Hitchhiker!!

Well when I bought my Xenia, and put it in the tank, after a couple minutes I noticed the rock was moving! I caught a quick glimpse of a crab before it scurried under the rock. I didn't think much of it, and over the past month or so haven't seen it. Well last night, while using my flashlight to see the nocturnal activities (of which are JUST as fun and amazing as the daytime) I finally got a good look. It's DEFINITELY an emerald crab. I have read some mixed opinions about them and am turning to you guys for a final verdict, of sorts. I understand that for the most part, they scavenge. But have read that they can eat corals and even fish! It's about 1" big right now, so no worries so far. But what does the future hold? I think it's cool cause it's like a $10 crab for free! But I pretty much never see it anyways. Anyone had experience with these guys?

 

As I see it, free gift.

 

I don't know if they would eat corals, but definitely fishes as they get big enough. Some people had kept an adult w/ no problem around smaller fish, but as a precaution, I would take it out. IMO, why keep a protential fish murderer when it doesn't even come out often? And dang, 10 bux! It's only 4 bux down here.

 

Well from what i have known...even an adult emerald crab would have a hard time getting a fish unless its very small...clown goby or smaller.

 

Here's my opinion on emerald crabs. I have literally had thousands in my care. If you look at their claws, they end in flat circle tips. And these tips even cave in a little bit. With claws that end like that it's definitely better suited to grab onto algae and pluck it from a rock much like a woman would do to facial hair with tweezers.

They are hardly set up to grab a moving fish, or one struggling to get free once grabbed onto and start consuming it while the fish vigorously objects.

Here's a little experiment. Tape a quarter to the end of your index finger and thumb. Then run to your neighbors house, sneak up on the german shepard and then grab it and hang on for the ride with just the two quarters. How do you think that adventure is going to end?

 

I got one as a hitchhiker too, not sure if it's an emerald, but the little booger shedded already. Hasn't caused any problems yet. I have seen him quite a few times plucking algae from the rock, so no worries.

Hey Bruce, I saw my pom pom for the first time in a month yesterday! It's ALIVE!

 

COOL! ...i just realized i think something ate my arrow crab...lol...i haven't seen him in a long time...ugh i hate it when inverts hide and then get eaten...

 

Yea my six line wrasse seems to have vanished also. It happened almost a month ago when I also added another coral, suddenly I didn't see him anymore. No remains, either. Which I know is typical, especially if he died behind the rocks......or got eatin by my BTA. As for the crab, even if I wanted to catch him out of there, it'd be next to impossible. I have only seen him twice now, and I'd simply have to tear down the tank, rock by rock, inspecting each one....hell no. If he doesn't have an attitude, then he's welcome in the tank. Also, on my sun coral there was another hitchhiker. It was a brown...egg, apparently. Because when I fed the sun for the first time, it hatched, I guess. A bristleworm came out! I have never seen any in my tank before, and in just a couple of days my tank seems to have started a small bloom, nothing out of control....yet. I see them mostly at night, and they seem to be sensitive to the flashlight. They are red on both ends, and brown in the middle. These are the beneficial ones, right?

 

Wow, that is a big one. Doesn't beat the one I saw the other night in my reef though. I estimated the length at about 4-5" and I still wasn't able to see the other end, but I know it couldn't of been longer, maybe? He better hide before my CBS finds it. It kinda looked similar to a small little thing I saw about 5-6 months ago. He might have grown, he is the same color!

 

I have a feeling that it would end with me on the ground with shepard toothmarks on my posterior