Pink/Purple crab in my Aiptasia farm

[Dutch_Mill]

Does anyone know this crap? And does it eat Aiptasia? It was accidently introduced in my Aiptasia farm and now all my Aiptasia is gone. (Food for my Berghia breeding program).

Pin

 

[paragrouper]

It looks similar to my emerald crabs in shape.

if you learn it does eat Aiptasia I’ll be happy to take him off your hands.

 

[littlefoxx]

Does anyone know this crap? And does it eat Aiptasia? It was accidently introduced in my Aiptasia farm and now all my Aiptasia is gone. (Food for my Berghia breeding program).

Pin

Not sure what he is but he is really cute!

 

[Dutch_Mill]

It looks similar to my emerald crabs in shape.

if you learn it does eat Aiptasia I’ll be happy to take him off your hands.

It is indeed a crab. They tend to look like crabs.

Joke aside it does look similar but the claws are sharp and dark red/black.

I put it in a Guppy Breeding Box with some Aiptasia from the sump. Lets see what happens tomorrow.

 

[Dutch_Mill]

Small update.

I found the culprit. There was another crab living in the soil that I did not find earlier. He must have gotten in as a juvie when I kept a lionfish in there whom I fed hitchhiking crabs on LR to.

The crab has those swim legs some crab species have which made him pretty hard to catch as he was fast. This photo I took after capturing him and putting him in a small Guppy Breeder full of Aiptasia (you can see one on the side of the PVC pipe as well). Now one day later there is not a single Aiptasia left inside the guppy breeder.

Going to start (try and) feed him coral to see how reef safe it is. Or is anyone familiar with this crab?

 

[Rtaylor]

Small update.

I found the culprit. There was another crab living in the soil that I did not find earlier. He must have gotten in as a juvie when I kept a lionfish in there whom I fed hitchhiking crabs on LR to.

The crab has those swim legs some crab species have which made him pretty hard to catch as he was fast. This photo I took after capturing him and putting him in a small Guppy Breeder full of Aiptasia (you can see one on the side of the PVC pipe as well). Now one day later there is not a single Aiptasia left inside the guppy breeder.

Going to start (try and) feed him coral to see how reef safe it is. Or is anyone familiar with this crab?

Looks a bit like a sally lightfoot, but I’m not sure

 

[Anemone_Fanatic]

If you've got an aiptasia eating crab, it's worth its weight in gold.

 

[ChiCity]

yeah, but with those sharp pincers…
it’s only a matter of time before it becomes a terror.

it’s probably just opportunistic
vs
a specialized predator preying on aiptasia