I think my Emerald crap took a chunk out of my toadstool leather

[Alyssa.Weber]

I just picked up an emerald crab for my 10g nano and I have so far one toadstool in there. After checking up on him, i noticed he was crawling on my toadstool that was previously opened and now all shrunken up. I also noticed a tiny chunk of my toadstool missing. I am so mad!! I love my little toadstool and this crab just took a bite out of it like it was a cheeseburger! How do I stop this from happening? Should I bring my crab back and exchange for another invert (maybe a diff crab or some hermit crabs?). Attached is a pic before and after of my coral

 

[MERKEY]

They are known to eat anything when they are hungry...many here have had to eradicate a few lol

 

[samnaz]

Crabs are opportunistic. You will have this issue with any crab species. What do you need a crab for?

 

[Alyssa.Weber]

Crabs are opportunistic. You will have this issue with any crab species. What do you need a crab for?

Justing starting up my CUC

 

[samnaz]

Justing starting up my CUC

I’d go for the cuc without crabs ;-)

 

[Alyssa.Weber]

They are known to eat anything when they are hungry...many here have had to eradicate a few lol

Have you had better luck with other crabs?

 

[Alyssa.Weber]

I’d go for the cuc without crabs ;-)

Alright thank you!!

 

[samnaz]

Plus your tank looks pretty clean. If you want to keep the emerald, you’re going to want to feed him meaty food or pellets or he’ll find his own food.... which is usually a bad thing in a tank with no algae.

 

[Alyssa.Weber]

Plus your tank looks pretty clean. If you want to keep the emerald, you’re going to want to feed him meaty food or pellets or he’ll find his own food.... which is usually a bad thing in a tank with no algae.

I have pellets that I put around for him today. Not sure if he ate them though. He hasn’t come out to bother my coral again since that one time. Also when you said no crab cuc does that include hermit crabs?

 

[MERKEY]

Have you had better luck with other crabs?

Unfortunately after that experience and the info we found on crabs always going rouge, we decided against them.

We stock heavy on snails

 

[samnaz]

I have pellets that I put around for him today. Not sure if he ate them though. He hasn’t come out to bother my coral again since that one time. Also when you said no crab cuc does that include hermit crabs?

If you really want a hermit I say go for it, I love my blue leg hermit. I also love my emerald but I keep them well fed. I just see so many post of people hating on their crab cuc so I tend to recommend no crabs. But if you keep them well fed they should behave

 

[Alyssa.Weber]

If you really want a hermit I say go for it, I love my blue leg hermit. I also love my emerald but I keep them well fed. I just see so many post of people hating on their crab cuc so I tend to recommend no crabs. But if you keep them well fed they should behave

Okay thank you!!!! How do you feed your crabs? Do you put the food in a syringe/ baster and put it in front of them or do you just let them find the food?

 

[samnaz]

I feed them pellets using tweezers. I place the food right in front of their eyes or they’ll miss it. They aren’t the smartest

 

[Alyssa.Weber]

I feed them pellets using tweezers. I place the food right in front of their eyes or they’ll miss it. They aren’t the smartest

Good to know! Thanks for the advice!

 

[samnaz]

Good to know! Thanks for the advice!

No prob! Good luck!

 

[Alyssa.Weber]

No prob! Good luck!

Thank you!

 

[Darren in Tacoma]

Crabs are untrustworthy. We just keep snails. If you want to keep crabs get the smallest ones you can find. The little blue legged hermits can't do too much damage, not like the Emerald will.

 

[JumboShrimp]

If that crab has opportunities to get other foods, such as tiny bits of shrimp, I doubt the leather will stay its favorite thing on the menu. Best wishes!

 

[CavalierReef]

I have an LPS, softy dominant Biocube and my emerald crab (Mikey) was in the original CUC 6 months ago. He always checks out new corals added to the tank and cleans any algae on the plug that I missed. He has never eaten a polyp that I'm aware of and I watch this tank like a hawk. He has taken care of a temporary bubble algae problem and was an algae eating machine during the "uglies" stage of this tank. I do feed the 3 fish and 3 shrimp in the tank with enough that I'm sure he has leftovers. I occasionally give him a small bit of shrimp on the end of a skewer when I feed my scarlet shrimp pair. As others have said, make sure he has something to eat other than your corals and he should be a fun addition to your tank.

 

[John08007]

I wouldn't worry about it. Leathers are very hardy, it will grow right back. These are propagated by simply slicing off pieces with a razor blade. He may have been looking for something to eat because you don't have much algae yet. Maybe drop in some more pellet food so that he will have something to eat.

In the long run his benefits will far outweigh any nips from your leather