I'll let R2R decide the fate of this crab...

[livinlifeinBKK]

Ok so I got a beautiful feather duster attached to a fist sized chunk of live rock about a month ago and noticed that no matter how I positioned it, it would always be flipped over somehow when I was away so that the feather duster would be face down on the sand bed. After a little while I noticed a little crab that apparently had hitchhiked (he was probably living in there since the rock was on the ocean) and was living in a little hold next to the feather duster. I don't know how he's so strong but no matter how I wedge the rock between other pieces or set it, he ALWAYS turns it back over upside down...here are pics of the feather duster and the crab next to the rock for size comparison. So R2R, what should I do? I don't want to glue that particular chunk of rock so I might need to remove the crab. I'm not a big fan of hitchhiking crabs but this little guy has some character so I hate to kill him...can anyone identify him to tell if he might cause harm to really small fish in my other nano tank? I hate to separate him from his home but I bought that piece of rock for the feather duster so keeping it happy is my priority. If it is a harmful crab species to fish, what should I do with him? I don't have a sump... He's reddish purple and about a quarter or an inch from side to side of that helps identification. Please pardon the aiptasia and Manjanos....I'm trying to get rid of them...

 

[sbreefco]

Hard to tell from your picture, is it a Trapezia Pocillopora?

 

[areefer01]

Reminds me of Eddie Murphy's SNL skit about Larry the Lobster....brought the land line telephones down back in the day with this. True story.

Back to your crab though - any way to get more ideal pictures of it?

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

Hard to tell from your picture, is it a Trapezia Pocillopora?

Reminds me of Eddie Murphy's SNL skit about Larry the Lobster....brought the land line telephones down back in the day with this. True story.

Back to your crab though - any way to get more ideal pictures of it?

I can try to get some better pics but he likes to stay close to his home (a little hole right beside the feather duster)

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

Here are a couple more pics where you can see him better...I can't believe he's really strong enough to move that dense fist sized piece of rock and roll it all around no matter how I try to wedge it!

 

[SteveMM62Reef]

Do you have any Pocillipora or Acropora Corals in your Aquarium? Could you get some? I’d look on line at the Crab pictures to see what kind of crab it is, since the pictures are still fuzzy. If it is a Trapezia, it should take up residence in those Corals.

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

Do you have any Pocillipora or Acropora Corals in your Aquarium? Could you get some? I’d look on line at the Crab pictures to see what kind of crab it is, since the pictures are still fuzzy. If it is a Trapezia, it should take up residence in those Corals.

In that case I can move him to my other tank that has corals...this tank is fish and inverts but no coral due to the not very powerful light...I haven't seen a crab like him before as a hitchhiker and he doesn't look like he'd do any harm but just wanna make sure since I've been actively trying to trap crabs in my other tank...maybe if I put the feather duster with the rock he lives in in a shaded area he'd stop moving it? I think he might just want his little hole in a shaded area so he feels more protected....

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

Here's a better picture of the little critter...no matter what he has the strength to turn that chunk of rock with the feather duster over in a just a few minutes