sharuq1 Posted April 11, 2007 Report Share Posted April 11, 2007 (edited) I recently found a couple of crabs in my LR (I believe it is Indonesian LR, it came from Golds) and I would like to know what they are. FYI I do not have anemones, I just started this tank. I managed to catch one, (I believe there are 2 or 3 in there I think the same type but I am unsure) but he is tiny so it is very hard to get a good picture. The smaller one I saw has stripes on his legs, the larger one also has stripes on his legs but they are darker both on the light stripes and the dark ones (which are a ruddy brown) He has large reddish claws, a brownish body, two long brown antenae, two mandible looking things for when he is eating and this is the interesting part.... I took him out of my main tank today (I was worried he might be a bad guy) and put him in a little 1 gallon that I threw a bunch of brine shrimp eggs into that morning. I put in a tiny piece of LR which he immediately went to sit under. I then put in some frozen brine shrimp to see what would happen. He took out these arm things and on them were large fans and began fanning the water like crazy. If he got ahold of a large piece of shrimp he stuffed it in his mandibles to munch. Is this a porcelain crab?? I thought they were the only ones with the fan dealies. I have a pic but it is terrible. However on the off chance you might know what he is, here goes. If he is eating brine shrimp does that make him a bad guy? I do not want anything eating my inverts, coral or anything else in there that isn't algae, aptasia or any other bad stuff (lol) But if he some version of porcelain doesn't that make him a good guy?? In the main tank he was ALWAYS in holes in the rock. Why on earth do they need those big claws for anyway? Why would he need the pointy things on his claws? Is he going to destabilise the rock like it says in some of the articles I have read? Could the big claws be for offense or defense?? the small crab (caught him once and I put him back in the main tank All of the larger crab I took today with my crappy cam phone. **edit: there are most definite hooks on this guys claws, they are not a different color than the claws themselves** Edited April 11, 2007 by sharuq1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Qattarra Posted April 11, 2007 Report Share Posted April 11, 2007 my guess , emerald crabs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharuq1 Posted April 11, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 11, 2007 A red emerald crab?? I didn't know they had those fan dealies... SO is it a danger to a reef tank that may eventually house a fish or 3/shrimp, coral, etc?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FishBrain Posted April 11, 2007 Report Share Posted April 11, 2007 The way I have begun to look at it is if the crabs claws go to points then they are going to eat living things, zoos, worms. but if the claws go to little pads instead of tips then they will eat more algae./ Someone will correct me if I am wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pier Pressure Posted April 11, 2007 Report Share Posted April 11, 2007 I can advise that I have a white caribbean crab and he has the fan thingies on his claws. He lives in an anemone and does not bother my corals or anything. He is light brown and white. Maybe related? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
windeindoiel Posted April 11, 2007 Report Share Posted April 11, 2007 Cool, I love crabs (the nice ones anyway :P). Hope you enjoy them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharuq1 Posted April 12, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 12, 2007 well I am just a sucker for a weird critter. I put him back in my 14g nano. He is just so darn cute. Hope he doesn't eat my tube worms..... Those are my favorite LR freebies so far. Hey Jonah, you can only have him if he murders stuff or if he keeps getting bigger maybe we can eat him :rofl: Till then I think I will stare at the lil bugger. (The times I can see him, lol). If there is more than one though..... :shifty: I'll think about it If anyone knows what he is please get back to me. -------------------------------------- bleh the ugly brown algae stage is starting, bleh bleh bleh lol It's not gonna stay....is it?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murminator Posted April 12, 2007 Report Share Posted April 12, 2007 Do they have red eyes? are they hairy? fanning sounds like a Porcelain Crab but they usually fan all the time or could be using water current to bring food in. Taking them out and putting them in there own display is the best if you want to keep them :shock: Myself if they were in my display I would see what kind of noise they make Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharuq1 Posted April 23, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 23, 2007 Do they have red eyes? are they hairy? fanning sounds like a Porcelain Crab but they usually fan all the time or could be using water current to bring food in. Taking them out and putting them in there own display is the best if you want to keep them :shock: Myself if they were in my display I would see what kind of noise they make They make no noise, I hardly ever see them. (Have not seen them in a week but I knwo they are there because I saw 2 sheddings) Brown eyes, not hairy. I have not been able to observe other behaviors now as I can't find the little buggers lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murminator Posted April 24, 2007 Report Share Posted April 24, 2007 Do they have red eyes? are they hairy? fanning sounds like a Porcelain Crab but they usually fan all the time or could be using water current to bring food in. Taking them out and putting them in there own display is the best if you want to keep them :shock: Myself if they were in my display I would see what kind of noise they make They make no noise, I hardly ever see them. (Have not seen them in a week but I knwo they are there because I saw 2 sheddings) Brown eyes, not hairy. I have not been able to observe other behaviors now as I can't find the little buggers lol. The noises mine make are squish and splat.......after they are "rocked" of coarse Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kuch Posted May 18, 2007 Report Share Posted May 18, 2007 I have a crab that kinda looks like him.....Mine has red eyes and is hairy which usually means he is bad, but his claws look like little C-Clamps, which I have heard means he is okay....I had had mine for 2 years now in my display and he hasn't gone after anything....But that may be due to the fact that I basically hand feed him every once and awhile, mostly he just scraps things off the rocks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharuq1 Posted May 18, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 18, 2007 They have "dissappeared". I don't know whether they dyed during cycle or what, but have not seen them in quite some time. I guess unless they make a reappearance or things start getting nibbled I will stick to the adage "if it aint broke don;t fix it" Odd that there are no bodies, but my hermits could have ate them I guess. Found a claw in the tank the other day--maybe it dropped it like a porcelain would? Maybe they have gotten extremely good at hiding, have nooo idea, lol. Thanks to everyone who replied to this post Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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