Yeah, I've heard that about them. Well, as long as he does his job and cleans up some bubble algae, I don't care of he's a ninja. Once I get the chalk bass down the road, he'll probably be out more, since the feedings will be more regular then.

Yet another sweet find MJ!

I love the collection you are gathering and I will be bugging you for a couple frags in the coming months.

Thanks! I've been incredibly lucky. I managed to be the first person in on the store's SPS sale, so I had a huge choice. I narrowed it down between this and a 1" thick, 4" tall acro, but I eventually decided on this digi.




Sounds good!

Love that blue digi!

Thanks DH!

Surprisingly, it's already starting to show some PE out along the branches. I should be able to get a decent picture tomorrow.

The emerald decided to show his face, so I took a photo of him. And of course, since the camera was out, I just had to take more pictures.





This cap has some odd growth patterns so far, so it's going to be fun once it starts plating.

New frag rack I made today at the local club workshop:


The skimmer is also likely fixed, thanks to the workshop using it as a demo for how to use Weld-on 40 to make repairs.


Ok, here's the serious concern. I've got a HH crab on my new digi. It's got a pink body, about half an inch in size, and white claws. He's picking at things on the digi. I can't tell if he's going for tissue, or if he's doing like an acro crab would, and feeding off the slime coating and cleaning the coral. Unfortunately, all I can get is a Big Foot-quality photo.



Whatcha ya'll think I ought to do?

Since I was taking top down photos of Sasquatch, I thought I'd take a few more.

http://www.reefs.org/hhfaq/crustaceans/cra...rocrab.jpg/view

Good to know! Mine is definitely more smooth than hairy, so I guess I'll just keep an eye on him, rather than calling for

I WANT THAT CRAB!

DH wants da crabz....

Does yours have the "bandit mask"?

You left it wide open.



Too hard to tell at this point. The colony is in the back of the tank, and he's hiding pretty well within the colony still. Now that I know he's there, I'm going to keep an eye out for him in a more photogenic position.

He's an acro crab like the one I got I think. I hope he lasts longer than mine, though.

If that's the case, me too! I'm hoping that since I have two decent size digi colonies and a growing acro collection, he might make it.

Hmm, I just finished reading Miguel's book too... I thought he said the red smooth ones may or may not have the "mask". They are not found as frequently as the little cream colored bandit crabs but are beneficial.

Hopefully he is a good guy and if not does minimal to no damage before we can ID him.

That would be very cool if it was not only a good guy, but an uncommon version of a good guy.





I'll try to locate him this evening after the lights have been up for a bit. I might even try to bust out a red colored light tonight so see where he goes after lights out.

I'd say since he's a small guy and that's a nice sized colony he should be just fine. The one LA sent me was HUGE (well, like an inch across - maybe a bit more).

Oh yeah, that's a big difference. My crab's right around a quarter inch. I saw him moving to a different position right before lights out last night, so once the lights come up, hopefully there will be PE where he was cleaning (?) before.

Yeah, it should be fine. If you ever decide you don't want him, I'll take him for real. I've just gotta get a big acro colony or something.

Hey MJ, I just remembered you were having problems with your slimer having the yellowish tint to it. I pissed mine off the other day and accidentally hit it with the tweezers and an entire section turned that odd tint. It stayed like that for days and I think it is finally turning back. Now I'm outs here befor you guys spread your crabs .

Oh yea and thats awesome that you got your skimmer fixed!

Alright everyone, if I do need to get rid of it, DH has dibs!



I hope mine starts turning back soon. I did a hefty WC yesterday, and I'll probably do another tomorrow. When all else fails, WC!



Hey now, it's only my tank that has da crabs, and it DH that wants them.



inorite? I'm going to give it another day of curing just to be safe (that, and I'm wiped out after a long day of home remodeling and a big dinner). Tomorrow I'll have the time and focus to examine its operation and to re-dial it in. Gotta love the local club workshops!

I just loked at mine again this afternoon and that area was still the yellowish color. I really pissed it off this time lol. But last time it was that color for a while then one day I just noticed it green.


Lucky! I barely have time for my other hobby ( RC airplanes and helis) and my DIY stuff. I wouldnt have time for workshops lol. It is nice though when you build or repair something and it actually works lol.

The local club only has one meeting a month, and they like to do things that are productive for all. This time was an acrylics workshop (frag rack, weld-on 3, and weld-on 40) and next month is going to be a DIY fish food workshop.

FWIW my acro that I just got came with a crab. I just read about them and he's what some people call a bandit acro crab and apparently perfectly safe. There are also smooth red ones that are good but they tend to grow a bit more. Lastly, there's blue hairy ones that are problematic. Once again giving credence to the old "if it's a hairy crab, it's bad" theory.

Nice. I gots lots of leftover acrylic so I may build a ghetto frag rack lol. DIY fish food eh? Let me know how that goes. It sounds interesting.

Well, that's just the problem at this point. He's too small to tell if he's hairy or not! From one angle, he looks smooth; however, from a different angle, it looks like he might have hairy legs. So far, I'm not seeing any permanent damage yet, so only time will tell.

Speaking of legs.... I put some nori in the tank, and as it was drifting around the tank, suddenly legs pop out and grab it! I was (at first) thinking WTF?!! Then, I remember that I'd recently gotten an emerald crab.



These racks are nice. They were all cut on a CNC, and we used heating strips to heat the acrylic and then hand bend it. The DIY fish food should be very interesting indeed!

Ahh. I could easily see the banded eyes on mine but it certainly freaked me out when I was looking at it!

My emerald has taken up residence under my big rock on the right side of my tank. Occasionally he'll come out for later feedings to grab some mysis and every once and a while I'll catch him way out on the substrate during the middle of the day but he is lightning fast so I'm never able to get a good photo. I do see his markings all over the tank though. His little claw marks remind me of a jailbird counting his years on the cell wall.

If only I could get a good view of the little sucker.







Suddenly, I hear Jailhouse Rock in my mind.

Yo, Sheriff Buford T. Justice .... find the Bandit yet??

Well, if it is the bandit, he has an accomplice. Or maybe a bandit apprentice. I spotted a very tiny version of him on another part of the colony. I can't see where he was picking before, but the area he's at now is starting to look a little white, and there are a few other white areas on the colony now as well. I'm not a fan of nuking critters, but I'm starting to think a dip of some kind (preferably not fatal) and then a proper photo ID might be in order, now that there's more than one.

Photo evidence of the mini accomplice: (center left)


White spot now (center):


Suspect caught at white spot:

I was able to get one of a birds nest colony by take the colony out of the tank and "prodding" it out with a chopstick. Back to the LFS with him. Pink with the mask. Was eating the polyps causing the white spots you speak of.

Yeah, I think I could prod this one out if need be. My concern is about mini Dr. Evil. And any other potential accomplices. What kind of dip would work for an SPS to remove (but not kill) these critters? If he's just an SPS picker, he might be fun for my 20L sump (assuming that (s)he couldn't spawn and have little tikes enter the display). Or give him to DH, if he's still feeling up to it after a proper ID.

I'm starting to think NOT an acro crab. If the verdict is leaning against him, I'll yank out the colony and the rock I've mounted it on, and try to prod the bigger version into a clear cup. That way, I can get a magnifying glass and snap a more detailed photo.

Sounds like we're going to need some better shots to ID.

Ok. Tomorrow after lunch, I'll yank the colony and try to prod the crab into a clear cup.



Or, if I get bored (and less lazy) enough, I might do it tonight. The odds of this are suddenly improving.

DOEETT!

Alright, all right. Let me finish this show I'm watching on my DVR, and then I'll start crab hunting.

MJ MJ MJ MJ

Such peer pressure.....

[cryptic]

For those who have following this particular sub-thread, there's an update of sorts. It's a bit involved, so it will have to be a Chat update.

[/cryptic]

The DVR'd show is almost over, so I'll be crabbing soon.

Rut roh..... HAIRY LEGGED CRAB!!!!!!!!!!





Also, what the deuce is this, the two whiskers coming out of the little nub, on the center left of the photo?

Looks like crab out!!!!!
Vermetid maybe?

That looks almost just like my red mithrax crab. I can't see its claws well enough to tell though.

Cept MJ's has green eyes. Does that make any difference in the identification?

I'm almost certain it's a xanthid variety.

Yea, looking at the claws as well as I can those are definately different than the mithrax crabs. That one has the bumps all thew way up and the mithrax is smooth. Also the pinchers look stubby and sharp. It is hard to tell as blurry as it is but I see its not a mithrax now.