to find some info about chrinoid squat lobsters on-line (I know that a member here keeps some and that she has written about their care on her blog; she is a knowledgeable aquarist.) The good thing about them is that they do not need their normal feather star host to live a good life in captivity.

I don't know of many people having long-term success with the staghorn hermit crabs. I think that their living "shell" is made up of a hydroid colony, and that the hydroids are apparently not as easy to keep alive as the ones that hitchhike into our tanks. I know that the ones that I have followed in the LFS have died after a few weeks/months.

I agree with mscarpena that porcelains are great crabs -- in my opinion, the non-anemone associated porcelain crabs are the best crabs out there. You can get them use to you so that they will take food from a stick or tongs; being filter feeders, they really can't catch meaty foods, but if you hand it to them, they can eat it. They are interesting and peaceful. And sexy shrimp will often be in view, especially if the tank is dedicated to them (not always the case with invertebrates.)