biatch

LOL... yea... it's actually quite simple. You take a risk that buying one could be a menace or it could be a really good addition. I bought mine and he did nothing but come out a night and move around the glass. He knocked over a lot of things, so I put him in my fuge. It's a risk, or it's turns out fine. They are not bad creatures, they just come with some risk.

got rid of him. no more terror and all peaceful. i'm surprised it didn't eat my sixline when i had it, but it probably did a better job finding a place to sleep.

tupperware with a ramp in but no ramp out trick to catch a crab IMO

3 pages, and not even a picture to show us what to avoid.

Fail!

If it looks like a crab from the family Xanthidae, avoid it.
Here's the specific picture:
http://www.google.com/images?um=1&hl=e...434&bih=799
Here's how to ID xanthids (scroll to the bottom)
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-12/rs/index.php

I've heard these guys are lil buggers

I now have one in my 50 gal. tank. I see it picking away at algae on the live rock as I type this. I haven't seen any corpses around from it so far, though if it wanted to eat a worm or three, I can't say I'd weep over them. I have a damsel and two clowns in there right now, all doing swell with it. I can't verify whether my peppermint shrimp are alive and unharmed at the moment, but I haven't seen any signs of foul play as mentioned earlier.

I'm planning to get (another) reef lobster in there eventually (old one died when I initially transferred things into there), and I figure the two will survive one another with maybe the occasional territorial dispute. I'm hoping, of course, that there won't be any nasty fights.

So, I can't say I agree with not keeping them. I do have a couple of stationary things - a soft coral and some zoas - and they seem likewise unbothered so far. I also have a few emeralds in there - again, so signs of problems.

I might have to try spot feeding Mr. Strawberry a goldfish or some such one of these days, though. Might be fun.