Today we're going to introduce you to the crab you've never heard of but should have. So, without further ado, let us present to you, Pitho mirabilis. We'd rename it the Miracle Crab, but alas, everyone already calls it Pitho Crab. They stay relatively small, are super peaceful, are decorators (more on this later) and will eat just about any kind of algae you have in your tank, including the notorious bubble algae.
The wild home for these crabs is the Caribbean and small section of Atlantic coast. There they live in pretty shallow water, in tidal flats, seagrass beds and reefs, basically anywhere there is enough sun to grow the algae they live on. The females look quite a bit like the more famous Emerald Crabs, including the over-sized claws, though the carapace (big shell part) is slightly more Decorator Crab in appearance (pointy in the face, rounded in the butt). The males look pretty much the same but are generally a tad smaller and lack the big burly claws. The similarity to Decorator Crabs doesn't end with their shell shape. The Pitho Crab will also decorate its shell with bits of whatever it finds; algae, sand, small rocks, even sponges and polyps can end up there. When undecorated they are usually off-white, to pale yellow in color, though tan-brownish specimens aren't uncommon either, looking a lot like the sand they'll like to hide in if you have it.
They're so good at eating algae that they're probably going to run out and you'll need to supplement their diet. Here we rely on Nutramar Ogo and Nutramar Nori to get them nutrition when we don't have any live algae to feed them. They'll also happily pick away at the Nutramar Algae and Color Boost Shots (which most of your fish will love too, especially your grazers.) Just tuck a bunch under a small rock on the bottom of the aquarium. You could also farm algae for them by growing it in a refugium or even a dedicated tank set up to grow the stuff. Just leave rocks in a saltwater tank in the sun, and they'll start growing plenty of algae in no time. You can move those rocks to the main display until they are clean and then send them back to the farm to regrow more food (again, your Tangs, Rabbitfish and Lawnmower Blennies will love this too!) Pithos Crabs are nocturnal in the wild and will spend most of their day partially buried in the sand, usually with just their decorated hats sticking out. Over time, they'll become much more accustomed to being active during daylight hours. When you first introduce them, and if you have very little algae in the aquarium, do your feeding after lights out to make sure they get some of the action, especially if you have herbivore fish in the display. Click here to learn more
The wild home for these crabs is the Caribbean and small section of Atlantic coast. There they live in pretty shallow water, in tidal flats, seagrass beds and reefs, basically anywhere there is enough sun to grow the algae they live on. The females look quite a bit like the more famous Emerald Crabs, including the over-sized claws, though the carapace (big shell part) is slightly more Decorator Crab in appearance (pointy in the face, rounded in the butt). The males look pretty much the same but are generally a tad smaller and lack the big burly claws. The similarity to Decorator Crabs doesn't end with their shell shape. The Pitho Crab will also decorate its shell with bits of whatever it finds; algae, sand, small rocks, even sponges and polyps can end up there. When undecorated they are usually off-white, to pale yellow in color, though tan-brownish specimens aren't uncommon either, looking a lot like the sand they'll like to hide in if you have it.
They're so good at eating algae that they're probably going to run out and you'll need to supplement their diet. Here we rely on Nutramar Ogo and Nutramar Nori to get them nutrition when we don't have any live algae to feed them. They'll also happily pick away at the Nutramar Algae and Color Boost Shots (which most of your fish will love too, especially your grazers.) Just tuck a bunch under a small rock on the bottom of the aquarium. You could also farm algae for them by growing it in a refugium or even a dedicated tank set up to grow the stuff. Just leave rocks in a saltwater tank in the sun, and they'll start growing plenty of algae in no time. You can move those rocks to the main display until they are clean and then send them back to the farm to regrow more food (again, your Tangs, Rabbitfish and Lawnmower Blennies will love this too!) Pithos Crabs are nocturnal in the wild and will spend most of their day partially buried in the sand, usually with just their decorated hats sticking out. Over time, they'll become much more accustomed to being active during daylight hours. When you first introduce them, and if you have very little algae in the aquarium, do your feeding after lights out to make sure they get some of the action, especially if you have herbivore fish in the display. Click here to learn more
