Emerald Crab and fish possible aggression

rmorris_14

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Is there a level of emerald crab aggression that is acceptable or do you get them out once they start swiping at your fish? I've noticed lately that my emerald crab is coming out from his rocks ALOT. Even dancing out on the sand bed at times. He is not new the tank, but his attitude seems to be. I've noticed more and more that he and my lawnmower blenny butt heads a lot. Neither one wants to back down and they each take a few swipes at each other during the confrontations. This seems to happen mostly during feeding times, which makes sense. The emerald will also take swipes at other fish but they just swim away so it isn't as concerning. I'm interesting in what others would think about this interactions. Is there a certain level of this that is acceptable to you? Is it completely normal? or would you start looking into rehoming one of them? Thanks!
 

czoolander

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haha I love emerald crabs they would defend their turf with claws in the air whenever a fish was near by and even if they saw me they would try to fight me as well haha so much personality I love those little guys.

I think its mostly for show I wouldn't worry to much about "aggression"
 
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rmorris_14

rmorris_14

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haha I love emerald crabs they would defend their turf with claws in the air whenever a fish was near by and even if they saw me they would try to fight me as well haha so much personality I love those little guys.

I think its mostly for show I wouldn't worry to much about "aggression"
AWESOME! That makes me feel so much better. The emerald is one of my favorite inhabitants of my tank. He cracks me up so much, especially with his recent sand dances. I hated the thought of it being a problem. I probably would have rehomed the blenny before I did the emerald. . Thanks for taking the time to share your input.
 
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rmorris_14

rmorris_14

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high quality GIF


Mine always makes me think of the cowardly lion from the wizard of oz
 

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as an aside, when I pick out Emeralds from a LFS, I ask and usually get to select for females. When I get them in the mail I screen for males and drop the males in the refugium. Makes for less claw waving

Love them for their personalities, get worried when I see them picking at Goniopora, which they do not seem to hurt, but love the fact that I only see bubble algae in places they can't reach (but I can)
 
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rmorris_14

rmorris_14

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as an aside, when I pick out Emeralds from a LFS, I ask and usually get to select for females. When I get them in the mail I screen for males and drop the males in the refugium. Makes for less claw waving

Love them for their personalities, get worried when I see them picking at Goniopora, which they do not seem to hurt, but love the fact that I only see bubble algae in places they can't reach (but I can)
If I get another I would make sure it was a female. Mine came with the tank we acquired and is definitely a male. I read about how to sex them on this forum. I looked at it when he recently had a molt. I was convinced he had died. When we open the body there was even little meaty pieces around the legs but the next day he moved under a rock and caught my eye. Sure enough there he was looking almost double in size. I was shocked and super excited. I might get another for my nano invert coral tank. However, that tank my be perfect for a Pom Pom crab. Which on paper sounds hilarious too.
 

Sean Clark

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If I get another I would make sure it was a female. Mine came with the tank we acquired and is definitely a male. I read about how to sex them on this forum. I looked at it when he recently had a molt. I was convinced he had died. When we open the body there was even little meaty pieces around the legs but the next day he moved under a rock and caught my eye. Sure enough there he was looking almost double in size. I was shocked and super excited. I might get another for my nano invert coral tank. However, that tank my be perfect for a Pom Pom crab. Which on paper sounds hilarious too.
I have to ask... how do you tell?
 

Tchung23

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I have a red emerald crab and was told they are less aggressive. He seems fine. I was worried because I have a very small and slow flaming prawn goby and was worried he would get eaten by the crab. But the carb seems harmless. Also love the colour of the red cause I can see him more then if he was green.
 

vetteguy53081

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Aggressive they are especially the males, and I do not trust them around coral in fact I trust a politician more than I trust them. They are excellent workers for algae when you get one that you can trust
 

bnord

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Aggressive they are especially the males, and I do not trust them around coral in fact I trust a politician more than I trust them. They are excellent workers for algae when you get one that you can trust
and battling the "bad ones " out of the rock work is always a thrill
 
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rmorris_14

rmorris_14

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Aggressive they are especially the males, and I do not trust them around coral in fact I trust a politician more than I trust them. They are excellent workers for algae when you get one that you can trust
I read someone once post that they make sure theirs gets a meaty piece of food every couple of days to help keep them off their corals. Of course this could just be pure luck and had nothing to do with feeding.
 

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