Murderous Emerald crab

[Lindsey1984]

OMG! Emeralds haunt my dreams!!! I had one and it snipped off every head and ate pieces of my dragon eye colony. I got him out and he's "swimmin with the fishes" haha Yea, im kinda evil, but the nearest LFS is an hour away and I didnt care to spend 30 in gas to bring a 8 dollar crab back. I got mine by taking a plastic cup and putting it around him while he was on an over hang...be careful though, they get smart QUICK!!!

 

[Diesel]

So yesterday my husband brought me a really nice looking skunk cleaner shrimp (he'd heard I wanted one for the 29 gal fowlr/nano)
I took about an hour to acclimate it, but all for not...... as soon as it hit the tank my lrg emerald crab grabbed it and tore it in half killing it instantly. Didn't appear to eat any of it, just kill it.
Anyone ever hear of this before?
Kiliwog is huge, measuring right at the size of a half dollar coin. Is he just being extremely territorial, or is he perhaps not getting enough to eat? Did he see the shrimp as foe or food?

You know, in TX we have the death penalty for that kind of behavior :pound:

 

[Rikerbear]

OMG! Emeralds haunt my dreams!!! I had one and it snipped off every head and ate pieces of my dragon eye colony. I got him out and he's "swimmin with the fishes" haha Yea, im kinda evil, but the nearest LFS is an hour away and I didnt care to spend 30 in gas to bring a 8 dollar crab back. I got mine by taking a plastic cup and putting it around him while he was on an over hang...be careful though, they get smart QUICK!!!

LOL I understand completely

 

[sherita]

It's not that hard to catch one. Take a smooth sided glass or jar, about 4-6" tall, put something yummy in the bottom of it, and lean it (fairly steep angle) against your rockscape just after lights out. Your problem crab will crawl into the glass to get the food, but it's too slick for them to crawl back out. This method works great, just be aware, you will catch every last crab and ornamental shrimp in your tank in the process. I normally relocate the "non-target" critters to the sump until I catch the one I am after.

You have to do this after lights out, otherwise fish will steal your bait. I have done it during the day, by putting the food in a piece of old pantyhose wiht a rock inside it (fish can't steal it, or carry it off).

 

[jimmybling31]

I'm going to watch out for this now, but I haven't seen anything like this out of mine. I overfeed like crazy, hence why I have a hurricone cat2e as my skimmer on just a 120 gallon tank. The overfeeding might be why I have no problem.

 

[nrbelk]

Before I have the two emerald crabs I have now, I had one that at night, would climb to the top of one of my favorite tri color acros and go to town munching on them. I know that it was the problem because the tips of the coral started loosing tissue only after I put the crab in my tank. As soon as I took the crab out, the coral started to heal over the damaged tips.

 

[nrbelk]

Here's a video of my emerald crab being murderous only to bubble algae:
Emerald crab chowing down on bubble algae - YouTube

 

[Rikerbear]

Here's a video of my emerald crab being murderous only to bubble algae:
Emerald crab chowing down on bubble algae - YouTube

Cute :tongue:

 

[KoleTang]

IMO, never trust a crab. I have had emerald crabs rip the polyps out of my acros.

 

[Rikerbear]

I certainly have a lot less trust for crabs now....and some shrimp too

 

[Dsdaley77]

I would add that some of us (myself) are dealing with a long arm rubble crab. Same family as Emeralds but known to be extremely aggressive. I have lost all but one Watchman Goby and a 4in Coral shrimp to this murderous crab.

He's a nasty bugger and I've found him impossible to catch. Too fast and super smart. He even escaped from a 6in glass. I watched him do it as I ran over to remove him after watching him drop into the glass. Now he won't go near the glass or come more than an inch off the rock he lives in :( I am out of ideas.


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KEEP CALM AND REEF ON!!

 

[Rikerbear]

He's a nasty bugger and I've found him impossible to catch. Too fast and super smart. He even escaped from a 6in glass. I watched him do it as I ran over to remove him after watching him drop into the glass. Now he won't go near the glass or come more than an inch off the rock he lives in :( I am out of ideas.

Maybe place a large net at the bottom of the tank.....use a barbless fish hook with a nice firm piece of fish or squid as bait. Get him to latch on to the food and use the net underneath him to scoop him out.

 

[Laker32]

After he ripped the head off my Rapters Rainbow, I finally caught him with a pair of tweezers. I missed him the first time with a pair of tongs and it was two weeks until he appeared again. While I had my hands in the tank during a water change he was in a cave at the front of my tank and I was lucky enough to crab him with some tweezers. I gave him away the next day, minus 1 leg. I guess it was his lucky day.

 

[Eienna]

I've been doing some reading and apparently it's unwise to trust almost every available crab.

 

[KoleTang]

I've been doing some reading and apparently it's unwise to trust almost every available crab.

+1000!

My emerald crab went rouge. One day I watched it climb to the top of the rocks. Walk over to my acros. Lift up its claw. Then proceed to pluck the polyps out of their sockets and eat them! :censored:

I was so mad. It took me three days to catch him. :laser:

He then was banished to the sump. ;)

 

[glb]

This post is hilarious!


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12g Nanoreef. Zooanthids, Ricordia, Star Polyps and two clownfish.

 

[Softylover]

And this is why I don't have any crabs

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[Dsdaley77]

This post is hilarious!


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12g Nanoreef. Zooanthids, Ricordia, Star Polyps and two clownfish.

I'm glad you can find joy in our misery ;)


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KEEP CALM AND REEF ON!!

 

[Softylover]

It is funny

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[Kworker]

I have one huge one, havent had an issue. He only flaunts his claws in the middle of the night when i shine a flashlight on him lol.

I think personality plays roles in everything, mine does not crave flesh. I just lost my purple dartifsh and it has been in the corner in the back of the tank and it looks like only my skunk cleaner took some bites from it. The purple dartfish has been dead for a bit so i would think if both my emeralds craved flesh they would of devoured the dartfish.