Can you see it?

[ashley]

Hello, I have a 30 gallon tank that has been running for about 2 years...i recently just bought 2 emerald crabs...one is rather big and the other is rather small. Last night when my blues turned on i was just sitting and starring into my tank (stalker lol) and I was watching my new crabs and I noticed that on my big emerald crabs that all over his head and main claws there were these tiny white specs running around on him in circular motions..well thats what it seemed like. I noticed that they seem to bother his eyes when they get near his eyes and he retreats them..anyways I turned the lights on and the were still there and appeared to be like a red/brownish...i have never seen these in my tank..or at least i havent noticed them...please help...what are they? Will they hurt my crab? What do I do?

 

[KJ]

Picture help ID.

 

[ashley]

Ya im working on it

 

[ashley]

Picture help ID.

Ok


Sorry for the poor quality. They are super fast

 

[Tahoe61]

Inverts often come in with mites and sometimes parasites, the unknown could be simply tank pods eating algae off the exoskeleton. The Emerald looks to be acting normally so I would not intervene at this time.

 

[ashley]

Inverts often come in with mites and sometimes parasites, the unknown could be simply tank pods eating algae off the exoskeleton. The Emerald looks to be acting normally so I would not intervene at this time.

Ok...well it is normal for him to retract his eyes? When they crawl on his eyes they go in and come back out? So for future reference when I get inverts do I dip them or any thing?

 

[KJ]

Ostracod?

 

[KJ]

Inverts often come in with mites and sometimes parasites, the unknown could be simply tank pods eating algae off the exoskeleton. The Emerald looks to be acting normally so I would not intervene at this time.

What you think about Ostracod Sheryl?

 

[ashley]

What you think about Ostracod Sheryl?

Not sure...let me look it up

 

[ashley]

What you think about Ostracod Sheryl?

I guess it can be...are they bad?

 

[Tahoe61]

What you think about Ostracod Sheryl?

Could be. :)

@Lionfish Lair will eventually be along and offer her expertise.

@ashley Treating inverts such as crabs is extremely problematic, so you want to make sure there is an actual issue versus nature being nature.

 

[KJ]

I guess it can be...are they bad?

No Feeds on detritus.

 

[ashley]

Does anyone know what these are?

 

[Tahoe61]

A mix of harmless sponges.

 

[MicroPico]

Looks to me like your clean up crew has a clean up crew. They are a common occurrence on emerald crabs and I have not found any detrimental evidence to crabs harboring them. They seem to clean the crabs shell of algae, bacterial film, detritus and any bits of whatever the crab is eating that sticks to his carapace. IMHO

 

[ashley]

Could be. :)

@Lionfish Lair will eventually be along and offer her expertise.

@ashley Treating inverts such as crabs is extremely problematic, so you want to make sure there is an actual issue versus nature being nature.

Ok i look forward to hearing the expert

 

[ashley]

A mix of harmless sponges.

Ok so it's nothing to worry about? Will they get bigger? Should they be removed?

 

[ashley]

Looks to me like your clean up crew has a clean up crew. They are a common occurrence on emerald crabs and I have not found any detrimental evidence to crabs harboring them. They seem to clean the crabs shell of algae, bacterial film, detritus and any bits of whatever the crab is eating that sticks to his carapace. IMHO

Ok cool...thats some piece of mind...

 

[Tahoe61]

Ok so it's nothing to worry about? Will they get bigger? Should they be removed?

No, I would not give sponges a second thought. Removing most benign cryptic creatures is counter productive to maintaining the healthy bio-diversity of a system.

 

[ashley]

Ok what about these...i have tones of them and hate them...what will eat them? When I do water changes they spread webs.