Killer Crab

I just finished removing 120 lbs of rock and found this hiding in a hole in a 20 lb rock. I have had a problem with all my snails ending up empty. Found him dragging one across the sand at 2am one morning. Tried all kinds of traps that didn't work. I'm just glad that he stayed in the rock rather than running to the other side of the tank when I picked it up. Now he has a new home in the refugium. Is that part safe?

Any way now I can start rebuilding my clean up crew.

 

Wow that guys is huge! I guess snails are good protein hahah

 

i would say it is definately bad one to keep, possibly a gorilla crab. As they get bigger will eat off your other crabs.

It is a type of xanthid crab and should be banished into your sump. We had one that was found in the fish store and I kept it in a seperate tank for several months and it got very big Eventually I fed him to my predator tank and my golden puffer loved him!

Crab Hitch Hikers

 

I don't have a puffer to feed him to but banished to the sump is his punishment. He must have come in with some rock that I purchased a year ago or longer... With him killing off my clean up crew the green hair algae was getting out of control. Now it is restock time

 

stone crab. mines been in the sump eating w.e. it can. they have a nasty pinch and will eat anything meaty. i think their diet is mainly smalls conchs and other inverts. glad u were able to remove him

now mine does a great job taking care of my refugiam. once in a while he'll molt and i see crab bones floating around which is weird but adds to the immense bio-diversity of our tanks!

 

I am just glad that he is out of the tank. I wasn't sure that I got him when I removed the large rock that he called home. In the back of a hole there was something hard and black. I tried to knock it louse with a skewer but it would not budge. One of my lfs told me that you could pout club soda in the hole and they would come out. Well it didn't work. perhaps it was too cold. I was able to pry him out after a short time. I think that the cold might of paralyzed him. He didn't move at all. He is some ware under rock in the refugium now.

 

I'm sure he'll be OK in the refuge. He may even help keep the refuge clean.

I have the same problem right now. I've known I've had a crab for a few months, but didn't notice it doing anything bad until a couple of days ago when it was eating one of my astrea snails. Since then, I have also lost a magarita snail. Fortunately, I know where he lives and will take the rock out next time I see him on it